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HOLY LAND 
 

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 APOSTLE I M 1. 
 
SACRED GEOGRAPHY, 
 
 AND 
 
 ANTIQUITIES 
 
 WITH MAPS AND ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 BY REV. E. P. BARROWS, D. D. 
 
 AMERICAN TRACT SOCIETY, 
 
 150 NASSAU-STREET, NEW YORK. 
 
ENTEBED. according to Act of Congress, in the year is? , by the AMERICAN 
 TRACT SOCIKTY, in the Office of the Librarian of Congress at Washington. 
 
PREFATORY REMARKS. 
 
 THE geographical features of the Holy Land were peculiar, as 
 well as the institutions of its inhabitants. It lay in the centre of 
 the great empires of antiquity, and was yet isolated from them in a 
 remarkable way. On the south were Egypt and Ethiopia ; on the 
 east, Assyria and Babylonia, and beyond them the Medes and Per 
 sians ; on the west, Greece and Rome. With all these empires they 
 were successively brought into contact, and with some of them their 
 relations were very intimate and long continued. At the same time 
 they were separated from Egypt and the eastern empires by deserts 
 on the south and east ; between them and the western empires lay 
 the Mediterranean ; and on the north were the mighty walls of 
 Lebanon and Anti-Lebanon, admitting access to Palestine only by a 
 few narrow defiles. Palestine proper had on the east the addi 
 tional barrier of the deep Jordan valley, with its continuous west 
 ern wall of mountains stretching without interruption from the 
 southern desert to the plain of Esdraelon. Thus were the Hebrews 
 shut out, in a great measure, from the surrounding heathen na 
 tions ; while, at the same time, these nations stood ever ready, as 
 God s ministers, to execute from age to age his high purposes of 
 discipline and training, till the way should thus be prepared for the 
 advent of Christ, and the spread of the gospel "from Palestine as a 
 centre though all the surrounding lands. 
 
 Before the Assyrian and Babylonish captivities the Hebrew peo 
 ple were mainly confined to their own territory. In it their national 
 character was formed, and its peculiar geographical isolation con 
 spired with their peculiar institutions to cherish an intense national 
 spirit. Palestine was their world, and all that they wrote bore the 
 impress not only of the Mosaic institutions and the national history 
 connected with them, but also of the natural scenery that surrounded 
 them and the natural objects with which they were familiar. It fol 
 lows that the reader who would enter fully into the spirit of the 
 
 _ 84640 
 
PREFATORY REMARKS. 
 
 biblical writings, especially those of the Old Testament, must make 
 himself familiar with the geography and natural history of the 
 Holy Land. ^ 
 
 Within the present century the investigations of missionaries and 
 intelligent travellers have shed a flood of light on many points once 
 involved in obscurity. Still clearer light may be expected as the 
 result of further investigations. Meanwhile it seems eminently de 
 sirable that the great mass of valuable information already collected, 
 which is scattered through so many volumes, should be condensed 
 and put into a methodical form, that it may thus be made available to 
 the great body of biblical students. In the present Outlines of Sacred 
 Geography the attempt is made to perform this work with as much 
 brevity as is consistent with a clear statement of the various topics 
 that come up for consideration. In the Geography of the Hohj Land 
 its natural divisions have been followed, all of which lie in a north 
 and south direction. To the description of each division is appended 
 an account of its principal cities and villages, with the scriptural 
 reminiscences connected with them. Then follows a brief account of 
 the Countries adjacent to Palestine on the south, on the southeast and 
 east, on the northeast and north ; and finally a notice of the J/o/v 
 Distant Empires and Regions in their relation to the covenant people. 
 
 In the preparation of these outlines a large number of works has 
 been consulted, and it has been the author s aim to give credit for 
 everything distinctive or peculiar. If in any instance he has failed 
 to do so, it is from inadvertence, not from design. In a multitude 
 of cases the information used comes from so many sources, and is so 
 blended together, that particular references are unnecessary. The 
 references to Robinson s Biblical Researches are always to the sec 
 ond edition, containing his latter researches, unless otherwise speci 
 fied. In the references to Hitter s Geography of Palestine, the trans 
 lation made by the Rev. William L. Gage has been used : a trans 
 lation for which American students of Scripture are much indebted 
 to Mr. Gage. 
 
 The final end of these Outlines being the illustration of Holy 
 Writ, numerous quotations from Scripture or references to it have 
 been added. The writer hopes that the biblical student will de 
 rive valuable assistance from these in the study of God s word. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 PART I. 
 OUTLINES OF SACRED GEOGRAPHY. 
 
 CHAPTEK I. 
 
 GENEKAL VIEW OF PALESTINE. 
 
 1. Ancient Syria. Its extent and boundaries. The Hebrew term Aram, how 
 employed. 2. Palestine in the modern sense of the word. It should be 
 carefully distinguished from the Palestine of our version. Various Scriptu 
 ral designations Land of Canaan ; Land of Israel in its earlier sense, and 
 in its later as distinguished from the land of Judah ; Glorious land ; Holy 
 land ; Land of promise. 3. Extent of the promised land according to the 
 original grant. The whole of this territory never permanently possessed. 
 Distinction between the river of Egypt and the torrent of Egypt. 4. The 
 promised land as described by Moses and Joshua its western boundary, its 
 eastern, its southern. Its northern border as described by Moses. Position 
 of "the entering in of Hamath." Its eastern border to the base of Hermoti 
 and the Jordan. Its northern border as defined in the Book of Joshua. 
 This lay far south of that given by Moses. 5. Extent of the region perma 
 nently occupied by the Israelites. Its boundaries on the west and north. 
 Various measurements of the Israelitish territory. Oriental modes of com- 
 % puting distances. General outlines of Palestine compared with those of 
 New Hampshire. 6. General features of Palestine the deep valley of the 
 Jordan and Dead sea. 7. The broad mountainous belt on the west side. 
 Interruption by the plain of Esdraelon. Its eastern border precipitous. 
 Offset of lower hills on its western border. Its breadth. 8. The Mediter 
 ranean plain. Hebrew names for the different parts of this plain. Its extent. 
 9. The highland east of the Jordan. 10. Summary of the outlines of Pales 
 tine. Direction of the numerous ravines. Color of the soil in the limestone 
 region ; in the basalt region. 11. lie marks on the roads of Palestine. Lines 
 
6 CONTENTS. 
 
 of travel north and south ; east and west between the highlands and the 
 valleys. Military route between Egypt and the eastern empires. Remarks 
 on the use of wheeled carriages. 12. Peculiar situation of Palestine in rela 
 tion to the great empires of antiquity. Strength of Palestine in a military 
 point of view. Its adaptation to the purposes of the theocracy PAGE 29 
 
 CHAPTEE II.. 
 
 HIGHLANDS WEST OF THE JOKDAN VALLEY. 
 
 /. Northern Section Galilee in Part. 1. Lebanon and Anti-Lebanon with the inter 
 vening valley. The Leontes and its course. 2. Elevated tract north of the 
 plain of Esdraelon. Its eastern border. Its western border. Plains of Phoe 
 nicia and Akka. Mount Naphtali. Hills around Nazareth. 3. Mount Tabor. 
 Its character. View from its summit. Incorrect tradition respecting this 
 mountain. 4. Interspersed plains Kamah, el-Buttauf. 5. The great plain 
 of Esdraelon its eastern side ; its southwestern, its northern. Its general 
 character and condition. Its three great arms. Description of the middle 
 arm called the valley of Jezreel. Position of Jezreel and Beth-shan. Foun 
 tain of Jezreel. G. The Kishon described. Explanation of Elijah s message 
 to Ahab. 7. General features of the Galilean mountains. 8. Scriptural 
 reminiscences connected with this region. 9. Notice of its towns. Naza 
 reth, Cana of Galilee, Dabareh, Yafa, Sepphoris, Hattim, Safed, Kedesh of 
 Naphtali, Hazor, Taanach and Megiddo, Hadad-rimmon, En-gannim, Jez 
 reel. The ridges of Gilboa and Duhy. Shunem, Nain, and Endor 41 
 
 //. Middle Section Samaria in Part. 10. Carrnel. Its direction and extent. Its 
 character. Beauty of its scenery. Scene of Elijah s sacrifice. 11. Moun 
 tainous tract of Samaria. How distinguished in character from that of Gal 
 ilee. It is the Mount Ephraim of the Old Testament. 12. Plains of this 
 region plain of Dothan, Merj-el-Ghuruk, plain of Mukhna. 13. Situation 
 of Shechem and Samaria. 14. Various names of Shechem. Description of 
 the place. Its abundant fountains, verdure, and fruitfulness. 15. Its antiq 
 uity and Scriptural associations. Hi. Notices of Ebal and Gerizim. Jotham s 
 parable. 17. Notice of the people called Samaritans. Their origin. Their 
 worship. Enmity between them and the Jews. Their temple on Gerizim. 
 18. Jacob s well. Tomb of Joseph. 19. Position of Samaria. Its beauty 
 and strength. Its modern name and condition. 20. Scriptural reminiscen 
 ces connected with Samaria. 21. Other places in Mount Ephraim Dothan, 
 Tirzah, Thebez, Shalem, Shiloh, Gilgal of the mountainous tract, Timnath- 
 serah - 52 
 
 III. Southern Section Judea in Part. 22. General features of the mountainous 
 region of Judea. 23. Difference between its western and eastern slopes. 
 Desert character of the eastern slope. Middle region on the west between 
 tin- mountains and the plain. Greater and more rapid descent on the east. 
 24. Wilderness of Judah. Its general features. Its caverns. Names by 
 
CONTENTS. 7 
 
 which the mountainous tract south of Mount Ephraim was designated. 
 Notice of the South or South country. 25. Historical notices and sacred 
 reminiscences. 26. Topography of Jerusalem. Its general position. The 
 valley of Kidron on the east of the city. Its origin, course, and general 
 features. Tombs in its sides. Not a perennial stream. Modern name of 
 this valley. 27. Valley of Hinnom on the south. Its origin, course, and 
 character. Figurative use of the name Gehenna. 28. Particular description 
 of the site of Jerusalem. 29. Internal divisions of the city. Account of 
 Tacitus ; of Josephus, with remarks on his description. Course of the val 
 ley of Cheesemongers. Hitter s view preferred. Zion and Akra according 
 to this view. Robinson s view, with the objections to it. 30. Josephus 
 account of the walls and towns. The question of the site of the tower of 
 Hippicus and the holy sepulchre. Course and character of the modern walls. 
 Gates of the ancient city. 31. Zion. The hill described. David s tomb. 
 Zion only partly enclosed by the modern walls. Traditional holy sepulchre. 
 Other suggestions respecting its site. 32. The ancient temple area. Re 
 marks 011 its extent. Substantial identity of the temple area with the pres 
 ent Haram. Remains of ancient foundations. 33. General structure and 
 appearance of the temple. 34. The fortress Antonia according to Josephus 
 description. 35. The New City or Bezetha on the north. Ophel on the 
 south. 36. Dome of the Rock. Mosque el-Aksa. 37. Pool of Siloam described. 
 Not a fountain, but a receptacle of waters from the Fountain of the Virgin. 
 Subterranean channel connecting the latter with the former. Fountain of 
 the Virgin described. Its irregular flow. Subterranean canal leading to it. 
 38. Immense substructions under the Haram. Vast subterranean excava 
 tion northwest of the Haram. This an ancient quarry. 39. "Wells and foun 
 tains well west of the Haram wall, vast reservoir under the Haram, subter 
 ranean water-channels, well En-rogel. 40. Cisterns and pools. Pool of 
 Hezekiah, of Bethesda so-called, Upper pool of Gih/m, Lower pool of Gihon. 
 41. Solomon s pools. Their number, situation, and dimensions. Sealed 
 fountain above them. Aqueduct from them to Jerusalem. Their site the 
 Etani of the Talmud and Etharn of Josephus. The favorite resort of Solo 
 mon. Josephus account of his retinue. 42. Site of Tophet. Jerome s 
 description of the place. Denied by Josiah. Origin of the term Gehenna, 
 and its typical import. Typical use of Tophet. 43. Tombs around Jerusa 
 lem. Their general form. More elaborate tombs. Tombs of the Prophets 
 so-called, of the Kings, of the Judges. Fondness of the ancients for mag 
 nificent sepulchres. 44. Garden of Gethsemane. Aceldama and the Pot 
 ters field. The Fullers field. 45. Mount of Olives. Its course and extent. 
 Its character. Mount of Offence. Sacred associations connected with the 
 Mount of Olives. True place of the ascension. 46. Valley of Rephaim. 
 47. Places in the environs of Jerusalem Bethany, Auathoth. Gibeah of 
 Saul, Ramah of Benjamin. Various other places bearing the same name. 
 Ramah of Samuel. Question respecting its site. Geba, This place not to 
 be confounded with Gibeah. Michmash, et-Taiyibeh. Its probable identity 
 
8 CONTENTS. 
 
 with the Ophrah of the Old Testament and the Ephraim of the New. Beth 
 el. Scriptural notices of this place. Its desecration by Jeroboam. Ai, 
 Mizpeh. Scriptural incidents connected with the place. Gibeon. Its situ 
 ation. Scriptural incidents connected with it. The two Beth-horons. Their 
 situation described. Valley of Ajalon. Kirjiith-jrurim. Beth-lehem. Its 
 original name. Its site and environs. Well of Beth-lehem. Alleged place 
 of our Lord s birth and its surroundings. Rachel s tomb. Frank mountain. 
 T.-koa. 48. Hebron. Its antiquity. Scriptural events connected with it. 
 Its situation. Its pools. The great Haram of Hebron. It encloses the cave 
 oi Maehpelah. Some account of its structure. Other names of Hebron. 
 Valley of Hebron. 49. Places south of Hebron Ziph, Carmel, and Maon, 
 Juttah, Anab, etc. 50. Beer-sheba and the historic incidents connected with 
 it. Wells of Beer-sheba - G6 
 
 CHAPTEK III. 
 
 THE MEDITERRANEAN PLAIN. 
 
 7. Plain of Akka or Acre. 1. Coast from Ras-el-Abyad to Carmel. 2. Plain and 
 town of Akka. 3. Other places on the plain Haifa, Achzib, Cabul 116 
 
 II. Plain of Sharon. 4. General description of the plain south of Carmel. 5. Its 
 northern part is the ancient Sharon. Its extent and general character. Its 
 present deserted state. Custom of the inhabitants of Palestine to select hills 
 for their cities and villages. 6. Ruins of ancient places in Sharon. Csesarea. 
 Its ancient name. Built with great splendor by Herod the Great, and made 
 his residence. Notices of Ceesarea in the New Testament. Its present ruins 
 described. 7. Autipatris. Its site, and notice of it in the New Testament. 
 Dor. Arsuf. 8. Joppa, the seaport of Jerusalem. Scriptural notices of it. 
 Description of the modern city and its environs. 9. Lydda. Its various 
 names. Its position* Ramleh. Plain of Ono. Gilgal of the plain 117 
 
 III. Tlie Shephelah or Philistine Plain. 10. Line of division between this and 
 Sharon. Various renderings of the term in our version. Extent and char 
 acter of this plain. Hilly district on its eastern border. 11. This plain the 
 proper home of tbe Philistines. Scriptural notices of the origin of this 
 people. 13. The five Philistine cities Ekron, Gath, Ashdod, Ashkelon, 
 Gaza. Samson s exploit in connection with Gaza. Notice of the place in 
 the New Testament. Its present name and condition. Notice of some other 
 places on the Philistine plain Jabneel and Eglon. 14. Prophetic denunci 
 ations upon the Philistine cities, and their fulfilment. 15. Places among the 
 hills on the eastern border. Eleutheropolis. Ruins of the place described. 
 These identified by Robinson. Importance of this to sacred geography. 
 16. Valley of Elah and its environs. This the scene of David s encounter 
 with Goliath. 17. Mareshah. Beth-shemesh. Timnath. Zorah. Eshtaol. 
 Zanoah. Emmaus of Josephus. Question of the identity of this place with 
 the Emmaus of the New Testament. 18. Desert south of the plain. Gerar. 
 Rehoboth 122 
 
CONTENTS. 9 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 VALLEY OF THE JORDAN AND DEAD SEA. 
 
 J. General Remarks. 1. Extent and direction of the chasm with its continuations 
 south and north. 2. Position of the Dead sea and its immense depression. 
 Waters flowing into it. Waters of the valley of Coalesyria and of the Leba 
 non ranges. Waters of Wady-et-Teim. 3. The Jordan never flowed into 
 the Ked sea 134 
 
 II. Upper Jordan and Lake Hideh. 4. Chief sources of the Jordan. At Tell el- 
 Kady. This the site of the ancient Dan. At Banias, the ancient Cresarea 
 Philippi. The Hasbany. This the most remote but smallest source of th.e 
 Jordan. Other minor streams. 5. Lake Phiala. 6. Basin of the Hiileh. 
 Its extent and adjacent marshes. This lake probably identical with the 
 Waters of Meroni. 7. Course of the Jordan between the Huleh and sea of 
 Galilee. Ridge. Rapids. Elevation of the surface of Huleh --- - 135 
 
 ///. Sea of Galilee and the Jordan below. 8. Sacred associations connected with 
 the Sea of Galilee. 9. Various names of the sea. Description of it. 10. Plain 
 of Gennesaret. 11. Towns around the lake. Tiberias. Situation of the 
 place. Founded by Herod Antipas. Long a seat of Jewish learning. Warm 
 baths in its vicinity. Magdala. Dalmanutha. Capernaum. Question re 
 specting its site. Khan Minyeh, Tell Hum, the Round Fountain. Chorazin 
 and Bethsaida. Another Bethsaida east of the Jordan. Place where the 
 multitude were miraculously fed. Scene of the healing of the demoniacs. 
 Wady Hamain and Beth-arbel. 12. Barnes applied to the Jordan valley- 
 modern Arabic, Greek and Roman, Hebrew. 13. General description of 
 the Ghor or outer Jordan valley. Its length and width. Mountains on the 
 west and east. Its upper and lower divisions. Character of the different 
 parts. 14. Inner valley of the Jordan. Its width and straight direction. 
 Tortuous course of the Jordan within it. Verdure along its banks. 15. An 
 nual rise of the Jordan. "The pride of Jordan." 16. Saracenic bridge. 
 Ruins of Roman bridges. Fords. 17. Tributaries of the Jordan. The 
 Hieromax. The Jabbok. Nahr el-Jalud. 18. Climate of the Ghor. Some 
 notice of its peculiar productions. 19. Unique character of the Jordan in 
 its origin, course, and termination. Its unique history. Its waters thrice 
 miraculously divided. Healing of Naaman. Swimming of iron. Baptism 
 of John. Our Lord baptized in its waters. 20. Account of Jericho. Differ 
 ent sites of the place in different ages. Scriptural incidents connected with 
 it. Immense descent from Jerusalem to Jericho. Dangerous character of 
 the road. 21. Oasis of Jericho, how produced. Its two principal fountains. 
 Josephus description of its extent and character. Notice of some of its prod 
 ucts. Its present condition. 22. Other places in the Jordan valley. Gil- 
 gal. Fusail. The brook Cherith. Beisan with its Scriptural reminiscences. 
 Site of Succoth. Ford of Beth-barah. 2Enon. Place of our Lord s baptism 
 unknown 140 
 
 1* 
 
10 CONTENTS. 
 
 IV. The Dead Sea and Us Vicinity. 23. Place of the Dead sea in the valley, how 
 determined. Its immense depression. Its depth. Elevation of Jerusalem 
 
 " above the brow of the cliffs on its western side. These three measures 
 equal. No known chasm has as great depression. Variable depth of its 
 waters. 24. Extent of the sea, how determined. Average length and 
 breadth. Terraces on its banks. 25. How shut in on both sides. Western 
 brow. Eastern brow. Valleys and gorges in the adjacent cliffs. Character 
 of the rocks. Low belt of shore. Peninsula in the southern part. The 
 Sabkhah, or salt marsh at the southern end of the sea. Cliffs of Akrabbim. 
 Marshes at the north end of the sea. lleference to these in Ezekiel. 26. Ex 
 cessive heat of the region, and tropical character of its vegetation. Legends 
 respecting it. 27. Salt mountain on the southern shore. Its extent and 
 character. It accounts for the saltuess of the waters of this sea. Valley of 
 salt, and City of salt. 28. Volcanic character of the region. Hot springs. 
 Sulphurous formation. Earthquakes. Connection between the earthquakes 
 of Italy and Syria. 29. Bitumen of the Dead sea. It is thrown up from the 
 bottom after earthquakes. Traces of bitumen on the shore. 30. Character 
 of the water. Its intense saltness. Its buoyancy. Analysis. 31. Various 
 names applied to this sea The Salt sea, Sea of the Arabah, East sea, 
 Asphaltic lake, Sea of Sodom, Sea of Lot, Dead sea. 32. Places of 
 interest on or near its shore. Pass of En-gedi. Its position. Fountain. 
 Vegetation. Description of the pass. Its use in ancient times. Scriptural 
 references to it. Streams entering the Dead sea. Zurka Main. Arnon. 
 Wady Kerak. Streams entering the southern bay. Fertile spots on the 
 shore. The ancient fortress Masada. Convent of Mar Saba 157 
 
 V. Destruction of Sodom and the Neighboring Cities. 33. The Dead sea existed 
 
 before that event. 34. Various hypotheses respecting the mode in which 
 the chasm of the Jordan and Dead sea was formed. 35. Site of Sodom and 
 the neighboring cities. Grove s, hypothesis that it was at the north end of 
 the sea. The common hypothesis that it was at the south end. Argument 
 in favor of this. 36. Manner of the overthrow of these cities. Scriptural 
 account of the same. Changes connected with the catastrophe 168 
 
 CHAPTEK V. 
 
 THE KEGION EAST OF THE JOKDAN VALLEY. 
 
 1. Joshua s account of this region. Its two main divisions 173 
 
 I. Sashan. 2. Extent of Bashaii, and its divisions under the Komans. 3. Gen 
 eral description of Bashan. Jebel Heish. Gaulonitis and Auranitis. Bata- 
 naea. Question respecting the Mount of Bashan. 4. Trachonitis or the 
 Lejah. It is the Argob of the Old Testament. Singular character of Lejah. 
 Its borders studded with the remains of ancient cities. Josephus account 
 of Trachonitis. 5. Fertility of Bashan. Scriptural notices of it. 6. Ancient 
 populousuess of the region. Its present desolate condition. Some account 
 
CON CENTS, 11 
 
 of its dt st-vtt d cities and ruins. 7. Ancient towns ot Bushan. Bozruli. 
 The capital city of the region under Roman sway. Account of its ruins. 
 Its citadel. To be distinguished from the Bozrah of Edom. Salcah. Beth- 
 
 gamul. Ashtaroth and Edrei. Kenath 173 
 
 II. Gilead. 8. Its extent and two general divisions. Its northern boundary. 
 Application of the term Mishor. 9. Northern division of Gilead or Jebel 
 AjlAu desci ibed. 10. Southern part of Gilead or the Belka. Site of Pisgah. 
 Magnificent view from its summit, Balaam prophesied from the same 
 height. 11. Rivers of Gilead Hieroinax, Jabbok, Zurka Main, and Arnon. 
 12. Remains of ancient cities. Gadara. Tombs in its vicinity. Gerasa. 
 Its ruins the most extensive east of the Jordan. Site of Jabesh-gilead. 
 Scriptural notices of this place. Site of Pella. Site of Ramoth-gilead, and 
 its Scriptural history. Question respecting the site of Mahanaim. 13. Ruins 
 in the southern part of the Belka. These places originally belonged to the 
 Moabites, and fell again into their hands upon the decline of the Israelitish 
 power. Heshbon, Elealeh, Beth-meon, Medeba, Kiriathaim, Dibon, and 
 Aroer. 14. Remarks on the present condition of the land of promise, and 
 its future prospects -- - 180 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 ANCIENT DIVISIONS OF THE ISRAELITISH LAND. 
 
 1. Recapitulation of its natural divisions - 191 
 
 J. Hebrew Division by Tribes. 2. The boundaries of the tribes can be only proxi- 
 mately determined. 3. Tribes east of the Jordan. Extent of the kingdoms 
 of Sihon and Og. How divided between the two and a half tribes. Terri 
 tory of Reuben. Of Gad. That of the half tribe of Manasseh. 4. The 
 eastern frontier of the above-named tribes. Their warlike character and 
 conquests. Valor of the Gadites.- 5. Remarks on the first attempt at dis 
 tribution west of the Jordan. Idea under which it was commenced. This 
 idea not realized. 6. Territory originally assigned to Judah. Its northern 
 boundary. 7. Territory of Simeon. It fell within the lot of Judah. Jacob s 
 prophetic words respecting Simeon. Remarkable decrease of the tribe in 
 the wilderness. 8. Territory of Benjamin. Jerusalem lay within this tribe. 
 9. Territory of Dan. Its small size. Their expedition to the northern bor 
 der of the land. 10. Territory of Ephraim. Of the half tribe of Manasseh. 
 Excellence of the portion that fell to the sons of Joseph. 11. Issachar. 
 12. Zebulun. 13. Asher and Xaphtuli. Beauty and fertility of this part of 
 Galilee. Prophetic encomiums of Jacob and Moses. * 14. The tribe of Levi 
 received no separate territory, but forty-eight cities with their suburbs. 
 Form and dimensions of these cities. 15. The terms Judah and Israel after 
 the separation of the ten tribes - 193 
 
 //. Divisions of Palestine in the Roman Age. 16. The three provinces west of the 
 Jordan. 17. Galilee. Its boundaries and two subdivisions. Origin of the 
 
12 CONTENTS. 
 
 d mi. :iinl its original application. IN. Boundaries ol Samaria. .losephus 
 account of its southern l>ord T. 1!>. Boundaries of Jud;va. The South 
 country of the ancient kingdom of Judah reckoned to Idnnwa. 10. Bashan 
 and its divisions under the Romans. The Galaaditis of the Romans substan 
 tially the same as Perrca 203 
 
 CHAPTEK VII. 
 
 CLIMATE, SOIL, AND NATURAL HISTORY OF PALESTINE. 
 
 /. Climate. 1. Geographical position of Palestine contrasted with that of the 
 gulf states of America. 2. Rainy and dry season. 3. Period of the rainy 
 season. Wonderful transformation of the face of nature produced by it. 
 4. Meaning of the terms Early or Former and Latter Rain. 5. Region from 
 which the rain comes. Scriptural illustrations. 6. Beginning and duration 
 of the dry season. Its effect upon vegetation. 7. Distribution of rain. How 
 determined. 8. Temperature of the different sections of Palestine. How 
 determined. 9. Climate of the mountainous regions. Bad condition of the 
 winter roads. 10. Climate of the Jordan valley. Of the Mediterranean 
 plain. 11. Means of determining the relative temperature of these different 
 regions. Direct observation of the thermometer. Times of harvest. Pro 
 ductions peculiar to the different segions. 12. The Sirocco. Its debilitating 
 effects. Origin of the name. Scriptural notices of it 200 
 
 II. Soil. 13. Limestone the basis of the rocks of Palestine. Remains of a later 
 chalk formation. Sandstones eastxof the Jordan valley. Basalt formations. 
 14. Natural capabilities of the soil] Question respecting the physical dete 
 rioration of the climate. A bad government the main cause of the present 
 desolations of Palestine. Proofs of the natural fertility of the soil. Jose- 
 phus account of Galilee. Standard of comparison in Moses description of 
 the promised land - 213 
 
 III. Natural History. 15. General remarks. 10. Plants furnishing food to man. 
 17. Plants furnishing clothing. 18. Fruit-bearing trees. Excellence of the 
 vineyards of Palestine. Olive orchards. The fig. The sycamore. The 
 pomegranate. Question respecting the apple-tree of our version. Oranges 
 and other fruits. 19. Nut-bearing and other forest trees. The oak. Pista- 
 cia. Carob-tree. 20. Odoriferous and other plants. The hyssop of Scrip 
 ture. 21. Egyptian plants in the valley of the Jordan and Dead sea. Notice 
 of the. papyrus. I l. Variety and beauty of wild flowers. 23. Use of flower- 
 stalks and weeds for fuel. Of the ordure of animals. Burnings of lime. 
 24. Domestic animals of Palestine. Buffaloes tame and wild. Broad-tailed 
 sheep. 2">. Wild animals. The cony of Scripture. Dogs without owners 
 in Palestine. 26. Birds of Palestine. Notice of the Syrian nightingale. 
 Pigeons in the clefts of the rocks. 27. Kept lies. Different Scriptural names 
 for venomous serpents. The fiery serpents of the wilderness, and fiery flying 
 serpents of Isaiah. 28. Fishes and marine animals. Badger of our version. 
 
CONTENTS. 13 
 
 Coracinus of Josephus. _ M. In-vcts. Bees. Different kiuds of honey. Lo 
 cust of the east described. Its ravages. Use of locusts for food. 30. Uni 
 corn of Scripture. Not a one-horned animal. It was of the ox kind, and 
 known to the inhabitants of Palestine, but the particular species is uncer 
 tain. Question respecting the behemoth of Job. It was either the hippo 
 potamus or the elephant. Meaning of the word leviathan 215 
 
 CHAPTEE VIII. 
 
 COUNTKIES ON THE SOUTH OF PALESTINE. 
 
 General remark 228 
 
 /. Egypt and Ethiopia. 1. Claim of Egypt on our attention. Its names and 
 ancient divisions. 2. Manetho s list of Egyptian dynasties. Remarks on 
 Egyptian chronology. 3. Religion of the Egyptians. Their multiplication 
 of deities. Relics of the primitive revelation. Why shepherds were an 
 abomination to the Egyptians. 4. Government of Egypt. Its sacerdotal 
 character. 5. Civilization of the Egyptians. Their progress in the arts and 
 sciences. 6. Early relation of the covenant people to the Egyptians. 7. Their 
 relation after the exodus. 8. Geographical features of Egypt. General 
 divisions and extent of Egypt. 9. Upper Egypt. Its extent and character. 
 Its subdivisions. Pathros. 10. Lower Egypt. Its boundaries. The coast. 
 The alluvial plain behind it. 11. Laud of Goshen. Its position and char 
 acter. Intercourse between the Israelites and Egyptians. 12. Description 
 of the Nile. 13. Annual rise of the Nile. Its amount at different places. 
 Effect of excessive or defective inundations. The Nile to Egypt the source 
 of both plenty and famine. 14. Great fertility of Egypt. Modes of culture 
 and irrigation. 15. Productions of Egypt. 16. Climate of Egypt. Liability 
 to famines. 17. Ancient cities of Egypt Alexandria, Zoar, Sin, Tahpauhes. 
 Hanes probably identical with Tahpanhes. Migdol. Pi-beseth. Pithoin 
 and Rameses. On. Noph. Thebes, the No-amon of Scripture. Syene. 
 18. Egyptian doctrine of the transmigration of souls. 19. Processes of 
 embalming. 20. Tombs. The pyramids a class of these. Their form and 
 dimensions. Fruitlessness of the toil bestowed by the Egyptians on the 
 bodies of the deceased. 21. Ancient Ethiopia, the Cush of the Old Testa 
 ment. Relation of Ethiopia to Egypt and the covenant people. 22. Can- 
 dace and her territory ^- -- - - 228 
 
 71. Arabia. 23. The Sinaitic peninsula. 24. The two gulfs that enclose the 
 peninsiila. Eziou-geber and the site of Ophir. 25. Description of the 
 peninsula. 26. Passage of the Red sea by the Israelites. 27. The wil 
 derness of Shur. Route of the Israelites to Sinai. Distinction between 
 Horeb and Sinai. 28. Question of the place whence the law was given. 
 29. Route of the Israelites after leaving Sinai. Wilderness of Parau. 
 ?.0. Question of the site of Kadesh. 31. Sinaitic inscriptions. 32. Adapta- 
 
14 CONTENTS. 
 
 tion of this region to the designs of God. 33. Question of the maintenance 
 of the flocks and herds of the Israelites in the desert. The manner of the 
 forty years wandering. 34. The Amalekites. 35. The Kenites - 247 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 COUNTRIES ON THE SOUTHEAST AND EAST. 
 
 I. Edom. 1. Territory of Edoni before and after the Babylonish captivity. 
 
 2. Mount Seir described. 3. The Arabah at its western base. 4. Places 
 of interest in and around Mount Seir. Petra. Its situation described. 
 Approach from the east by the Sik. The Khuzneh. General remarks. Sela 
 and Petra probably identical. Mount Hor. Bozrah and Tophel. 5. Rela- 
 tion of the Edomites to the Israelites. The occupancy by them of the south 
 country of Judah during the captivity. Present desolation of Idumaea- 259 
 
 II. The, Couniry of the Modbites. 6. Proper Moabitish territory, and its charac 
 ter. 7. Its eastern cliffs bordering on the Dead sea. Wady Kerak. 8. Ar 
 Moab. Kir Moab, the modern Kerak. 9. Relation of the Moabites to the 
 children of Israel. Present desolation of their territory. The water that 
 came by the way of Edom 2G4. 
 
 III. Tfie Country of the Ammonites. 10. Boundaries of Ammon. In what sense 
 half their land was given to the tribe of Gad. Their nomadic character, and 
 the fewness of their towns. 11. Rabbah. Its site described. Its magnifi 
 cent ruins. 12. Relation, of the Ammonites to the covenant people 207 
 
 IV. The Midianites, and other Arabian Tribes. 13. Seat of the nation. 14. Rela 
 tion of the Midianites to Israel. ].">. Various Arabian tribes. Ephah. Sheba. 
 Kedar. Nebaioth. The Hagurites. Tema. Dumah. . The land of Uz-- 269 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 COUNTRIES ON THE NORTHEAST AND NORTH. 
 
 I. Mesopotamia. 1. Remarks on the terms Aram and Hebrew. 2. Hebrew and 
 
 Greek names of Mesopotamia. 3. Extent and divisions of Mesopotamia. 
 4. Harau. Habor, Halah, and Hara. Modern Mesopotamiun towns. 5. Con 
 nection of the Israelitish nation with Mesopotamia 273 
 
 II. Syria Proper. G. Its boundaries and extent. 7. Grand feature of this region. 
 8. The range of Lebanon. Its direction and extent. Its highest peaks. 
 Its western declivity. Its eastern. Origin and signification of the name 
 Lebanon. View of Lebanon from below and from above. Products of Leb- 
 mioii. Its fruits. Its vineyards. Cedars of Lebanon. 9. Ridge of Anti- 
 Lebanon. Its two divisions. Its character. Its southern part the Hermon 
 of the Old Testament. Ridges radiating from Hermon. 10. Ccele-Syria 
 and Wady et-Teim. Different extensions given by the ancients to the term 
 Ccele-Syria. 11. The Leoutes. Its stupendous chasm. Ancient castle at 
 
CONTENTS. 1") 
 
 its bend. 12. Entering in of Hamath. Jebel en-Nusairiyeh. Mount Ca- 
 sius. Plain of Hums and mountain range north of it. Valley of el-Ghab. 
 13. Course of the Orontes. 14. Chain of Anianus and the hilly tract to the 
 east. Gates of Syria and plain of Issus. 15. Places of chief interest in the 
 great Syrian valley. Beth-rehob. Abel-beth-maachah. Ijon. Baal-gad. Hus- 
 beiya and Rasheiya. Ituins of Baalbec. Relics of heathen temples along this 
 valley. Ribleh and its Scriptural associations. Hums, the ancient Emesa. 
 Hamah, the Hamath of Scripture. Antioch. Its situation, and Scriptural 
 notices of it. Seleucia. 10. Plain of Damascus. Its boundaries, form, and 
 extent. 17. Irrigation of the plain. The Abana and Pharpar. Comparison 
 of these streams with the Jordan. 18. Approach to Damascus from the 
 west. The city described. 19. The plain of Damascus. Its lakes and 
 marshes. 20. Antiquity and history of Damascus. Scriptural notices of it. 
 21. Helbon and its wine. 22. Aram-Zobah. 23. Abilene. 24. Palmyra. 
 
 Its ruins described" - 276 
 
 III. Phoenicia. 25. Boundaries of Phoenicia Proper. 26. Phoenicia in the wider 
 sense. 27. Commercial character of the Phoenicians. Wide extent of their 
 commerce. Circumnavigation of Africa. 28. Their progress in the arts and 
 sciences. The Greeks had from them their primitive alphabet. Substantial 
 agreement of their language with that of the Hebrews. 29. Their friendly 
 relation to the Hebrews in David s and Solomon s time. Their unfriendly 
 conduct at a later date. 30. Phoenician cities. Tyre. Its site. Converted 
 into a peninsula by Alexander s causeway. Its harbor. Its great antiquity. 
 Sieges sustained by it. Its present miserable condition. Ezekiel s descrip 
 tion of the Tyrian commerce with the surrounding regions Senir, the isles 
 of Elishah, Lud and Phut, Tarshish, with the questions concerning it, Javan, 
 Tubal and Meshech, Togarmah, Dedan, Vedan. Zidon, or Sidon. Its an 
 tiquity and history. Beauty of its environs. Zarephath, the Sarepta of the 
 New Testament. Gebal. Arvad. The modern cities of Beirut and Tara- 
 bulus, or Tripolis 291 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 ASIA MINOR AND GREECE. 
 
 1. Application of the modern term Asia Minor. Meaning of the word Asia in 
 the New Testament. Character of Asia Minor. Loose use of the term Asia 
 in the apocrypha. 2. Greece. General remark on the region. Designa 
 tions of Greece and the regions west of it, in the Old Testament. Meaning 
 of the word "isles." Chittim. Asia Minor and Greece very prominent in 
 the history of the apostolic labors. 3. The seven churches in Asia. Their 
 general position and relation to each other. Ephesus, with its port Miletus. 
 Smyrna. Pergamos. Thyatira. Sardis. Philadelphia. Laodicea. Colosse 
 and Hieropolis in the neighborhood of Laodicea. 4. Paul s first missionary 
 tour. Cyprus, with its towns Salamis and Paphos. Attalia. Perga. Anti- 
 
1C; CONTENTS. 
 
 och in Pisidia. Iconium. Lystra and Derbe. 5. Paul s second missionary 
 tour. His course through Cilicia, Phrygia, and Galatia to Troas; from Troas 
 by Samothrace and Neapolis to Philippi in Macedonia; from Philippi through 
 Amphipolis and Apollonia to Thessalonica. Description of this place. The 
 apostle at Athens, and at Corinth. 6. Paul s third missionary tour. He 
 passes through Asia Minor to Ephesus. His long stay at Ephesus. He 
 visits Greece and returns to Troas. Illyricum and Dalmatia. The apostle s 
 route from Troas by Assos, Mitylene, Chios, Samos, Miletus, Coos, Rhodes, 
 to Patara. His return to Jerusalem. 7. Places noticed in connection with 
 Paul s voyage to Rome. Adramyttium. Course to Myra. Promontory of 
 Cuidos. Island of Crete. Promontory of Salmone. The Fair Havens near 
 Lasea. Phcenice. Clauda. Melita, the modern Malta. Position of the 
 quicksands. Course from Melita to Rome by Syracuse, Rhegium, Puteoli, 
 and The Three Taverns 299 
 
 CHAPTEK XII. 
 
 THE EASTERN EMPIRES. 
 
 General remark 309 
 
 I. Assyria. 1. Assyria Proper and the Assyrian empire. 2. Relations of this 
 
 empire to the kingdoms of Israel and Judah. 3. Former flourishing condi 
 tion of the Assyrian region, and its civilization in ancient times. 4. Ruins 
 of the Assyrian cities. Ancient Nineveh. 5. Fulfilment of prophecy. 
 C. Other Assyrian places - - T 309 
 
 II. Chaldd a. 7. Chaldsea Proper. Babylonia. Chaldaea in the wider sense. 
 Chaldoeans as a class of learned men. The land of Shinar. Eden. 8. An 
 tiquity of the Babylonian kingdom. The Chaldiean monarchy of Scripture 
 history. Date and duration of the Babylonish captivity. 9. Ancient Baby 
 lon. 10. Other Babylonian cities 314 
 
 III. The Medes and Persians. 11. Upper Media. Lower Media. 12. The two 
 cities called Ecbatana. The Achmetha of Ezra. 13. Persia in the strict 
 sense. The Persian empire. Elarn. Susa. 14. Empire of the Medes and 
 Persians 317 
 
 CHAPTEK XIII. 
 
 OTHER REMOTE REGIONS. 
 
 1. Scriptural notices of Italy few and general. Rome. Prevalence of Greek 
 literature in that city. 2. Armenia. Ararat. 3. Gog and Magog. 4. India. 
 5. The land of Sinim or China 320 
 
CONTENTS. 17 
 
 PART TI. 
 BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 FIRST DIVISION DOMESTIC ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 CHAPTEE XIV. 
 
 AGRICULTURE. 
 
 1. Adaptation of Palestine to agricultural pursuits. 2. The Mosaic laws favorable 
 to agriculture the sabbatical year ; the year of jubilee. 3. Irrigation of the 
 soil ; its various modes and Scriptural references to it. 4. Terraces. 5. Im 
 plements of agriculture the plough, mattock or hoe, harrow. 6. Animals 
 employed in agriculture. The ploughman s goad 335 
 
 PRINCIPAL DEPARTMENTS OF AGRICULTURE. I. The Cereal and Leguminous Plants. 
 7. Wheat, barley, etc. beans, lentiles, etc. 8. Seedtime modes of sowing. 
 9. Barley and wheat harvest. Mode of reaping and gathering. 10. Thresh 
 ing-floors. Modes of threshing. The threshing sledge. Threshing a sym 
 bol of destroying judgments. 11. Winnowing. The winnowing shovel or 
 fan. Winnowing a symbol of discriminating judgments. 12. Storehouses 
 for grain. 13. Provision made for the poor in the Mosaic code. Harvest 
 scenes in the book of Ruth 342 
 
 IL Culture of the Vine. 14. Palestine celebrated for its vineyards. The vine of 
 Sorek. Wild grapes. 15. Appointments of a vineyard. The hedge, tower, 
 etc. 16. The vintage. Raisins, and honey of grapes. 17. Wine and its 
 manufacture. The winepress and vat. Treading of the grapes, and its: 
 symbolical import. 18. Different preparations from the must. Exposure of 
 wine bottles to smoke. 19. Strong drinS, how prepared. Drugged wine 
 and its symbolical import. 20. Various terms for the juice of the grape 
 or preparations made from it. Distinction between new wine and wine. 
 Honey of grapes. Sweet wine. Wine on the lees. Vinegar of wine 348 
 
 III. Culture of the Olive. 21. The olive-tree and its wood. 22. Olive-berries and 
 oil. 23. Modes of expressing the oil. Beaten Oil. Various oil-mills. Ques 
 tion respecting the treading of olives. 24. The storing of olive-oil 356 
 
 IV. Fruit-Trees. 25-27. The date-palm. 28. The fig-tree. 29. The sycamore. 
 30. The pomegranate. 31. The apple of the Old Testament The almond 359 
 
 V. Various Other Departments of Agricultural Labor. 32. Gardens and orchards. 
 
 Hebrew idea of a paradise. Scriptural allusions to gardens. 33. The bal 
 sam of the Old Testament. Opobalsamum. Myrobalanuin. 34. Honey of 
 bees. Abundance of bees in Palestine. Food of the Baptist in the wilder- 
 - 364 
 
18 CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTEK XV. 
 
 CAKE OF FLOCKS AND HEEDS AND OTHER ANIMALS. 
 
 1. Nomadic character of the early patriarchs, and of the two and a half tribes 
 east of the Jordan. 2. The civilization of nomads inferior to that of agri 
 cultural people. Their roving life. Their abode in tents. Oriental tents 
 described, and their furniture. Order of encampment. The nomadic life 
 unfavorable to stable institutions, and favorable to predatory expeditions. 
 Ancient plundering incursions of the nomadic tribes. 3. The camel. 
 4-8. Sheep and goats. 9. Neat-cattle. 10. Fountains and cisterns. 11. Asses. 
 12. Horses. 13. Hunting and fishing 367 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 HOUSES AND THEIE APPOINTMENTS. 
 
 1. Caves as dwelling-places. 2. Different classes of houses. 3. General idea and 
 plan of an oriental house. It fronts inwardly, and presents a mean appear 
 ance externally. The doorway or gate. The porch. 4. Courts of oriental 
 houses. These distinguished from the court of the temple. 5. The verandah 
 around the court, and chambers behind it. Gallery of the second floor, with 
 its chambers. Different quality and uses of the chambers. Outer and inner 
 courts. Height of oriental houses. Cellars for storage. 6. The reception- 
 room. This the room of the high-priest s palace where Jesus was arraigned. 
 Circumstances of the evangelic narrative. Guest chambers. Divans. The 
 corner of the divan the seat of honor. 7. Flights of stairs. Windows and 
 lattices. 8. Flat roofs of oriental houses. Manner of their construction, and 
 materials employed. Their imperfection. Case of the paralytic who was let 
 down through the roof. 8. Uses made of these roofs. Samson s exploit in 
 the temple of Dagon. 9. Battlements around the roofs. Upper chambers. 
 Our Lord s admonition to him who is upon the housetop. Proclamations 
 from roofs. 10. Fireplaces and absence of chimneys. Summer and winter 
 houses. Egyptian mode of ventilation. 11. Materials of eastern houses. 
 12. Their appointments. 13. Their Aspect. Walls of ancient cities 383 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 DEESS AND PERSONAL OENAMENTS. 
 
 1. General remarks. 2. The tunic. 3. The girdle. Girding up the loins. 4. 
 The robe. 5. The mantle. Its use as a covering at night. Varieties of it 
 Modern oriental outer garments. Breeches. 6. The oriental shoe a sandal. 
 Oriental usages in respect to sandals and shoes. 7. The hair and beard. 
 Head-dresses. 8. The staff. The signet and its use. The necklace. Cloth 
 ing an officer with robes of office. 9. Veils. 10. Ezekiel s description of the 
 dress of a woman of rank. Isaiah s catalogue of female adornments. Paint- 
 
CONTENTS. 19 
 
 ing the eyebrows. Wearing of artificial horns not a Hebrew usage. 11. Ma 
 terials employed for clothing. Prohibition in respect to garments of mixed 
 materials, and to the interchange of garments between the sexes. Fringes 
 on the borders of garments. Phylacteries. 12. Colors of garments, and 
 their significance. Changes of raiment - - 396 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 THE PREPARATION OF FOOD AND MEALS. 
 
 1. The primitive mortar and pestle. 2. Oriental mills. Women grinding at 
 them. Manner of working them. Sound of the millstone. 3. Kneading- 
 troughs. 4. Bread unleavened and leavened. Unleavened cakes baked in 
 the ashes. Modern Arabic process. Unleavened bread of the modern Jew 
 ish passover. Loaves of leavened bread. 5. Ovens and bakeries. Public 
 ovens. Private ovens portable and fixed. 6. Other modes of cooking. 
 7. Articles of diet. 8. Posture at meals. Of the ancient Hebrews, of the Jews 
 in our Saviour s time. 9. Mode of taking food. Washing of hands. An 
 Arab feast described. Wedding and birthday festivals. The wedding garment 
 of our Lord s parable. 10. Oriental hospitality, ancient and modern 408 
 
 CHAPTEE XIX. 
 
 DOMESTIC RELATIONS AND USAGES. 
 
 I. The Family. 1. Origin of polygamy. Position of the Mosaic law with respect 
 to it. Its discontinuance under the gospel. 2. Distinction between the wife 
 and the concubine. General remark. 3. Hebrew usage in regard to the 
 choice of a wife. 4. The espousal. 5. Marriage dowry given on the side of 
 the bridegroom. No dowry in the case of concubines. 6. Consummation of 
 the marriage. The marriage-feast, and ceremonies connected with it. 7. The 
 law of the Levirate. 8. Forbidden degrees of consanguinity. Question 
 concerning the marriage of a deceased wife s sister. Intermarriages with the 
 Canaanites forbidden. Special restrictions in the case of the high priest, and 
 of common priests. General remark on second marriages. 9. The Hebrew 
 law of divorce. Our Saviour s rule. 10. Adultery as defined by the Mosaic 
 law. Penalty attached to the crime. Ordeal for a woman suspected of adul 
 tery. 11. The Hebrew wife s desire of offspring. Birthday festivities. The 
 rite of circumcision, and naming of the child. Purification of the mother. 
 Significance of Hebrew names. The giving of new names. 12. Power of the 
 father over his Children, and its limitation by the Mosaic law. Prerogatives 
 of the first-born son. Figurative use of the term first-born 419 
 
 H Masters and Sen^ants. 13. Distinction" between hired servants and bond- 
 servants. The Hebrew servant not a personal chattel. His rights as a man. 
 Every religious privilege secured to him. Question in respect to the rite 
 
20 CONTENTS. 
 
 of circumcision. 14. Classes of servants. Man-stealing a capital offence. 
 15. Limitations of the time of servitude. Two classes of passages consid 
 ered, and the different ways of reconciling them. 16. Servitude among the 
 Gentile nations -- 430 
 
 III. Forms of Social Intercourse. 17. Ancient Hebrew forms of salutation illus 
 trated from Scriptural examples. Various forms of greeting. Modern orien 
 tal forms of salutation. Their tediousness and heartlessness. 18. Dancing 
 as a religious act. Social dancing. 19. Place of woman among the Hebrews. 
 Reserve in the social intercourse between the sexes. The degradation of 
 woman in Mohammedan countries. 20. Ceremonial of visits. The gates of 
 cities places of common resort, 21. The bestowal of gifts and alms 434 
 
 IV. The Burial of the Dead. 22. The loss of burial considered as a great calamity. 
 23. Funeral rites of the ancient Hebrews. Burning of the corpse not cus 
 tomary among them. 24. Oriental expressions of mourning. Professional 
 mourners, ancient and modern. Self-laceration for the dead forbidden to 
 the Hebrews 439 
 
 Appendix. Grecian and Eoman games 443 
 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 
 THE SCIENCES AND ARTS. 
 1. General Remark - 447 
 
 I. Hebrew Divisions of Time. 2. Hebrew years and months. 3. Intercalary month. 
 
 Jewish way of determining the beginning of the month. 4. Beginning of 
 the Jewish year. In what sense the Hebrews had a sacred and a^civil year. 
 Names of the Jewish months. 5. Division of time into weeks. The week of 
 weeks. The week of years. The week of Sabbatical years. G. The Hebrew 
 d:iy reckoned from evening to evening. The time denoted by the two even 
 ings. 7. Hours and modes of determining them. Hebrew and Roman 
 watches 447 
 
 II. Domestic and Mechanical Arts. 8. Hebrew proficiency in these arts. They 
 
 were not preeminent in them 451 
 
 III. The Art of Wi ll my. 0. Understood in Egypt before Moses day. He used 
 the Shemitic alphabet. Notices of writing in the Pentateuch. 10. Materials 
 of writing. Paper and parchments the most important of these. Manufac 
 ture of paper from the papyrus plant. 11. Instruments of writing. Ink. 
 12. Form of ancient books. 13. Epistles 453 
 
 IV. Musir <i,,<! .1/-/.V/V/// I,,sl,-inn?nts. 14. General remarks. 15. Origin of the 
 Hebrew instruments. 1G. Egyptian and Assyrian stringed instruments 
 the harp, lyre, guitar or lute. Question of the identification of Scriptural 
 stringed instruments. 18. Wind instruments the horft and trumpet, the 
 flute and pipe, the organ. 19. ^Instruinei/te of percussion the timbrel, the 
 cymbal, etc. 456 
 
 V. The Medical Art. 20. General remarks. 21. Remarks on the leprosy of an 
 
 cient times, and on demoniacal possessions 4GO 
 
CONTENTS. 21 
 
 CHAPTER XXI 
 TRADE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 1. The Hebrews before the captivity eminently an agricultural people. Change 
 of their habits consequent on their dispersion among the Gentiles. 2. The 
 early Hebrews not distinguished for their commerce. 3. Character of an 
 cient navigation. Ships of war, and of burden. 4. Commerce by overland 
 routes. The caravan. Chief caravan routes. 5. Inns, so called, of ancient 
 times. They were either lodging-places in the open air, or caravanserais. 
 6. Weights and measures indispensable to trade and commerce. Tables of 
 Hebrew weights and measures - 463 
 
 SECOND DIVISION CIVIL ANTIQUITIES. 
 CHAPTER XXII. 
 
 THE PATRIARCHAL FORM OF GOVERNMENT. 
 
 1. The covenant made with Abraham, and its conditions. The transaction at 
 Sinai, and Joshua s charge to the people. 2. Mosaic legislation in the civil 
 sphere. 3. Origin of the patriarchal form of government, and its defects. 
 
 4. Primary division of the Israelites into tribes, with their subdivisions. 
 
 5. Divisions made by Moses at Jethro s suggestion. Origin of the term 
 "thousands" as applied to the families of the tribes. 6. Chiefs of the tribes, 
 and divisions of tribes with their designations. These constituted the elders 
 and representatives of the people, and the people were addressed through 
 them. 7. Hebrew officers. Their close relation to the judges. They prob 
 ably had the charge of the genealogical tables. 8. Courts appointed by 
 Moses in the wilderness, and their relation to each other. Courts in the 
 land of Canaan. Josephus account of them. 9. Extraordinary rulers. The 
 two offices of Moses. 10. The offices of Joshua. 11. The judges in an emi 
 nent sense. 12. Administration of the government during the patriarchal 
 period. Loose relation of the tribes to each other. 13. The religious and 
 social bond during this period. The three great national festivals, and their 
 influence. The policy of Jeroboam the sou of Nebat. Closing remark- - 469 
 
 CHAPTER XXIII. 
 
 THE KINGLY FORM OF GOVERNMENT. 
 
 1. General remark. 2. In the manner of establishing the kingly form of govern 
 ment God asserted his continued supremacy. 3. The bright side of this 
 form increase of national strength, internal tranquillity, suppression of idol 
 atry by the pious kings. 4. The dark side abridgment of personal liberty 
 in accordance with the oriental idea of monarchy, arbitrary demand of ser- 
 
22 CONTENTS. 
 
 vice, onoroiis taxes, patronage of idolatry by the wicked kin^s. Checks to 
 the abuse of the royal prerogative. 5. Administration of the kingly govern 
 ment. The power of the kings subordinate to the Mosaic law. 6. Rite of 
 inauguration. 7. Officers of the kingdom the commander-in-chief, the 
 commander of the body-guard, the recorder, the scribe, the officer over the 
 levy, the king s counsellor, the king s friend. Officers of the royal house 
 hold. 8. Sources of the royal revenue presents, the produce of the royal 
 possessions, tribute, the spoils of conquered nations, tribute imposed upon 
 merchants. 9. The appointments of the royal household. Its splendor and 
 luxury under Solomon, with the evils that ensued 482 
 
 CHAPTER XXIV. 
 
 THE FOEM OF GOVERNMENT AFTER THE CAPTIVITY. 
 
 1. Remarks on the captivity of the ten tribes, and the origin of the Samaritans. 
 The Babylonish captivity. Return of the Jews to Palestine, and incorpora 
 tion with them of a remnant of the ten tribes. 2. The distinction of tribes 
 practically lost after the captivity. The Jews reestablished under their old 
 constitution and laws, but in subordination to the Persian empire. Transfer 
 of the power to the Greeks under Alexander the Great. 3. Their condition 
 after the division of his empire. Their sufferings under Antiochus Epipha- 
 nes. Their independence, and subsequent subjection to the Romans. Herod 
 the great and his sons. 4. Judea made a Roman province. The two classes 
 of provinces. The prerogatives of Pontius Pilate as procurator of Jiidea. 
 5. Origin of- the great sanhedrim. Its number and constitution. Its presi 
 ding officers and servants. Its prerogatives 492 
 
 CHAPTEE XXV. 
 
 THE ADMINISTRATION OF JUSTICE. 
 
 I. Introductory remarks 492 
 
 L Processes of Justice. 2. The Mosaic law the supreme rule of judgment. Qual 
 ities required of judges. Provision for the execution of their decisions. 
 3. Ordinary places of trial. The time of trial. 4. Simple and summary 
 character of the process. The examination of witnesses. Number of wit 
 nesses required. Penalty for bearing false testimony. Question whether an 
 oath was administered to witnesses. Question as to the employment of 
 written documents. 5. The sentence carried into execution without delay 498 
 
 II. Hebrew 7V,,,////, ,v. 0. Preliminary remarks. 7. Imprisonment not used as a 
 form of penalty. Prisoners of state. Places used for prisons, and the treat 
 ment of prisoners. 8. Fines and compensation in kind. 9. Corporal pun 
 ishment. 10. Punishment by the loss of freedom. 11. The penalty of death. 
 12-14. Forms of capital punishment. 15. The punishment of excision. 
 16. The avenger of blood and the cities of refuge 502 
 
CONTENTS. 23 
 
 111. / .//^V/Y.s- //;//<;// XiifJ nm. 17. Imprisonment as a penalty not common. 
 Scourging. Decapitation. Hanging and strangulation. Beating to death. 
 Dichotomy. Burning. Exposure to wild beasts. Crucifixion. The sub 
 jects of this punishment. The process described ........... ....... 510 
 
 CHAPTEE XXVI. 
 MILITAKY AFFAIRS. 
 
 L The Levying of Troops. 1. The Israelites entered Canaan as a nation of soldiers. 
 2. Levying in mass for brief expeditions. Remarkable provision of the 
 Mosaic law. 3. Standing armies under the kings. General levyings of the 
 men of war under the kings 514 
 
 II. Constitution of the Army. 4. Cavalry and war chariots not employed by the 
 early Hebrews. Their use in later times limited. Division of the foot sol 
 diers into light-armed and heavy-armed. 5. Division of the army into thou 
 sands and hundreds, with their officers 516 
 
 in. Arms Offensive and Defensive. 6. Offensive weapons of the heavy-armed 
 troops the sword and its sheath, the spear, the javelin, the mace. 7. Offen 
 sive weapons of the light-armed troops. These partly common to them with 
 the heavy-armed soldiers. Their distinctive weapons the bow and arrow 
 with the quiver, the sling. 8. The ancient war-chariot. Its construction. 
 Its horses. Its complement of men. 9. Defensive armor 516 
 
 IV. The Order of Battle. 10. The Roman order. The charge of the orientals 
 impetuous. Ambuscades. 11. Personal encounters in ancient battles - 523 
 
 V. The Siege of Cities. 12. Prominence of this part of warfare. Defences of 
 
 ancient towns, artificial and natural. 13. Preparations for a siege on the 
 part of the besieged. Engines for throwing stones and javelins. Fiery darts. 
 Preparations on the part of the assailants. Engines of war on their side. 
 Lines of circumvallation. The besiegers mount. Towers, fixed and mova 
 ble. The battering-ram. The Roman battering-ram described. Sheds to 
 protect the besiegers. The running of mines. References in the Old Testa 
 ment to the above appliances. 14. Remarkable sieges of antiquity the 
 siege of Ashdod, of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar, of Tyre by Nebuchadnez 
 zar, of Babylon by Cyrus, of Tyre by Alexander the Great, of Jerusalem by 
 the Romans 524 
 
 VI. The Eights Claimed by the Victors. 15. Remarks on the extent of these. 
 16. The rule prescribed by Moses for the Israelites. Remarks on the sever 
 ity of ancient warfare. Merciful spirit of the Hebrew kings. 17. Remarks 
 on the extirpation of the Gauaanites 528 
 
 Appendix. On Roman citizenship -.- 531 
 
 1. The apostle Paul s use of this prerogative. 2. Ways in which foreigners ob 
 tained it. 3. Paul had it as the son of a Roman citizen. 4. Privileges of 
 Roman citizens * - 531 
 
24 CONTENTS. 
 
 THIRD DIVISION SACKED ANTIQUITIEa 
 
 CHAPTER XXVII. 
 
 HISTORICAL SURVEY. V 
 
 1. General remarks. 2. The history of the antediluvian world. 3. The law 
 against murder after the deluge. The call of Abraham, and God s purpose 
 in selecting one family to be the dep6sitary of revelation. The patriarchal 
 age. 4. The tabernacle. The Mosaic economy. God its immediate author. 
 It regulated the whole life of the Hebrews, civil and religious, was supple 
 mentary to the Abrahamic covenant, preparatory to Christ s advent, tempo 
 rary, adapted to the childhood of the covenant people, and given immedi 
 ately by God in all its details. 5. It taught mainly by types. No provision 
 for stated weekly instruction before the captivity. 6. Introduction of psalm 
 ody and music by David. Notice of this part of worship in Hezekiah s time, 
 and after the captivity. 7. The first and second temple. 8. The establish 
 ment of the Jewish synagogue after the captivity. Its importance as prepar 
 ing the way for the Christian sanctuary - 534 
 
 CHAPTER XXVIII. 
 THE TABERNACLE AND ITS FURNITURE. 
 
 L Structure of the Tabernacle and Court. 1. The essential idea of a sanctuary. 
 2. General description of the tabernacle. Remarks on the boards of which 
 its framework was composed. The bars and their rings. 3. The coverings 
 of the sanctuary the innermost curtain called the tabernacle, the second 
 curtain called the tent, the two coverings above. 4. Arrangement of the 
 curtains. Various views on this point. Pius of the tabernacle. 5. The 
 court of the tabernacle. Position of the tabernacle in the court 542 
 
 IL Furniture of the Tabernacle. 6. The ark of the covenant. The mercy-seat. 
 The cherubim at its two ends. The mercy-seat not a mere lid. Remarks 
 on the form of the cherubim. 7. The altar of incense. 8. The table of 
 showbread and its apparatus. The showbread. Representation of the table 
 on the arch of Titus. Different names applied to the loaves placed upon it 
 Size of the loaves. 9. The golden candlestick and its implements. Its form 
 on the arch of Titus. 10. The brazen altar in the court Form and position 
 of its grate. Filling of earth for the interior of the altar. Apparatus for the 
 altar. 11. The Liver and its base. Materials of which these were made. 
 12. The holy anointing oil. 13. The holy sweet incense 549 
 
 HI. Removal of the Tabernacle and its Furniture. 14. Arrangements for encamp 
 ing and joufneying. 15. Distribution of service in the removal of the fcvber- 
 
CONTENTS. 25 
 
 nacle. 16. Preparation of the most holy things for removal. Their conceal 
 ment from the eyes of the people. Remarks on the order of service 557 
 
 IV. Symbolism of the Tabenuide and its Furniture. 17. General remarks. 18. Sym 
 bolism of the tabernacle as a whole. 19. Of the inner sanctuary, with 
 its ark, mercy-seat, and two tables of the law. Meaning of the expression 
 "tabernacle of the congregation." Symbolical meaning of the cherubim. 
 
 20. Meaning of the golden lamps and showbread, and of the altar of incense. 
 
 21. Symbolism of the materials used in the construction of the tabernacle 
 and its furniture. 22. The cloud a symbol of God s presence. Remarks on 
 the word "shekinah" 560 
 
 CHAPTER XXIX. 
 THE PRIESTHOOD. SACRIFICES, AND OBLATIONS. 
 
 1. Points in which the Levitical priests typified Christ. Points of dissimilarity. 
 Mediatorship between God and men the essence of priesthood. No proper 
 priests known to the New Testament. The essential idea of sacrifices - - 567 
 
 I. The Aaronic Priesthood. 2. Selection of the tribe of Levi for God s special 
 service, and of Aaron s family for the priesthood. Notice of the two lines of 
 Eleazar and Ithamar. 3-9. The holy garments for Aaron and his sons. 
 10. Significance of the priestly garments. Symbolism of the mitre, with its 
 golden plate. 11. Inauguration of Aaron and his sons. Anointing the sign 
 of consecration. 12. Sacrifices, and sprinkling of blood connected with this 
 inauguration. 13. Continuance of the rites of inauguration. Offerings on 
 the eighth day for the congregation 538 
 
 n. The Sacrifices and Oblations. 14. Different kinds of sacrifices, and the natu 
 ral order of the same. 15. The sin-offering. Its signification, and rites con 
 nected with it. Question of the distinction between sin-offerings and tres 
 pass-offerings. 1C. The burnt-offering and its significance. 17. The peace- 
 offering. Meaning of the term, and various divisions of this class of offer 
 ings. Their festive character, and the rites connected with them. General 
 remarks on the Hebrew feasts. 18. The unbloody oblations, and their sig 
 nificance. 19. Typical transactions connected with sacrifices. 20. God 
 approached under the Mosaic economy only through the mediation of the 
 priest. Under the New Testament all believers are a spiritual priesthood, 
 approaching God through Christ s intercession 57G 
 
 IV. The Priests and Levites as Classes. 21. The gradations in respect to the rela 
 tion of the Israelites to God. 22. Special regulations pertaining to the 
 priestly office. Summary of the duties of the common priests. 23. Duties 
 of the Levites in the wilderness. Reorganization of the Levites by David. 
 Their various offices under this organization. 24. Provision for the main 
 tenance of the Levites and priests. 25. The so-called second tithe. Remarks 
 on the practice of giving tithes. 2fi. Regulations respecting the first-born 
 of men and beasts. 27. Offerings of first-fruits. 28. The Levitical cities 584 
 
 o 
 
26 CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER XXX. 
 
 THE DISTINCTIONS OF CLEAN AND UNCLEAN. 
 
 1. General remarks - 590 
 
 I. Distinctions of Clean and Unclean in Respect to Food. 2. The Levitical specifi 
 
 cations. 3. Principle of these distinctions- - 591 
 
 II. Uncleanness from Conditions of the Body. 4. General remark. 5. Uncleanness 
 from leprosy. The so-called leprosy of houses and garments. Other sources 
 of uncleanness. G. Death the culmination of Uncleanness 593 
 
 ELI. Purifications from Uncleanness. 7. Rites of purification in less important 
 cases. 8. Purification of women after childbirth ; 9. Of persons defiled by 
 the touch of a corpse. 10. Kites of purification prescribed in the case of 
 those who had recovered from the plague of leprosy. 11. Expiation in case 
 of a murder committed by an unknown person - 594 
 
 CHAPTER XXXI. 
 
 SACRED SEASONS OF THE HEBREWS 
 
 L ISabbaths, Sabbatical Years, and New Moons. 1. Tie Sabbath existed from the 
 beginning. 2. Essential idea of the Sabbath. 3. Ordinances engrafted upon 
 it by the Mosaic law. These local and temporary. Change of the day under 
 the New Testament. 4. The Sabbatical year. 5. The year of jubilee. Re 
 marks on the meaning of the word " Sabbath." 6. The new moon, and rites 
 connected with it f)!8 
 
 II. The Original National Festivals. 1. The three annual festivals appointed by 
 Moses. 8. The passover. 9. Occasion of its establishment, and manner of 
 its celebration. 10. Feast of unleavened bread connected with it* 11. Sac 
 rificial character of the passover. It was both commemorative and typical. 
 Remarks on the various rites of the passover. 12. Sheaf of first-fruits. 
 13. Observance of the passover by the later Jews. 14. The passover preemi 
 nently a type of Christ. Its passage into the ordinance of the Lord s supper. 
 15. Feast of the pentecost. 16. Presentation of the two wave-loaves, and the 
 sacrifices connected therewith. 17. The la\v given according to Jewish tradi 
 tion on the day of peutecost. The Christian dispensation inaugurated on 
 this day. 18. The feast of tabernacles. 1!>. Rites observed on the occasion 
 of this festival the dwelling in booths, the numerous sacrifices and obla 
 tions, the holy convocations on the first and eighth days. Later Jewish 
 usage of drawing water from Siloam, and pouring it out on the altar. 
 20. General remarks COO 
 
 III. Later // ;>// tfst irnk. 21. The feast of purim. 22. The feast of dedication. 
 23. Annual fasts of t lie later Jews - G08 
 
CONTENTS. 27 
 
 CHAPTER XXXII. 
 VOWS AND DEVOTED THINGS. 
 
 1. The Herem, or devotion to destruction. 2. Affirmative vows. 3. Remarks on 
 the significance of these. 4. Regulations in respect to vows. 5. Negative 
 vows. Nazarite vows the most important of these. The three rules imposed 
 on the Nazarite abstinence from every product of the vine, leaving the hair 
 unshorn, avoiding defilement. Kites at the close of the period of consecra 
 tion. Underlying idea of the Nazarite vow. Significance of the various 
 rules pertaining to it. 7. Remark on the common formula of swearing - G10 
 
 CHAPTER XXXIII. 
 
 THE FIRST AND SECOND TEMPLE. 
 
 1. General remarks 615 
 
 I. The Temple of Solomon. 2. Site and general form. 3. Interior arrangements. 
 
 4. The oracle or inner sanctuary, with its doorway and veil. The doorway 
 and veil of the outer sanctuary. 5. Furniture of the sanctuary. 6. The 
 porch with its two pillars of brass. 7. The chambers around the temple. 
 8. The inner and outer -court. 9. Furniture of the inner court - 615 
 
 II. The Temple of Zerubbabel 10. General account of its structure. 11. Com 
 parison of it with the first temple. Articles wanting in it 620 
 
 III. The Temple of Herod. 12. Herod s mode of procedure. Why the temple as 
 renewed by him w r as still called the second temple. 13. Dimensions of the 
 temple area. The outermost enclosure called the court of the Gentiles, with 
 its porches. 14. The inner court with its walls. Its subdivision into the 
 court of the Israelites, and court of the women. The court of the priests. 
 
 15. Gates in the outer wall of the temple area. Gates in the inner wall. 
 
 16. Porch of the temple, with its open gateway. Grates to the outer and inner 
 sanctuary, with their veils. Size of the two sanctuaries and of the temple. 
 
 17. The altar of burnt-oflering 622 
 
 CHAPTER XXXIV. 
 
 THE JEWISH SYNAGOGUE. 
 
 1. Origin and silent growth of the synagogue. 2. The synagogue as a religious 
 system to be distinguished from synagogue buildings. 3. Description of the 
 synagogue buildings. Oratories. 4. Organization of the synagogue. 5. Ord r 
 of service. 6. Influence of the synagogue on the Jews themselves. 7. On 
 the Christian church. 8. The worship of the Christian church contrasted 
 with that of Ihe tabernacle and synagogue. 9. The so-called Great Syna 
 gogue 627 
 
28 CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTEE XXXV. 
 
 THE JEWISH SECTS OF LATER TIMES. 
 
 1. General remarks on the sources of information concerning these sects C35 
 
 I. The 1 liar isi x. These both a party in the state and a sect in religion. Mean 
 
 ing of the name. Origin of the sect. 3. Its essential character. Predomi 
 nant influence of the Pharisees in religion and in political life. 4. Their 
 -tern of traditions. 5. Their theological tenets. Belief in angelic beings, 
 good arid evil Belief in the immortality of the soul, and in a future resur 
 rection. Josephus account of this latter doctrine as held by them. Germs 
 of the above two doctrines in the Old Testament. Doctrine in respect to the 
 divine decrees and human freedom. 6. Our Saviour s denunciation of the 
 Pharisees. Remarks on the terms scribe and lawyer - 635 
 
 II. The Sadducees. 7. Eemark respecting the name. The Sadducees both a sect 
 and a party. 8. Essential feature of Sadduceeism. 9. Their theological 
 tenets denial of the immortality of the soul, of the existence of angels or 
 spirits, of divine foreordination. Our Saviour s mode of refuting the Sad 
 ducees 640 
 
 III. The Essenes. 10. Sources of knowledge respecting them. They were an 
 ascetic community. General features of their system. 11. Their theological 
 belief--- C41 
 
 IV. The Ilerodians. 12. They were partisans of Herod and supporters of- the 
 Roman dominion in Palestine. Question of the Pharisees and Herodians 
 respecting the tribute-money - C43 
 
 APPENDIX TO THE THIRD DIVISION. 
 ON THE IDOLATRY OF THE HEBREWS. 
 
 L Remarks on the Ancient Systems of Idolatry, 1. Sin the ground of man s apos 
 tasy from God. Systems of idolatry the necessary sequel. 2. The confound 
 ing of God with nature. 3. Loss of the idea of God s unity. Higher and 
 lower forms of nature worship. Worship of the spirits of the dead and of 
 demons. 4. Degradation of the idea of deity. 5. Image-worship in its vari 
 ous forms. Apology of the philosophers for image-worship. G. Rites of 
 idolatrous worship. 7. Means of discovering the future responses of ora 
 cles, dreams and visions, divination by means of certain outward signs. 
 Unbelief the main element of criminality in the employment of these means. 
 8. Sorcery in its various forms 644 
 
 IL Principal idols worshipped by the Hebrews. 9. The golden calf. 10. Baal 
 and Ashtoreth. 11. Signification of the word "Baal." He was probably the 
 sun-god. 12. Ashtoreth the corresponding female deity. 13. Remarks on 
 the word "Asherah," rendered "grove "in the English version. 14. Rites 
 observed in the worship of Baal and Ashtoreth. 15. Molech, and the rites 
 of his worship. Human sacrifices offered to him in the valley of Hinnom. 
 1(5. Notice of other false gods Bel, Chemosh, Dagon, Gad and Meni, Nebo, 
 Rcmphan, Tamniuz. 17. Closing remarks 049 
 

 SACRED GEOGRAPHY. 
 
 FIRST DIVISION, PALESTINE. 
 
 CHAPTEE I. 
 
 GENERAL VIEW OF PALESTINE.* 
 
 1. The term Syria was sometimes employed by the ancients 
 in a loose way as extending on the north to Paphlagonia, and 
 even as including Assyria. But ancient Syria, in the proper 
 sense of the word, lay along the Mediterranean, from Egypt on 
 the south to the gulf of Issus (now the gulf of Iskanderun) in 
 the northeastern angle of the Mediterranean. It was separa 
 ted from Asia Minor by Mount Amanus, which extends from the 
 above-named angle of the Mediterranean in a northeasterly 
 direction to the Euphrates. It had for its eastern border the 
 Euphrates on. the north, and lower down the Arabian desert. 
 On the south it was bounded by Arabia Petraea and Egypt. 
 Hence it appears that it included substantially the same terri 
 tory as that of modern Syria. Tlie Hebrew term Aram, com 
 monly rendered Syria in our version, is not identical with the 
 
 "Writers on the Geography of Palestine and the adjacent regions find it 
 very convenient to employ a number of modern Arabic terms; as Ain, fountain; 
 Beit, house or place ; Kefr, village; Tell, hill; etc. The reader will find the expla 
 nation of these terms in the First Appendix to this Part ; where are added also 
 some brief rules for the pronunciation of Arabic words. In the study of the pres 
 ent Outlines of Sacred Geography constant reference should be made to tho 
 accompanying maps. 
 
 -84640 
 
30 SACRED GEOGRAPHY. 
 
 Syria just defined; for, on the one hand, it excluded the land of 
 Canaan, Philistia, and Phoenicia, and, on the other, it included 
 Mesopotamia, which lies between the Euphrates and Tigris. 
 
 2. Palestine, in the modern sense of the word, is the south 
 western part of Syria ; that is, if we reckon only the territory 
 lying west of the Jordan and Dead sea. But if, as seems most 
 proper, we include also the region occupied by the ancient 
 Israelites east of the Jordan and Dead sea, Palestine is the 
 southern part of Syria. The Biblical student, however, should 
 carefully remember that everywhere in the English version of 
 the Old Testament the term Palestine (or, in the Latin form, 
 Palestina) means the land of the Philistines. It is so used by our 
 translators in Exod. 15 : 14; Isa. 14 : 29, 31 ; Joel 3 : 4. But in 
 the Psalms the same Hebrew word (Pdesheth) is rendered Phil- 
 istm, Psa. GO : 8; 87 : 4; 108 : 9; once Philistines, Psa. 83 : 7. In 
 like manner Josephus everywhere calls the Philistines Pah-.*/ int 
 erns and their land Palestine, though he occasionally uses the 
 word in a wider sense. Herodotus applies the term Syria 
 Palestine (Greek Zvp? TLcfauorivi)) to the region between Phoe 
 nicia and Egypt (7. 89, and compare 1. 105; 2. 104; 3. 5), but 
 whether he means to include the mountainous region east of 
 the Mediterranean plain this latter being the proper home 
 of the Philistines has been doubted. However this may be, 
 the term P destine was gradually extended, in the usage of the 
 later Greek and the Roman writers, to the whole country of 
 the Jews on both sides of the Jordan, and this is the sense in 
 which we here employ it. 
 
 Other designations of this territory are the following : 
 Canaan or the Land of "Canaan. Canaan signifies lowland, 
 and the Canaanites were properly .the inhabitants of the low 
 regions on the Mediterranean and in the Jordan valley (Gen. 
 10:19; Numb. 13:29; Josh. 11:3); but sometimes the word 
 Canaanite is used in a wider sense of all the tribes west of the 
 Jordan (Gen. 24 : 3, etc.). Hence the terms Canaan and Land 
 of Canaan are often applied to the whole country west of the 
 Jordan. 
 
PALESTINE 31 
 
 Israel or the Land of Israel, a term which signified, before 
 the division of the nation into two kingdoms, the whole terri 
 tory of the Israelites; but afterwards the territory of the ten 
 tribes as distinguished from the Land of Judah. But the later 
 writers, who lived after the destruction of the northern king 
 dom, sometimes apply the terms Judah and Israel to the whole 
 region occupied by the covenant people. The Lam/ <>f ilie 
 Hebrews (Gen: 40 : 15) is used by Joseph when addressing for 
 eigners, by whom the posterity of Abraham were customarily 
 known as Hebrews, while in their mutual intercourse they called 
 themselves the children of Israel. 
 
 During the captivity it was called by Daniel the Glorious 
 Land (chaps. 8:9; 11 : 16), for the explanation of which term 
 see Jer. 3 : 19 ; Ezek. 20 : 6, 15. After the captivity Zechariah 
 called it the Holy Land (chap. 2:12), and this is^its common 
 appellation at the present day. . To all believers it is holy 
 ground, as the place where God revealed himself for man s 
 redemption, first to the patriarchs and prophets, and afterwards 
 in the person of his Son. 
 
 In the New Testament it is once called the Land of Promise 
 (Heb. 11:9) as being the land promised to the patriarchs for an 
 everlasting possession. 
 
 The later divisions of Palestine will be considered here 
 after. 
 
 3. The original promise to Abraham included much more 
 than the territory actually occupied by the Hebrews. In Gen. 
 15 : 18 it is thus expressed : " Unto thy seed have I given this 
 land from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river 
 Euphrates." The river of Egypt (Hebrew nahar, not nahal) is 
 the Nile. The meaning of the promise is not that the Nile with 
 its fertile borders, which constitute the land of Egypt, shall be 
 included : for in the enumeration of nations which follows Egypt 
 is omitted. But the territory granted extends from that river 
 and country to the Euphrates; that is, to that part of the Eu 
 phrates which bends to the westward and is accessible from 
 Palestine, for lower down the Euphrates is separated from Syria 
 
32 SACKED GEOGRAPHY. 
 
 by a vast desert. The same promise was renewed to the Israel 
 ites upon their departure from Egypt : " I will set thy bounds 
 from the Ked sea even unto the sea of the Philistines, and from 
 the desert unto the river." Exod. 23 : 31. The sea of the Phil 
 istines is the Mediterranean, the river is the Euphrates, and the 
 desert that south of Palestine. A line drawn from the Red sea 
 north leaves Egypt to the west, as it should do in accordance 
 with the true intent of the former promise. 
 
 The passages quoted above give the land of promise in its 
 ideal the territory which the Hebrews might have permanently 
 possessed, had they fully complied with the conditions of God s 
 covenant with them; but which was never permanently pos 
 sessed by them in its whole extent by reason of their unfaith 
 fulness. Numb. 33:55, 56; Deut. 7:12-26; Josh. 23:11-13; 
 Judges 1 : 27-36 ; 2 : 1-5, 20-23. In the reigns of David and 
 Solomon, however, most of this territory was subject to Israel. 
 2 Sam. chaps. 3-15. 
 
 We must not confound the two expressions, river of Egypt (nahar miz- 
 raim] and torrent of Egypt (nahal mizraim}. The Hebrews use the word 
 nahar only of a perennial stream, that is, a proper river ; while the word 
 nnlutl denotes a torrent-bed in which water flows only during the rainy sea 
 son. The ordinary name for the Nile is Yeor ; yet it is called a rive? in 
 Isa, 19 : 5. The torrent of Egypt (Numb. 34 : 5 ; Josh. 15 : 4, 47 ; 1 Kings 
 8 : 65 ; 2 Kings 24 : 7 ; Isa. 27 : 12) or simply the torrent (Ezek. 47 : 19 ; 
 48 : 28) is thought with good reason to be the modern Wady el-Arish on 
 the confines of Egypt and Palestine. 
 
 4. A second description of the promised land is that given by 
 Moses just before his death (Numb. 34 : 1-12) ; but which does 
 not include the territory east of the Jordan, this having been 
 already assigned to the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and the half 
 tribe of Manasseh. Numb. chap. 32. Still a third is contained 
 in the book of Joshua, where the boundaries of the several 
 tribes are given, with the cities and towns belonging to each. 
 Chaps. 12-19. Except for the north border, these two descrip 
 tions agree. The western boundary is the Mediterranean. The 
 r".v/, //>, south of Sermon (the two and a half tribes east of the Jor- 
 
PALESTINE. 33 
 
 dan being included), is Edom and the Dead sea as far north as the 
 Arnon (the modern Wady-el-Mojib), and after that Amuion and 
 the desert. The southern border began apparently at the south 
 eastern part of the south bay of the Dead sea, ran thence south 
 along the Arabah (the long narrow valley south of the Dead 
 sea) to the ascent of Akrabbim, a line of chalk cliffs running 
 across the Arabah a few miles south of the Dead sea. Here it 
 turned westward, and pursuing a general westerly course, came 
 out at the torrent of Egypt on the Mediterranean. It thus coin 
 cided substantially, as Kobinson remarks (Physical Geog. p. 17), 
 
 with the parallel of lat. 31 N. 
 
 
 
 The wilderness of Zin was in the south of Palestine west of Edom, per 
 haps extending into the Arabah. Mount Seir, the ancient home of the 
 Edomites, was on the east of the Arabah. Hence a line drawn in a southerly 
 direction "from the salt sea, from the bay that looketh southward (Josh. 
 15 : 2), beginning at its southeastern part would pass "along by the coast 
 of Edom. " Numb. 34 : 3. If, as is thought by Robinson and others, the 
 site of Kadesh-bamea, by which the line of the south border passed (Numb. 
 34 : 4 ; Josh. 15 :3), was at the modern fountain Ain-el-Weibeh in the des 
 ert some 25 miles S. S. W. of the southern bay of the Dead sea, then the 
 line of the south border must have curved considerably to the south from 
 the ascent of Akrabbim, and then have returned again, as will be evident 
 from an inspection of the map of the Mount Sinai peninsula. Of the other 
 places named in the description of Moses and Joshua nothing is known 
 with certainty. 
 
 The north border of the territory assigned to Israel in the 
 description of Moses (Numb. 34 : 7-9) passes from the great sea, 
 that is, the Mediterranean, to Mount Hor ; thence to the entrance 
 of Hamath ; thence to Zedad, Ziphron, and Hazar-enan. Ha- 
 matli lies in the valley of the Orontes on both sides of that river 
 above the 35th parallel of north latitude, consequently far north 
 of the territory permanently occupied by the Israelites. By the 
 Greeks and Komans it was called Epiphania, but its ancient 
 name remains to this day on the lips of the common people, 
 who call it Hainan. Eobinson, Bib. Res. 3, p. 551. Some have 
 placed "the entering in of Hamath" (Numb. 34:8, etc.) under 
 the base of Hermon at the southern entrance of the valley of 
 
 2* 
 
34 SACREI} GEOGRAPHY. 
 
 Ccelesyria which separates the ridges of Lebanon and Anti- 
 Lebanon ; others at the water-shed in this valley between the 
 Leontes, which flows south, and the Orontes, which runs north. 
 But Robinson and others place it with good reason at the north 
 ern extremity of Lebanon in the great interval or opening be 
 tween that mountain and the range of Bargylus on the north. 
 See Eobinson, Bib. Res. 3, pp. 568, 569; Porter s Damascus, 
 2, p. 354, seq. Mount Hor is then the northern peak of Leba 
 non, whence the boundary line passes through the entering in 
 of Hamath, and so on to Zedad, supposed to be the modern 
 Sudud, about 35 miles southeast of Hums, the ancient Emessa. 
 The eastern border passed through Riblah,the modern Ribleh, 
 on the upper course of the Orontes, and so on past the base of 
 Hernion to the Sea of Chinneroth, that is, Gennesaret, and the 
 Jordan. 
 
 The northern boundary of the Israelitish territory as (l(fn,<"l 
 in the book of Joshua is to be ascertained from the allotments of 
 Asher and Naphtali west of the Jordan and the half tribe of 
 Manasseh east of that river, for these were the three northern 
 tribes. From the description of Asher s territory (Josh. 19 : 24- 
 31) we learn that it lay along the Mediterranean from Mount 
 Carmel to Zidon. East of Asher was the territory of Naphtali, 
 h; iv ing on the north the opening of the great valley of Coele 
 syria and the southern extremity of Mount Hermon. According 
 to Josephus (Bk. 1, 22) it extended above the sea of Galilee 
 eastward to Damascus, but this must have been before the rise 
 of the Syrian monarchy. See Grove, in Smith s Bible Diet., art. 
 Palestine. Baal-gad, in the valley of Ccelesyria, under Mount 
 Hermon, was the limit of Joshua s conquest. Josh. 11:17; 
 12 : 7, and compare 13 : 5. It appears, then, that the northern 
 boundary, as denned by Moses, was some 75 miles or more north 
 of that as given in the allotments of Asher and Naphtali under 
 Joshua. The intervening region was the northern part of the 
 land that yet remained to be possessed. Josh. 13 : 1, 5. 
 
 5. For the reason already referred to (No. 3 above), the 
 ri /<)ii permanently occupied by the twelve tribes was still more 
 
PALESTINE. 35 
 
 circumscribed; for it excluded all Phoenicia on the northwest 
 coast, and the land of the Philistines in the southwest. Its 
 southern and eastern borders have already been sufficiently 
 indicated (No. 4 above). Its western border was Philistia and 
 he Mediterranean. For its northern border Robinson assumes 
 a line beginning near the northern base of Rfis-el-Abyad, that is, 
 White Promontory (the Promontorium AHumi of the ancients), 
 which lies south of Tyre in about lat. 33 10 N., and drawn thence 
 slightly north of east, and curving so as to take in Kana, the 
 fortress Tibnin and also Hunin, until it strikes -near Dan and 
 B ,nias at the southern base of Hermou, in .lat. 33 16 N. 
 Physical Geog. of Palestine, p. 18, and see also the map of Pal 
 estine. The following are the dimensions of this territory as 
 given by the same author. From north to south 136 minutes of 
 latitude, that is, 136 geographical, or 158 English miles. The 
 breadth from west to east, reckoning from near Gaza, about 90 
 minutes of longitude ; and the same reckoning from the prom 
 ontory of Carmel, that is between 85 and 90 English miles. 
 This measurement of width includes the region east of the Jor 
 dan and Dead sea. We add a few other measurements. A 
 line drawn north from the latitude of Beersheba to the north 
 ern border will measure about 139 English miles. " From 
 Dan," at the southern base of Mount Hermon, "even unto 
 Beersheba," in a line bearing west of south, is between 144 and 
 145 English miles. The breadth of the country from the shore 
 of the Mediterranean near Gaza to the Dead sea three miles 
 south of Engedi is, according to the latest and most accurate 
 measurements, a trifle less than 58 statute miles. In the ex 
 treme northern part it is not much over 23 English miles in 
 width from the Mediterranean to the Jordan. But, as Robinson 
 remarks, all these distances, if measured by hours along the 
 road, will become greater. 
 
 In the oriental regions distances are reckoned by hours, the distance 
 varying with the kind of animal, and also the nature of the ground. The 
 following are Robinson s specifications : 
 
 1 hour with camels = 2 geographical or 2 statute miles. 
 
 1 hour with horses or mules = 2.4 geographical of 3 statute miles. 
 
36 SACRED GEOGRAPHY. 
 
 There is a striking resemblance in form between the gener.il outlines 
 of Palestine and the state of New Hampshire, the Connecticut river an- 
 sucring to the Mediterranean. Nor is the difference in extent very great, 
 the length of New Hampshire from north to south being 176 miles, its 
 extreme breadth about 90 miles, and its average breadth 45 miles. Rob.- 
 inson computes the whole area of Palestine on both sides of the Jordan at 
 12,000 square miles, of which about 7,OOQ square miles, constituting by far 
 the most important portion, lie on the west side of the Jordan ; while the 
 entire area of New Hampshire is 9,280 square miles. Thus limited are the 
 boundaries of the land appointed by God to be the theatre of the most 
 stupendous events affecting the destiny of the whole human family. But 
 the eternal principles of truth and the moral power of which they are the 
 source are not measured by extent of territory. 
 
 6. The most striking feature of Palestine, upon the knowledge 
 of which the proper apprehension of its general structure de 
 pends, is the deep volley of the Jordan and the Dead sea, which, 
 running in a line north and south, divides it into two unequal 
 parts ; the western, which is the proper land of Canaan, and the 
 eastern, which includes Gilead and Bashan. This valley, which 
 has no parallel anywhere on our globe for depth, is, as we shall 
 see hereafter, an immense rift extending all the way from Anti- 
 och to the mouth of the sea of Akabah, through more than eight 
 degrees of latitude. In the most depressed part of it, shut in 
 on either side by precipitous frowning cliffs, lies the Dead sea, 
 more than 1,300 feet below the level of the Mediterranean, and 
 having itself also a depth of 1,300 feet or more. Into the north 
 ern extremity of the Dead sea rushes the Jordan through a tor 
 tuous and rapidly descending channel, to lose itself in its briny 
 waters. 
 
 7. The valley of the Jordan and Dead sea has on its west 
 side a broad and mountainous belt extending all the way from 
 Lebanon to the southern desert, except where it is interrupted 
 by the plain of Esdraelon. North of the plain of Esdraelon 
 this hill country extends to the border of the Mediterranean, 
 leaving only a narrow strip of level land on the seashore, and 
 has some beautiful and fertile plains interspersed among its 
 ridges, one of which, Merj-el-Buttauf, is of large extent. South 
 
PALESTINE. 37 
 
 of the pLiin of Esdnielon the mountainous belt now under con 
 sideration sinks down abruptly on the east to the valley of the 
 J< >rdan and Dead sea ; but on the west it descends by an offset 
 into a range of lower hills which lie between it and the great 
 plain of the Mediterranean. It is highest in the vicinity of 
 Hebron ; and its breadth, inclusive of the line of hills on the 
 west, is stated by Kobinson to be not less than from twenty to 
 twenty-five geographical miles. Bib. Researches, vol. 1, p. 258. 
 The breadth of the upper mountainous region is, according to 
 the same authority, some fifteen or twenty miles. Physical 
 Geog., p. 34. 
 
 8. The general direction of the mountainous belt is from 
 north to south, while the coast of the Mediterranean trends to 
 the S. S. W. Thus there is left between the Mediterranean and 
 the hill country a triangular plain interrupted in its northern 
 part by the range of Carmel. The southern part of this plain, 
 as far north as Lydda and Joppa, was called by the Hebrews 
 the ShepJtelah, that is, low country. North of Lydda and Joppa 
 is the Sharon of the Old Testament, so celebrated for its fertility, 
 extending to the vicinity of the ancient Ciesarea. North of the 
 promontory of Carmel is the plain of Akka. In the vicinity of 
 Gaza the breadth of this plain is about twenty miles. Oppo 
 site to Joppa it is not more than half that distance. The length 
 of Sharon and the Shephelah taken together is not less than 
 seventy miles. 
 
 The Hebrew terms, shephelah, low country; misJior, level tract or table 
 land; Icikkdr, circuit:; ardbah, desert tract, are confounded in the English 
 version. The first of these, shephelah, is rendered in a variety of ways : 
 vale (Dent. 1:7; Josh. 10 : 40 ; 1 Kings 10 : 27 ; 2 Chron. 1 : 15 ; Jer. 33 : 13) ; 
 valley (Josh. 11 : 2, 16 ; 15 : 33 ; Judg. 1:9; Jer. 32 : 44) ; valleys (Josh. 
 9:1; 12 : 8) ; low country (2 Chron. 26 : 10 ; 28 : 18) ; low plains (1 Chron. 
 27 : 28 ; 2 Chron. 9 : 27) ; plain- (Jer. 17 : 26 ; Obad. 19 ; Zech. 7 : 7). But 
 it always refers to the plain of the Mediterranean below Joppa. 
 
 9. Beyond the vaUey of the Jordan and Dead sea on the 
 east is a high table land broken by deep ravines. Viewed from 
 the west, this high plateau, sloping down precipitously to the 
 
38 SACRED GEOGRAPHY. 
 
 Jordan and Dead sea, presents the aspect of an immense wall of 
 nearly uniform elevation. It rises from 2,000 to 3,000 feet above 
 the level of the Mediterranean, to which is to be added, in the 
 lower part, 1,300 feet for the depression of the Dead sea below 
 the same level. This, as already remarked, is the region of 
 Gilead and-Bashan. Stretching off to the east, it gradually 
 merges itself in the desert which forms the eastern boundary of 
 Palestine. 
 
 10. We have thus, for the general outlines of Palestine, two 
 mountainous belts and two depressed regions, all running north 
 <(//</ Mirth. Intimately connected with this general configura 
 tion, as also with the geological character of the region in which 
 limestone prevails, is another striking feature of Palestine, its 
 intersection everywhere by numerous ravines having a general direc 
 tion of cast and west. Some of these have the character of broad 
 and fertile depressions, but most of them are narrow gorges, 
 sometimes of immense depth with precipitous sides. A few 
 only of these gorges are watered by perennial streams, the rest 
 being torrent-beds through which the water rushes with violence 
 in the rainy season, while they are dry the rest of the year. By 
 these torrent-beds the high land of Palestine is wonderfully cut 
 up into ridges and rounded hills, varying in color from white 
 to yellowish or reddish brown. Where basalt abounds, as in 
 the cliffs back of Tiberias and over the northern part of the 
 country east of the Jordan and Dead sea, they impart a dark 
 hue to the soil. The limestone region abounds everywhere in 
 caverns. 
 
 11. The peculiar configuration of Palestine just noticed 
 makes 1 ravel from north to south impracticable except in certain 
 lines. From the south of Palestine to the north the traveller 
 can pass along the lowland of the Mediterranean, or over the 
 high country along the water-shed that divides the ravines run 
 ning east into the Jordan and Dead sea from those running west 
 into the Mediterranean. But this latter route is made labori 
 ous in some parts by the interlapping of the ravines, the heads 
 of some that run off to the east lying a mile or two westward 
 
PALESTINE. 39 
 
 of the commencement of others that run in a contrary direc 
 tion. Robinson, Phys. Geog. p. 34. The road along the valley 
 of the Jordan and Dead sea on the western side is broken off 
 by the two promontories Rfis-el-Feshkhah and Ras-el-Mersed, 
 that rim out into the waters of the Dead sea. But south and 
 north of these headlands the way is uninterrupted. The access 
 to the highlands laterally from the lowlands of the Mediterra 
 nean and from the valley of the Jordan and Dead sea is, as a 
 general rule, through these ravines or wadys, as the Arabs 
 call them. In some places, as at the upper and lower Beth- 
 horon, .the pass up and down is by a zigzag path over the ridge 
 between two wadys; but there is no passing north and south 
 except by the routes above indicated. Thus the bands of the 
 Moabites and Ammonites that came against King Jehoshaphat 
 passed around the south end of the Dead sea and along its 
 western border to En-gedi (the modern Ain July, that is, in both 
 Hebrew and Arabic, Fountain of Hie kid), then up the pass at 
 En-gedi to the "wilderness of Tekoa southeast of Beth-lehem. 
 2 Chron. 20 : 1, 2, 20. Thus also Joshua, when he marched 
 from his camp at Gilgal near Jericho to the relief of the Gibe- 
 onites (Josh. 10 : 7), must have ascended by the gorge of the 
 great Wady Kelt directly back of Jericho, through which the 
 road to the higher region lies at the present day ; and when he 
 had discomfited the confederate kings at Gibeon, he drove them 
 westward down the pass at the Beth-horons (now the upper and 
 lower Beit-Ur). In like manner the Philistines invaded the 
 mountainous region from their native plain through these 
 passes ; or going northward they entered the plain of Esdrae- 
 lon, arid thus the valley of Jezreel, north of the ridge of Gilboa, 
 and the mountainous region south. 
 
 The peculiar features of Palestine that have now been con 
 sidered furnish a full explanation of the fact that the road over 
 which the armies of Egypt, on the one side, and Assyria and 
 Chaldea, on the other, passed in their mutual conflicts, lay 
 along the plain of the Mediterranean to that of Esdraelon, and 
 so on across the Jordan to the northeast; that the strong fort- 
 
40 SACRED GEOGRAPHY. 
 
 ress of Gaza (Heb. Azzah, strong) on the southern confines of 
 Philistia, was the key of Egypt ; and that the plain of Esdrae- 
 lon has been for ages a celebrated battle ground. 
 
 Roads for wheeled vehicles are unknown at the present day in Palestine, 
 nor do they appear ever to have been in general use except on the plains. 
 We find, however, chariots in use in ancient days not only in the lowlands, 
 but also in the more elevated regions ; as at Ramath-gilead east of the Jor 
 dan (1 Kings 22:31-34; 2 Kings 9:16), and around Samaria (1 Kings 
 20 : 21, 25 ; 22 : 37, 38 ; 2 "Kings 5 : 9, 21 ; 10 : 15, 16). When Josiah was 
 slain at Megiddo his servants carried him in a chariot to Jerusalem. 
 2 Kings 23 : 30 ; 2 Chron. 35 : 24. The eunuch who had been up to Jeru- 
 sali-ni to worship was returning sitting in his chariot when Philip met him 
 (Acts 8 : 28), perhaps on the Roman road. Stanley, Sinai and Palestine, 
 p. 134. For the purpose of regal display, Absalom prepared him horses 
 and chariots apparently at Jerusalem. 2 Sam. 15 : 1. Carts were also 
 used to some extent in agriculture. Amos 2 : 13. But wheel carriages 
 were never in common use in Palestine for travel, where at the present 
 day only miserable bridle paths lead from one hill to another. Thomson, 
 The Land and the Book, 1, p. 103. 
 
 12. Palestine, as we have previously noticed, was at once 
 situated in the centre of ancient civilization, and yet remark 
 ably separated from it by natural barriers. It was thus a 
 strong country in a military point of view. The main passages 
 to it for armies were from Egypt on the southwest and the east 
 ern empires on the northeast, and these gave access only to the 
 low lands. The mountainous regions could be approached 
 only through the difficult passes above noticed. This secluded 
 character of the land of Israel was also eminently favorable to 
 the education of the Israelites as a peculiar people under pecu 
 liar institutions, in accordance with the prophetic announce 
 ment : " Lo, the people shall dwell alone, and shall not be reck 
 oned among the nations." Numb. 23 : 9. If their perverseness 
 in imitating the idolatrous practices of their heathen neighbors 
 counteracted the benevolent design of God, and made it neces 
 sary that he should administer to them through these same 
 nations severe discipline, it was not because their situation, 
 geographically considered, was not eminently favorable to the 
 training which God had in view. 
 
PALESTINE. 41 
 
 CHAPTEK II. 
 
 HIGHLANDS WEST OF THE JORDAN VALLEY. 
 
 I. NORTHEKN SECTION GALILEE IN PART. 
 
 1. THE mighty ranges of Lebanon on the west, and on the 
 east Anti-Lebanon ("Lebanon toward the sun-rising," Josh. 
 13 : 5, with which description its modern Arabic name Jebel-esh- 
 >S7"//7y/, that is, East mountain, well agrees) are separated by the 
 valley of Coelesyria. Through the southern part of this vale 
 flows the Litany (the ancient Leontes) in a general south- 
 southwest direction, till, curving round the southern end of 
 Lebanon, it passes westward through a deep and narrow gorge 
 into the more open region towards the coast, and so to the 
 Mediterranean, into which it empties itself a few miles above 
 Tyre under the name of el-Kasiniiyeh. 
 
 2. From the southern end of Lebanon there stretches tow 
 ards the south, as far as the great plain of Esdraelon, a broad 
 elevated tract, broken by mountainous ridges and peaks. On 
 the east this region is bounded by the valley of the Jordan. On 
 the west it is skirted as far south as the promontory Ras-en- 
 Nakurah by the southern end of the Phenician plain, a narrow 
 strip of land, which Robinson describes as not more than three 
 or four miles in breadth, with low ridges running down into it 
 from the hill country. Phys. Geog., p. 125. South of en-Na- 
 kurah is the plain of Akka, extending some twenty miles to the 
 base of Carmel with an average breadth of from four to six miles. 
 Robinson, ibid. The highest part of this elevated tract lies west 
 of the Jordan between the lakes Huleh (the waters of Merom, 
 Josh. 11 : 5, 7) and Gennesareth. This is Mount Naphtali of the 
 book of Joshua. Chap. 20 : 7. Here is the town of Safed on a 
 lofty hill 2,775 feet above the sea, while a little to the west is 
 the cliff called Jebel Jerir.uk about 4,000 feet in height. Sy- 
 
42 SACRED GEOGRAPHY. 
 
 nmnds as quoted in Van de Velde s Memoir, p. 177. The hills 
 skirting the plain of Esdraelon on its northern border are high 
 and precipitous. On the west of Nazareth is one rising to the 
 height of about 1,600 feet. Robinson, Phys. Geog., p. 23. 
 
 3. But the most interesting and remarkable eminence in 
 this region is Mount Tabor (Josephus, Itabyrion; Polybius, 
 ^Itiilit/riaH ; Septuagint, Itabyrion; Jer. 46:18; Hosea 5:1; 
 elsewhere Thalor; modern Arabic name, Jelel-et-Tur) lying 
 about two and a quarter hours southeast by east from Naza 
 reth, in the northeastern arm of the great plain of Esdraelon. 
 It is wholly, of limestone, beautifully symmetrical in form, and 
 standing out prominently to view in the -plain. Seen from the 
 west-northwest, it presents, according to Robinson, the appear 
 ance of a truncated cone ; but viewed from the southwest, that 
 of the segment of a sphere. Its sides are studded with bushes 
 and oak orchards with a sprinkling of pistacio-trees, presenting 
 a beautiful appearance and fine shade. The top of the moun 
 tain consists of an oblong plain or basin, embracing a circuit of 
 about half an hour s walk, and extending from northwest to 
 southeast, with ledges of rock on both sides. Tabor was once 
 the site of a city, remains of which, as also of fortifications be 
 longing to different periods, are still visible. Eobinson, Phys. 
 Geog., p. 24. Its height is given by Yan de Velde at 1,865 
 feet. Memoir, p. 177. 
 
 Travellers are agreed in regarding the view from the summit 
 of Tabor as one of the finest in the Holy Land. Not only is it 
 in itself very beautiful and extensive, but it embraces also a 
 remarkable assemblage of objects endeared to the Christian by 
 the holiest reminiscences. 
 
 On the east are seen the whole outlines of the basin in which reposes 
 the sea of ( lalilee, though only a small part of -the lake itself is visible. Be 
 yond the lake, in the distant east, the eye rests on an endless succession of 
 hills and valleys, embracing the high table land of Jaulan and Hauran ; and, 
 farther south, the mountains of ancient Bashan and Gilead. On the south 
 the summit of Gilboa rises behind the nearer ridge of ed-Duhy, while still 
 fart Tier south appear confusedly the mountains of Central Palestine. The 
 western part of the great plain is visible as far as Megi Ido, with a part of 
 

 MOUNT TABOD. 
 
 MODERN NAZARETH, SEEN FUOM THE EAST. 
 
PALESTINE. 43 
 
 the ridge of Carinel, though not that which lies directly on the sea. Look 
 ing towards the southwest across an nrm of the great plain, one sees on the 
 northern slope of the ridge ed-Duhy the little hamlet of Nniu, where the 
 Saviour raised to life the widow s son ; and on the northern slope of a 
 lower and nearer parallel ridge, Endor, so famous in the history of Saul. 
 On the north, a little east, beyond the mountains about Safed, rises the 
 snow-capped summit of Hermon. 
 
 The Christians, as early as the days of Jerome (Ep. 86), regarded Tabor 
 as the mount on which the Saviour was transfigured. The decisive objec 
 tion to this tradition is the fact "that long before and after the event of 
 the transfiguration, the summit of Tabor was occupied by a fortified city. 
 the rains of which are yet visible " (Robinson, Bib. Res., vol. 2, pp. 357-9), 
 while the scene of the transfiguration was a solitary mountain, where there 
 could be no human witnesses but the three disciples (Matt. 17:1; Mark 
 9:2). 
 
 4. A very interesting feature of the region now under con 
 sideration is the plains interspersed among the ridges. Robinson 
 describes a series of them south of the mountains of Naphtali 
 stretching from east to west, and separated by intervening 
 ridges. Phys. Geog., pp. 129-131. The northernmost of these 
 is the plain of Ramah, about ten miles in length by two in 
 breadth, over which passes the great road from Akka to Damas 
 cus. It is very fertile and full of old olive-trees. Passing by 
 two or three smaller plains south of the plain of Ramah, we 
 come to the noble plain now known as el-Buttauf (called by 
 Josephus the great plain of Asochis, Life 41), extending about 
 ten miles from east to west with a breadth of ten miles. " This 
 whole plain," says Robinson, "is of the richest fertility; and 
 was a glorious portion of the inheritance of Zebulun." 
 
 5. We come now to the great plain of Esdraelon, that is, of 
 Jezreel, Esdraelon being a Greek form for the Hebrew Jezreel. 
 It is twice spoken of in the Old Testament as the- plain (Eng. 
 version, valley) of Necjiddo. 2 Chron. 35:22; Zech. 12:11. 
 Its modern Arabic name is Merj Ibn Amir, Meadow of the son of 
 J////V. This majestic plain is of a triangular form. In descri 
 bing it we follow for the most part Robinson in his Physical 
 Geography of Palestine, 131 seq. Beginning at its southern 
 most angle near Jenin, a line drawn northward grazes the west- 
 
44 SACRED GEOGRAPHY. 
 
 era extremities of the ridges Gilboa and Duhy, or Little Her- 
 mon as it is called; and strikes the northern hills some two 
 miles southeast of Nazareth. The length of this eastern side is 
 not far from fifteen miles. The southwestern side, which is 
 skirted by the hill country of Samaria, is eighteen or twenty 
 miles in length. The length of the northern side, which extends 
 in the general direction from east-northeast to west-southwest, 
 is about twelve miles. This large triangle is nearly level 
 Thomson describes it as rolling up in long swells like gigantic 
 waves (The Land and the Book, 2, p. 215) and of unsurpassed 
 fertility ; but owing to the wretched government of the region, 
 and the consequent insecurity of life and property, it is mostly 
 neglected and overgrown with rank weeds. 
 
 Thus far we have considered the body of the plain. But it 
 sends out on its eastern side towards the brow of the Jordan 
 valley three great arms, each nearly an hour in breadth, and 
 separated from each other by the ridges of Gilboa and ed-Duhy 
 or Little Hermon. Of these arms the northern in its western 
 part and the southern throughout its whole extent have a slope 
 towards the west, and send off their waters through the Kishon 
 to the Mediterranean. But the middle arm declines rapidly 
 toivardx tin cast, so that its waters flow off into the Jordan. 
 This latter is the valley of Jezreel, so celebrated in Israelitish 
 history; having at its western extremity Jezreel (the modern 
 Z< nn), and at its eastern Beth-slian (now called Bdsan), both 
 places being in sight of each other. Kobinson describes this 
 valley as a beautiful meadow- like plain, from two to three miles 
 in breadth by about fifteen in length. Zerin, the ancient Jez 
 reel, stands at its head on the south side, on the brow of a very 
 steep rocky descent of a hundred feet or more sloping towards 
 the northeast. Here the watchman of Joram, standing on the 
 tower of Jezreel, could look down the whole valley, and see the 
 company of Jehu coming up through it from Eamoth-gilead 
 beyond the Jordan. 2 Kings 9 : 17. The valley has several 
 fountains, one of which, now called Ain Jalud, is of great size, 
 flowing out of a cavernous recess at the base of Gilboa, about a 
 
PALESTINE. 45 
 
 mile and a half below Zerin. The water spreads at once into a 
 limpid pool, whence a stream flows down the valley of sufficient 
 size to turn a mill. This is believed with good reason to be the 
 "fountain which is in Jezreel," where Saul and Jonathan pitched 
 before their last fatal battle. 1 Sam. 29 : 1. Perhaps it is iden 
 tical with "the well of Harod" (H.eb.f<>tnifnin of Harod, Judg. 
 7:1), where Gideon encamped with his host, while the Midian- 
 ites pitched on the north side of the same valley. 
 
 6. AVith the exception of the valley of Jezreel, and the east 
 ern part of the northern arm, the plain of Esdraelon and its 
 brunches is drained by the Kislion and its tributary streams. 
 The Kishon flows off to the northwest along the northeastern 
 base of Carmel, and enters the Mediterranean in the bay of 
 Acre under the name of el-Mukutta. A spur of the northern 
 mountains running down towards Carmel separates the two 
 plains of Esdraelon on the east and Acre on the west. Between 
 this spur and Carmel the river passes through a narrow valley. 
 It is a permanent stream only in the last few miles of its course, 
 below the strong fountains at the eastern base of Carmel. But 
 in the wet season ah 1 its tributary streams are swollen with rain, 
 and it becomes deep and dangerous to those w r ho would ford it. 
 In the vicinity of Lejjun, the ancient Megiddo, it is described 
 as flowing in a deep bed through marshy ground. It was at 
 this very place that the forces of Sisera were swept away : " The 
 kings came and fought; then fought the kings of Canaan in 
 Taanach" (the modern Taanniik near Lejjun, that is Megiddo) 
 " by the waters of Megiddo ; they took no gain of money. They 
 fought from heaven; the stars in their courses fought against 
 Sisera" (apparently by the instrumentality of a violent tempest). 
 "The river Kishon swept them away, that ancient river, the 
 river Kishon" (Judg. 5:19-21), as its northern branch higher 
 up the plain did the Turks in the battle of Mount Tabor in 1799. 
 See in Robinson s Bib. Res., vol. 2, p. 328, note. It was un 
 doubtedly the liability of detention by the swollen waters of the 
 Kishon, which Ahab must pass in going from Carmel to Jezreel, 
 that Elijah had in view when he sent to that monarch the mes- 
 
46 SACKED GEOGRAPHY. 
 
 sage : " Prepare thy chariot, and get thee down, that the rain 
 stop thee not." 1 Kings 18 : 44. 
 
 The statement of Joseplius (Antiq. 5. 5. 4) that, when the battle 
 between the Canaanites and the Israelites under Barak had begun, there 
 arose a great storm with much rain and hail, and that the wind drove the 
 rain in the faces of the Canaanites, while the 1st aelites had the storm upon 
 their backs, is based apparently upon the short scriptural notice that "the 
 .stars in their courses fought against Sisera." 
 
 7. The region that has been described constitutes the moun 
 tainous part of Galilee with its interspersed plains, according to 
 the Koman division of provinces; for Galilee extended south 
 as far as Mount Carmel, whence its southern boundary ran 
 across the country by Gimea (the modern Jenin) to Scythopolis, 
 that is, Beth-shean, in the Jordan valley; thus including the 
 great plain of Esdraelon. Joseplius, Jewish War, 3. 3. 4. It 
 abounds in beautiful and picturesque scenery. "Forests of 
 evergreen oaks sweep round the flanks of the hills in graceful 
 belts, and line the sides of the valleys, leaving open glades and 
 undulating expanses of green grass, such as are seen in English 
 parks. Here too are upland plains, like vast terraces, with rich 
 soil and rank vegetation." " Galilee was, and is, also remarka 
 ble for the beauty and variety of its wild flowers. In early 
 spring the whole country is spangled with them, and the air is 
 filled with their odors. Birds, too, are exceedingly numerous. 
 The rocky banks are all alive with partridges; the meadows 
 swarm with quails and larks, the voice of the turtle resounds 
 through every grove, and pigeons are heard cooing up in the 
 cliffs and glen-sides, and are seen in flocks hovering over the 
 corn-fields." Porter in Alexander s Kitto, Art. Galilee. 
 
 8. To the Christian this part of Galilee is also hallowed by 
 many scriptural reminiscences. It was in an emphatic sense the 
 home of our Lord and the scene of very much of his ministry. 
 Here, lying in a secluded vale among the mountains which skirt 
 the plain of Esdraelon on the north, is Nazareth, where the 
 Saviour passed the days of his childhood and all the years of 
 his youth till called by God to the work of his public ministry; 
 
PALESTINE. 47 
 
 while north of Nazareth, at the distance of about nine miles, are 
 the ruins of Cana of Galilee, the scene of our Lord s first mira 
 cle and the home of Nathanael. A few miles to the east is 
 Mount Tabor, whither Barak collected his forces from Zebulun 
 and Naphtali, and whence he descended to the plain for his 
 encounter with Sisera. Judg., chap. 4. Here also Zebah and 
 Zalmunua slew the brethren of Gideon. Judg. 8 : 18. South of 
 Nazareth lies the great plain of Esdraelon, the battle-field of 
 nations. The central arm of this plain on the east is the valley 
 of Jezreel, so celebrated in Israelitish history. By this valley 
 the Midiaiiites and the Amalekites and all the children of the 
 east invaded the land of Israel, following the present route of 
 marauding parties, and here they were overthrown by Gideon 
 with his three hundred men, and chased down the valley to the 
 Jordan, and across it to Karkor. Judg., chaps. 7 and 8. In 
 the same valley Saul and Jonathan "pitched by a fountain that 
 is hi Jezreel" before their last fatal battle with the Philistines; 
 and when the armies of Israel were routed they "fled from 
 before the Philistines, and fell down slain on Mount Gilboa," 
 which overhangs the valley on the south. 1 Sam. 29 : 1 ; 31 : 1-6. 
 At the lower end of this valley is Beth-shean, to the wall of 
 which place the Philistines fastened the bodies of Saul and his 
 sons. 1 Sam. 31 : 10, 12. At the head of the same valley, 
 standing on the brow of a steep rocky descent, and overlooking 
 both the valley and the plain of Esdraelon, is Zerin, the ancient 
 Jezreel, where Naboth "had a vineyard hard by the palace of 
 Ahab king of Samaria," for the sake of which, at the instigation 
 of Jezebel his wife, he caused Naboth to be murdered. It was 
 in this vineyard that Elijah met Ahab, and denounced upon him 
 the wrath of heaven for this bloody deed ; and up the same val 
 ley, commissioned by God as the minister of his vengeance, rode 
 Jehu when he slew Joram and trampled the body of Jezebel 
 under his horses feet. On the southwestern border of the plain 
 of Esdraelon are Taanach and Megiddo, where the host of Sis- 
 era was discomfited by Deborah and Barak, when "the river 
 Kishon swept them away, that ancient river, the river Kishon." 
 
48 SACKED GEOGRAPHY. 
 
 Jutlg. 5 : 19-21. It was at Megiddo also that the good King 
 Josiah met Pharaoh-necho on his way to the Euphrates, and 
 was slain by him. 2 Kings 23 : 29 ; 2 Chron. 35 , 23, 24. Skirt 
 ing the great plain on the southwest is the range of Carmel, 
 whither Elijah gathered all Israel to decide the great question 
 whether Jehovah or Baal should be worshipped as the true 
 God ; and at the brook Kishon which flows at its base he slew 
 the prophets of Baal. Thence ascending to the top of the 
 mountain, and casting himself down upon the earth in fervent 
 prayer, he sent up his servant seven times to the summit to 
 watch for the tokens of rain; and when these appeared, he 
 girded up his loins and ran before Ahab, as he rode in his char 
 iot across the plain to Jezreel. It was at Mount Carmel also 
 that the Shunammite woman afterwards found Elisha when she 
 sought him that he might restore her son to life. At the east 
 ern border of the great plain lying on the northern slope of the 
 ridge ed-Duhy are Endor and Nain, and on the southwestern 
 declivity of the same ridge is Shunem, all three places famous 
 in scriptural history. Finally, in a beautiful plain running up 
 among the southern hills from the southwestern side of Esdrae- 
 lon, and separated from it by a narrow tract of rolling land, 
 stands Tell Dothan, that is the hiU of Dothan, with a fountain. 
 This is the site of the ancient Dothan, where Joseph s brethren 
 sold him to the Midianites. " The route of the Midianitcs was 
 obviously the same that is now followed. Crossing the Jordan 
 at Beth-shean and Jezreel, their way then lay through this fine 
 pl.-iin; and down the valley at its southwestern quarter to the 
 western plain, and so to Kamleh and Egypt." Kobinson, Phys. 
 Geog., p. 135. 
 
 9. We add a more particular notice of the towns belonging 
 to this section. 
 
 Nazareth retains its ancient name, being called by the Arabs en-Ndsi- 
 rah. It lies in a narrow oblong basin running nearly east and west, about 
 a mile long, and having an average breadth of something less than a quar 
 ter of a mile. "A girdle of rounded hills encircles it, shutting out all 
 view of the world beyond, and giving that air of quiet, peaceful seclusion 
 
PALESTINE. 49 
 
 which constitutes its chief charm, and its peculiar adaptation to the early 
 history of our Lord." "The narrow rugged glens that branch off in all 
 directions among tl\e hills seem as if made for meditation. The hill on 
 the northwest of the vale overtops all the others, rising to a height of some 
 four hundred feet above the village, and is crowned by a white-domed 
 tomb. Its side is steep, furrowed by ravines, and broken by ledges of 
 bare rocjt. On its lower declivities, partly in the ravines, partly on the 
 shriving base, and partly on the sides and tops of the rugged ledges, stand 
 the houses of Nazareth plain, neat, substantial stone buildings. This is 
 the hill on which the evangelist tells us the city was built (Luke 4 : 29) ; 
 and there is more than one cliff along its side that might have served the 
 purposes of the fanatical populace when they led Him unto a brow of the 
 hill, that they might cast him down headlong." Porter in Alexander s 
 Kitto. See also his Handbook for Syria and Palestine, p. 343, seq. ; Rob 
 inson s Bib. Res. , vol. 2, p. 333, seq. They led the Saviour, namely, up 
 from the lower declivity on which their city was built towards an over 
 hanging brow. That the brow was in the near vicinity of the village is 
 plain from the evangelist s words. Hence appears the absurdity of the 
 monkish legend which places it on the so-called "mount of Precipitation," 
 a hill about two miles southeast of the town, for no better reason, appa 
 rently, than that it is a striking object as seen from the plain of Esdraelon. 
 Under the grand altar of the Latin convent is the grotto where, according 
 to the legend, the Virgin Mary once lived and received the salutation of 
 the angel Gabriel. This is the Latin church of the Annunciation. But 
 the Greeks have their church of the Annunciation by the side of the one 
 fountain of Nazareth, a short distance east of the village. Legends like 
 these are of no authority. From the crest of the western hill above Naza 
 reth, where stands the Wely saint s tomb of Neby Ismail, is one of the 
 noblest prospects in all Palestine, very similar to that from the top of 
 Tabor already described (No. 3 above). 
 
 In the vicinity of Nazareth are the following places : 
 
 Kdna-el-Jelll, that is, literally rendered into English, Cana of Galilee, 
 on the northern side of the plain el-Buttauf, about three hours north of 
 Nazareth. Its claims to be the scriptural Cana of Galilee are forcibly sta 
 ted by Robinson. Bib. Res., vol. 2, pp. 346-9 ; vol. 3, p. 108, note. The 
 claims of Kef) Kenna, a small village an hour and a half northeast of 
 Nazareth, do not rest on equally solid grounds. 
 
 Deburieli is a small and unimportant village lying on the side of a ledge 
 of rocks at the western base of Tabor. It is believed with good reason 
 to be the Dabareli (more correctly Daberath] of Josh. 21 : 28. 
 
 Yd/a, a little village half an hour southwest of Nazareth, the Japhia of 
 Josh. 19:12. 
 
 Sfffurich, the SeppJioris so often mentioned by Joseplms as the largest 
 
50 SACKED GEOGRAPHY. 
 
 and strongest city of Galilee. See the references in Robinson, Bib. Res., 
 vol. 2, p. 345. At present it is a small village lying on an isolated hill in 
 the southern part of the plain el-Buttauf, about an hour and a half north 
 by west of Nazareth. 
 
 // /(tin, on the high uneven part of the plain el-Buttauf towards its east 
 ern border, is celebrated for the disastrous battle which took place July 5, 
 1187, between the forces of the Crusaders on the one hand and the Sara 
 cens under Saladin on the other, and which resulted in the total overthrow 
 of the Christian host, and the loss of Jerusalem and nearly ah 1 Palestine. 
 
 Leaving Nazareth and its environs, and passing on to the north, the 
 traveller sees Sctfed lying on a high isolated peak upon the northern end 
 of a steep ridge, a trifle south of the thirty-third parallel of north latitude, 
 having the sea of Galilee to the southeast and the lake Huleh to the north 
 east. It is emphatically "a city set upon a hill." Before the great earth 
 quake on the first day of January, 1837, it was a thriving town, with a 
 population variously estimated at from 7,000 to 10,000, a large proportion 
 of whom were Jews ; for Safed, like Tiberias, is one of the holy places of 
 the Jews, and was formerly a seat of rabbinical learning. In the terrible 
 earthquake above referred to, the castle which crowned the summit of the 
 hill was utterly thrown down, most of the houses were prostrated, and 
 thousands of the inhabitants buried in the ruins, the Jewish quarter suf 
 fering most severely. 
 
 Still farther north in the high country northwest of the lake Huleh is 
 Kedes, the ancient Kedesh of Naplttali, out of which Deborah "sent and 
 called Barak the son of Abinoam-" for the encounter with Sisera the cap 
 tain of Jabin s army. Judg. 4:6, 7. It was a Levitical city, and one of 
 the three cities of refuge west of the Jordan. Josh. 20 : 7 ; 21 : 32. It is 
 now a miserable village, but its position is strong and its site beautiful. 
 "High up among the mountains of Naphtali is a little green plain, embos 
 omed in wooded hill-tops. On its western side is a rounded tell (that is 
 hill], on which the modern viUage stands. From the tell a low narrow 
 ridge projects into the plain, with flat top and steep sides, covered with 
 rank vegetation. Both ridge and tell are strewn with ruins." Porter in 
 Alexander s Kitto. 
 
 The sites of Razor where Jabin king of Canaan reigned, and HarosUeth 
 of the Gentiles where Sisera the captain of his host dwelt (Judg. 4:2), are 
 not determined with certainty. Josephus says that the former place over 
 looked the lake Semechonitis, that is, the "waters of Merom" (Josh. 11 :5), 
 and the modern el-Huleh. The most probable site is that suggested by 
 Robinson, namely, Tell Khuraibeh, a prominent hill of great strength over 
 looking the lake and plain of Huleh, and about an hour south of Kedes. 
 Bib. Res., vol. 3, pp. 364^6. 
 
 On the southwestern border of the plain of Esdraelon are Taannuk and 
 
PALESTINE. 51 
 
 Lejjun, that is, Legio, as the Romans called the latter place. Taannuk is 
 undoubtedly the ancient Taanach, and there is strong evidence in favor of 
 identifying Lejjun with Megiddo. Eusebius and Jerome (Onomasticon as 
 quoted by Robinson) give the distance of Taanach from Legio at three or 
 four Roman miles. This agrees with the circumstance that Taanach and 
 Megiddo are five times mentioned in near connection with each other. 
 Josh. 12 : 21 ; 17 : 11 ; Judg. 1 : 27 ; 5 : 19 ; 1 Kings 4 : 12. Lejjun lies 
 moreover on the great military road between Egypt and the Mediterranean 
 plain, on the one hand, and Damascus and the eastern empires on the 
 other, on the banks of one of the principal tributaries to the Kishon. The 
 miry nature of the soil makes this stream difficult to ford when the water is 
 high, and when swollen by a violent storm it would be utterly impassable. 
 Here, then, we may find "the waters of Megiddo." Judg. 5 : 19. "About 
 three-quarters of a mile north of the ruins [of Lejjun] is a large truncated 
 tell, called Tell el-Mntsellim, The Governors Hill. It is a most commanding 
 site, affording a view of the whole plain and of the ancient cities of Shu- 
 nem, Jezreel, and Taanach. " Porter in Alexander s Kitto. We may assume 
 with much confidence that Megiddo occupied either the site of tlje mod 
 ern Lejjun or this adjacent tell. 
 
 About one hour and a half south of Tell el-Mutsellini is Rummaneh, 
 which Tan de Velde (Memoir, p. 333) identifies with " Hadad-rirurnon in 
 the valley of Megiddon." Zech. 12 : 11. 
 
 Jenin stands at the mouth of a picturesque glen in the southeastern 
 extremity of the plain of Esdraelou. Robinson and others identify it with 
 En-gannim, one of the Levitical cities (Josh. 19:21; 21:29), and with 
 Ginaea of Josephus. 
 
 North of Jenin, on the western declivity of Gilboa, and overlooking 
 the valley of Jezreel and the plain of Esdraelon, is Zerin, the ancient Jez 
 reel. It is a noble site, and Ahab might well have a palace there, though 
 Samaria was the proper residence of the kings of Israel. The ridge of 
 Gilboa is a range of gray limestone rocks, bleak and bare, jutting out from 
 southeast to northwest into the plain. Its jugged cliffs and bare crowns 
 give it a look of desolation in wonderful harmony with David s imprecation : 
 "Ye mountains of Gilboa, let there be no dew, neither let there be rain 
 upon you, nor fields of offerings : for there the shield of the mighty is 
 vilely cast away, the shield of Saul, as though he had not been anointed 
 with oil." 2 Sam. 1:21. 
 
 Parallel to Gilboa, on the northern side of the valley of Jezreel, is the 
 ridge ed-Duliy, called Hernion in the days of Jerome, and commonly called 
 Little Herman, in distinction from the true Hermon of the Old Testament. 
 On and around the ridge are some places of note in scriptural history. 
 Solam, on the declivity at the southwestern end of Duhy, is thought with 
 good reason to be the Shunem of the Old Testament belonging to the tribe- 
 
52 SACKED GEOGRAPHY. 
 
 of Issacliar (Josh. 19 : 18), where the Philistines encamped before Saul s 
 last battle ; whence Abishag the Shunammite was brought to David 
 (1 Kings 1:3); and where also the Shunammite woman lived who enter 
 tained the prophet Elisha (2 Kings chap. 4). See Robinson, Bib. Res. 2, 
 p. 325, and note. On the northern slope of Duhy are Nein, the Nain of 
 New Testament, and Endor, the former celebrated for the stupendous 
 miracle wrought there by our Lord (Luke 7 : 11-16) ; the latter as the place 
 whoro Saul, in his extremity, sought counsel from the woman that hud n 
 famiiiar spirit (1 Sam. chap. 28). Thomson describes Endor as a most 
 wretched-looking place at the northeast corner of Duhy. " You observe 
 that the declivity of the mountain is everywhere perforated with caves, and 
 most of the habitations are merely walls built around the entrance to these 
 C.IM rns. Observe, too, that the cattle are stalled with them along with 
 their owners ; and so it was in the time of Saul." Land and Book, 2, p. 
 161. "The woman had a fat calf in the house," and Thomson speaks of 
 half a dozen little calves kept up at the mouth of one of these caves, while 
 their mothers were at pasture under the care of a shepherd. 
 
 II. MIDDLE SECTION SAMARIA IN PART. 
 
 10. We have seen how the great plain of Esdraelon with 
 the adjacent plain of Acre on the northwest (which is connected 
 with the plain of Esdraelon by the narrow valley through which 
 the Kishon flows) entirely separates the mountains of Galilee 
 from those of Samaria and Judea. In passing to the mountain 
 ous region south of Esdraelon, we naturally begin with Gunnel. 
 The majestic range of Carmel branches off from the northern 
 end of the mountains of Samaria, and runs in nearly a straight line 
 from south-southeast to north-northwest some fifteen or sixteen 
 miles, terminating in a bold promontory which forms the southern 
 headland of the bay of Acre a headland which is rendered the 
 more conspicuous by the fact that it is the only one along this part 
 of the Mediterranean coast. The mountain is of compact lime 
 stone, deeply furrowed with rocky ravines filled with dense jun 
 gle, and tenanted by jackals, hyenas, wolves, and wild swine. 
 In the sides of the mountain, especially around its western end, 
 are numerous caves and grottos, formed partly by nature and 
 partly by art ; for Carmel formerly swarmed with monks and her 
 mits who made these caves their home. Through the prophet 
 Amos Jehovah says of transgressors : " Though they hide them- 
 
SHFCHEM, EBAL AND GERIZFM. 
 
PALESTINE. 53 
 
 in the top of Carmel, I will search and take them out 
 thence." Amos 9 : 3. Whether the reference be to these laby 
 rinths of caverns and grottos, which, as travellers tell us, are 
 very tortuous and open one into another, or, as Thomson seems 
 to intimate (Land and Book, 2, p. 230), to the deep and winding 
 ravines filled with tangled brushwood, it is equally beautiful and 
 1 HTtinent. The northeastern side of the ridge is more steep and 
 precipitous than the southwestern; which latter "sinks down 
 gradually into wooded hills with well-watered valleys, present 
 ing to the eye a district of great beauty, rich in tillage and pas 
 turage, declining gently into the southern plain and the adja 
 cent lower hills." Robinson, Pliys. Geog. p. 29. The ridge of 
 Carmel is tolerably continuous, rising from the northwestern 
 end, where its elevation is about 600 feet above the sea, to the 
 village of Esfieh, where it attains to the elevation of 1,729 feet. 
 Thence it falls off again to 1,635 feet at its southeastern end. 
 See in Van de Velde s Memoir, p. 177, the different measure 
 ments. 
 
 The Hebrew word Carmel signifies park, garden-like, tract ; a 
 name which the mountain may well claim from its beauty and 
 fruitfulness, especially as contrasted with the bare southern 
 hills. It is sprinkled with fine oaks and other forest-trees in its 
 upper parts, and olive and fruit trees further down. "Long 
 deep ravines of singular wildness wind down the mountain-sides, 
 filled with tangled copse, fragrant with hawthorn, myrtle, and 
 jessamine, and alive with the murmur of tiny brooks and the 
 song of birds. At intervals along the slopes are open glades, 
 carpeted with green grass, and spangled with myriads of wild- 
 flowers of every hue." Porter, in Alexander s Kitto. The north 
 western extremity is more bleak and barren ; and here, over 
 looking the blue waters of the Mediterranean, stands the con 
 vent of the Carmelites, a modern building erected on the site 
 of a more ancient structure. 
 
 The scene of Elijah s sacrifice seems to have been at the east 
 ern extremity of the ridge. Modern travellers have thought 
 that they could identify the very spot ; namely, a terrace of nat- 
 
54 SACRED GEOGRAPHY. 
 
 ural rocks at the southeastern extremity of Carinel, which bears 
 tin- name d-Mnhrk<ilt, the Micri/ice; but Eobinson thinks that 
 the transaction took place at the foot of the mountain. See 
 Stanley, Sinai and Palestine, pp. 345-8 ; Grove in . Smith s 
 Bible Diet. ; Porter in Alexander s Kitto ; Thomson, Land and 
 Book, 2, pp. 220-6; Eobinson, Phys. Geog., pp. 30, 31. 
 
 11. In its scenery and general character, Carmel belongs to 
 the mountains of Galilee, though separated from them, as we 
 have seen, by the plains of Esdraelon and Acre. But the moun 
 tainous tract of Samaria and Judea, with which the ridge of 
 Carmel connects itself by an offset at its southeastern extrem 
 ity, presents in its general features a striking contrast to the 
 northern mountainous region. The interspersed plains become 
 smaller and less frequent. " The summits are more rocky and 
 more rounded than those in Galilee ; and the sides, though in 
 many places bare, are generally clothed with scraggy woods of 
 dwarf-oak, terebinth, and maple, or with shrubberies of thorn- 
 bushes." "The hill-sides around" the plains "get steeper and 
 wider towards the south. The valleys running into Sharon are 
 long, winding, mostly tillable, though dry and bare ; while those 
 on the east, running into the chasm of the Jordan, are deep and 
 abrupt ; but being abundantly watered by numerous fountains, 
 and being planted with olive groves and orchards, they have a 
 rich and picturesque appearance. In fact, the eastern declivi 
 ties of the mountains of Ephraim, wild and rugged though they 
 are, contain some of the most beautiful scenery and some of the 
 most luxuriant orchards in Central Palestine." " The features 
 of the mountains are different from those of Galilee. Here 
 there is more wildness and ruggedness, the tracts of level 
 ground are smaller, the valleys are narrower, and the banks 
 steeper. While the rich upland plains produce abundant crops 
 of grain, yet this is a region on the whole specially adapted for 
 the cultivation of olives, orchards, and vineyards. The more 
 carefully its features, soil, and products are examined, the more 
 evident does it become that Ephraim was indeed blessed with 
 1 the chief things of the ancient mountains vines, figs, olives. 
 
PALESTIN I 55 
 
 and corn, all ,ur<>\\ in_u luxuriantly amid the lasting hills. " Por 
 ter in Alexander s Kitto, art. Palestine. 
 
 The mountainous region now under consideration was inclu 
 ded in the Samaria of our Lord s time, lying north of a line 
 drawn east from Joppa to the Jordan. In the division of the 
 land under Joshua, it fell to the tribe of Ephraim, and is the 
 " Mount Ephraim" of the Old Testament. Josh. 17 : 15 ; 20 : 7 ; 
 Judg. 2:9; 7 : 24, etc. Another designation employed by the 
 later writers is, "the mountains of Samaria" (Jer. 31 : 5; Amos 
 3:9; 4:1), so called from Samaria, the royal city of the Israel- 
 itish kings from the time of Omri. 
 
 12. Of the few plain* that are found in the mountainous 
 region of Samaria the following are worthy of notice : 
 
 The plain anmnif l)ntl,n, of which some account has already 
 been given. See above, No. 8. 
 
 Not far southeast of the plain of Dothan Robinson describes 
 " another beautiful plain, oval or round in form, three or four 
 miles in diameter, and surrounded by picturesque hills not very 
 elevated. It is perfectly level, with a soil of rich dark loani, 
 exceedingly fertile. The plain has no outlet for its waters; 
 which therefore in winter collect upon it and form a tempo 
 rary lake." Hence the name Merj-d-Ghuruk, that is, Droivned 
 w*-<nlou\ Bib. Res. 2, pp. 313, 314. 
 
 The great plain of J/"/,7///" extends along the eastern base of 
 the mountains in which Nabulus, the ancient Shechem, is situa 
 ted, for eight or nine miles in a direction from south-southwest to 
 north-northeast, with an average breadth of one and a half to two 
 miles. At about two-thirds of its length from south to north, 
 the valley of Nabulus comes in from the west between Gerizim 
 and Ebal ; and opposite to the mouth of this latter valley is an 
 arm of the Mukhna running up east among the hills for nearly 
 three miles with a breadth of about half a mile. This plain is 
 described as under good cultivation and presenting a beautiful 
 appearance. Eobinson, Bib. Res. 2, pp. 273, 274; Phys. Geog., 
 pp. 135, 136. 
 
 The two most celebrated places in this mountainous region 
 
56 SACRED GKOGKAPHY. 
 
 are, S/icr/n-m (rendered SicJtcm in Gen. 12 : 6) and Sattutt ttt. The 
 former lias the preeminence in antiquity, the latter in dignity, 
 having been from the days of Omri and onward the royal city 
 of the Israelitish monarchs. Both are distinguished for the 
 beauty of their situation and the many scriptural associations 
 that cluster around them. Shechem lies on the main road from 
 Jerusalem to Nazareth, and is almost equidistant between the 
 tw r o places. According to Robinson s Itinerary, it is fourteen 
 and a half hours from Jerusalem to Shechem, including a short 
 detour to visit Shiloh; and fifteen and a quarter hours from 
 Shechem to Nazareth by way of Samaria. From Shechem to 
 Samaria is two hours and ten minutes, or about six miles, in a 
 northwesterly direction. We add a more particular account of 
 each place. 
 
 14. The modern name of Shechem is Nabulus, or, in the 
 abbreviated mode of utterance, Nablus, which is a corruption 
 of the name Ncapolis (on the coins, Flavia Neapolis), imposed 
 on it by the Romans not long after the times of the New Tes 
 tament. 
 
 The most common form in the Septuagint for the Hebrew Shechem is 
 Sychem (2v,fep), as in Acts 7 : 16. In John 4 : 5 the place is called Sycliar. 
 It has been conjectured that this latter form was originally a corruption of 
 the true form for the purpose of assimilating it to the Hebrew word Shik- 
 kor, drunkard (in allusion to Isa. 28 :1, 7), or to the word sheker, false 
 hood, that is, false worship (Hab. 2 : 18). But all this is uncertain. 
 
 The situation of Nabulus is beautiful and romantic. It lies 
 in a long narrow valley, extending from southeast to northwest, 
 between Mount Gerizim on the south and Mount Ebal on the 
 north ; and is half an hour distant from the great eastern plain 
 of the Mukhna already described. The two mountains rise on 
 either side in steep rocky precipices apparently some eight 
 hundred feet high, leaving between them a deep glen not more 
 than five hundred yards wide where the town is situated. 
 Directly on the water-shed of this valley, and stretching along 
 the northeastern base of Mount Geriziin, lies the modern Nabu 
 lus, the streams on the eastern part flowing off into the plain, 
 
PALESTINE. 57 
 
 and so towards the Jordan, while the fountains on the western 
 side send off a brook down the valley northwest towards the Med 
 iterranean. The streets are narrow; the houses high, and in 
 general well built of stone, with domes on the roofs; the ba 
 zaars good and well supplied. Eobinson, Bib. Res. 2, p. 275. 
 Robinson describes the sides of both mountains as equally naked 
 and sterile, with the exception of a small ravine on Gerizim 
 coming down opposite the west end of the town, which is full of 
 fountains and trees. Ibid., p. 276. The fertility and beauty of 
 the valley itself in which the town stands have been the admi 
 ration of all travellers. 
 
 "Keeping the road," says Eobinson, "along its northern side we 
 passed some high mounds, apparently of ashes ; where, all at once, the 
 ground sinks down to a valley running towards the west, with a soil of 
 rich black vegetable mould. Here a scene of luxuriant and almost unpar 
 alleled verdure burst upon our view. The whole valley was filled with 
 gardens of vegetables and orchards of all kinds of fruits, watered by sev 
 eral fountains, which burst forth in various parts, and flow westward in 
 refreshing streams. It came upon us suddenly, like a scene of fairy en 
 chantment. We saw nothing to compare with it in all Palestine. Here, 
 beneath the shade of an immense mulberry-tree, by the side of a purling 
 rill, we pitched our tent for the remainder of the day and night." Bib. 
 Ees. 2, p. 275. Dr. Kosen, as quoted by Prof. Hackett, says that the 
 inhabitants boast of no less than eighty springs within and around the 
 city, and lie gives the names of twenty-seven of the principal ones. "The 
 oh ve, aa in the days when Jotham delivered his famous parable, is still the 
 principal tree. Figs, almonds, walnuts, mulberries, grapes, oranges, apri 
 cots, pomegranates, are abundant. The valley of the Nile itself hardly 
 surpasses Ndbulus in the production of vegetables of every sort." Prof. 
 Hackett in Smith s Bib. Diet. 
 
 The substantial identity of the site of the present Nabulus with that of 
 the ancient Shechem is admitted by almost all biblical scholars ; though 
 it is thought with reason that the ancient city lay, in part at least, farther 
 east than the modern one, and thus nearer to Jacob s well. Robinson, 
 Bib. Res. 2, p. 285; Hackett in Smith s Bib. Diet., art. Shechem. The 
 present population of Shechem is variously estimated at from 5,000 to 
 8,000. 
 
 15. Shechem is a place of great antiquity. It is mentioned 
 in the history of Abraham s migration to the land of Canaan 
 
 3* 
 
58 SACRED GEOGRAPHY. 
 
 (Gen. 12:6) as "the place of Shechem" (Eng. vers. SicJ-m). 
 In the days of Jacob it is called a city (Gen. 34 : 20, 27), unless, 
 indeed, we assume that Shalcm, the modern Salim, three miles 
 east of Shechem, is the city where the bloody transaction which 
 is recorded in Gen. chap. 34 took place. Compare Gen. 33 : 18. 
 It was under the oak (or terebinth) by Shechem that Jacob hid 
 the strange gods of his household as he was departing for Beth 
 el. Gen. 35 : 4. It was at Shechem also that the man found 
 Joseph wandering in the field in search of his brethren. Gen. 
 37 : 14, 15. Joshua made it a Levitical city, and also a city of 
 refuge (Josh. 20:7; 21:21); thither, shortly before his death, 
 he gathered all the tribes of Israel for the solemn renewal of 
 their covenant with God (Josh. chap. 24) ; and there the Israel 
 ites buried the bones of Joseph (Josh. 24 : 32). Shechem was 
 the seat of Abinielech s short and turbulent reign and the bloody 
 scenes connected with it. Judg. chap. 9. To the same place 
 the Israelites repaired in a later age for the purpose of install 
 ing Kehoboam as king over all Israel ; and there he frustrated 
 their purpose by his folly, so that the kingdom of his father was 
 rent in twain. 1 Kings, chap. 12. 
 
 16. Of the two mountains which rise in steep rocky precipi 
 ces above the city, Gerizim, on the south, has an elevation above 
 the sea of 2,650 feet. Robinson says that the top of Ebal, as 
 seen from the e"ast, appears to be a hundred feet or more higher 
 apparently the highest land in all Mount Ephraim. Phys. Geog. 
 p. 37. These two mountains were designated by Moses for the 
 solemn pronunciation of the blessings and the curses ; the bless 
 ings to be pronounced on Gerizim, the curses on Ebal. Joshua 
 was also directed to set up great stones on Mount Ebal, and 
 plaster them with plaster, upon which was to be written a copy 
 of the law of Moses; all which was faithfully performed by 
 him. Deut. 11:29, 30; chap. 27; Josh. 8:30-35. The sum 
 mit of Gerizim is also distinguished as the place where Jotham 
 pronounced in the hearing of the Shechemites below him his 
 celebrated parable. " Several lofty precipices literally over 
 hang the city, any one of which would answer his" purpose. 
 
I \ LEST] N r. 59 
 
 Nor would it be difficult to be heard, as everybody knows who 
 Las listened to the public crier of villages on Lebanon. In the 
 stillness of the evening, after the people have returned home 
 from their distant fields, he ascends the mountain side above the 
 place, or to the roof of some prominent house, and there lifts 
 up his voice and cries, as Jotham did ; and he gives forth his 
 proclamation with such distinctness that all can hear and under 
 stand it." Thomson, Land and Book. 2, pp. 209, 210. ^ e 
 may add that he was in entire safety, since the ascent to the 
 summit is by a circuitous route through the ravine already men 
 tioned, which comes down opposite the west end of the city. 
 
 17. From the time of the Babylonish exile and onwards, 
 Shechem was the chief seat of the Samaritans, and the feeble 
 remnants of this people are found there at the present day. 
 
 The scriptural account of the origin of the people afterwards called 
 Samaritans is as follows. About 721 B. c., in the ninth year of Hoshea 
 king of Israel. " the king of Assyria took Samaria, and carried Israel away 
 into Assyria, and placed them in Halah and in Eabor by the river of Go- 
 zan, and in the cities of the Medes." 2 Kings 17 : 6. Then follows an 
 extended explanation of the reason why God allowed this calamity to 
 befall the kingdom of Israel (verses 7-23), after which the sacred writer 
 adds (ver. 24): " And the king of Assyria brought men from Babylon, and 
 from Cuthah, and from Ava, and from Hamath, and from Sepharvaim, and 
 placed them in the cities of Samaria instead of the children of Israel : and 
 they possessed Samaria, and dwelt in the cities thereof." By "Samaria 
 and the cities thereof" we are to understand Samaria and the adjacent cit 
 ies and villages, which alone remained to the kings of Israel ; for their ter 
 ritory had been curtailed by previous invasions, and did not then include 
 either Galilee or the region east of the Jordan valley. 2 Kings 10 : 32, 33 ; 
 15 : 29. The Assyrian inscriptions ascribe to Sargon, the successor of Shal- 
 maneser, the deportation of the Israelites, 27,280 families. Nor is this 
 inconsistent with the succinct scriptural narrative, which names Shalma- 
 neser indeed as the Assyrian monarch who reduced Hoshea to a state of 
 vassalage (2 Kings 17 : 3), but in recording the subsequent transactions, 
 speaks simply of "the king of Assyria" (vers. 4, 5, 6, 24). The colonists 
 themselves represent Esar-haddon, the son and successor of Sennacherib, 
 and grandson of Sargon, as the man who brought them up to the Samari 
 tan region. Ezra 4:2. " The great and noble Asnapper," to whom they 
 ascribe the same work (Ezra 4 : 10), was either identical with Esar-haddon, 
 or was the satrap to whom he intrusted the enterprise. The latter is the 
 
(50 SACKED GEOGRAPHY. 
 
 more probable opinion. As a punishment for the impiety of these colonists, 
 the Lord sent lions among them (2 Kings 17 : 25) ; whereupon the king of 
 Assyria sent them an Israelitish priest, who should teach them the man 
 ner of the God of the land." The result was a mongrel religion, which 
 the sacred writer describes by saying that "they feared the Lord, and 
 served their own gods." "So these nations feared the Lord, and served 
 their graven images, both their children, and their children s children : 
 as did their fathers, so do they unto this day" (vers. 29-41). 
 
 In all this narrative it is implied that the colonists were of purely hea 
 then origin. The account which Josephus gives is substantially the same. 
 His only error is in ascribing the deportation of the Israelites and the 
 mission of the colonists to the same monarch, Shalnianeser (Antiq. 9. 14. 
 1 ; 10. 9. 7), which was with him an inference from the form of the scrip 
 tural narrative. How far these colonists became mingled before the days 
 of Ezra by intermarriage with the remnants of the Israelites that certainly 
 existed after the deportation in Ephraim and Manasseh, as well as farther 
 north (2 Chron. 34 : G, 7, and especially ver. 9), is a Difficult question, on 
 which eminent biblical scholars are divided. Josephus accuses them of 
 double-dealing in regard to their origin. "When the Jews are involved 
 in misfortunes," says he, " they deny that they are their kinsmen, confess 
 ing then the truth. But when they see any good fortune happening to 
 them, immediately they leap into fellowship with them, affirming that they 
 belong to them, and deriving their origin from Joseph through Ephraim 
 and Manasseh." Antiq. 11. 8. 6. See also 9. 14. 3. On the succession 
 of the Assyrian monarchs, see especially Rawlinson s Herodotus, Appendix 
 to Book 1, Essay 7. 
 
 These are the people who, upon the return of the Jews from the Baby 
 lonish captivity, applied for a share of the work in rebuilding the temple, 
 saying : "Let us build with you : for we seek your God, as ye do ; and we 
 do sacrifice unto him since the days of Esar-haddon king of Assyria, who 
 brought us up hither" (Ezra 4 : 2), words which certainly imply that they 
 were as a whole of foreign descent. Being sternly repulsed by the Jewish 
 rulers under Zerubbabel and Joshua they took, and ever afterwards main 
 tained, the attitude of bitter enemies to the Jewish people, and their hatred 
 was heartily reciprocated. The quarrel between the Jews and Samaritans 
 finally culminated in the erection by the latter of a temple of their own on 
 Mount Gerizim. The immediate occasion of this is generally thought to 
 have been the expulsion from Jerusalem by Nehemiah of one of the sons 
 of Joiada, the son of Eliashib the high priest, because he had married the 
 daughter of Sanballat the Horonite. Neh. 13 : 28. Josephus, indeed, 
 places this transaction some eighty years later than the time of Nehemiah, 
 and represents that the temple on Gerizim was built by permission of 
 Alexander the Great (Antiq. 11. 7. 2 ; 8. 4) ; but Robinson (Bib. Res. 2. 
 
PALESTINE. 61 
 
 p. 289 note) cons ders this to be a chronological error on the part of Jose- 
 phus. The Samaritan temple was destroyed by John Hyrcanus about 129 
 B. c. (Joseplms, Antiq. 13. 9. 1) but the Samaritans still adhered to their 
 worship on Mount Gerizim (John 4 : 20), as does also the small remnant 
 of them at the present day. Robinson, Bib. Res. 2, pp. 277, 278. 
 
 18. In the near vicinity of Sliechem are Jacob s icell and the 
 so-called tomb of Joseph. Jacob s well lies about a mile and a 
 half east of the city, aniid the ruins of a church formerly built 
 around it. When Maundrell visited it in 1697, it was covered 
 by an old stone vault now fallen into decay. Through this he 
 descended by a square hole in the roof, and found the proper 
 inouth of the well covered with a broad flat stone. The well is 
 excavated in the solid rock, and is about nine feet in diameter, 
 round, smooth, and regular. It appears to be slowly filling up 
 with rubbish; for Maundrell found its depth one hundred and 
 five feet, of which fifteen were water; while the Rev. S. Calhoun, 
 in 1839, and Dr. Wilson in 1843, found the depth below the 
 vault only seventy-five feet, and in 1855 Rev. John Mills could 
 make it no more than seventy feet deep. The latter traveller 
 found it entirely dry, and this seems to be its general state at 
 present. 
 
 There can be no reasonable doubt that this is the identical 
 well on which the Saviour sat and conversed with the Samari 
 tan woman, while his disciples were gone into the city proba 
 bly somewhat nearer to the well than the present Nabulus 
 to buy meat. Looking round upon the green cornfields four 
 months before the time of harvest (so we prefer to interpret the 
 Saviour s words), and seeing a nobler harvest of immortal souls 
 streaming forth from the city, and already ripe for the spiritual 
 reaper s sickle, he exclaimed : " Say not ye, There are yet four 
 months, and then cometh harvest? behold, I say unto you, Lift 
 up your eyes, and look on the fields; for they are white already 
 to harvest." John 4 : 35. 
 
 The question has been raised: Why dig a well in a region so abun 
 dantly watered by fountains ? The answer is, that Jacob wished to be 
 independent of the inhabitants for a supply of water to the "parcel of a 
 
62 SACRED GEOGRAPHY. 
 
 field" which he had bought. Gen. 33:18, 19. The position of the well 
 "before the city," as well as the uniform tradition since the days of Euse- 
 bius, in which Jews, Samaritans, Christians, and Mohammedans agree, all 
 conspire to prove the identity of the present well with that honored by the 
 presence of our Lord. 
 
 The tomb of Joseph lies about a quarter of a mile north of the 
 well, in the middle of the mouth of the valley between Gerizini 
 and Ebal. It is a tomb of the ordinary kind, surrounded by a 
 square enclosure of high whitewashed walls. 
 
 The tradition respecting Joseph s tomb at Shechem (Josh. 24:32) is as 
 old and as uniform as that concerning Jacob s well. The difficulty and 
 uncertainty have respect to the exact spot whether this tomb or the wely 
 at the northeast foot of Gerizim. See on this point Prof. Haekett in 
 Smith s Bib. Diet. , art. Shechem. 
 
 19. Proceeding down the valley which leads off from Shech 
 em in a northwesterly direction we come, at the distance of 
 about six miles, to a fine round swelling hill, or almost mountain, 
 standing alone in the midst of a great basin of some two hours 
 in diameter, and surrounded by higher mountains on every side. 
 Kobinson, Bib. Ees. 2, p. 304, This is the ancient " hill of Sa 
 maria," which Oinri, the father of Aliab, bought "of Shemer for 
 two talents of silver, and built on the hill, and called the name 
 of the city which he built after the name of Shemer, owner of 
 the hill, Samaria," or, in the Hebrew form, Shomeron. I Kings 
 16 : 24. It was therefore a chosen spot of great strength, as 
 well as fertility and beauty. All travellers speak of it with 
 admiration. " It would be difficult," says Robinson, " to find in 
 all Palestine a situation of equal strength, fertility, and beauty. 
 In all these particulars it has very greatly the advantage over 
 Jerusalem." Bib. Ees. 2, p. 309. 
 
 The modern name of the hill of Samaria is Sebustieh, an 
 Arabic conniption of the name Sebaste, which Herod the Great 
 gave to the city in honor of his master, Augustus, who bestowed 
 it upon him after the death of Antony and Cleopatra (Josephus, 
 Antiq., 15. 7. 3; 8. 5; Jewish War, 1. 2. 7), Sebaste being the 
 
1 ALl.STINE. 63 
 
 Greek form answering to the Latin Augusta. Samaria and 
 Shechem were the chief seats of the foreigners introduced by 
 Esar-haddon. Joseplms says that John Hyrcamis (about 106 
 B. c.) destroyed the city to its foundations, so that no vestige of 
 it remained. Antiq., 13. 10. 3. But it was afterwards rebuilt; 
 and when Herod received it from Augustus, he enlarged it, sur 
 rounded it by a strong wall, and adorned it in every part. Ant., 
 15. 8. 5. But all this glory has long since passed away. The 
 whole hill is cultivated to the top. "The ground has been 
 ploughed for centuries ; and hence it is now in vain to look here 
 for the foundations and stones of the ancient city." Robin 
 son, Bib. Res., 2, p. 307, where see a more particular account of 
 the history of Samaria and its present ruins. 
 . 20. The scriptural reminiscences connected with Samaria 
 are many and interesting. Here Ahab, at the instigation of 
 Jezebel his wife, built a temple and altar to Baal (1 Kings 
 16 : 32) ; here the false prophets prophesied before him and 
 Jehoshaphat " in a void place in the entrance of the gate of Sama 
 ria," and the true prophet Micaiah denounced upon him the 
 speedy judgment of heaven ; to this place was his body brought 
 and buried, " and one washed the chariot in the pool of Sama 
 ria, and the dogs licked up his blood" (1 Kings, chap. 22); here 
 Jehu " slew all that remained unto Ahab in Samaria," and then 
 destroyed by stratagem all the worshippers of Baal. 2 Kings, 
 chap. 10. The city was honored by the presence and miracu 
 lous deeds of Elisha. Here this prophet healed Naaman the 
 Syrian of his leprosy (2 Kings, chap. 5), and sending a messenger 
 hither, apparently from Dothan, disclosed to the king of Israel 
 the plans of the Syrian invaders. Chap. 6:8-12. Here also 
 he predicted incredible plenty at a time of distressing famine. 
 Chap. 7. After the outpouring of the Spirit on the day of Pen 
 tecost, Samaria with its villages was the first place without the 
 limits of Judrea that received the gospel (Acts 8 : 5-25), and 
 it early became the seat of a Christian bishop. 
 
 21. Other places of interest in Mount Ephraim are the fol 
 lowing : 
 
f4 SACRED GEOGRAPHY. 
 
 Dothan, which yet retaius its ancient name, on the little plain already 
 noticed (No. 8 above) south of Esdraelon. On the southern side of this 
 plain is a large mound or tell covered with ruins, with a fountain at its 
 base, and near it some deep wells or cisterns, into one of which undoubt 
 edly Joseph was let down, and drawn out again that he might be sold to 
 the Ishniaelites who were on their way to Egypt. It was to Dothan also 
 that the Syrian king sent by night "horses, and chariots, and a great 
 host," with the intention of capturing Elisha. But they were smitten with 
 blindness, and led by the prophet to Samaria. The minute accuracy of 
 the narrative is noticeable. When God, upon the prophet s petition, 
 opened the eyes of the young man who attended him, " lie saw, and behold 
 the mountain (or hill, for the Hebrew word for mountain and hill is the same) 
 was full of horses and chariots of fire round about Elisha." 2 Kings 6 : 17. 
 
 Dr. Robinson (Bib. Res. 3, pp. 302, 303) finds the probable site of 
 the ancient Tirzah, celebrated in the Song of Solomon for its beauty (chap. 
 6:4), and for some time the seat of the Israelitish kings (1 Kings 14:17; 
 15:21, 33; 16:8, 15, 17, 23) in the modern Tuttuzah, a town a few miles north 
 of Nabulus. The place lies in a sightly and commanding position, and is 
 surrounded by immense groves of oli ve-trees planted on ah 1 the hills around. 
 
 The large village of Tubas, northeast of Nabulus, on the road to Beth- 
 shean, is in all probability the ancient Tliebez, from the strong tower of 
 which city a certain woman cast an upper millstone upon Abimelech s 
 head and broke his skull. Judg. 9 : 53. It lies on the western slope of a 
 basin with a beautiful plain in front, and large groves of olive-trees. Rob 
 inson, Bib. Res. 3, p. 305. 
 
 A short distance east of the plain of the Mukhna which lies before 
 Shechem is the village of Salim, which Robinson thinks is probably the 
 "Shalem, a city of Shechem," to which Jacob came on his return from 
 Padan-aram. Gen. 33 : 18. Since, however, Shalom signifies in the He 
 brew whole, sound, some prefer to render: "And Jacob came unharmed to 
 the city of Shechem." 
 
 The ancient Stiiloli has been identified in respect to site with the ruins 
 called by the Arabs Seilun. The position of this place is very exactly 
 defined in the Old Testament. It was " on the north side of Beth-el, on 
 the east side of the way that goeth from Beth-el to Shechem, and on the 
 south of Lebonah. " Judg. 21 : 19. The ruins in question correspond well 
 to this description. "The traveller at the present day," writes Professor 
 Hackett (in Smith s Bib. Diet.) from his own note-book, "going north 
 from Jerusalem, lodges the first night at Beitin, the ancient Beth-el ; the 
 next day, at the distance of a few hours, turns aside to the right, in order 
 to visit Seilun, the Arabic for Shiloh; and then passing through the nar- 
 
PALESTINE. 65 
 
 row wiuly, which brings him to the main road, leaves el-Lebb&n, the Lebo- 
 nah of Scripture, on the left, as he pursues the highway to Nablus, the 
 ancient Shechem." Seilun corresponds to the Hebrew Shilon, which 
 appears to have been the original full form. Hence the term Sli doitih , 
 that is, inhabitant of Shiloh (1 Kings 11 : 29; 12 : 15, compared with 14: 2, 4) ; 
 and hence also the form Siloun, which Josephus employs along with Silo 
 (the former in Antiq., 5. 1. 19 and 20; 2. 9. and 12; the latter in Autiq., 
 8. 7. 7 ; 11. 1). The main site of the ruins of Seilun is a small tell sur 
 rounded by hills. On the east a narrow valley, shut in at first by per 
 pendicular walls of rock, leads to an open tract with a fine fountain, in the 
 vicinity of which Robinson suggests that the sekure of the daughters of 
 Shiloh by the Benjamites ( Judg. 21 : 19-23) probably took place. 
 
 Shiloh was selected by Joshua as the site of the tabernacle (Josh. 18:1), 
 and here he completed the division of the land by lot. Josh. 18:8-10. 
 It remained the religious centre of the Israelites through a period of three 
 centuries, till the ark was taken captive by the Philistines. Here Hannah 
 prayed before the Lord, and was graciously answered ; and here she dedica 
 ted her son Samuel to the Lord. 1 Sam. , chap. 2. Here the terrible tidings 
 of the capture of the ark were brought to Eli with the death of his two 
 sons, Hophni and Phinehas ; whereupon the aged high priest "fell from 
 off the seat backward by the side of the gate, and his neck brake, and he 
 died." 1 Sam. 4:12-18. Hither also the wife of Jeroboam repaired to 
 consult" the prophet Ahijah in behalf of her son Abijah, and was fore 
 warned of his speedy death, and the extirpation of Jeroboam s family. 
 1 Kings 14:1-17. The language of Jeremiah implies that Shiloh was des 
 olate in his day. Jer. 7:12, 14 ; 26:6, 9. 
 
 The Gilgal of 2 Kings, chap. 2, is certainly not the Gilgal in the Jordan 
 valley where Joshua encamped immediately after passing over Jordan. 
 In this chapter Elijah goes down with Elisha from Gilgal to Beth-el ; then 
 from Beth-el to Jericho, and from Jericho across the Jordan. The Gilgal 
 of Joshua s first encampment is more than 3,000 feet below Beth-el (accord 
 ing to Van de Velde, Memoir, pp. 179, 182, about 3,300 feet) not to speak 
 of the improbability of Elijah s going up from this Gilgal to Beth-el, to 
 return immediately to Jericho in its near vicinity. But there is a large 
 village bearing the name of Jiljllia which Robinson describes (Bib. Res. 
 2, pp. 265, 266), and which fulfils well all the conditions of Elijah s last 
 journey. It is on higher ground than iBeth-el, and the latter place lies 
 about six miles south of it on the direct road from Jiljilia to Jericho. 
 "The place stands very high, near the western brow of the high moun 
 tain tract. It affords a very extensive view out over the great lower plain 
 and sea ; while at the same time the mountains of Gilead are seen in the 
 east. Far in the north-northeast, too, we could see for the first time a 
 lofty dark blue mountain, which we afterwards found to be no other than 
 
66 SACKED GEOGRAPHY. 
 
 Jebel-esh-Sheikh, the Hcrnion of Scripture, beyond Banids, still not less 
 distant from us than eighty minutes of latitude " more than ninety Eng 
 lish miles. It is surprising that Robinson should not have even suspected 
 the identity of this place with the Gilgal of 2 Kings, chap. 2, but should 
 have written : " The form Jiljilia obviously corresponds to the ancient name 
 Gilgal ; but I find no mention of any ancient place of that name in this 
 vicinity." There is another Gilgal, Jiljuleli, a little south of Antipatris, but 
 this cannot come into account in the present connection. It is probably 
 the Gilgal of Josh. 12 : 23. 
 
 The site and ruins of Timnath-serali in Mount Ephraim, which was 
 assigned to Joshua as his inheritance, and in the border of which he was 
 buried, "on the north side of the hill Gaash " (Josh. 19 : 50 ; 24 : 30 ; Judg. 
 2:9, where, by a transposition of consonants, we have Timnath-heres), have 
 been probably identified by Rev. Eli Smith in the modern Tibnek, about 
 six miles northwest of Gophna. Here is a gentle hill with the ruins of a 
 considerable town on the north side of a valley which runs westward to the 
 great wady Belat. Over against these ruins on the south side of the val 
 ley is a high hill, in the north side of which are several excavated sepul 
 chres, which in size and in the richness and character of their architecture, 
 resemble the so-called "Tombs of the Kings" at Jerusalem. This is 
 probably " the hill Gaash." 
 
 Beth-el, on the border between Ephraim and Benjamin, fell to tne king 
 dom of Israel upon the separation of the ten tribes, but will be most con 
 veniently described from Jerusalem as a centre. 
 
 III. SOUTHEEN SECTION JUDEA IN PART. 
 
 22. As we pass southward from the mountains of Ephraim 
 to those of Judea, the physical features and scenery undergo 
 a gradual but marked change. The little upland plains " almost 
 disappear," says Porter (in Alexander s Kitto), "in Benjamin, 
 and in Judah they are unknown. Those which do exist in Ben 
 jamin, as the plains of Gibeon and Rephaim, are small and 
 rocky. The soil, alike on plain, hill, and glen, is poor and 
 scanty ; and the gray limestone rock everywhere crops up over 
 it, giving the landscape a barren and forbidding aspect. Natu 
 ral wood disappears; and a few small bushes, brambles, or aro 
 matic shrubs, alone appear upon the hillsides." Fountains 
 become rare, and wells, hewn in the soft limestone rock, take 
 their place. Covered cisterns also, in which the rain-water is 
 
PALESTINE. 67 
 
 treasured up, and open tanks are very abundant. Now, as in 
 ancient days, the wells of Palestine are the resort of- caravans 
 and wayfaring men. Thither the shepherds lead their flocks, 
 and the women resort with their pitchers. "Bounded hills," 
 says Stanley (Sinai and Palestine, pp. 136, 137), "chiefly of gray 
 color gray partly from the limestone of which they are all 
 formed, partly from the tufts of gray shrub with which their 
 sides are thinly clothed, and from the prevalence of the olive 
 their sides formed into concentric rings of rock, which must 
 have served in ancient times as supports to the terraces, of 
 which there are still traces to their very summits ; valleys, or 
 rather meetings of these gray slopes with the beds of dry water 
 courses at their feet long sheets of bare rock laid like flag 
 stones, side by side, along the soil these are the chief features 
 of the greater part of the scenery of the historical parts of 
 Palestine." All travellers notice the profusion of aromatic 
 shrubs which in the spring clothe the hills and valleys of Syria 
 and Arabia. Characteristic of Palestine in the spring of the 
 year is the profusion of wild flowers, especially those of a scar 
 let hue anemones, wild tulips, poppies, etc. 
 
 23. "The glens," continues Porter, " which descend west 
 ward are long and winding, with dry, rocky beds, and banks 
 breaking down to them in terraced declivities. The lower slopes 
 near the plain of Philistia are neither so bare nor so rugged as 
 those near the crest of the ridge. The valleys, too, become 
 wider, sometimes expanding, as Surar, es-Sumpt (Elah), and 
 Beit Jibrin, with rich and beautiful cornfields. The eastern 
 declivities of the ridge, so fertile and picturesque in Samaria, 
 are here a wilderness bare, white, and absolutely desolate; 
 without trees, or grass, or stream, or fountain. Naked slopes 
 of white gravel and white rock descend rapidly and irregularly 
 from the brow of the ridge, till at length they dip in the frown 
 ing precipices of Quarantania, Feshkah, Engedi, and Masada, 
 into the Jordan valley or Dead sea. Naked ravines, too, like 
 huge fissures, with perpendicular walls of rock, often several 
 hundred feet in height, furrow these slopes from top to bottom. 
 
68 SACKED GEOGRAPHY. 
 
 The wild and savage grandeur of wadys Far ah, el-Kelt, en-Nar, 
 and Klmreitun is almost appalling." Robinson notices, in like 
 manner, the difference between the eastern and western sides of 
 this mountainous tract. The wall of the Dead sea and Jordan 
 valley, he tells us (Phys. Geog., p. 33), "rises from one thousand 
 to fifteen hundred feet above the depressed valley, is every 
 where steep and sometimes precipitous, and is often cleft to 
 its base by the deep valleys and gorges that issue from the 
 mountains. All is irregular and wild, presenting, especially 
 along the Dead sea, scenes of savage grandeur." Along the 
 western base of the mountainous region lies, as already re 
 marked, a tract of lower hills, constituting the middle region 
 between the mountains and the plain. " This tract," says Rob 
 inson, " is, for the most part, a beautiful open country, consist 
 ing of low hills, usually rocky, separated by broad arable val 
 leys, mostly well adapted for grain, as are also many of the 
 swelling hills. The whole tract is full of villages and deserted 
 sites and ruins, and there are many olive groves. 
 
 "One feature of this high mountain plateau has been disclosed only 
 since the discovery of the deep depression of the Dead sea and Jordan val 
 ley. That sea lies (in round numbers) thirteen hundred feet below the level 
 of the Mediterranean. The eastern brow of the mountain overhanging 
 the Dead sea, is thirteen hundred feet above it, or almost precisely on the 
 level of the western sea. Jerusalem is two thousand six hundred feet, 
 while the western brow is but two thousand feet above the Mediterranean. 
 Hence, in the slope from Jerusalem to the western brow, there is a descent 
 of six hundred feet ; while in that from Jerusalem to the eastern brow, a 
 distance not much greater, the descent is two thousand six hundred feet ; 
 a difference of two thousand feet ! This remarkable feature is chiefly con 
 spicuous south of Kuril Surtabeh [a promontory overhanging the Jordan 
 valley. See the map]. The enormous descent of the eastern slope is very 
 marked, as seen from the hill of Taiyibeh [a high conical hill northeast of 
 Bethel] and the mount of Olives ; and is fully felt by the traveller in pass 
 ing from Hebron or Carmel of the south to the Dead sea." Robinson, 
 Phys. Geog., pp. 34, 35. 
 
 24. In the above description it has been implied that the 
 eastern part of the mountainous region of Judea is destitute of 
 water and uncultivated. In truth, this eastern part, a tract 
 
PALESTINE. 69 
 
 extending some thirty-five or forty miles from the parallel of 
 Beth-el on the north to the southern border of Palestine, and 
 having a breadth of about nine miles, has always been, and 
 must continue to be, an uninhabited wilderness. This is the 
 irihh niess of Judali or Jtidea. Psa. 63, title; Matt. 3:1. It is 
 described by Van de Velde as "a bare, arid wilderness; aa. 
 endless succession of shapeless yellow and ash -colored hills, 
 without grass or shrubs, without water, and almost without 
 life." Syria and Palestine, 2, p. 99. Like every other part of 
 Palestine, it abounds in limestone caverns. It was in a cave 
 near En-gedi in this wilderness that David took refuge from 
 the fury of Saul, when that monarch went to seek him "upon 
 the rocks of the wild goats." 1 Sam., chap. 24. Any one of the 
 innumerable calves which abound in the region may have been 
 the scene of David s adventure with Saul on that occasion. 
 
 The whole mountainous region south of the mountains of 
 Ephraim is called collectively the mountains of Judali (Josh. 
 11:21; 2 Chron. 21 : 11 ; 27 : 4) and the lull country of Judea 
 (Luke 1 : 39, 65). The mountainous tract south of Esdraelon 
 gradually rises, as already remarked, until around Hebron it 
 attains an elevation of two thousand eight hundred feet above 
 the Mediterranean. South of Hebron it declines again, and 
 some six miles south of Hebron, in about the latitude of Tell 
 Main (probably the ancient Maon, 1 Sam. 23 : 24, 25 ; 25 : 2) it 
 undergoes a marked physical change, the rocky hills with nar 
 row valleys giving place to gently rolling downs, " mostly bare 
 and desolate, burned up in summer by the unclouded sun, but 
 covered in winter and spring with grass and green herbs, afford 
 ing excellent pasturage for sheep, goats, and camels." Porter 
 in Alexander s Kitto, Art. Negeb. See also Tristram s Land 
 of Israel, pp. 382, 383. This is* that part of Judea so often 
 referred to as the south (Heb. Ncgcb) and the south country (Gen. 
 12:9; 13:1; 24:62; Deut. 1:7; 1 Sam. 30:1; etc.), terms 
 which are to be understood as denoting a geographical division 
 of the land. See especially Deut, 1:7; Jer. 32:44; 33:13; 
 Zech. 7 : 7. The deep and rocky wadys by which it is inter- 
 
70 SACKED GEOGRAPHY. 
 
 sected are dry except after heavy rains, when they flow with 
 water. Hence the beautiful allusion of the Psalmist: "Turn 
 again our captivity, O Lord, as the streams in the south." Psa. 
 126 : 4. 
 
 25. Jerusalem (el-Kuds, the Holy, as the Arabs call it) must 
 ever be an object of solemn interest to the Christian. Already 
 in the days of Joshua it was a place of great strength. Though 
 the Israelites took and burned the city itself (Judg. 1:8), they 
 could not drive out the Jebusites from their stronghold on Zion 
 (Josh. 15 : 63 ; Judg. 1 : 21), but they kept possession of it, and 
 thus of the city, till David s time, who "took the stronghold of 
 Zion: the same is the city of David." 2 Sam. 5:7. David 
 made it the seat of his kingdom ; and by the transference of the 
 ark from "Baalah, which is Kirjath-jearim" (Jo$h. 15 : 9) to the 
 same place (2 Sam., chap. 6), it became the seat and centre of 
 the theocracy also ; and so it continued for eleven centuries, till 
 the theocracy itself passed away through the ministry of the 
 Boman legions " with tumult, with shouting, and with the sound 
 of the trumpet." Here Solomon built on Moriah the first tem 
 ple, and Zerubbabel with his companions the second, which was 
 afterwards renewed by Herod with a magnificence surpassing 
 that of the first. Here David reigned in warlike might, and 
 Solomon in unrivalled splendor; and after them a long line of 
 kings and princes. The city was set forth as a prize to the suc 
 cessive great monarchies of the world. Against it came Shishak 
 king of Egypt, and "took away the treasures of the house of the 
 Lord, and the treasures of the king s house." 1 Kings 14 : 25, 
 26. Before it Sennacherib s host encamped, and were destroyed 
 by an angel a hundred fourscore and five thousand in one 
 night. 2 Kings 19 : 35. Nebuchadnezzar took it and burned 
 it with its "holy and beautiful temple." 2 Kings 25 : 9. Under 
 Cyrus it was restored. The mighty Alexander visited it and 
 offered sacrifices upon its altar. Josephus, Antiq., 11. 8. 5. 
 The kings of Egypt and Syria contended over it, and each of 
 them in turn possessed and desolated it. The heroic Maccabees 
 established its independence, till the Boman Pompey took it 
 
PALESTINE. 71 
 
 with great slaughter, and by the right of conquest visited the 
 inner sanctuary, where to his amazement he found " a vacant 
 shrine and empty mysteries, with no image of the gods within." 
 Tacitus, Hist., 5. 9. From Pompey s day the city passed into 
 the power of the Romans. It was destroyed by Titus with its 
 people A. D. 70, and the Jews slaughtered by hundreds of thou 
 sands. Under the leadership of the celebrated Bar-cocheba 
 the Jews revolted and took possession of Jerusalem, but were 
 defeated with terrible slaughter A. D. 135. Then the emperor 
 Hadrian demolished all remains of the old Jerusalem; built a 
 new city with a new name, that of ^Elia Capitolina ; erected a 
 temple to Jupiter on the site of the Jewish sanctuary, and a 
 temple to Astarte on the place now known as the holy sepul 
 chre; and sculptured the military ensigns of Rome over the 
 gates of the city. Afterwards the Persians stormed and took 
 Jerusalem, A. D. 614. Next it fell into the hands of the Sara 
 cens under Omar, A. D. 637, who has left the existing mosque of 
 Omar as a monument of his conquest. From the Saracens 
 Jerusalem passed to the Turks, and from them it was taken by 
 the Crusaders, A. D. 1099. Finally, it was captured from the 
 Christians by the famous Saladin, October 2, 1187, and has ever 
 since remained in the possession of the Ottoman power. Thus 
 are fulfilled the words of our Lord : " Jerusalem shall be trod 
 den down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be ful 
 filled." Luke 21 : 24 
 
 But, wonderful and unparalleled as is the earthly history of 
 Jerusalem, it has for us an interest of an infinitely higher char 
 acter; for it was here that our Lord wrought redemption for 
 the human family by his propitiatory death on the cross. With 
 in the walls of Jerusalem he was condemned to death, scourged, 
 and spit upon. Without her walls on Calvary he "redeemed us 
 from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us." Here 
 he was buried, and rose again the third day ; and from this city 
 he led his disciples forth to Bethany, where he was parted from 
 them and carried up into heaven. It was in Jerusalem also, on 
 the day of Pentecost, that the Holy Ghost descended upon the 
 
72 SACRED GEOGRAPHY. 
 
 infant ckurcli as a rushing mighty wind, and the Christian dis 
 pensation was inaugurated ; and from Jerusalem as a centre was 
 the gospel propagated among all nations. Thus began the ful 
 filment of the prophet s words: "Out of Zion shall go forth the 
 law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem." And what 
 mighty events await the holy city in the coming future, when 
 "the times of the Gentiles shall be fulfilled," who can tell ! 
 
 26. Jerusalem lies not far from the centre, reckoning east 
 and west, of the broad, mountainous tract that has been de 
 scribed, in lat. 31 46 r N., and long. 35 181 E. from Green 
 wich. The following description should be studied with con 
 stant reference to the maps of Jerusalem and its vicinity which 
 accompany this volume. The valley of Kidron (in the New Tes 
 tament, the torrent Cedron, John 18 : 1) has its head some half 
 an hour northwest of the city on the road to Neby Samwil. 
 The valley runs a short distance directly towards the city, then 
 turning nearly east, it passes to the northward of the tombs of 
 the Kings, at the distance of about two hundred rods from the 
 city. Then curving around to the south, it passes down be 
 tween the city on the west and the mount of Olives on the east. 
 In the upper part it is shallow and rocky, and just after it 
 curves to the south, it spreads out into a basin of some breadth, 
 planted with olive and other fruit trees. As it descends to the 
 south, the west side towards the city becomes steeper and more 
 elevated, until at the gate of St. Stephen (the eastern gate) the 
 height of the brow is about one hundred feet. Here a bridge on 
 a causeway leads across towards the mount of Olives. Below the 
 bridge the valley contracts and sinks rapidly, till at the southeast 
 corner of the area of the mosque of Omar it becomes merely a 
 deep ravine, or narrow torrent-bed, overhung by the wall of the 
 area. The elevation of the wall above the bottom of the valley- 
 is estimated by Eobinson at one hundred and fifty feet. Pass 
 ing on south of the city it receives from the west the valley of 
 Hinnom. Here at the junction is the place of Tophet, and a 
 little farther down is the well En-rogel. Still farther south the 
 valley bends towards the east, and so passes off to the Dead 
 
~ r - -i. - -- , ^<, -- 
 
 JERUSALEM. FROM THE SOUTHEAST. 
 
 GARDEN OF GETHSEMANE, AND MOUNT OF OUVES. 
 
PALESTINE. 73 
 
 sea in an east-southeast direction. The valley abounds on both 
 sides with excavated tombs from its origin all the way down to 
 the city, and even opposite to its northern part. It is hardly 
 necessary to add that "the brook Kidron" of Scripture is not 
 a perennial stream, but only the bed of a torrent, where no 
 water flows except during the heavy rains of winter. This 
 indeed is indicated in both Hebrew and Greek by the word ren 
 dered brook in our version. 
 
 The modern name of this valley Wady JehosJiafat, valley of Jehoshupl/nt. 
 is founded on a belief prevalent since the early ages of Christianity, that 
 this is "the valley of Jehoshaphat" of which the prophet -Joel speaks 
 (chap. 3 :2, 12), and where the last judgment is to be held. But "the 
 valley of Jehoshaphat " in Joel is, in all probability, a simple allusion to 
 the meaning of the word Jehoshaphat, that is, Jehovah judgeth, or, Jehovah 
 is judge. It is the valley of Jehovah s judgment, not the geographical name 
 by which a valley in Joel s day was designated. Josephtis knows nothing 
 of such a name as applied to the valley of Kidron. 
 
 27. The valley of Hinnom (Josh. 15:8; 2 Kings 23:10; 
 2 Chron. 28 : 3 ; 32 : 6), or more fully, the valley of the son of Hin 
 nom ( Jer. 19 : 2, 6 ; 32 : 35) has its commencement in a broad 
 sloping basin west of the city. It runs in a southeasterly direc- 
 tiontowards the Yafa gate (the western gate) for about 2,100 
 feet. When within about 400 feet of this gate it bends to the 
 south, skirting the west side of Zion. After pursuing this 
 course about the distance of 2,100 feet, it curves round the 
 southwestern brow of Zion, thus assuming an easterly direction, 
 and so it opens into the valley of Kidron at the distance of 2,880 
 feet below the southeastern corner of the area of the mosque of 
 Omar, according to Robinson s measurements. The banks of 
 this valley have at first a gentle slope, but they soon contract, 
 and become steep and rocky. South of Zion the right bank rises 
 in broken cliffs of limestone rock, which are full of excavated 
 tombs. The total length of the valley is about a mile and a half. 
 
 From the Hebrew form Ge Hinnom, valley of Hinnom, comes the mod 
 ern Arabic name of this valley, Yehennam; also the Greek Geenna, used 
 metaphorically to denote liell in the proper sense of the word, that is. the 
 placn where the wicked are punished. See below, No. 42. The term Ge- 
 
 4 
 
74 SACKED GEOGRAPHY. 
 
 enna, or as it is called in English, Gehenna, should be carefully distinguish 
 ed from the Hebrew Sheol, to which the Greek Hades answers, these latter 
 terms denoting the place of departed spirits. 
 
 28. On the broad and elevated promontory between the two 
 valleys that have been described lies the holy city, with a gen 
 eral slope towards the east. "All around," says Robinson, 
 "are higher hills; on the east the mount of Olives; on the 
 south, the hill of Evil Counsel, so called, rising directly from the 
 vale of Hinnom ; on the west, the ground rises gently," forming 
 the high swell of ground on the east side of the great Wady 
 Beit Hanina, which passes along in a southwest direction an 
 hour or more west of Jerusalem; "while on the north, a bend 
 of the ridge connected with the mount of Olives bounds the 
 prospect at the distance of more than a mile." It is only on 
 the southwest, where the plain of Rephaim lies, that the pros 
 pect is somewhat more open. Hence the beauty and pertinence 
 of the psalmist s words: "As the mountains are round about 
 Jerusalem, so the Lord is round about his people from hence 
 forth even for ever." Psa. 125 : 2. 
 
 29. "We have seen the general situation of the site of Jeru 
 salem. We may now conveniently attend to its internal divis 
 ions. To describe these as they now exist is an easy work. 
 The difficulty lies in identifying the ancient with the modern 
 divisions. We begin with the concise but very important 
 description of Tacitus : 
 
 The city, difficult of approach by nature, had been fortified by works 
 and structures which would have been a sufficient defence had it stood on 
 a plain. For two hills of immense height were surrounded by walls with 
 salient and reentering angles, so as to expose to assault the flanks of the 
 besiegers. The extremities of the rock were abrupt ; and towers were 
 raised, where the hill aided, to the height of sixty feet ; in the lower 
 slopes, to the height of one hundred and twenty feet. These were won 
 derful to behold, and their summits were level to the eye of those who 
 viewed them at a distance. There were other walls within, surrounding 
 the royal palace (regia), and the tower Antonia, so named by Herod in 
 honor of Mark Antony, rose to a conspicuous height. The temple was 
 fortified after the manner of a citadel, and had walls of its own built with 
 special labor and care. The porticos themselves which surrounded the 
 
PALESTINE. 75 
 
 temple were an excellent defence. There was a perennial fountain of 
 
 water, the hills were excavated beneath," etc. Hist. 5. 11, 12. 
 
 * 
 
 The above description Tacitus gives from the Eoman be 
 siegers. To their view (and they had full opportunity of sur 
 veying the place) the city had but two hills, which are described 
 with reference to military defence as being of immense height. 
 If there was a third division, it was too inconspicuous to attract 
 their notice. These two hills, moreover, were surrounded by 
 walls with salient and reentering angles, and lofty towers a 
 description which obviously applies to the outer wall. The 
 description of Josephus is more elaborate, but agrees essentially 
 with that of Tacitus : 
 
 "The city was surrounded with a triple wall, except where it was 
 encompassed by impassable ravines ; for here there was but one enclosure. 
 It was built upon two hills lying face to face, and separated by a ravine, 
 at which the houses, being crowded one upon another, terminated. But of 
 the hills, that which contained the upper city was much the higher and 
 straighter in length. On account of its strength it was called by King 
 David, the father of Solomon, who first built the temple, the Citadel ; but 
 by us the Upper Market. The other hill, on which the lower city stood, 
 was called Akra, being curved on both sides. Opposite to this there was 
 a third hill lower by nature than Akra, and formerly separated from it by 
 a broad ravine. But afterwards, during the time when the Asmonteans 
 reigned, they filled up the valley for the purpose of uniting the city to the 
 temple, and having cut down the summit of Akra, they made it lower, so 
 that the temple might appear over it. But the ravine of the Tyropoeon 
 (CJieesemongers), so-called, by which we said that the hill of the upper city 
 was separated from the lower hill, extends as far as Siloam ; for so we 
 called the fountain, which has an abundance of sweet water. Without, the 
 two hills of the city were encompassed by deep ravines, and on account of 
 the precipices on both sides, neither of them afforded access to it." Jew 
 ish War, 5. 4. 1. 
 
 From the above description it is plain : 
 
 (1.) That at the time of the overthrow of Jerusalem by the 
 Eomans, the city stood on two hills, an upper and a lower, 
 facing each pther, and separated by a valley called that of the 
 Cheesemongers. 
 
 (2.) That the lower hill, which also contained the temple 
 
76 SACRED GEOGRAPHY. 
 
 area, consisted originally of Akra and another hill, separated by 
 a broad ravine ; but which two hills were made one in the tj^uo 
 of the Asmonaeans by the filling up of the intervening vallrv. 
 
 (3.) That the hill of Akra was originally higher than that on 
 which the temple was built, but was at the time of the junction 
 cut down, in order that the temple might appear over it. 
 
 (4.) That the valley of the Cheesemongers extended as far 
 as Siloam a trait of the description which enables us to iden 
 tify that celebrated fountain. 
 
 (5.) That the two hills on which the city was built were 
 encompassed by deep ravines, with precipices on each side, 
 which cut off access. These two deep ravines are manifestly 
 that of Kidron on the east, and that of Hinnom on the soiith 
 and southwest. 
 
 If now we compare with the above descriptions of Josephus 
 and Tacitus the present site of Jerusalem, we find a rather 
 broad valley, having its commencement in the plain just around 
 and outside of the northern gate (the Damascus gate), and run 
 ning down through the city somewhat east of south. Into this 
 opens near the southwestern angle of the Haram, that is the 
 area of the mosque of Omar, a very shallow depression, at pres 
 ent scarcely perceptible to the eye, which comes down from the 
 Yafa (Joppa) gate on the west. Below the junction the valley 
 continues on in a southerly direction to Siloam, but with more 
 precipitous sides and a deeper bed. It is agreed on all hands 
 that the lower part of this valley south of -the junction consti 
 tutes part of the valley of the Tyropceon (Cheesemongers), 
 which, according to Josephus, separated the two hills on which 
 Jerusalem was built. What, now, was its course above the 
 junction? The most natural supposition certainly is that we 
 are to seek for the northern continuation of the valley of Cheese 
 mongers in the marked depression which runs on in nearly the 
 same line to the Damascus gate, rather than in a. very incon 
 spicuous depression which conies into it from the west. This 
 agrees well, moreover, with the description of Josephus; for we 
 
PALESTINE. 77 
 
 have on the west the higher hill of Zion, with its continuation 
 to the north (the part which Kobinson and others call Akra), 
 and on the east the lower ridge, on which the temple and lower 
 city were built a ridge once constituting two hills, but made 
 one in the time of the Asmonseans. Both hills, moreover, are 
 encompassed by deep ravines with precipices ; the western by 
 that of Hinnom on the southwest and south, the eastern by 
 that of Kidron, now called the valley of Jehoshaphat, on the 
 east. According to this view, which is that preferred by Hit 
 ter (Geog. of Palestine, 4, p. 80, seq.) and others, Akra lay north 
 of the temple, while the southern continuation of the ridge on 
 which the temple stood is the ancient OpheL According to the 
 same view, all that part of the city lying west of the valley run 
 ning from the Damascus gate to Siloam was reckoned to Zion. 
 This might well be called "much higher and straighter in 
 length," for it extended directly north and south from the 
 southern brow of Zion to near the present Damascus gate. Its 
 height at the northwestern part of the present city is, accord 
 ing to Lynch, 2,610 feet; at the summit of Zion in the south, 
 according to Schubert, 2,537 feet; at the threshold of the Yafa 
 gate, according to Kusseger 2,642, according to Schubert 2,636 
 feet, which two measurements give a mean of 2,639 feet. The 
 height of Moriah, on the other hand, is given by Schubert at 
 only 2,537 feet, a difference of full one hundred feet. 
 
 Dr. Robinson, however, maintains, in conformity with the 
 more common view, that the valley of the Tyropoeon began at the 
 western or Yafa gate in the shallow depression already noticed ; 
 that it then ran towards the southwestern corner of the Haram, 
 and there, receiving the valley coming from the Damascus gate, 
 bent towards the south, and so extended to the pool of Siloam. 
 He acknowledges that the depression is at present very incon 
 siderable, but thinks that it may have been once greater, as the 
 rubbish of ages has accumulated in it. According to this view, 
 the lower city called Akra lay north of Zion and west of Moriah. 
 The objection that, upon this plan, the lower city Akra was 
 not bordered by either of the deep valleys mentioned by Jose- 
 
78 SACRED GEOGRAPHY. 
 
 plius as enclosing the two kills on which the city was built, he 
 meets by the suggestion that these two hills are " a mere form 
 of expression intended to embrace the whole site of the city." 
 But according to Josephus, of the tw r o hills on which Jerusalem 
 was built, the one contained the upper, and the other the lower 
 city, with an intervening valley, both hills being bordered by 
 deep ravines. We cannot, consistently with this description, 
 separate one of these hills from both the upper and the lower 
 city, as is necessary according to Dr. Kobinson s view. As to 
 the shape of the lower city, Josephus describes it as "curved 
 on both sides (u^kvprofj, which is generally understood to mean 
 gibbous ; but, as Kobinson remarks, it "may also mean nothing 
 more than that Akra was sloping on both sides," perhaps more 
 exactly, had rounded slopes on both sides. 
 
 The arguments for placing Akra north of Zion and icest of Moriah are 
 ably presented by Robinson (Bib. Res. 1, sect 7 ; 3, sect. 5), to which the 
 reader is referred. Ritter (Geog. of Palestine, vol. 4 of Gage s transla 
 tion, pp. 100-108) gives a forcible statement of his opposing view. Both 
 plans are clearly stated and reviewed by Dr. Thompson in Alexander s 
 Kitto, art. Jerusalem. The question cannot be regarded as settled at pres 
 ent. The question of the location of several other places of interest, as 
 the tower of Hippicus and the gate Gennath, is obviously connected 
 with that of the position of Akra. 
 
 30. Josephus account of the ivalls of Jerusalem is as follows : 
 
 The first or old wall "began on the north side of the tower called Hip 
 picus, and, extending to the Xystus so called, was joined to the council- 
 house, and ended at the west portico of the temple. On the other part 
 [going the other way from Hippicus] it began on the western side with 
 the same tower, and extended through the place called Bethso to the gate 
 of the Essenes : then it bent around on the southern quarter above the 
 fountain Siloam : thence, turning again on the eastern side at the pool of 
 Siloam, it extended to a certain place which they call Ophlas [Ophel] , and 
 was joined to the eastern porch of the temple. The second waU had its 
 commencement at the gate of Gennath, which belonged to the first wall, and 
 circling round the northern quarter only, went up to Antonia. The third 
 wall began at the tower of Hippicus, whence it reached as far as the north 
 quarter at the tower of Psephinos : thence, extending over against the 
 monuments of Helena (she was queen of Adiabene and mother of King 
 Izatus), it was carried along by the caves [sepulchral excavations in the 
 
PALESTINE. 7 ( J 
 
 rocks] of the kings: then turning at a corner- tower by the Fuller s mon 
 ument so called, and joining the old wall, it terminated at the valley of 
 Cedron." Jewish War, 5. 4. 2. 
 
 This third wall, as he tells us, was begun by Agrippa, for 
 the purpose of including the northern suburb called Bwf/m, 
 and afterwards completed by the Jews at great expense. Con 
 sequently it did not exist in our Lord s day. Josephus describes 
 at length its magnificent towers, built up of solid masonry 
 twenty cubits square and of the same height, with chambers 
 and cisterns above. Of these there were ninety distributed 
 along its course at intervals of two hundred cubits. The mid 
 dle wall had fourteen like towers, and the old wall sixty, the 
 entire circuit of the city being thirty-three stadia a little less 
 than four English miles. (Eobinson gives the present circum 
 ference at two and a half English miles less seventy-four yards.) 
 Then at the northwest comer rose conspicuously the tower of 
 Psephinos, octagonal in form, and seventy cubits high, com 
 manding at sunrise a view of Arabia and the whole territory of 
 the Jews as far as the sea. Over against this stood Hippicus, 
 and near this two other towers, named respectively Phasaelus 
 and Mariamne, all three built by Herod in the old wall, and 
 which " for size, beautyj and strength surpassed every thing in 
 t Inhabitable world." Of these it will be sufficient to describe 
 Hippicus, so named from Herod s friend. It was built up of 
 solid masonry twenty-five cubits square and thirty cubits high. 
 Above the solid work was a cistern twenty cubits high ; and 
 over this a house with two stories of the height of twenty- 
 five cubits, with various compartments ; and above all a breast 
 work and battlements adding five cubits more ; so that the en 
 tire height was eighty cubits. 
 
 If, now, we knew the exact place of Hippicus, it would give 
 us a point of departure for the several walls. Kobinson finds 
 a remnant of this in the northeastern tower of the so-called cit 
 adel of David, a little south of tlie Yafa gate. But he acknowl 
 edges that the measurements do not agree with those of Jose 
 phus; and as to the solidity of the structure, no argument cac 
 
80 SACKED GEOGRAPHY. 
 
 be drawn from that, for it was common to all tlie towers in their 
 lower part. It is probable that the site of the tower of Hippi- 
 cus should be sought farther to the northwest, somewhere near 
 the northwestern angle of the present wall. Thus it would be 
 "over against Psephinos," which stood in the northwestern 
 angle of the third wall. The gate Gennath, where the second 
 wall took its departure, must have been somewhere to the east 
 of Hippicus in the northern line of the old wall. Thence this 
 second wall went circling round the northern quarter to the 
 fortress of Antonia. This is all that Josephus tells us of a wall 
 with the origin and exact course of which is connected the vexed 
 question of the holy sepulchre. 
 
 According to Hitter s view, the traditional site of the holy sepulchre 
 (see the map of Jerusalem) must be rejected, for it lay fur within the sec 
 ond wall. According to Kobinson s plan, it must probably be rejected 
 also, since the second wall ran not straight, but circling round the north 
 quarter, to Antonia. It may be that our Lord was led out of the city by 
 the eastern gate, and that the crucifixion took place north of that gate by 
 the road to Anathoth and near the brow of Kidron, where there are at the 
 present day many tombs. But we can be partakers, through faith, of all 
 the benefits of his death, though the place should remain unknown till the 
 trump of the archangel. 
 
 The course of the modern walls can be best learned by an inspectiA of 
 the map. They have, says Robinson, quite a stately and imposing appear- 
 . ance ; all of hewn stone, with towers and battlements ; the latter crowning 
 a breastwork with loopholes. " Their height varies with the irregularities 
 of the ground from twenty to fifty feet. 
 
 In his account of the rebuilding of the walls, Neherniah 
 mentions ten gates (chap. 3), and afterward (chap. 12 : 30) two 
 others. Mention is also made elsewhere of the Corner gate 
 (2 Chron. 25 : 23), and the gate of Benjamin. Jer. 37 : 13. Jose 
 phus names the gate of the Essenes and the gate Gennath in 
 the old wall, not far from the tower of Hippicus. Josephus, 
 Jewish War, 5. 4. 2. But it is uncertain whether these gates 
 were ah 1 situated in the external walls, and also whether some 
 of those last enumerated were not identical with gates men- 
 
PALESTINE. 81 
 
 tioned under other names in Neh. chap. 3. It is impossible to 
 ascertain with certainty the position of these gates. 
 
 In liis account of the rebuilding of the city, Nehemiah begins, as Rob 
 inson well suggests, with the Sheep gate, on the east of the citv, and 
 proceeds first northward, and so towards the left around the city, till 
 he again comes to the Sheep gate. This gives the probable order in 
 which the ten gates stood. The Valley gate would more naturally be on 
 the north, in the depression at the present Damascus gate, than on the 
 west, as Robinson suggests ; and it may have, been the same as the Gate 
 of Ephraim : the Dung gate seems to have been in the western or south 
 western quarter, where was the place called Betfiso, that is, probably, Dung- 
 place : the Fountain gate was manifestly near Siloam in the south, as the 
 name and the context show (Xeh. 3 : 15) ; and the Water gate, which comes 
 next in order, was in its vicinity: the East gate doubtless corresponded in 
 position to its name. 
 
 At present there are but four gates in use, one on each side of the city, 
 for the names and position of which see the map of Jerusalem. But in 
 the middle ages there are said to have been two gates on each side. One 
 of these is the famous Golden gate, in the eastern wall of the Haram, of 
 Roman architecture ; a second is the so-called Dung gate, south of the 
 southwest corner of the Haram ; a third is Herod s gate, in the northern 
 wall. All these are now closed. Of the fourth gate, on the western side, 
 no traces are visible. 
 
 31. Zion, the most prominent and extensive of the hills in 
 ancient Jerusalem, rises abruptly in the southwest quarter from 
 the valley of Hinnoin, which, as already described, sweeps 
 around its southwest corner almost at a right angle. " Its sum 
 mit," says Kobinson, "presents a level tract of considerable 
 extent along its western brow. The eastern side of the hill 
 slopes down steeply, but not in general abruptly, to the Tyro- 
 poeon, which separates it from the narrow ridge [Ophel] south 
 of the Haram ; while at the extreme southeast part, below Siloam, 
 it extends quite down to the valley of Jehoshaphat." On the 
 summit of Zion, within the present watts, is the Armenian con 
 vent, an enormous structure ; farther south, without the walls, 
 is the traditional tomb of David, underneath a room which is 
 represented as the place of the last supper. The building is 
 
 said to have been once a Christian church. Hard by are the 
 
 4* 
 
82 SACRED GEOGRAPHY. 
 
 Christian cemeteries. The walls of the modern Jerusalem en 
 close only the northern part of the hill of Zion. The rest of 
 the surface is under tillage. Thus Zion, the place where David 
 and Solomon reigned in glory, and with the name of which is 
 associated all that is precious in the visible church of God 
 the material Zion is now "ploughed as a field;" whereby God 
 teaches us that it is not to the letter the material outward 
 structure but to the spirit that the glorious promises made to 
 Zion are addressed. Yet the material Zion may again arise in 
 glory when the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled. 
 
 North of the hill of Zion, in that part of the city which Rob 
 inson calls Akra, are various Christian convents Latin, Greek, 
 Coptic; and directly on the brow of the hill is the Church of 
 the Holy Sepulchre, where beneath one roof are shown the 
 alleged place of our Lord s crucifixion, the holes in which the 
 three crosses stood, the stone on which the Saviour s body was 
 anointed for burial, and the so-called sepulchre in which he was 
 laid, with various other particulars relating to his decease. Re 
 specting the identity of this spot there has been much contro 
 versy, and its claims have certainly gained nothing by the dis 
 cussion. 
 
 Mr. James Ferguson (in Smith s Bib. Diet. , art. Jerusalem) maintains 
 that the place of the holy sepulchre is beneath the present mosque of 
 Omar. Dr. Barclay (City of the Great King, p. 79) suggests that the 
 place of the crucifixion may have been a spur of the ridge projecting 
 southeastwardly into the Kidron valley north of the eastern gate. It is 
 not necessary to pursue these conjectures any farther. 
 
 32. The level area called el-Haram esh-Sherif, the nolle Sanc 
 tuary (more briefly, the Ifaram), on which now stand the great 
 mosque Kxlld-es-SukhraJi, Dome of the JRock, and the mosque 
 el-Aksa, that is, the farthest (so called, says Robinson, as being the 
 remotest of the Mohammedan holy places in distinction from 
 Mecca and Medina), covers, as is universally admitted, the 
 summit of the ancient Moriah, on which the temple stood. It 
 is further agreed that the temple did not itself occupy the whole 
 of this platform; for its area was of a square form, while the 
 
PALESTINE. 83 
 
 Haram is much longer from north to south than from east to 
 west ; its eastern side being 1,529 feet, while its southern end is 
 only 926 feet. According to Josephus, the fortress Antonia, 
 which overlooked and commanded the temple, stood at the 
 angle where the northern and western porches of the temple 
 met (Jewish War, 5. 5, 8), consequently on the northwestern 
 part of the present Haram. The remains of the bridge thrown 
 from the western side of the temple across the Tyropceon to the 
 Xystus on Zion, prove beyond doubt, as Robinson has shown 
 (Bib. Ees. 1, pp. 287-289), that here we have the line of the 
 western wall of the ancient temple area. If now this area was, 
 as Josephus states (Antiq. 15. 11. 3), a stadium square, that is, 
 606? English gfeet, it cannot be well made to cover the whole 
 width of the Haram, even if its broad porticos be thrown outside 
 of the above-specified area, as Robinson suggests. It would 
 seem that there must have been an enclosure round the tem 
 ple, or a walled place around it distinct from the proper temple 
 area, which extended east and north far enough to cover the 
 present area of the Haram. See Josephus, Jewish War, 1. 21. 1. 
 But whatever explanation of these difficulties be adopted, 
 we have satisfactory evidence that the present area of the Ha 
 ram coincides substantially with that on which the temple and 
 fortress Antonia stood. The immense stones which compose in 
 part the lower courses of its wall were not laid by Saracen or 
 Christian hands. They have every mark of high antiquity, and 
 in the southwestern angle they are, moreover, continuous with 
 those of the arch formerly thrown over the Tyropceon, and this 
 existed before Herod s day. See Robinson, 1, pp. 286-289; 
 3, sect. 5. Herod may have repaired this wah 1 and enlarged 
 the level platform within on the north; but the foundations 
 must in ah 1 probability be referred to the Jewish kings from 
 Solomon and onward, for Josephus says that "long ages" were 
 consumed upon the work. Jewish War, 5. 5. 1. 
 
 In the southeastern corner of the Haram are several courses of stone, 
 on both the east and south sides, alternating with each other, in which the 
 stones measure from seventeen to nineteen feet in length by three or foui 
 
8i SACRED GEOGRAPHY. 
 
 feet in height, while one block at the corner is seven and a half feet thick. 
 In the northeast corner is a stone measuring twenty-four feet in length by 
 three in height and six in width. At the southwest corner huge blocks 
 appear of a still greater size. One of the corner stones measures thirty 
 feet ten inches in length by six and a half in breadth ; and several are 
 from twenty and a half to twenty-four and a half feet long by five feet in 
 thickness. Robinson calls attention to the bevelled character of these stones, 
 which he considers to be a mark of high antiquity. See in Bib. Res. 1, p. 
 285, seq. , where also may be found his account of the fragment of the arch 
 that formerly spanned the Tyropoion. 
 
 33. A detailed account of the temple does not come within 
 the plan of the present work. The reader may find it in Jose- 
 phus, Antiq. 15. 11. 3-5 ; Jewish War, 5, chap. 5. "We simply 
 notice its general structure and appearance. It was a stadium 
 square, surrounded by magnificent courts, the inner rising above 
 the outer ; and the temple proper, that is, the house within the 
 courts, lying highest of all, so as to appear over the courts in 
 every direction. Josephus says that its external splendor struck 
 the beholder with admiration: that it was everywhere covered 
 with thick plates of gold, so that at the rising of the sun it 
 reflected a very fiery splendor, which compelled those approach 
 ing it to turn away their eyes ; that to strangers coming from a 
 distance it appeared like a mountain covered with snow; for 
 where it was not overlaid with gold, it was of a brilliant white 
 ness; that some of its stones were forty-five cubits long, five 
 high, and six wide ; and that the roof had sharp golden spikes, 
 so that no birds might light upon it and pollute it. In view of 
 this description, l^ow pertinent was the disciple s remark to our 
 Saviour: "Master, see what manner of stones, and what build 
 ings are here!" and the Saviour s solemn reply: "Seest thou 
 these great buildings!? there shall not be left one stone upon 
 another that shall not be thrown down." Mark 13 : 1, 2, 
 
 It was the temple itself with its porches to which the Lord referred, 
 and his prediction was terribly fulfilled by the Roman legions. We need 
 not suppose that the external enclosure of the temple area was everywhere 
 overturned to its foundations, built up as were its walls from the deep 
 adjacent valleys. 
 
 When the Saviour and the people are spoken of as in the temple, we 
 
PALESTINE. 85 
 
 are to understand this of its porches ; for into the proper sanctuary (naos) 
 none but the priests could enter. Without a certain enclosure the Gen 
 tiles were allowed, but within none but Israelites might come. Josephus, 
 Jewish War, 5. 5. 2. The temple had outer gates leading into its enclo 
 sures, of which four were on the west side ; and also inner gates from one 
 porch to another, with an ascent of steps to eax?h. The gate " called Beau 
 tiful " (Acts 3 : 2) is generally thought to have been an inner gate on the east 
 ern side of the temple leading from the court of the Gentiles into that of 
 the Israelites, the magnificence of which is extolled by Josephus. Jewish 
 War, 5. 5. 3. But some suppose that it was an outer gate opening into 
 Solomon s porch, which lay on the east side. Of the ancient gates several 
 have been identified by modern research. See Barclay s City of the Great 
 King, p. 486, seq. 
 
 34. The fortress Antonio, stood at the northwest corner of 
 the temple area, at the junction of the outer porches on the 
 north and west. It was originally built by the Maccabean 
 kings under the name of Saris. Herod rebuilt it with great 
 magnificence and strength. It stood, Josephus tells us (Antiq. 
 15. 11. 4 ; Jewish War, 5. 5. 8), on a rock fifty cubits high, pre 
 cipitous on all sides, covered from the bottom with smooth 
 stone plates, which made it beautiful in appearance and diffi 
 cult of ascent, and surrounded, moreover, by a wall three cubits 
 in height. The castle itself was of a square form, and rose 
 above this rock to the height of forty cubits, having the appear 
 ance of a palace with apartments and conveniences of every 
 kind. Above it had four towers, one at each corner ; of which 
 three were fifty cubits high ; but the fourth, which stood at the 
 southeast corner, rose to the height of seventy cubits, so as to 
 overlook the whole temple. It had flights of stairs descending 
 to the northern and western porches of the temple, by which 
 the Koman guards might pass and repass at all hours to main 
 tain order. The fortress was separated from Bezetha on the 
 north by a deep ditch, which added greatly to the height of the 
 towers. Josephus, Jewish War, 5. 4. 2. Kobinson thinks that 
 in the so-called "Pool of Bethesda," which lies along the north 
 eastern border of the Haram, measuring 360 feet in length, 130 
 in breadth, with a present depth of 75 feet, we have the remains 
 of this trench. 
 
86 SACRED GEOGRAPHY. 
 
 It was from this fortress, called the Castle, that Lysias "ran down" 
 with soldiers and centurions to the multitude assembled around Paul in 
 one of the porches of the temple ; and up one of the flights of stairs above 
 mentioned he was borne by the soldiers ; and from the same stairs he 
 addressed the people. Acts 21 : 32-40. 
 
 35. North of the temple area and adjacent to the fortress 
 Antonia, from which it was separated by the trench already 
 mentioned, lay Bezetha, that is, as Josephus interprets the word, 
 the New City a suburb not included within the walls of Jeru 
 salem in our Saviour s time, but afterwards enclosed by Agrippa. 
 According to Robinson, Akra lay west of the temple area. Ac 
 cording to Hitter s plan, " the hill Akra was the ridge north of 
 the temple area sloping towards the Damascus [gate] valley, 
 then the Tyropoeon and Bezetha, the ridge rising northward 
 from this, and skirted by the valley of Jehoshaphat." Thomp 
 son in Alexander s Kitto. 
 
 South of the Haram the hill of Moriah is continued in a 
 rocky ridge " between the deep valley of Jehoshaphat on the 
 east, and the steep but shallower Tyropceon on the west. The 
 top of the ridge is flat, descending rapidly towards the south, 
 sometimes by offsets of rocks," and ending "just over the pool 
 of Siloam, in a steep point of rock forty or fifty feet high." 
 Robinson, Bib. Res., 1, pp. 231, 267. This is the ancient Ophel. 
 
 36. On a marble-paved platform, raised to an average height 
 of some ten feet above the general level of the Haram, stands 
 the splendid edifice Kubbet-es-Sukhrah, Dome of the Bock, com 
 monly called the Mosque of Omar. It is a true octagon, about 
 170 feet in diameter, and of the same height. The dome which 
 crowns the building is the admiration of all travellers. It. is 
 surmounted by a lofty bronze crescent. Immediately beneath 
 the dome, in an inner enclosure overhung by the richest crim 
 son-silk canopy, is the venerated Sukhrah, that is, Rock, equally 
 sacred to Jews and Mohammedans, and with which so many 
 traditions and legends are connected. 
 
 Against the southern wall of the Haram, rather nearer its 
 western than its eastern side, stands the mosque d-Aksa, which 
 
PALESTINE. 87 
 
 is thought with good reason to have been originally one of the 
 churches built by the emperor Justinian, afterwards enlarged 
 and changed in various respects by the Saracens, and converted 
 into a Mohammedan mosque. For the other places of the Ha- 
 rani see the work of Barclay above referred to, p. 494, seq. 
 
 The great mosque which bears the name of Omar is said by the Arabian 
 writers to have been rebuilt by the Khalif Abd-el-Melek. The shape of 
 the Sukhrah is irregular ; it is about sixty feet long from north to south, and 
 fifty-five feet broad. It rises about five feet above the marble floor of the 
 mosque. In the southeastern part of the rock is a small room about eight 
 feet high and fifteen on each side, and there is evidence of further excava 
 tions. Jewish tradition represents this rock as the Beth-el of Jacob, the 
 place where Abraham offered up Isaac, the threshing-floor of Araunah the 
 Jebusite, and the site of the Holy of Holies in Solomon s temple. For the 
 Mohammedan legends connected with it, see Barclay as above. 
 
 37. The pool of Siioam (Heb. Shiloali, Isa. 8:6; SMaJi, Neh. 
 3 : 15; Septuagint version, Siioam; Latin Vulgate, Siloe) is one 
 of the few undisputed localities in Jerusalem. We find it now 
 in the precise spot where Josephus places it, at the mouth of 
 the Tyropoeon (Jewish War, 5. 4. 1), and it retains its ancient 
 name, being called Selwan by the Arabs. 
 
 * 
 
 "The water flows out of a small artificial basin under the cliff, the en 
 trance to which is excavated in the form of an arch, and is immediately 
 received into a larger reservoir fifty-three feet in length by eighteen feet 
 in width [according to Barclay, fifty feet in length, with a breadth varying 
 between fourteen and a half and eighteen and a half feet]. A flight of 
 steps leads down to the bottom of the reservoir, which is nineteen feet 
 deep." Alexander s Kitto. It is never filled at present, but the water 
 may be retained to the height of three or four feet from the bottom, when 
 it passes off through a duct, and soon reappears in a deep ditch under the 
 perpendicular cliff of Ophel. Barclay, p. 524. It was situated, as we learn 
 from the words of Josephus in his address to the Jews (Jewish War, 5. 9. 4), 
 without the ancient city wall, but apparently near to it ; for the wall ran 
 "above the fountain of Siioam." Jewish War, 5. 4. 2. The present wall 
 is upwards of twelve hundred feet from it. Its water, which Josephus 
 calls "sweet and abundant," seems to have been more copious formerly 
 than at present. Some of the subterranean channels which once fed it 
 may have become obstructed. See below. 
 
88 SACKED GEOGRAPHY. 
 
 Siloam is not a fountain, but only the receptacle of a stream 
 conveyed to it by a subterranean channel from the so-called 
 Fountain of the Virgin, which lies on the west side of the valley 
 of Jehoshaphat, some 1,200 feet farther up. Through this zig 
 zag channel Robinson and Smith crawled in the year 1838, thus 
 settling for ever the question of the connection between the two 
 reservoirs. They found the length of the winding passage 1,750 
 feet. The word Shiloah signifies sent or conducted. Robinson 
 thinks that it refers to this very subterranean passage through 
 which the water is sent down from the upper reservoir of the 
 Virgin. 
 
 The Fountain of the Virgin is a deep excavation in the solid 
 limestone rock, to which one descends by two successive flights 
 of steps to the depth of about twenty-five feet. The irregular 
 flow of the water at this reservoir was noticed by ancient wri 
 ters as far back as Jerome, and has been fully verified by mod 
 ern observation. See Robinson, Bib. Res., 1, pp. 341, 342; Bar 
 clay, pp. 520-522. This reservoir does not appear to be a 
 proper fountain any more than is the pool of Siloam to which it 
 sends its water. Barclay explored a subterranean canal leading 
 to it from Zion, as he thinks, for more than a thousand feet, 
 which, though now^dry, seems once to have supplied a copious 
 stream ; and it is probable that there are other artificial chan 
 nels leading to it Barclay thinks also to the canal between this 
 pool and Siloam. 
 
 The flowing of the water occurs at irregular intervals ; sometimes two 
 or three times a day. and sometimes in summer once in two or three days. 
 A woman from Kefr Selwan (village of Siloam, lying near the two pools of 
 Siloam and the Virgin on the eastern brow of the Kidron valley) told Rob 
 inson and Smith that " she had seen the fountain dry, and men and flocks, 
 dependent upon it, gathered around and suffering from thirst ; when all 
 at once the water would begin to boil up from under the steps, and (as she 
 said) from the bottom in the interior part, and flow off in a copious stream." 
 Bib. Res., 1, p. 342. The cause of this phenomenon is as yet unknown. It 
 admits, however, of an easy explanation on the principle of the siphon. 
 
 38. The remarkable words of Tacitus (Hist., 5. 12), " A peren 
 nial fountain of water ; the mountains excavated underground ; 
 
PALESTINE. S<) 
 
 and pools and cisterns for preserving the rain-water," are fully 
 verified in every particular by modern research- The immense 
 substructions under the southeast corner of the Hararu and the 
 mosque el-Aksa were explored, at least partially, by Catherwood 
 and his companions in 1833, and at t later period by Barclay. 
 They consist of spacious vaults, resting upon rows of lofty col 
 umns, and their great extent fills the mind with wonder. Rob 
 inson has given from Catherwood a description of them, and a 
 detailed account of them may be found in Barclay, pp. 503-511. 
 It is probable that other like vaults remain farther north unex 
 plored. Whether they date from Herod s age or one still ear 
 lier, or, as some suppose, were built up by Herod on founda 
 tions laid by Solomon, is a question that has been much dis 
 cussed, and cannot be regarded as yet settled. 
 
 Near the Damascus gate is an entrance to a vast subterra 
 nean cavity, which, according to the description of Barclay 
 (pp. 459-469), and a correspondent of the Boston Traveller quo 
 ted by him, is a quarry cavern on a grand scale. Here are 
 heaps of marble chips, fragments of stone, and blocks but half 
 quarried, and still attached to one side of the rock. The floor 
 is of rock, smooth, but extremely uneven, the irregularities being 
 caused by breaking off the blocks at the bottom ; and the roof, 
 which is supported by colossal pillars of irregular shape, pre 
 sents a similar appearance. The marks of the cutting instru 
 ments are as plain and well defined as if the workmen had just 
 ceased from their labor. The stone is the same as that of the 
 portions of the temple wall still remaining, and referred by Dr. 
 Robinson to the period of the first building. The mouth of the 
 quarry is higher than the level of the platform on which the 
 temple stood, making the transportation of the immense blocks 
 of stone a comparatively easy task. The heaps of chippings 
 which lie about show that the stone was dressed on the spot, 
 which accords with the account of the building of the temple : 
 "And the house when it was in building, was built of stone 
 made ready before it was brought thither : so that there was 
 neither hammer nor axe, nor any tool of iron heard in the house 
 
90 SACRED GEOGRAPHY. 
 
 while it was in building." 1 Kings G : 7. Barclay gives the 
 extent of this cayern in a direct line at 750 feet, and says that 
 it is upwards of 3,000 feet in circumference. He thinks, more 
 over, that it is connected with the so-called Grotto of Jeremiah, 
 lying north of it. Many other rock-hewn passages remain to be 
 explored in these " mountains excavated underground." 
 
 39. There was also, according to Tacitus, a perennial foun 
 tain of water. In and around the Haram enclosure are many 
 wells, which furnish a constant supply of water, whether from 
 natural fountains or brought thither from a distance through 
 artificial channels. One of these, west of the Haram wall, was 
 explored by Kev. Samuel Wolcott in 1842, by Tobler in 1846, 
 and by Barclay in 1853. Its depth is given by Wolcott at 
 eighty-two and a half feet, with four and a half feet of water. 
 At eleven feet from the bottom, in the north side of the well, is 
 a doorway leading to a vaulted room eighteen feet long and 
 fourteen wide. A passage artificially cut in the rock enters the 
 well from the south side. This Wolcott succeeded in following 
 eighty feet, and Barclay one hundred and five feet. The well 
 does not seem to be connected with any other reservoir. See 
 on p. 534 of Barclay s work a plan of the well and the passage 
 leading to it from the south. Barclay also describes (pp. 525- 
 527) a large subterranean reservoir, apparently of rainwater, 
 under the enclosure of the Haram, which is seven hundred and 
 thirty-six feet in circumference and forty-seven feet in depth. 
 He found but little water in it, but estimates its capacity at two 
 millions of gallons. He discovered no entrance to it from the 
 aqueduct of Solomon s pools, nor exit from it, though both may 
 possibly exist. 
 
 Further explorations may solve the mystery of the way in which Heze- 
 kiah "stopped the waters of the fountains which were without the city," 
 and "the brook that flowed through the midst of the land" (2 Chron. 
 32 : 3, 4); and "the upper water-course of GiMm, and brought it straight 
 down to the west side [or on the west side] of the city of David " (ver. 30). 
 That there is a system of subterranean water-channels under the city is 
 evident from the various notices of the ancients. The evidence at present 
 
PALESTINE. 91 
 
 preponderates for putting the fountain of Gihon, with Robinson, on the 
 west of the city. See in Bib. Res., 3, pp. 243-5. 
 
 A little below the junction of the Hinnom valley with that 
 of Kidron is a well called by the Franks the iccll of Nehcmiah, 
 but by the natives Bir Eyub, icell of Job. It is of an irregular 
 quadrilateral form, walled up with large square stones, termina 
 ting in an arch on one side, and has over it a small rude build 
 ing. The well is one hundred and twenty -five feet in depth, 
 with a variable quantity of water. In April, 1838, Kobinson 
 found fifty feet in it ; Barclay, in October, 1852, forty-two and a 
 half feet ; October 7, 1853, only six and a half feet ; March 2, 
 1854, the well was overflowing vigorously, as is sometimes the 
 case during the rainy season. The position of this well corre 
 sponds perfectly to that of En-rogel (Josh. 15 : 7, 8; 18 : 16, 17), 
 which lay at the mouth of the valley of Hinnom. With its posi 
 tion its architectural character agrees; for it bears the marks 
 of high antiquity. This, then, is the well by which Jonathan 
 and Ahimaaz stayed at the time of Absalom s insurrection 
 (2 Sam. 17 : 17), and at which Adonijah made his feast (1 Kings 
 1:9), which Josephus places " without the city, at the fountain 
 which is in the royal garden." Antiq., 7. 14. 4. 
 
 40. We may notice, also, the cisterns and pools for receiving 
 the rainwater. The cisterns excavated in the soft limestone- 
 rock are innumerable, almost every private house having one or 
 more, and some of them being of great size. They have usually 
 a round opening at the top, like that of an ordinary well. "Bro 
 ken cisterns" of high antiquity abound along the ancient roads 
 of Palestine. One of these cisterns, in the court of the prison 
 at Jerusalem, doubtless served as the dungeon into which Jere 
 miah was let down by cords, when he sunk in the mire. Jer. 
 38:6. 
 
 Of the pools within the limits of the present city wall we 
 notice the following : 
 
 The Pool of Hezekiah, called by the Arabs BirJcet-elrHammam, Pool of 
 tJie Bath, its waters being used to supply a bath in the vicinity, is two hun 
 dred and fifty-two feet long, with an average breadth of about one hun- 
 
92 SACRED GEOGRAPHY. 
 
 divd and twenty-six feet. Its average depth may be eight or ten feet. It 
 is supplied with water from the upper pool of Gihon. Its position corre 
 sponds to that of the pool built by Hezekiah (2 Kings 20 : 20 ; 2 Chrou. 
 32 : 30) ; nor is there any thing in its structure that betrays a later age. It 
 is thought to be identical with "the pool called Amygdalon," mentioned 
 by Josephus. Jewish War, 5. 11. 4. 
 
 The so-called Pool of Bethesda is a deep reservoir or trench on the north 
 side of the Haram wall, which is thought, with good reason, to be a rem 
 nant of the ancient ditch which separated the fortress Antonia on the north 
 from Bezetha. "The main pool," says Barclay (p. 321), " is about one hun 
 dred and thirty feet broad and three hundred and sixty-five in length ; its 
 length, however, is continued one hundred and forty-two feet farther, 
 though the breadth of this extension is only forty-five feet. That they 
 were both originally designed to hold water is evident from the cement 
 with which they were lined, much of which still remains." Which of the 
 existing pools about Jerusalem, if any, was the true Pool of Bethesda is 
 unknown. Robinson is inclined to identify it with the present Fountain 
 of the Virgin. Bib. Res., 1, pp. 342, 343; 3, p. 249. 
 
 Without the present city walls we find, besides the Pool of. 
 Siloam and the Fountain of the Virgin, two immense reservoirs 
 in the valley of Hinnom : 
 
 Of these the upper pool, commonly called by the monks Gihon, but 
 known to the natives as Birket-el-mamilla, Pool of Mamilla, lies about seven 
 hundred yards west-northwest from the Yafa gate, in the basin forming 
 the head of the valley of Hinnom. The sides are built up of hewn stone 
 laid in cement, with steps to descend into it, and a level bottom. The 
 dimensions, as given by Robinson, are as follows : 
 
 Length from east to west 316 English feet. 
 
 Breadth at the west end 200 " 
 
 Breadth at the east end 218 " 
 
 Depth at each end 18 " 
 
 Water was probably conveyed to it formerly by subterranean channels ; 
 but at present it is wholly dependent on the surface water in the surround 
 ing basin. Robinson would identify it with "the upper pool " of the Old 
 Testament. Isa. 7 : 3. Barclay thinks (pp. 329-331) that it is the /Ser- 
 pents 1 Pool of Josephus (Jewish War, 5. 3. 2) ; that it was supplied by a 
 higher aqueduct than the present from Etham (Solomon s pools) ; and that 
 its waters were carried thence to the city. 
 
 The Lower Pool of Gihon (Birket-es-Sultctn, Pool of the Sulian] is per 
 haps " the lower pool" of Isa. 22 : 9. It is situated in the valley of Hin 
 nom, south of the Yafa gate, and is the largest reservoir in the vicinity of 
 Jerusalem. The following are its measurements as given by Robinson : 
 
PALESTINE. 95 
 
 Length along the middle (from north to south, 592 English feet. 
 
 Breadth at the north end . . 245 
 
 Breadth at the south end ....... 275 
 
 Depth at the north end 35 
 
 Depth at the south end ......... 42 
 
 It is now in ruins. Besides the water of the valley that flowed during 
 the rainy season, it may once have been supplied in part from the aque 
 duct that leads from Solomon s pools to the city, and which crosses the 
 valley just above it. 
 
 41. Solomons Pools, though distant about eight miles from 
 Jerusalem, belong to its water-system, and may therefore be 
 appropriately considered here. These celebrated pools, called 
 by the natives d-Burak t the reservoirs, are situated near the head 
 of the Wady Urtas, which opens towards the east, about an hour 
 southwest of Bethlehem. They consist of " three huge reser 
 voirs, built of squared stones and bearing marks of the highest 
 antiquity. They lie one above another in the steep part of the 
 valley, though not in a direct line, and are so situated that the 
 bottom of the one is higher than the surface of the next below, 
 rising one above another towards the west." " The inside walls 
 and bottoms of all the reservoirs, so far as visible, are covered 
 with cement." " Flights of steps lead down in various places 
 into all the pools." Robinson, Bib. Res., 1, p. 474. The follow 
 ing are their dimensions, as given by the same author : 
 
 Lower pool. Middle pooL Upper pool. 
 
 Length ... . . . . 582 feet. 423 feet. 380 feet. 
 
 Breadth of east end ... 207 250 236 
 
 Breadth of west end ... 148 160 229 
 
 Depth at east end .... 50 39 25 
 
 The distance of the middle pool above the lower is 248 feet ; of the upper 
 above the middle, 160 feet. 
 
 A few hundred yards up the valley is "a spring shut up, a fountain 
 sealed," whence the main supply of water for these reservoirs is derived. 
 This is accomplished in the following way. A narrow shaft enclosed with 
 masonry leads directly down to a vaulted room, according to Maundrell, 
 some fifteen paces long and eight broad. Joining to this is another room 
 of the same fashion, but somewhat less." Quoted by Kobinson as above. 
 Here the water rising in various places is conveyed by little rivulets into a 
 kind f basin, and thence by a subterranean passage to the pools. In a 
 
94 SACRED GEOGEAPHY. 
 
 similar way, as Robinson suggests, Hezekiah stopped (shut tip or hid, as the 
 Hebrew menus) nil the fountains about Jerusalem. 2 Chron. 32 : 3, 4, 30. 
 To such a sealed fountain the chaste bride is beautifully compared in Can 
 ticles 4 : 12. A vaulted room, of considerable size has also been discovered 
 under the eastern end of the lowermost of the above described pools of 
 Solomon. Such subterranean chambers seem to have been one of the 
 delights of Solomon and his successors. A small aqueduct, with branches 
 to receive contiguous waters, is carried from the pools along the sides of 
 the hills to Bethlehem and Jerusalem. Its course upon entering the city 
 may be learned from an inspection of the map of Jerusalem. Its termina 
 tion is under the southwestern part of the Haram. 
 
 " Later Jewish writers, as cited in the Talmud, speak often of the man 
 ner in which the temple was supplied with water by an aqueduct from the 
 fountain of Etam, which lay at a distance from the city on the way to 
 Hebron." Robinson in Bib. Res., 1, p. 348. This seems to have been the 
 fountain above described, probably in connection with other adjacent foun 
 tains which contributed their share of water. It corresponds also very 
 well to the Etltam of Joseplms, which was one of the favorite resorts of 
 Solomon. The Jewish historian gives (Antiq., 8. 7. 3) a lively picture of 
 this monarch s splendor, telling how his horses excelled all in the region 
 for beauty and speed ; how their appearance was made more imposing by 
 the character of those who mounted them tall young men in the prime 
 of life, clothed in robes of Tyrian purple, with long flowing hair which 
 they every day sprinkled with gold-dust, so that their heads glistered when 
 the rays of the sun smote upon them ; how, surrounded by this magnifi 
 cent guard, all of whom were armed and furnished with bows, the king 
 himself, riding in a chariot and clad in white raiment, was accustomed to 
 ride forth from the city at the morning dawn. "But there was," he adds, 
 "a certain place distant from Jerusalem two schceni" sixty stadia or 
 about seven and a half Roman miles "which is called Etham, pleasant 
 by reason of its gardens and flowing streams, and also fertile. To this ho 
 was accustomed to go forth borne aloft in his chariot." 
 
 42. In an oblong plat at the junction of the valley of Hin- 
 nom with that of Kidron are pleasant gardens irrigated by the 
 waters of Siloain. Here Jerome places the Topliet of the Old 
 Testament (Commentary on Jer. 7 : 31; on Matt. 10 : 28), widen 
 lie describes as a pleasant place, with trees and gardens watered 
 from Siloarn. From the scriptural notices, it is plain that 
 Topliet was a place in the valley of Hiiinom. Its abominable 
 character consisted not in its physical features, but in the hor 
 rid rites there practised (Jer. 7 : 31 ; 19 : 5), for which God threat- 
 
PALESTINE. 95 
 
 ened that he would make the valley of Hinnom the valley of 
 slaughter : "for they shall bury in Tophet till there be no place. 
 And the carcasses of this people shall be meat for the fowls of 
 the heaven, and for the beasts of the earth, and none shall fra^ 
 them away." Jer. 7 : 31, 32 ; 19 : 6, 7. Josiah, that he might 
 brand this spot with infamy, defiled it, as he did the other high 
 places before Jerusalem. 2 Kings 23 : 10. The manner of 
 defilement is indicated in 2 Chron. 34 : 4, 5. 
 
 The Valley of Hinnom (Hebrew Ge Hintwrn, whence the Greek Geenna, 
 and the English Gehenna) is a term which has been employed for ages to 
 represent hett, that is, the place of future punishment. The current expla 
 nation is that into this valley were thrown, after Josiah s day, the car 
 casses and other ordure of the city ; and that a fire was kept continually 
 burning to consume the filth collected there, while worms preyed on what 
 the fire spared. It is not necessary to pronounce any judgment on this 
 apocryphal and doubtful tradition, since the Old Testament itself furnishes 
 a ready and natural explanation. We read in Isaiah (chap. 66 : 23, 24) that 
 after the great overthrow of God s enemies (ver. 15-17), his worshippers 
 assembled from all nations "shall go forth and look upon the carcasses of 
 the men that have transgressed against me [Jehovah] : for their worm shall 
 not die, neither shall their fire be quenched " the worm, namely, that 
 preys upon these carcasses, and the fire kindled to consume them ; "and 
 they shall be an abhorring unto all flesh." In connection with the awful 
 threatening of Jehovah above quoted, that he would make Tophet and the 
 valley of Hinnom, where the idolatrous Jews burnt their children with 
 fire "for burnt-offerings unto Baal," the valley of Slaughter, and that they 
 should bury in Tophet till there should be no place left ; and also with the 
 notice in Isaiah that the idolaters chose gardens for their abominable rites 
 (chap. 65 :3; 66 :17), the Jewish rabbins seem naturally enough to have 
 made the gardens of Tophet in the valley of Hinnom the scene of this 
 great final burning; and to have interpreted the words: "their worm 
 shall not die, neither shall their fire be quencflld," not of material worms 
 and fire, but as an image of the everlasting destruction of the wicked an 
 interpretation harmonizing fully with the use made of this passage by our 
 Lord. Mark 9 : 43-48. Hence the valley of Hinnom ( Gehenna) became 
 the representative of hell as the place of future punishment for the wicked. 
 Again, the prophet Isaiah says (chap. 30 :33), with manifest reference 
 to the destruction of the Assyrian host : " For Tophet " (Hebrew Topltteh, 
 probably only a variation or perhaps an earlier form of the word Tophet) 
 "is ordained of old; yea, for the king it is prepared; he hath made it 
 deep and large : the pile thereof is fire and much wood : the breath of the 
 
96 SACRED GEOGRAPHY. 
 
 Lord, like a stream of brimstone, dotli kindle it." This mighty funeral 
 pile, kindled by the breath of Jehovah s wrath, represents in like manner 
 the utter and perpetual destruction of the Assyrian invaders. Hence the 
 transition was easy and natural to make Tophet also a symbol of hell 
 Thus we have in the beautiful words of Milton : 
 
 " The pleasant valley of Hinnom, Tophet thence, 
 And black Gehenna called, the type of hell." 
 
 43. The valleys on the north, east, and south of Jerusalem 
 are skirted with numerous ancient sepulchres as a rule, on the 
 side opposite to the city so far as this extends making them a 
 vast necropolis. Of these Kobinson gives the following descrip 
 tion: 
 
 The numerous sepulchres which skirt the valleys on the north, east, 
 and south of Jerusalem, exhibit for the most part one general mode of 
 construction. A doorway in the perpendicular face of the rock, usually 
 small and without ornament, leads to one or more small chambers excava 
 ted from the rock, and commonly upon the same level with the door. 
 Very rarely are the chambers lower than the doors. The walls in general 
 are plainly hewn ; and there are occasionally, though not always, niches 
 on resting places for the dead bodies. In order to obtain a perpendicular 
 face for the doorway, advantage was sometimes taken of a former quarry ; 
 or an angle was cut in the rock with a tomb in each face ; or a square 
 niche or area was hewn out in a ledge, and then tombs excavated in all three 
 of its sides. Bib. Res. 1, p. 352. The reader should carefully notice in 
 the above description that the recesses for. depositing the dead are horizon 
 tal, the bodies being slid into them, not let down. This was generally the 
 case, whether the cavities were natural or artificial, a circumstance to be 
 borne in mind in the narrative of the resurrection Of Lazarus. 
 
 Then there are more elaborate tombs in the vicinity of 
 Jerusalem, as the so-caj^d Tomb of Jehoshaphat, of Absalom, of 
 St. James, and of Zechariah, on the east side of the Kidron val 
 ley, opposite to the southeast corner of the Haram ; the Tombs 
 of the Prophets higher up on the western declivity of the Mount 
 of Olives : the Tomb of Helena, commonly called the Tombs of 
 the Kings, " about one hundred and seventy rods north of the 
 Damascus gate, on the right of the Nabulus road " (Kobinson) ; 
 and the Tombs of the Judges, northwest of these, at the head of 
 the valley of Jehoshaphat. Of the last three of these the read- 
 
PALESTINE. 97 
 
 er may find an elaborate description in Robinson, Bib. Res., 
 1, pp. 355-364; 3, pp. 253, 254. Their essential parts are sub 
 terranean rock-hewn galleries leading to interior chambers, 
 around which are niches for depositing the bodies of the dead; 
 or, as in the case of the " Tombs of the Prophets," the galleries 
 themselves may be lined with these niches. 
 
 The most remarkable of these are the so-called Tombs of the Prophets, 
 which may with probability be assigned to the age of the Jewish kings. 
 The entrance to them is through a hole in the rock leading down to a cir 
 cular apartment about ten feet high and twenty-one feet in diameter ; with 
 this is connected a system of galleries, for the plan of which see the ac 
 companying engraving. 
 
 TOMBS OF THE PROPHETS. 
 
 
 
 Far more magnificent and of later architecture are the so-called Tombs 
 of the Kings. They consist of interior subterranean chambers lined with 
 crypts, which are reached by rock-hewn passages from an outer sunken 
 court about 90 feet square. The court itself is reached from another ex 
 cavation having at its western end a sloping descent. Robinson refers 
 this splendid mausoleum to Helena queen of Adiabene. See the accom 
 panying engraving. Very similar are the arrangements of the so-called 
 Tombs of the Judges. 
 
 Snr. Oog. 5 
 
98 
 
 HACKED GEOGRAPHY. 
 
 SCALE OF FEET; 
 
 10 5 10 20 30 40 SO 
 
 ! . 
 
 TOMBS OF THE KINGS. 
 
 The ancients took great delight in splendid tombs. The soft lime-stone 
 rock offered a ready means by which the higher classes among the Israel 
 ites might gratify their taste in that direction. To these magnificent mau 
 soleums if not to the Egyptian pyramids above ground there is an un 
 doubted reference in the words of Job (chap. 3 :13, 14): "For now should 
 I have lain still and been quiet, I should have slept ; then had I been at 
 rest, with kings and counsellors of the earth, which built desolate places 
 for themselves." It was the vanity of Shebna in constructing such a tomb 
 which the prophet Isaiah was directed to rebuke : "What hast thou here, 
 and whom hast thou here, that thou hast hewed thee out a sepulchre 
 here, as he that heweth him out a sepulchre on high, and that graveth a 
 habitation for himself ft\ a rock ?" Isa. 22 : 16. It was in the ancient un- 
 tenanted sepulchres of Galilee, that the lunatics mentioned by the evange 
 lists (Matt. 8 : 28 ; Mark 5 : 2*5 ; Luke 8 : 27) had their abode. 
 
 44. The garden of Gttlisemane, according to the unanimous 
 testimony of the evangelists, was across the brook Cedron on the 
 Mount of Olives. Matt. 26 : 30, 36 ; Mark 14 : 26, 32 ; Luke 22 : 39, 
 40; John 18 : 1, 2. That this garden was not simply on the way 
 to the Mount of Olives, but on the mount itself, is clear from the 
 words of Luke : "He came out and went, as he was wont, to the 
 
PALESTINE. 99 
 
 Mount of Olives; and his disciples followed him. And when he 
 was at the place " the place namely to which he was wont to re 
 sort "he said unto them," etc. With the words of Luke agree 
 also those of John : " where was a garden into the which he en 
 tered, and his disciples. And Judas also which betrayed him,, 
 knew the place: for Jesus ofttimes resorted thither with his 
 disciples." The garden of Gethsemane was then on the Mount 
 of Olives, and the Saviour s usual place of resort, manifestly for 
 seclusion and prayer. That now shown to the traveller is just 
 over the bridge of the Kidron at the fork of two roads lead 
 ing the one round the mount to the right, the other directly over 
 it. It is an enclosure of stone some 150 feet on a side, contain 
 ing eight very old and gnarled olive-trees. The presumption 
 from its position is against its being the true Gethsemane; for 
 it is not far enough removed from travel for the purpose of 
 seclusion, nor can it be properly said to be on the Mount of 
 Olives. We are told, moreover, by Josephus (Jewish War, 6. 1. 
 1. and elsewhere) that Titus in order to procure materials for 
 the siege, cut off all the trees for ninety stadia about Jerusa 
 lem. "The appearance of the ground," he says "was deplora 
 ble; for the places formerly adorned with trees and gardens 
 were then desolate in every direction having been shorn of all 
 their trees." And he adds that "one who had formerly known 
 the place, coming suddenly upon it, would not recognize it, but 
 being present at the city would seek to find it." No safe argu 
 ment therefore can be drawn from the age of these olive-trees. 
 There has been time enough since the fourth century, from which 
 apparently the tradition dates, for these olive-trees to assume 
 their present venerable appearance. It should be added that 
 there are other enclosures in the vicinity with trees equally 
 aged. All that we can safely affirm is that the Saviour s agony 
 was in a garden somewhere in this vicinity. 
 
 The position of Aceldama, the field of blood, and in connection with this, 
 of the Potters field, is uncertain. Tradition reaching back to the age of 
 Jerome, places Aceldama on the steep southern face of the valley of Hiu- 
 nom near its eastern end. 
 
100 SACRED GEOGKAPHY. 
 
 The road to the Fullers field led by the conduit of the upper pool. 
 2 Kings 18 : 17 ; Isa. 7 : 3 ; 36 ; 2. It lay therefore on the west side of 
 the city. 
 
 45. The Mount of Olives is the well-known ridge east of 
 Jerusalem, and separated from it by the valley of the Kidron, 
 called at the present day the valley of Jehoshaphat. The ridge 
 brgiiis about three quarters of a mile south of the Haram, where 
 the Kidron turns eastward towards the Dead sea. Thence it 
 runs north past the city, having three rounded summits. The 
 church of the Ascension is on the middle summit, opposite to 
 the mosque of Omar. About a mile farther north it sweeps round 
 to the west, being still higher than the . city, and spreads out 
 into the high level tract north of the city, which is with good 
 reason regarded as the Scopus of Josephus, where the Roman 
 armies encamped with the city and temple in full view. 
 
 The general features of Olivet are not rugged but tame and rounded, 
 as in other limestone hills. It is sprinkled all over with olive-trees, many 
 of them old and gnarled. Of the three summits the middle and northern 
 are the highest. Schubert gives the altitude of the church of the Ascen 
 sion at 2,724 feet, that of Zion being 2,537 feet, and that of Moriah 2,429 
 feet. The elevation of the bridge near Gethsemane is 2,281 feet, of the 
 well En-Eogel, 1,996 feet. Consequently from the bridge to the summit 
 of the middle ridge, there is an ascent of 443 feet ; from the well to. the 
 same summit, of 728 feet. The lower southern hill is called "the mount 
 of Offence," as being that on which Solomon built a high place for Che- 
 mosh. This was "in the hill that is before Jerusalem," that is, east of it, 
 and " on the right hand " (that is, south) "of the mount of Corruption" 
 (1 Kings 11:7;. 2 Kings 23 :3), which may have been this very summit 
 standing over against Tophet in the valley of Hinnom. 
 
 Many sacred associations cluster around the Mount of 
 Olives. It first appears in the Old Testament as the hill up 
 which David went in his flight before Absalom, weeping and 
 barefoot, pausing on its summit to worship God, before he laid 
 his course thence eastward to the fords of the Jordan. 2 Sam. 
 15:30, 32. Doubtless it was often trodden by the feet of the 
 Hebrew kings and prophets. This must be also the mount to 
 which the people went forth in Nehemiah s day to " fetch olive- 
 
l .\ LEST] NK. 101 
 
 branches, and pine-branches, and myrtle-branches, and palm- 
 br; inches, and branches of thick trees to make booths, as it is 
 written." Chap. 8 : 15. It would seem that during the long deso 
 lation of the land in the Babylonish captivity the mountain had 
 been overgrown with trees and shrubbery, much of which re 
 mained now ninety years after the close of the captivity : for the 
 land was yet but thinly peopled. More prominent is the Mount 
 of Olives in the New Testament. It was a constant place of. 
 resort for our Lord and his disciples during his visits to Jerusa 
 lem. Thence he entered Jerusalem in triumph, riding on an 
 ass, amid the hosannas of the people ; and wept over the city 
 as he approached, which lay in full view before him. Sit 
 ting on the same mount, and looking upon the magnificent 
 structures of the temple, he predicted their utter overthrow. 
 The fulfilment of this awful prophecy by the legions of Borne is 
 a solemn commentary on his memorable words uttered 011 that 
 occasion : " Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words 
 shall not pass away." From Olivet also he ascended to heaven, 
 when he had finished the work of man s redemption. 
 
 From Luke (chap. 24 : 50, 51) we learn that the ascension took place at 
 or in the vicinity of Bethany. But Bethany is on the eastern slope of 
 Olivet. Hence the same evangelist says (Acts 1:12) that the disciples, 
 after witnessing their Lord s ascent, returned to Jerusalem "from the 
 mount called Olivet." The church of the Ascension, on the central sum 
 mit of the mountain, has no claim to be considered the real place of this 
 event. 
 
 46. The valley of Repliaim (2 Sam. 5 : 18, 22 ; 23 : 13 ; 1 Chron. 
 11 :15; 14:9), or, as the same Hebrew expression is translated 
 in the book of Joshua (chap. .15:8; 18:16), the valley of the 
 giants, so named from the Rephaini, an aboriginal race of gigan 
 tic stature, is a flat and fertile plain, shut in on all sides by 
 rocky hilltops and ridges. It descends gradually from Jerusa 
 lem towards the southwest for more than a mile, when it con 
 tracts into a narrow valley called Wady el-Werd. It was the 
 scene of several warlike exploits in David s day. See the refer 
 ences above. In ancient times, as now, it was distinguished for 
 
SACllKI) ( K<Mi IIAPHY. 
 
 its fertility. Hence the reaper gathering ears in the valley of 
 Kephaim furnishes the prophet with an expressive figure for 
 God s desolating judgments on Israel and Damascus, Isa. 17 : 5. 
 
 There is no occasion to seek another location for the valley of Rephaim. 
 In describing the northern boundary of the tribe of Judah the sacred 
 writer, tracing it upward from the east, comes to the well En-Rogel (Josh. 
 15 : 5-7). The verse following may be literally rendered as follows : "And 
 the boundary went up the valley of the son of Hinnom unto the shoulder " 
 (that is, brow) "of the Jebusite on the south : the same is Jerusalem." 
 "The broAV of the Jebusite on the south "is a plain description of the 
 southern brow of Zion. The narrator proceeds: "And the boundary 
 went up to the top of the hill which is before the valley of Hiunom west 
 ward, which is in the border of the valley of Rephaim northward. " The 
 meaning is that the hill before the valley of Hinnoin on the west borders 
 upon the northern part of the valley of Rephaim ; all which agrees with 
 the situation of this plain. In Josh. 18 : 15-19, the southern boundary of 
 Benjamin, which is this same northern border of Judah, is described in the 
 reverse order down ward from the west. Hence we read (ver. 16) : And 
 the boundary went down to the border of the hill which is before the val 
 ley of the son of Hinnom," which (that is, which border) "is in the val 
 ley of Rephaim northward : and it went down the valley of Hinnom to 
 the shoulder (that is, brow) of the Jebusite southward : and [continuing 
 its descent past the brow of the Jebusite] it went down to En-Rogel." 
 
 47. From Jerusalem as a centre, the following places may 
 be conveniently described : 
 
 Bethany, a small village on the eastern slope of Olivet, fifteen furlongs 
 from Jerusalem (John 11 : 18), lying on the road from Jerusalem to Jericho, 
 at the edge of the wilderness of Judea. Shut out by a secondary ridge 
 from the view not only of Jerusalem but also of the summit of Olivet it 
 is, and must always have been a place of seclusion, and to it the Saviour 
 loved to resort. Here was the family of Mary, and Martha, and Lazarus, 
 where he found a quiet home. Here he raised Lazarus from the dead ; 
 and hence he ascended to heaven. Its modern name is el-Azarlyeh, that 
 is, Lazarus-place, from the Arabic el-Azir, Lazarus. The site of Bethphage 
 is not known. It lay in the near vicinity of Bethany, but whether east 
 or west of it is a question among biblical scholars. 
 
 Anata, situated betAveen two ravines on a broad swell sloping off tow 
 ards the southeast, an hour and a quarter north-northeast from Jerusalem, 
 corresponds in name and position to the ancient Anathoth, which Joseph us 
 places at twenty stadia from Jerusalem (Antiq. 10. 7. 3). and Jerome three 
 
PALESTINE. 103 
 
 Roman miU s north of Jerusalem. Comment. Jer. 1:1. There can be no 
 reasonable doubt of the identity of the two places. It was one of the 
 cities assigned to the priests (Josh. 21:18), and here Jeremiah "of the 
 priests that were in Anathoth in the land of Benjamin " had his home. 
 Jer. 1 : 1 ; 32 : 7, 8, 9. It is now a miserable village, but with ruins of a 
 former place. See Robinson, Bib. Res. 1, pp. 437, 438. The approach 
 of the king of Assyria towards Jerusalem from the north, would naturally 
 cause a panic in "poor Anathoth." See Isa. 10 :30. 
 
 Four miles north of Jerusalem, a little to the right of the Nabulus road, 
 stands a bare conical hill called Tideil-el-Ful that is, in English, Bean-hil 
 lock. A heap of ruins crowns its summit, which affords a wide view. Rob 
 inson has shown (Bib. Res. 1, pp. 577-579) by satisfactory arguments that 
 this is the site of the ancient Gibeah of Sctul (I Sam. 11:4; 15 : 34 ; 2 Sam. 
 21:6), so called as being the home of Saul (1 Sam. 10 : 26 ; and also Gibe 
 ah of Benjamin (I Sam. 13: 2, 15, 16), as belonging to that tribe ; also simply 
 Gibeah (Judg. chaps. 19, 20). Gibeah signifies a hill, and several other places 
 bore this name, as Gibeah of Phmehas (Josh. 24:33) ; a place in Judah 
 (Josh. 15:57), etc. Gibeah is notorious for the infamous transaction re 
 corded in the book of Judges with the terrible retribution that followed 
 (chaps. 19-21), by which the tribe of Benjamin was well nigh exterminated. 
 Its site, four miles north of Jerusalem, with Ramah in full view two miles 
 farther north, agrees perfectly with the narrative (Judg. 19:11-15). 
 
 Ramah of Benjamin, the modern er-Ram, is about two miles north of 
 Gibeah and five English miles north of Jerusalem. This site answers to 
 the statement of Eusebius and Jerome (Onomasticon) that it was in the 
 sixth mile (Roman mile) north of the Holy City, and also of Josephus that 
 it was forty stadia distant from Jerusalem. This is the Ramah mentioned 
 Josh. 18:25; Judg. 19:13; 1 Sam. 22:6; 1 Kings 15:17,21, 22; Ezra 
 2:26; Neh.7:30; 11:33; Isa. 10:29 ; Jer. 31 :15; 40 :1 ; Hosea 5 : 8 ; per 
 haps also in Judg. 4:5. It is at present "a smaU miserable village; but 
 in the walls and foundations of the houses are many large hewn stones, and 
 in the lanes and fields, broken columns and other remains of the ancient 
 capital. The situation is commanding, on the top of a conical hill, half a 
 mile east of the great northern road." Porter in Alexander s Kitto. Its 
 strong position, commanding the road to Jerusalem from the north, ex 
 plains why Baasha king of Israel seized it and fortified it, * that he might 
 not suffer any to go out or come in to Asa king of Judah ;" and why Asa, 
 when he had regained the place, demolished it. 1 Kings 15 : 17-22. It was 
 apparently with reference to a slaughter of the Benjamites at Ramah by 
 the Chaldeans that Jeremiah wrote : "A voice was heard in Ramah, lamen 
 tation and bitter weeping ; Rachel [the mother of the Benjamites, repre 
 sented by a bold poetic figure as present in the land of her posterity] 
 
104 SACRED GEOGRAPHY. 
 
 weeping for her children refused to be comforted for her children, because 
 they were not" (Jer. 31:15); words that had a second fulfilment whrn 
 Herod slew the babes "in Bethlehem, and in all the coasts thereof." 
 Matt. 2:16-18. 
 
 Ramah signifies height, high place. In ancient as in modern times, the 
 cities and villages of Palestine were very commonly built on the summits 
 of hills for greater security against the incursions of robbers and plunder 
 ers. Hence Ramah, or in the plural, Ramoth, is a name given to various 
 places; as to a town of Asher (Josh. 19:29), of Naphtali (Josh. 19:36), of 
 Issachar. 1 Chron. 6 : 73. The same word appears with an added descrip 
 tion, when it takes in the singular the form Ramath. Thus we have Ra- 
 math-mizpeh, high place of the watch-tower, in the tribe of Gad (Josh. 13 : 26) ; 
 Ramath-negeb, high place of the south (Josh 19:8), and Ramoth-negeb, heights 
 of the south (1 Sam. 30: 27), which two places are doubtless identical. 
 
 In 1 Sam. 1 : 1, the home of Samuel s parents is called Ramathaim-zo- 
 phim, that is, either the double height of the Zuphites, so-called from Zuj>1i an 
 ancestor of Elkanah ; or, the double height of the watchmen, double watch- 
 tower. But in the 19th verse of the same chapter, and in chap. 2:11, the 
 same place is called simply Ramah, and this is probably the RamnJ/ <>f 
 Samuel, where he- had his house (chap. 7:17; 8:4; 15:34; 16:13; 19:18 
 20:1), and was buried (chap. 25:1 ; 28:3). If so, we must look for it in 
 Mount Ephraiin ; for Elkauah was, as the original reads, from Ramath- 
 Bim-zophim/rap Mount Ephraiin (not, in Ramath-zophim [having come] 
 from Mount Ephraiin, as some would explain), and the word /row gives in 
 both cases his present habitation. But now we encounter a serious diffi 
 culty. The place where Saul first met with Samuel, and where he was 
 anointed, was certainly south of Mount Ephraim; for on his return he 
 passed by Rachel s sepulchre near Bethlehem, chap. 10; 2. We must, 
 therefore, assume either that the Ramah of Samuel was not identical with 
 Ramathaim-zophim in Mount Ephraim, or that Samuel was then away 
 from his home on a circuit. The latter assumption is the more probable of 
 the two ; since nothing in the narrative compels us to believe that the city " 
 there spoken of was the one in which the prophet resided. But where, 
 then, was Ramathaim-zophim ? It has been variously answered at Ramah 
 of Benjamin, at Mizpeh (see below), at Soba about six miles west of Jeru 
 salem. With the Hebrew article prefixed Ramathaim becomes Harama- 
 thaim, and there is much probability in the opinion of Eusebius and 
 Jerome that it is the Arimathea of the New Testament. They place it 
 near Lydda. 
 
 Proceeding northeast from Ramah of Benjamin we come at the dis 
 tance of about half an hour to the small village of Jeba, which is in all 
 probability the Geba of the Old Testament. It stands on the top of u 
 rocky ridgo, on the southern edge of the deep glen called Wady-es-Su- 
 
PALESTIM: lur, 
 
 weinit, which separate* it i nun Midimnult, the modern Mukhinas on the 
 north. The words Geba and Gibeah both signify hill. It is thought that 
 the two names are sometimes interchanged in the Hebrew text. However 
 this may be, they are certainly confounded at times in our version, where 
 the clearness of the narrative required that they should be kept distinct. 
 Thus in the narrative of Jonathan s adventure, when attended by his 
 armor-bearer, lie crossed the passage of Michmash without the knowledge 
 of his father (1 Sam. 14:1-18), Saul was in Gibeah a little south of Raman 
 (ver. 2), but Jonathan- and his. armor-bearer crossed the glen from Geba 
 (not Gibeah). The sacred narrative, speaking of the two sharp rocks on 
 either side of the passages says: "The forefront of the one was situate 
 northward over against Miclmiash, and the other southward over against 
 Geba," ver. 5. When the watchman of Saul in Gibeah saw the tumult, he 
 numbered the people, etc. 
 
 Dr. Robinson has identified Michmash in the modern Mukhmas which 
 Eusebius and Jerome (Ouomasticon) describe as a large village nine Ro 
 man miles from Jerusalem and not far from Rama. It lies on the north 
 ern edge of the steep and difficult Wady-es-Suweinit, which is "the pas 
 sage of Michmash." The two sharp rocks of which the sacred writer speaks 
 still exist as two hills of a conical, or rather spherical form, having steep 
 rocky sides, with small wadys running up behind each, so as almost to 
 isolate them. One of them is on the side towards Jeba, and the other 
 towards Mukhmas. See in Bib. Res. 1, pp. 440-442. The four places 
 Michmash, Geba, Rainah, Gibeah of Saul, are mentioned in their exact 
 order (Isa. 10:28, 29), when the prophet is describing the Assyrian king s 
 approach to Jerusalem from the north, with the additional stroke that "at 
 Michmash he hath laid up his carriages," that is baggage. He leaves his 
 baggage there on account of the difficulty of the pass. 
 
 About six miles north-northeast of Mukhxnas, crowning the summit of a 
 conical hill in a high tract of land, is the village of et-Taiyibeh. Robinson 
 thinks that this may be the site of the ancient Ophrah in the tribe of Ben 
 jamin, Josh. 18:23; 1 Sam. 13:17. Of the three bands of spoilers that 
 went out from the camp of the Philistines at Michmash, one company 
 turned westward towards Beth-horon (see below) ; and another "towards 
 the wilderness," which lay on the east. The third company went towards 
 Ophrah, which must, therefore, have lain in a northerly direction from 
 Michmash. Eusebius and Jerome place Ophrah (Onarnasticon, Art. Aphra) 
 five Roman miles east of Bethel, which accords with the site of et-Taiyi 
 beh. It is generally agreed that Ophrah was identical with the city of 
 Epliraim (2 Sam. 13:23 ; 2 Chron..l3:19), to which place our Lord retired 
 to avoid the enmity of the Jews, John 11:54. Ephraim was "near to the 
 wilderness," as is the modern et-Taiyibeh. 
 
KM) SACRED GEOGRAPHY. 
 
 About four miles northwest of Micliuiash, are the ruins called Beitin, 
 which Robinson has fully identified with the site of the ancient Beth-el 
 Eusebius and Jerome (Ouamasticon) place Beth-el twelve miles from Jeru 
 salem on the right hand of the road to Sichem. This agrees with the site 
 of Beitiu. The name also is identical, the Arabic substituting n for /, as 
 in some other cases. See Robinson, Bib. Res., 1, p. 449, note. These 
 ruins lie upon the brow of a hill sloping off to the southeast, and cover a 
 space of three or four acres. Among them are the remains of a square 
 tower, the broken walls of several churches, and the ruins of an immense 
 reservoir, 314 feet in length by 217 feet in breadth. The whole region 
 around is wild and rugged, with gray bare rocks, every where cropping up 
 over the scanty soil. "Jacob," says Porter, "could scarcely have found 
 any spot there on which a pillow of stone was not ready laid for his 
 head." 
 
 Beth-el, originally called Luz (Gen. 28:19 ; Judg. 1:23), first appears in 
 Scripture as the place near which Abraham twice pitched his tent, upon 
 "a mountain on the east of Beth-el," "having Beth-el on the west, and 
 Hai on the east," Gen. 12:8 ; 13:3. No one can mistake the position of 
 this mountain. It is the loftiest and most conspicuous hill in the neigh 
 borhood, with a broad summit commanding a wide view of the country all 
 around. From its top Lot looked down across the intervening wilderness 
 upon the green and well-watered valley of the Jordan, and Abraham, after 
 his departure, looked from the place where he stood "northward, and 
 southward, and eastward, and westward," upon his promised inheritance. 
 Gen. 13:10-14. At Beth-el also Jacob tarried over night on his lonely 
 journey from Beer-sheba to Haran, and here he had that glorious vision of 
 a ladder set on the earth and reaching to heaven, with the angels of God 
 ascending and descending upon it, while the Lord stood above it, and 
 proclaimed himself his covenant God. In the morning he named the 
 place Beth-el, that is, Jiouse of God (Gen. 28:10-22), and on his return 
 many years afterwards, he re-consecrated the spot (Gen. 35:1-7). Beth-el 
 originally belonged to the tribe of Benjamin, lying on the very border be 
 tween it and Ephraim. Josh. 18 : 13, 22. But upon the division of Solo 
 mon s kingdom, it fell to the kingdom of the ten tribes, and Jeroboam 
 desecrated it by making it one of the two places for the worship of his 
 golden calves. 1 Kings 12 : 28, 29. For this sin the prophet from Judah 
 foretold its defilement by Josiah, but perished on his way home for his dis 
 obedience. 1 Kings, chap. 13. The curse pronounced by the prophet still 
 rests on Beth-el. "Amid the ruins," says Porter in Alexander s Kitto, 
 "are about a score of miserable huts, in which, when the writer last visit 
 ed it (1857), a few. poor families, and a few flocks of goats found a home." 
 "The desolation of Bethel, and the shapeless ruins scattered over its site are 
 not without tljeir importance even yet they are silent witnesses to the 
 t 
 
PALESTINE. 107 
 
 truth of scripture, and the literal fulfilment of prophecj. Amos said many 
 centuries ago : Seek not Beth-el, nor enter into Gilgal ; for Gilgal shall 
 surely go into captivity, and Beth-el shall come to naught. " Chap. 5 :5. 
 
 Hai, the At of Joshua and the Aiath of Isaiah (chap. 10: 28), lay not far 
 east from Beth-el. About an hour southeast of Bethel, a little south of the 
 village called Deir Duwan are some ruins which Kobinsou thinks may be 
 the site of Ai. Bib. Res., 1, pp. 574, 575. 
 
 Passing now to the northwest of Jerusalem, we come, at the distance of 
 about five miles, to a lofty peak called Neby Samwll (prophet Samuel), ris 
 ing some six hundred feet above the plain of Gibeon. It is one of the 
 most marked sites in the vicinity of Jerusalem, and commands, acc"ord- 
 ing to Porter, a wider view than any other point in southern Pales 
 tine. Respecting the ancient place represented by Neby Samwll there 
 has been much controversy. The arguments of Robinson (Bib. Res., 
 1, pp. 458-460) go far to show that here was the Mizpah of Benjamin 
 (called in the Hebrew Mizpeh, Josh. 18:26; perhaps also 13:26, and 
 often in our version) ; while Grove would, with less probability, identify 
 Mizpah with the hill Scopus of Josephus, north of Jerusalem. It was at 
 Mizpah that the Israelites assembled to inflict punishment upon the 
 Benjamites for protecting the perpetrators of the crime recorded in the 
 nineteenth chapter of Judges. At the same place Samuel afterwards gath 
 ered all Israel together to offer sacrifices and pray for deliverance from the 
 Philistines, and also to establish Saul in his kingdom (1 Sam. 7 : 5-12 ; 
 10: 17-25) ; and this was one of the towns which he took yearly in his circuit 
 as judge of Israel (1 Sam. 7 : 16). This place appears again in the later his 
 tory of the kingdom of Judah (2 Kings 25 : 23-26; Jer. chaps. 40, 41), 
 where it is the scene of a bloody massacre. 
 
 The names Mizpeh and Mizpah signify watch-toicer, and are given to 
 various other places on both sides of the Jordan valley, josh. 11:8; 15 : 38 ; 
 Judges 11:11, 29, 34 ; 1 Sam. .22:3. 
 
 About a mile north of Neby Samwil, on the south side of the camel 
 road from Jerusalem to Joppa is el- Jib, the ancient Gibeon. Its distance 
 from Jerusalem by the main travelled road is six and a half miles, by the 
 most direct road not much over five miles. It stands on the top of a low 
 isolated hill of an oblong form, composed of horizontal layers of limestone 
 rock, rising above each other in succession with almost the regularity of 
 steps. The hill is in some parts steep and difficult of access, and capable 
 of being every where strongly fortified. All around its base lies a rich 
 upland plain, covered near the village with vineyards and olive groves ; 
 and "sending out branches," says Porter, " like the rays of the star-fish, 
 among the rocky acclivities that encircle it." On the east side of the 
 hill is a copious spring issuing from a chamber excavated in the limestone 
 
108 SACRED GEOGRAPHY. 
 
 rock, and a little farther clown, among olive-trees, are the ruins of an an 
 cient reservoir, according to Robinson one hundred and twenty feet by 
 one hundred. Here is doubtless "the pool of Gibeon " (2 Sain. 2:1 3), 
 where the men of Joab and Abiier met in fierce encounter ; and here also 
 are "the great waters that are in Gibeon" (Jer. 41:12), where Jolmiian 
 rescued the captives whom Ishmael had taken. The natural strength of 
 Gibeon and the fertility of the surrounding region are a sufficient expla 
 nation of the fact that Gibeon was a great city, as one of the royal cit 
 ies," Josh. 10 :2. It first conies into notice in connection with the famous 
 stratagem by which its inhabitants obtained a league with the Israelites, 
 Josh. , chap. 9. In consequence of this league Gibeon was assaulted by the 
 confederate kings of Canaan, and Joshua came to its rescue. It was in the 
 great battle following, which began at Gibeon, that Joshua said in the sight 
 of Israel: "Sun, stand thou still upon Gibeou, and thou moon in the 
 valley of Ajalon. " Chap. 10 : 12. 
 
 When David removed the ark to Jerusalem, the ancient tabernacle with 
 its altar was set up at Gibeon, and there the daily sacrifices were offered 
 and the other services of the sanctuary maintained (1 Chron. 16:39-42 ; 
 21 : 29) until the dedication of the temple by Solomon at Jerusalem ; and 
 thus it became the " great high place. " Hither Solomon, at the commence 
 ment of his reign repaired to offer sacrifices "a thousand burnt-offerings 
 did Solomon offer upon that altar ;" and there God appeared to him in a 
 dream, saying : " Ask what I shall give thee. " 1 Kings 3:4-15. Biblical 
 scholars have not failed to notice the retribution that overtook Joab at 
 Gibeon where he had murdered Amasa. 2 Sam. 20: 8, 10. Upon the over 
 throw of Adonijah s conspiracy against Solomon, in which Joab was im 
 plicated, he "fled unto the tabernacle of the Lord" then at Gibeon 
 "and caught hold on the horns of the altar," and there where he had 
 " shed the blood of war in peace, and put the blood of war upon his girdle 
 that was about his loins, and in his shoes that were on his feet " (1 Kings 
 2:5), his blood was shed at Solomon s command by Benaiah (1 Kings 
 2:28-34). 
 
 Following northwestward, " the great road of communication and heavy 
 transport between Jerusalem and the seacoast " (Robinson), we come at 
 the distance of four miles from Gibeon and twelve Roman miles from 
 Jerusalem the exact distance given by Eusebius to Bcth-horon the upper, 
 and three miles below to Beth-horon the nether (2 Chron. 8:5); the modern 
 names of which are Beit Ur el-Foka, Beit Ur tJte upper ; and Beit Ur el- 
 T<ilt/<i, Beit Ur the netlter. The upper Betlt-horon stands on the summit of 
 a conical hill, the culminating point of a long narrow ridge that runs up 
 from the lower region on the west. Down this ridge the road winds in 
 a zigzag course between two deep ravines, steps being in many pLircs 
 cut into the rock. It was down this difficult passage that Joshua drove tho 
 
PALESTINE. 10!) 
 
 discomfited Canaanites, and here "in the going down of Beth-horon the 
 Lord cast upon them great stones from the heavens to Azekah, and tlu-y 
 died." Josh 10:11. Standing on the hill of the upper Beth-horon, one 
 looks down upon a broad and beautiful valley in the southwest, which 
 Robinson has satisfactorily identified with the ancient "valley of Ajnl<m" 
 over which the moon stayed about a whole day. On its southern border 
 lies the village of Y&lo, which is but an abbreviation of Ajalon ( Heb. Ai- 
 yalo-n). The modern name of the valley is Merj Ibn Omeir, Meadow of the 
 son of Omeir. 
 
 Dr. Robinson thinks that the ancient Kirjath-jearim, that is, in English, 
 City of Forests, may possibly be recognized in the modern Kuryet-el-Enab, 
 City of Grapes. It is a poor village, lying nine Roman miles from Jerusa 
 lem on the direct way from that city to Lydda and Ramleh, which agrees 
 with the situation assigned to it by Eusebius and Jerome. To Kirjath- 
 jearim the ark was brought from Beth-shemesh when restored by the Phil 
 istines, and there it remained till removed by David to Jerusalem. 1 Sam. 
 7:1, 2; 2 Sam., chap. 6. 
 
 Two short hours south of Jerusalem, a little to the east of the road to 
 Hebron, is Bethlehem, a place which every Christian must regard with 
 deep and solemn interest. It was the home of the sweet psalmist of 
 Israel. Here he spent his youthful days in the humble capacity of a shep 
 herd, and here Samuel anointed him to be the shepherd of God s covenant 
 people. A higher honor was conferred upon Beth-lehem when the Word 
 made flesh appeared ; for here the Lord of glory was born and laid in a 
 manger, "because there was no room for them in the inn." 
 
 The original name of Beth-lehem was Ephrath or Ephratah (Gen. 35: 16, 
 19 ; 48:7 ; Ruth 4:11 ; Psa. 132:6 ; Micah 5:2), that is, according to the 
 most probable etymology, fruitful. The name Beth-leliem signifies house of 
 bread; and it has taken in Arabic the form of Beil-Lahm, house of jlesh. 
 It covers the eastern and northeastern parts of a long gray ridge of lime 
 stone which runs out eastwardly from the central chain of mountains, with 
 deep valleys on the north, south, and east. The soil in the immediate 
 neighborhood is fertile, and the steep slopes below the town are carefully 
 terraced, presenting a succession of olives, fig-trees, and vineyards. In the 
 valleys below and on a little* plain to the east are some corn-fields, but 
 immediately beyond these lies "the wilderness of Judaea," with its white 
 limestone hills and deep winding ravines in full view from the heights of 
 Bethlehem. It was undoubtedly from tending his father s flocks amid 
 these eastern hills that the youthful David was sent by Jesse to the camp 
 of Israel, when his eldest brother Eliab met him with the reproachful 
 words : " Why earnest thou down hither ?" and with whom hast thou left 
 those few sheep in the wilderness ?" 1 Sam. 17 :28. A quarter of a mile 
 
110 SACKED GEOGRAPHY. 
 
 north of the gate of the modern village is pointed out the so-called well 
 of Bethlehem." It is merely a deep and wide cistern situated at the 
 head of a ravine. Robinson was able to find no well in Bethlehem. 
 
 On the eastern brow of the ridge and separated from the village by a 
 level space is the great church of Mary, surrounded by its three spacious 
 convents, the whole encompassed by an immense fortress-like wall. The 
 church is that built by Helena over the alleged cave of the nativity. In 
 this grotto, says Hitter, "the manger itself is exhibited, and a countless 
 number of stations, each of which is hallowed by some monkish legend ; 
 the events of many, very many saints from David down to Christ, and of 
 the shepherds, the wise men, of Elisabeth, John, Joseph, and Maiy, and 
 of the good men of the first centuries of the Christian era down to the time 
 of Jerome are localized here ; and even the most credulous of pilgrims may 
 well have been surprised to learn that almost all the great events of which 
 they heard, transpired in this little spot, and mainly in caves and grottos !" 
 Geog. of Palestine, 3, p. 345. The tradition that the Saviour was born 
 in a cave goes back to the middle of the second century. Justin Martyn, 
 says (Dial. 2. 7) : "Because he had no place to stop in that village, he 
 stopped in a certain cave close to the village ; and then, while they were 
 there, Mary brought forth the Christ, and laid him in a manger." It may 
 perhaps, be so ; but that the manger was in this grotto we cannot know, 
 nor is there any necessity that we should. Our salvation comes from 
 knowing Christ himself, as he is revealed to us by God s word and Spirit, 
 not the place where Christ was born. 
 
 The present population of Bethlehem is about three thousand souls, all 
 nominal Christians. 
 
 A mile north of Beth-lehem, on the road to Jerusalem, is a little build 
 ing which marks to the present day the place of EachePs iamb. The tradi 
 tion which places it here is fully sustained by the scriptural narrative 
 (Geu. 35:16; 48:7), and its correctness cannot be reasonably called in 
 question. 
 
 Jebel Fureidis is the name given to a steep and round mountain, hav 
 ing the form of a volcanic cone, but truncated, which rises up some four 
 miles southeast of Bethlehem. Frank mountain is the name by which it 
 is known among the Franks. On the top are the ruins of a circular for 
 tress. Eobinson suggests that this may be fhe site of the fortress and city 
 Herodium erected by Herod the Great. 
 
 About six miles south of Beth-lehem, on an elevated hill, steep but 
 broad on the top, are the ruins of the ancient Tekoa, covering a space of 
 four or five acres. The place retains its Hebrew name to the present day, 
 being called Tekua by the Arabs. It was the birth-place of the prophet 
 Amos (Amos 1:1), and hence Joab called the wise woman whom he em- 
 
PALESTINE. Ill 
 
 in bringing about the recall of Absalom. 2 Sam. 14:2. It stands on 
 the edge of the wilderness, which is here called from it " the wilderness <f 
 Tekoa." 2 Chron. 20 : 20. Kehoboam fortified the place as a protection 
 against incursions from the south. 2 Chron. 11:6. . 
 
 48. A second centre of the mountainous region of Judea is 
 Hebron, one of the oldest and most venerable cities in the 
 world, built says the sacred record, "seven years before Zoan 
 in Egypt." Num. 13:22. It was one of the favorite abodes of 
 the patriarch Abraham, and there in the cave of Machpclah, 
 which he bought of Ephron the Hittite for four hundred she 
 kels of silver, he had his family sepulchre. See Gen., chap. 23. 
 We find Isaac at the close of his life living in Hebron (Gen. 
 35:27), and it was "out of the vale of Hebron" that Jacob 
 sent Joseph to his brethren when they sold him to the Islima- 
 elites, Gen. 37 : 14. After Saul s death David went up by divine 
 direction, from the Philistine plain to Hebron, and there he 
 reigned over the tribe of Judah alone seven years and six 
 months. It was at Hebron also that Abner was buried when 
 murdered by Joab, and in his sepulchre was buried the head 
 of Islibosheth. 2 Sam., chaps. 2 and 3. Here also Absalom 
 began his short and inglorious reign. 2 Sam. 15 : 7-12. 
 
 The modern town of Hebron is eighteen miles south of Jeru 
 salem. It lies in a deep narrow valley running down in a south 
 erly direction into the great Wady that runs off southwest tow 
 ards the Mediterranean. The houses are all of stone, high, and 
 well built, with windows and flat roofs, and on these roofs small 
 domes. They occupy chiefly the sloping eastern side ; but in 
 the southern part the town stretches across to the western side. 
 The population amounts to some nine thousand souls. In the 
 bottom of the valley towards the south is the lower pool of He 
 bron, a square reservoir built of hewn stones, measuring one 
 hundred and thirty-three feet on each side, with a depth of over 
 twenty-one feet, and flights of steps at the comers leading down 
 to the water. At the north end of the main village "is a small 
 pool eighty-five feet in length by fifty-five broad, with a depth 
 of over eighteen feet. These pools are of high antiquity, and 
 
112 SACKED GEOGRAPHY. 
 
 doubtless over one of them the assassins of Ishbosheth were 
 hanged by order of David. 2 Sam. 4:12. 
 
 But the object of chief interest in Hebron is the great Haram 
 on the eastern slope of the valley, which encloses without doubt 
 the cave of Machpelah, of which Jacob said when directing that 
 his body should be carried thither : " There they buried Abra 
 ham and Sarah his wife ; there they buried Isaac and Rebekah 
 his wife; and there I buried Leah." Gen. 49:31. Here is a 
 mosque, supposed to have been once a Christian church, sur- 
 sounded by massive walls in the form of a parallelogram of very 
 high antiquity. Robinson, cautious as he is in respect to claims 
 of antiquity, after quoting the Bourdeaux pilgrim s description 
 of it, (A. D. 333), says : " I venture to suppose that this existed 
 already in the days of Josephus and probably much earlier; 
 and was either itself the monument referred to by him (Antiq., 
 1. 14; Jewish War, 4. 9. 7), or perhaps the sacred enclosure 
 within which the tombs of the patriarchs were erected. The 
 whole appearance of the building, as well as its architecture, 
 leads decidedly to such a conclusion." Bib. Res., 2, p. 77. The 
 external enclosure is two hundred feet long, one hundred and 
 fifty wide, and sixty high, surrounded by a colonnade of square 
 pilasters forty-eight in number. The interior is guarded by the 
 Moslems with great jealousy. For six hundred years only one 
 European had entered it, namely, Ali Bey in disguise. But in 
 1862 the Prince of Wales and his suite were allowed to visit the 
 interior; and an engineer of the pasha of Jerusalem named 
 Pierotti has also had an opportunity of examining the building. 
 The mosque contains the tombs, that is, monuments or cenotaphs 
 of the bodies deposited there, each enclosed within a separate 
 chapel or shrine ; but to the sacred cave itself, the real place of 
 sepulture, no one is allowed access. Pierotti thinks that a part 
 of the grotto exists under the mosque, and that the other part is 
 under the court, but at a lower level. See farther in Imp. Bib. 
 Diet., art. "Hebron. Stanley, in the appendix to his lectures on 
 the Jewish church, has given an account of the survey made 
 by him in 1862, as one of the suite of the Prince of Wales. 
 
HEBRON. 
 
 YAFA, THE MODERN JOPPA. FROM THE NORTH. 
 
PALESTINE. 113 
 
 The name of Hebron iu earlier times was Kirjalli-Arla, that is, city of 
 Arba, "the great man among the Anakiru." Gen. 23:2; Josh. 14:15, 
 15 : 13; 21 : 11; Juclg. 1 : 10. Another name applied to Hebron is Mamre; 
 from Mamre the Amorite, brother of Eshcol and Aner (Gen. 14 : 13), but 
 in exactly what extent of signification cannot easily be determined. The 
 caye of Machpelah, on the eastern side of the valley, is described as being 
 before Mamre (Gen. 23 : 17, 19; 49 : 30), the natural interpretation of which 
 words is, that Mamre lay opposite to it, on the western side of the valley. 
 "We must suppose, then, that Mamre was a particular quarter of Hebron; 
 or, more probably, that Hebron at that time lay on the west side. Ancient 
 tradition places the oaks of Mamre (or terebintJis, not plain, as in our ver 
 sion) where Abraham dwelt, some distance north of Hebron. 
 
 The environs of Hebron are fertile, and it is particularly celebrated for 
 its vineyards, which produce the largest and best grapes in all the country. 
 "This valley, says Kobinson, "is generally assumed to be the Eshcol of 
 the Old Testament." Although Hebron itself lies in a valley-, the moun 
 tainous region in which it is situated here attains its greatest elevation. 
 From one of the hills in its vicinity the patriarch Abraham "looked toward 
 Sodom and Gomorrah, and toward all the land of the plain, and beheld, 
 and lo, the smoke of the country went up as the smoke of a furnace." 
 Gen. 19 : 28. 
 
 49. South of Hebron, in the hill country of Judea, is a con 
 siderable number of places which have been identified as those 
 mentioned in the Old Testament. 
 
 Tell Zlf, Kunnul&nd Tell Main, on the border of. the wilderness, rep 
 resent the ancient Ziph, Carmel of Judah, and, Maon, which are noticed 
 in connection with the persecutions to which David was subjected through 
 the enmity of Saul. Tell Zlf, that is, kill of Zlf, is a round eminence about 
 four and a half miles south of Hebron. On its top is a level plot appa 
 rently once enclosed by a wall, with some cisterns. Ten minutes east of 
 it are ruins which Robinson considers to be the proper site of Ziph. It 
 was in the adjoining "wilderness of Ziph" that David and his men were 
 lurking when the Ziphites attempted to betray him into the hand of Saul. 
 1 Sam. 23 : 19. About seven miles south of Hebron" is Tell Main, the Jtitt 
 Main, which gave its name to the adjacent " wilderness of Maon," where 
 also Saul was frustrated in his attempt to take David, 1 Sam. 23 : 24-27. 
 A little north of Main is Kurmid, the Carmel of Nabal, famous for the 
 interview which David had there with Abigail, which resulted in her be 
 coming his wife. 1 Sam. chap. 25. This is also the Carmel where Saul 
 "set him up a place " on his return from the slaughter of the Amalekites, 
 who occupied the southern desert. 1 Sam. 15 : 12. The ruins of Carmel 
 
114 SACKED GEOGRAPHY. 
 
 are extensive. "They lie," says Porter (in Alexander s Kitto), "around 
 the semicircular head and along the shelving sides of a little valley, which 
 is shut in by rugged limestone rocks." The most remarkable ruin is that 
 of the castle, a structure dating back as far at least as the time of Herod. 
 
 Other places are, Yutta, Anab, Sliuweikeli, Semiia ; answering respect 
 ively to the ancient towns, Juttali, Anal, Shoclioli, EsUtemoa. For their 
 position, see the map. West of Hebron are, Teffuh and Dura; the ancient 
 Tappuah and Adoraim. The tenacity with which the old towns of Pales 
 tine retain their names is remarkable. By this means, in connection with 
 ancient notices of their situation, Eobinson and others have been enabled 
 satisfactorily to identify a multitude of them. 
 
 50. Last of all we come to Beer-slieba, the well of the oath 
 (Gen. 21 : 31 ; 26 : 32, 33), on the border of the southern desert, 
 twelve good hours with camels from Hebron in a southwesterly 
 direction. As the traveller approaches from the south the great 
 Wady-es-Seba, which runs off in a westerly direction towards 
 the Mediterranean, the shrubs of the .desert begin to disappear, 
 and the hills are covered with grass ; large flocks of sheep and 
 goats and herds of camels and horned cattle are grazing around ; 
 and he sees for the first time extensive patches of unfenced land 
 covered with corn. All these are signs that the desert is at an 
 end. Crossing the broad bed of the wady, he comes upon its 
 northern side to two immense wells surrounded by drinking- 
 troughs of stone, while farther up the hills north of the well are 
 the scattered ruins of what Eobinson calls " a small straggling 
 village," and Eusebius and Jerome (Onomasticon) describe as a 
 large village with a Koman garrison. This is the ancient Beer- 
 sJicha, where the patriarchs Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob pastured 
 their flocks. Hagar, when dismissed by Abraham, wandered 
 " in the wilderness of Beer-sheba " on her way home to Egypt 
 (Gen. 21 : 14) ; from this place Jacob fled to Padan-aram (Gen. 
 28 : 10) ; and here, many years afterwards, on his way to Egypt, 
 he offered sacrifices to the God of his fathers; here Samuel 
 made his sons judges (1 Sam. 8:2); and from here Elijah set 
 out on his journey to Horeb, casting himself down under a shrub 
 of rctem (English version, juniper), just as the Arabs do at the 
 present day. See Kobinson, Bib. Bes., 1, pp. 203, 205. In later 
 
PALESTINE. 115 
 
 (1,-ivs Beer-sheba, like Beth-el, was desecrated by being made 
 one of the seats of idolatrous worship. Amos 5:5; 8 : 14. 
 
 The two wells described by Robinson (Bib. Res., 1, p. 204) are fifty- 
 five rods apart, of a circular form, and all that part of them which lies 
 above the limestone rock is neatly built up with solid masonry. The 
 larger well is twelve and a half feet in diameter, and the masonry reaches 
 down, according to Robinson s measurement, twenty- eight and a half feet 
 to the solid rock. When he visited the well in 1838, it was forty-four and 
 a half feet to the surface of the water. Tristram, in 1864, found the depth 
 to the water only thirty-eight feet. The entire depth of the well is not 
 given. The smaller well is five feet in diameter, and Robinson found the. 
 depth to the water forty-two feet. Abraham digged a well at this place 
 (Gen. 21 :31), and afterwards Isaac (Gen. 26 : 32, 33), apparently because 
 the Philistines had stopped this among the other wells digged by his father 
 (Gen. 26 : 18), and he found it more convenient to dig a new well than to 
 open the old one. Both wells bear marks of great antiquity, and we have 
 no good reason to doubt that they are the veritable wells opened by the 
 patriarchs. 
 
116 {SACKED GEOGRAPHY. 
 
 CHAPTEE III. 
 
 THE MEDITERRANEAN PLAIN. 
 I. PLAIN OF AKKA, OR ACRE. 
 
 1. FROM Ras-el-Abyad, the northern promontory of Pales 
 tine, to Bas-en-Nakurah (the ancient Ladder of Tyre), a dis 
 tance of about six. miles, is only a sandy strip of plain, not more 
 than three or four miles wide. South of Bas-en-Nakurah the 
 plain of Akka or Acre opens, and extends to the base of Carmel, 
 a distance of about twenty miles, with an average breadth of 
 from four to six miles. On the east lies the hill country of Up 
 per Galilee, sending forth frequent ridges which gradually lose 
 themselves in the plain. The whole tract is fertile and well 
 watered. Bobinson, Phys. Geog., pp. 125, 126. The KisJton 
 has been already described (chap. 2, No. 6). Farther north is 
 the Nahr Nam an, River Naman, the Belus of the ancients, and 
 celebrated by them for the accidental discovery of the art of 
 making glass. 
 
 2. The plain of Akka derives its name from Akka, or more 
 fully, according to the French orthography, St. Jean d Acrc, so 
 called from the order of knights in the middle ages that took 
 the name of St. John of Akka. It is the Acclio of the Old Tes 
 tament (Judg. 1 : 31), and the Ptolemais of the New (Acts 21 : 7), 
 probably so called from one of the Ptolemies of Egypt. Akka 
 is situated on a triangular projection of land that forms the 
 northern limit of the great bay of Akka. Massive fortifications 
 guard the city towards the sea on both sides. On the land side 
 there is a double rampart. Its present harbor is shallow and 
 exposed; so that vessels usually lie in the roadstead of Haifa, 
 on the south side of the bay, under Carmel, where there is good 
 anchorage. Akka was the stronghold of the Crusaders, being 
 
* PALESTINE. 117 
 
 in their day next in importance to Jerusalem. It is celebrated 
 for the many sieges to which it has been subjected. In 1799 it 
 was besieged in vain for sixty days by the French under Napo 
 leon Bonaparte, and it has undergone three investments since, 
 the last in 1840, when it was bombarded by the combined fleets 
 of England, Austria, and Turkey, and suffered great damage. 
 Its present population is reckoned at about 10,000. 
 
 3. Other places on the plain of Akka are the following : 
 
 
 
 Haifa, at the foot of Carmel, on the southern shore of the bay, a place 
 of considerable trade. Robinson thinks that it is the ancient Phoenician 
 city Sycaminum. Bib. Res., 2, p. 340. 
 
 Zib, the Ecdippa of the Greeks, and the AcJizib of Judges 1 : 31 (there 
 was another Achzib in Judah, Josh. 15 : 44 ; Micah 1 : 14), a small village 
 on the Mediterranean coast, about ten miles north of Akka. 
 
 Kabul, southeast of Akka, on the confines of the plain, answers in name 
 and position to the Cab id of. Josh. 19 : 27, and the Chabolo of Josephus. 
 See Robinson, Bib. Res., 3, p. 88. This Cabul is to be distinguished from 
 the land of Cabul (1 Kings 9 : 13) containing the twenty Galilean cities 
 given by Solomon to Hiram king of Tyre (1 Kings 9 : 11-13), which Jose 
 phus says (Antiq.. 8. 5. 3) lay not far from Tyre. * 
 
 II. PLAIN OF SHARON. 
 
 4. The plain of the coast is wholly interrupted by the ridge 
 of Carmel which extends far out into the Mediterranean, " dip 
 ping his feet in the western sea." South of Carmel the plain 
 reappears, but at first very narrow, the interval between the 
 mountains and the sea being filled up by a low ridge of rocky 
 hills running parallel to the coast, so that little is left except a 
 line of sand-drifts. But in the vicinity of the ancient Caesarea 
 it opens to the extent of seven or eight miles, and continues 
 without interruption to the southern extremity of Palestine. 
 Since, moreover, the shore trends in a direction west of south, 
 while the mountainous region on the east runs due north and 
 south, the plain widens gradually towards the south to some 
 twenty miles in the latitude of Gaza. All along the coast is a 
 line of sand-dunes, generally flat and wavy, but rising in places 
 into mounds from fifty to two hundred feet high. At Gaza the 
 
118 SACRED GEOGRAPHY. 
 
 sand-belt is said to be not less than three miles wide, and it is 
 slowly but irresistibly encroaching upon the fertile plain all 
 along the coast. 
 
 5: The northern part of this plain, from the vicinity of Car- 
 mel as far south as Joppa and Lydda, is the Sharon of the Old 
 Testament, so celebrated for its beauty and fertility. Isa. 35 : 2. 
 Its length is over thirty miles, with an average breadth of about 
 ten miles. The plain is not so level as that of Akka, or as the 
 plain of the Philistines, farther south. The sand-drifts on the 
 coast choke up the streams, producing pools and marshes in 
 their rear during the rainy weather. Farther back the soil is 
 of exuberant fertility, and capable of supporting a dense popu 
 lation. We are told (1 Chron. 27 : 29) that over the herds of Solo 
 mon " that fed in Sharon was Shitrai the Sharonite." Sharon 
 contains at- the present day some of the finest pasture land in 
 Palestine. In spring it is all spangled with flowers of the bright 
 est colors and forests of gigantic thistles. But, owing to the 
 wretched government that prevails, this region has become to a 
 great extent a solitude, and indicates its fertility only by the 
 enormous growth of weeds that covers it. The fear of the 
 Bedouin has driven the inhabitants to the mountains, and the 
 exactions of Turkish rulers operate as an effectual discourage 
 ment to agriculture. 
 
 The traveller in Palestine is struck with the fact that the people every 
 where select elevated spots the summits of hills and steep ridges difficult 
 of access for their villages. The reason is, that on the plains they are 
 liable to be plundered by the Arabs that roam over them. On the whole 
 plain of Esdraelon is not a single village. Those who cultivate it reside on 
 the neighboring hills. "In Sharon," says Porter, "and in the southern 
 section of Philistia, there are stretches of twenty miles or more without 
 a village." 
 
 6. In Sharon we have to do more with the ruins of ancient 
 places than with present cities and villages. Foremost among 
 these ruins is Ccesarea, sometimes called, in distinction from 
 Caesar e a Philippi, Ccesarea Palcestince, Ccesarea of Palestine, or 
 Ccesarea Stratonis, Cccmrea of Strata, because built on the site 
 
PALESTINE. 119 
 
 before called Strata s Toicer. In modern Arabic it retains its 
 ancient name under the form of Kaisdriyeh. This city was built 
 by Herod the Great with much beauty and magnificence, and 
 adorned with sumptuous public buildings, among which were a 
 forum, a theatre, and in its rear an amphitheatre of immense 
 capacity. It stood on the sea-shore, about twenty-one miles 
 south of the promontory of Carmel. To form a safe anchorage 
 for vessels on a coast destitute of natural harbors, he threw out 
 from the southern wall of the city a semicircular mole con 
 structed of immense blocks of stone, and sunk in the sea to the 
 depth of twenty fathoms, with an opening for vessels only on 
 the north side. Having completed the whole work a few years 
 before our Saviour s birth, he fixed his residence there, thus 
 making Csesarea the capital of Judea. For an elaborate account 
 of this place, see Josephus, Antiq., 15. 9. 6; Jewish War, 1. 
 21. 5-8. 
 
 Ceesarea is frequently mentioned in the New Testament, It 
 was the home of Philip the evangelist (Acts 21 : 8), which ex 
 plains the statement of Luke, that he preached in all the cities 
 along the coast from Azotus (Ashdod) " till he came to Ca3sa- 
 rea." Acts 8 : 40. It was the residence also of the Roman cen 
 turion Cornelius, and the place where the Holy Spirit was first 
 poured out on the Gentiles. Acts, chap. 10. From this place 
 Paul embarked when the brethren sent him from Jerusalem to 
 Tarsus. Acts 9 : 30. Here he landed on his way to Jerusalem, 
 at the close of his second missionary tour. Acts 18 : 22. Hither 
 he was afterwards sent from Jerusalem as a prisoner under a 
 guard of Roman soldiers, that he might plead his cause before 
 Felix, who, -instead of releasing him, kept him two years in im 
 prisonment (Acts 23 : 23 ; chap. 24) ; and from the same place he 
 was sent by Festus to Rome. Acts chaps. 25, 26. Finally, it 
 was at Cresarea that the elder Herod Agrippa, the grandson of 
 Herod the Great, was smitten by the angel of the Lord, " be 
 cause he gave not God the glory : and he was eaten of worms, 
 and gave up the ghost." Acts 12 : 21-23. 
 
 Ca3sarea, once the proud capital of Judea, is now a mass of 
 
120 SACKED GEOGRAPHY. 
 
 ruins. A strong wall, built in the middle ages, encompasses it 
 on the land side, enclosing an area about half a mile long and 
 a quarter of a mile broad. Here the traveller wanders over im 
 mense piles of rubbish, amid dense jungles of thorns and this 
 tles. Of the mole described by Josephus, the ruins of nearly 
 one hundred yards still appear above water, but a large portion 
 of the materials of the structure has been earned off to rebuild 
 the ramparts of Acre. The ancient city extended considerably 
 beyond the present walls. Here are hewn stones and broken 
 columns of granite and marble, around and among which the 
 sands driven by the wind are continually silting. " The site of 
 Csesarea is thus singularly lonely and desolate. Solitude keeps 
 unbroken Sabbath there. The sighing of the wind as it sweeps 
 over the shattered walls and through the sun-dried jungle, and 
 the deep moaning of the sea as each wave breaks on the cav 
 ernous fragments of the ancient mole, are the only sounds that 
 fall upon the traveller s ears as he wanders over the site of Csc- 
 sarea." Porter in Alexander s Kitto. 
 
 7. Another city built in Sharon by Herod the Great was 
 Antipatris, on the eastern border of the plain, one hundred and 
 twenty stadia northeast from Joppa. According to Josephus 
 (Antiq., 16. 5. 2), he built it " on the plain called Kapliarsaba, 
 choosing a well-watered place and a soil propitious to plants, 
 the city itself having a river flowing around it, and being sur 
 rounded by a grove of trees most beautiful for their size." The 
 original name still survives under the form of Kefr Saba, village 
 of Saba. The arguments for the identity of Kefr Saba with 
 Antipatris are given by Robinson, Bib. Res., 3. pp. 138, 139. 
 Nothing exists here at present but a village built of mud-houses. 
 Antipatris lay on the route from Jerusalem to Caesarea, and 
 through it the apostle Paul was carried by his escort of Roman 
 soldiers on his way to the latter place. Acts 23 : 31. 
 
 Dor, one of the royal cities of the Canaanites (Josh. 12 :23), stood on 
 a rocky promontory on the coast fourteen miles south of Carmel and seven 
 north of Csesarea. It was one of the Phoenician strongholds, and in the 
 Roman age. was still a flourishing town. Its modern representative is tho 
 
PALESTINE. 121 
 
 little fishing village Txntura, consisting of some thirty houses, lying south 
 of the rocky promontory of the ancient Dor, which is now covered with 
 ruins. 
 
 Arsuf, a place renowned in the history of the Crusades, is now a de 
 serted village at the mouth of the Nahr Arsuf, six hours north of Yafa. It 
 is probably the ancient Apollonia. Robinson, Bib. Kes., 2, p. 242, note. 
 
 8. Joppa (or Japho, Josh. 19 : 46 ; modern Arabic, Yafa), one 
 of the most ancient seaports in the world, is situated on the 
 Mediterranean coast, in the southern part of Sharon, about 
 thirty geographical miles northwest of Jerusalem, of which city 
 it has been the port ever since the days of Solomon. It is first 
 mentioned (Josh. 19 : 46) as fronting the border of Dan ; then as 
 the port to which Hiram -king of Tyre conveyed "in floats by 
 sea" the timber cut by him on Lebanon for the temple in Jeru 
 salem (2 Chron. 2 : 16) ; then as the port at which Jonah em 
 barked on his way to Tarshish (Jonah 1:3); and once more, as 
 the port to which cedar-trees were brought from Lebanon for 
 the second temple (Ezra 3:7). Joppa appears as a stronghold 
 in the wars of the Maccabees (1 Mac. 10 : 75 ; 14 : 5, 34), and it 
 fell in the days of Pompey under the power of Rome with the 
 rest of Palestine. Josephus, Antiq., 14. 4. 4. It was at Joppa 
 that Peter raised Tabitha to life (Acts 9 : 36-42), after which 
 miracle " he tarried many days in Joppa at the house of one 
 Simon a tanner." There he had the vision recorded in Acts 
 10 : 9-18, which taught him the abolition under the gospel of 
 the distinction between Jews and Gentiles, and thence he jour 
 neyed to the house of Cornelius in Ca3sarea. Acts 10 : 23. Since 
 that day the place has been often taken and retaken by con 
 tending armies, and has been the theatre of some bloody scenes. 
 
 The modem Yafa is built on the steep sides of a hill over 
 hanging the sea, and commanding from its summit a magnifi 
 cent view. The houses rise one above another, and when seen 
 at a distance present a picturesque appearance. But as soon 
 as one enters, he finds narrow, crooked, and filthy streets, as in 
 most oriental cities. The place is encompassed on the land side 
 by luxuriant groves of olives, figs, oranges, lemons, apricots, and 
 
122 SACRED GEOGRAPHY. 
 
 -+ 
 
 other fruits. Its present population is variously estimated from 
 7,000 to 15,000. Joppa has no harbor worthy of the name, or 
 good landing-place, which is a great drawback to its prosperity. 
 
 9. Lydda is the Lod of the Old Testament (1 Chron. 8 : 11 ; 
 Ezra 2:33; Neh. 7:37; 11:35), and the Ludd of the modern 
 Arabs. Under the Roman dominion it was called Diospolis. 
 The place lies on a gentle eminence, twelve miles from Joppa, 
 on the road to Jerusalem, where the fertile plain of Sharon 
 approaches to that of the Philistines. It was built by a Benja- 
 mite (1 Chron. 8 : 12), whence we infer that it lay within the 
 boundaries of the tribe of Benjamin. It is memorable as the 
 place where Peter healed the cripple Eneas (Acts 9 : 32-35). 
 Under Roman sway, it became one of the most important places 
 in Western Palestine. The modern village of Ludd contains 
 about 1,000 inhabitants, living in small and poor houses, with 
 dirty lanes for streets. 
 
 Two and a half miles south of Lydda is er-Ramleli, lying on the east 
 ern side of a broad swell in the sandy though fertile plain, and, like Joppa, 
 surrounded by olive-groves and gardens of vegetables and delicious fruits, 
 the gardens being enclosed as often in this region, by impenetrable hedges 
 of prickly pear. Ramleli is a larger and more important place than Lydda, 
 but as its origin was subsequent to the apostolic times we pass by it. For 
 full information concerning this place see Robinson, Bib. Res. , 2, pp. 230- 
 242. 
 
 Mention is several times made of Ono, and always in connection with 
 Lod, that is, Lydda, 1 Chron. 8 : 12 ; Ezra 2 :33 ; Neh. 7 : 37 ; 11 : 35. Hence 
 it is evident that the two places lay near together. From this place "the 
 plain of Ono" (Neh. 6 : 2) undoubtedly took its name. Robinson (Phys. 
 Geog., pp. 113, 127) suggests that it may be the plain around Beit Nuba 
 north of Ajalon." 
 
 J/ljuIeh, a little south of Antipatris, is perhaps the Gilgal of Josh. 12 : 23, 
 which is mentioned with Dor on the Mediterranean plain. Robinson 
 Bib. Res., 2, p. 243. 
 
 III. THE SHEPHELAH OR PHILISTINE PLAIN. 
 
 10. Porter (in Alexander s Kitto, Art. Ekron) places the 
 line of division between Sharon and the Philistine plain on " a 
 low bleak ridge or swell," on the southern slope of which lies 
 
PALESTINE. 123 
 
 Akir, the ancient Ekron. This plain bears in Hebrew the spe 
 cific name Shephelah, that is, low land ; and is never confounded 
 in the original Hebrew with the ArabaJt, the term applied to the 
 valley of the Jordan and Dead sea. 
 
 In our version the geographical name Sliephelah is unfortunately not 
 always kept distinct from the term Arabith, and other words also rendered 
 plain. Arab ah is with few exceptions, rendered plain. ShepJielah is vari 
 ously rendered as will appear from the following synopsis. 
 
 Vale, Deut. 1:7; Josh. 10 : 40 ; 1 Kings 10 : 27 ; 2 Chron. 1:15; Jer. 
 33 : 13. 
 
 Valley, Josh. 11:2, 16; 15:33 (twice) ; Juclg. 1:9; Jer. 32:44. 
 
 Valleys, Josh. 9:1; 12:8. 
 
 Plain, Jer. 17 :26 ; Obad. 19 ; Zech. 7:7. 
 
 Low plains, 1 Chron. 27 : 28 ; 2 Chron. 9 : 27. 
 
 Low country, 2 Chron. 26 : 10 ; 28 : 18. 
 
 Of the above terms the most appropriate is low country, and plain is the 
 most objectionable, as confounding this region with the Arabah, which 
 denotes the valley of the Jordan and the Dead sea. 
 
 The Philistine plain extends to Gaza and beyond. Its 
 length is not less than forty miles. The breadth in the north 
 ern part is about ten miles ; in the southern, as much as twen 
 ty. On the coast, as already remarked, it is bordered by a line 
 of sand hills, which exhibit a scene of utter desolation; while 
 on the east there is a tract of lower hills intervening between it 
 and the mountainous region. The surface of the plain it 
 self is flatter, and its general elevation less than that of the 
 plain of Sharon. In many parts it is almost a dead level, in 
 others gently undulating, with here and there low mounds or 
 hillocks. It has a brown loamy soil, light but rich, and almost 
 without stones. A striking feature is the depth of its wadys or 
 torrent beds which have cut their way through the loamy or 
 sandy soil. Except in the rainy season these beds are dry, and 
 covered with dust, white pebbles, and flints. Now, as in ancient 
 days, it is one enormous cornfield without fences or hedges, so 
 that the traveller can ride all day without hindrance. " Its fer 
 tility," says Grove (in Smith s Bible Diet., Art. Palestine), "is 
 marvellous; for the prodigious crops which it raises are pro- 
 
124 SACRED GEOGEAPHY. 
 
 duccd, and probably have been produced almost year by year 
 for the last forty centuries, without any of the appliances which 
 we find necessary for success with no manure beyond that 
 naturally supplied by the washing down of the hill-torrents 
 without irrigation, without succession of crops, and with only the 
 rudest method of husbandry." The district of inferior hills on 
 the eastern border between the proper plain and the "hill coun 
 try of Judea " is described by Kobinson (Phys. Geog., pp. 33, 34) 
 as " a beautiful open country, consisting of low hills, usually 
 rocky, separated by broad arable valleys mostly well adapted 
 for grain, as are also many of the swelling hills. The whole tract 
 is full of villages and deserted sites and ruins, and there are 
 many olive groves." 
 
 11. Over the plain of the Philistines and Sharon lies the 
 great hightvay between Egypt on the south, and Damascus and 
 the eastern empires on the north. It has been often traversed 
 in both directions by mighty armies that drew their supplies 
 from its rich cornfields and granaries. 
 
 The coast road passes througli Gaza, Joppa, and Czesarca, and arouml 
 the promontory of Carmel to Akka. Thence the traveller can proceed 
 north to ancient Phoenicia, or eastward across the Jordan between the 
 lakes Huleh and Tiberias to Damascus. The inland or groat caravan road 
 from Egypt, passes through Eamleh and Lydda ; theiice through Kefr 
 Saba along the eastern border of Sharon to the southwestern base of Car 
 mel. Here the Damascus road turns off to the northeast, and passes 
 over the spur of Carmel by Lejjiin, the ancient Megiddo ; while the road 
 northward to Akka crosses the ridge farther to the northwest. 
 
 12? Tfle Shephelah was the country of the Philistines. In 
 the division of the land of Canaan under Joshua it fell to the 
 tribe of Judah (Josh., chap. 15), but was never actually in their 
 possession before the captivity, as the scriptural history of the 
 long and bloody struggle between the Philistines and the Israel 
 ites abundantly proves. Though humbled from time to time, 
 the Philistines continued for many successive centuries to 
 harass their neighbors the Jews ; till at last their territory be 
 came the prize for which the Egyptians on one side, and the 
 
PALESTINE. 125 
 
 Assyrians and after them the Chaldeans on the other, contend 
 ed. After the captivity, Philistia, no longer able to maintain 
 an independent existence, fell successively under the sway of 
 whatever one among the great contending powers had for the 
 time being the ascendency. 
 
 The scriptural notices of the origin of the Philistines are very scanty. 
 From them we gather, however, that they were not the aboriginal inhabi 
 tants of the Shephelah ; but came forth from Caphtor and dispossessed 
 the Avirn and dwelt in their stead (Deut. 2 : 23 ; Jer. 47 : 4 ; Amos 9 : 7. 
 From Gen. 10 : 13, 14, it may be inferred that they were of Egyptian ori 
 gin. Concerning the identification of Caphtor there has been much dis 
 pute. At present most biblical scholars regard it as having been either 
 Crete or some maritime province of Egypt. In favor of Crete is adduced 
 the fact that the Cherethites (assumed to be the same as Cretites) were mani 
 festly Philistines or a tribe of the Philistines (1 Sam. 30 : 14 compared with 
 verse 16 ; Ezek. 25 :16 ; Zeph. 2 :5). It is not necessary here to discuss 
 the question whether the Cherethites of David s body-guard were so called 
 from their origin, or from their office (Heb. Karath, to cut off] as execu 
 tioners. In favor of an Egyptian province is the geographical position of 
 Philistia with reference to Egypt. In the days of Abraham and Isaac, 
 the Philistines were already a regularly organized nation. Gen. 21 : 22- 
 34 ; chap. 20. 
 
 13. There were five principal cities in the Philistine terri 
 tory Ekron, Gath, Ashdod, Askelon, Gaza under the jurisdic 
 tion severally of the five lords of the Philistines. 1 Sam. 6 : 4 
 compared with ver. 17. "We add a brief notice of these places, 
 beginning with the most northerly and proceeding south. 
 
 The modern representative of Ekron is Akir, about five miles southwest 
 of Ramleh. It lies on the southern slope of a low ridge or swell which 
 forms the northern border of a broad shallow wady coming down from 
 the northeast. It contains about fifty mud houses, built on the accumu 
 lated rubbish of past ages, with no vestige of antiquity except two large 
 and deep wells and some stone water-troughs. It may be here remarked 
 in general respecting the houses of the Philistine plain, that being built of 
 mud or sun-dried bricks, they speedily crumble to dust if left untenanted 
 for a few years. Ekron was the last Philistine city to which the captive 
 ark of God was sent ; and thence it was returned to the Israelites as rela 
 ted in the book of Samuel (chap. 6), the two milch-kine that drew the 
 cart on which it was placed, taking " the straight way to the way of Beth- 
 
126 SACKED GEOGRAPHY. 
 
 shomesh ;" that is, the modern A in Shems, in the border region between 
 the mountains and the plain, full ten miles to the southeast. 
 
 Galh, another of the five cities of Philistia, has utterly perished, so that 
 even its site is a matter of doubt. Porter would identify it with TeU-es- 
 Sdfieh, a conspicuous hill at the foot of the Judean mountains, ten miles 
 east of Ashdod and about the same distance south by east of Ekron. See 
 in his Syria and Palestine, p. 253 ; and in Smith s Bible Diet. , Art. Gath. 
 Gath was the home of the Philistine champion Goliath and his brethren 
 of the race of giants (1 Sam., chap. 17; 2 Sam. 21:18-22) ; and here 
 David found refuge from Saul s persecution with Achish its king, 1 Sam., 
 chap. 27. That Gath was a strong military position is evident from the 
 scriptural notices concerning it, 2 Kings 12:17; 2 Chron. 11:8; 26 : 6. 
 flie words of Amos (chap. G : 2) imply that in his day the city was in ruins. 
 
 Ashdod, the Azotus of the New Testament (Acts 8:40) and the Esdud of 
 the modern Arabs, lies on the coast road three miles from the Mediterra 
 nean sea, and nearly midway between Joppa and Gaza. It stood on the 
 summit of a hill overlooking the plain, and the natural advantages of the 
 position were improved by fortifications of great strength. It lay, more 
 over, on the high road between Egypt and Palestine. Hence its posses 
 sion was a matter of great importance in a military point of view, 2 Chron. 
 26:6 ; Isa. 20:1. Herodotus informs us (2. 157) that the Egyptian king 
 Psammetichus took this place after a siege of twenty-nine years. At Ash 
 dod was a temple of the Philistine god Dagon, and to this the ark of God 
 was brought from Ebenezer when captured by the Philistines. From 
 Ashdod it was carried to Gath and thence to Ekron, whence it was sent up 
 to Beth-Shemesh, 1 Sam., chaps. 5, 6. The modern Esdud is only an 
 insignificant village. 
 
 Ashkelon or (in Judges and Samuel after the Greek form of the Septua- 
 gint) Askelon is the modern Askulan. The ancient city stood immediately 
 on the seashore west of the great coast road from Egypt northward, 
 twelve geographical miles north of Gaza, and ten south by west of Ash 
 dod. It occupied a strong situation, the walls flanked with towers being 
 built on the top of a ridge of rock encircling the town and reaching at 
 each end to the sea. Its strong position caused it to be the seat of many 
 sanguinary struggles, especially in the wars between Egypt and Syria. It 
 played also an important part in the Crusades. It is now a deserted ruin. 
 "Of the proud city of Askelon," says the Rev. Eli Smith (Missionary 
 Herald for 1827. pp. 341, 342), "little now remains except its walls. They 
 are in the form of a semicircle, having, on the opposite side, the sea. I 
 climbed to the top of them, and looked over among the scattered fragments 
 of granite pillars which were lying in every direction." "What a com- 
 
PALESTINE. 127 
 
 mentaiy on the words of prophecy (Zech. 9:5): "The king shall perish 
 from Gaza and Ashkelon shall not be inhabited !" For an interesting 
 account of the excavations of Lady Hester Stanhope amid the ruins of 
 Ashkelon, and the splendid relics of antiquity thus brought to light, the 
 reader may consult Hitter s Geog. of Palestine, vol. 3, pp. 214^216. 
 
 Gaza (the Greek form of the name, sometimes called in our version 
 Azzah that is, strong, Deut. 2 : 23 ; 1 Kings 4 : 24 ; Jer. 25 : 20, which is a 
 nearer representation of the Hebrew word), on the southwest frontier of 
 Palestine towards Egypt, was the stronghold of Philistia, and to the Egyp 
 tians the key of Palestine and Syria, lying as it did on the great highway to 
 those regions. "No conqueror," says Robinson (Bib. Res., 2, p. 40), 
 "could well pass by, until this city had submitted to his power." Its 
 commercial importance is obvious. The caravans passing from Gaza 
 across the desert to Egypt here took in of necessity a supply of provisions 
 for the way, and those coming from Egypt replenished here their ex 
 hausted stores. (Robinson as above.) The military and commercial 
 importance of the city caused it to be strongly fortified. It withstood for 
 five months all the efforts of Alexander the Great ; but he finally took it 
 by storm and slaughtered its brave defenders. It was several times after 
 wards destroyed and rebuilt. 
 
 Gaza was the scene of Samson s greatest exploits. It was here that he 
 "arose at midnight, and took the doors of the gate of the city, and the 
 two posts, and went away with them, bar and all, and put them upon his 
 shoulders and carried them up to the top of the hill " (so the Hebrew reads 
 with the article) "which is before Hebron," Judg. 1G:3. " The hill 
 which is before Hebron " is not necessarily a hill in the vicinity of Hebron. 
 It may be, as Porter suggests (in Alexander s Kitto), the hill east of Gaza 
 which fronts towards Hebron, and commands a wide view of the whole 
 plain and the distant mountains that encircle Hebron ; that is to say, the 
 words, "which is before Hebron" may have been added simply to distin 
 guish this hill from the other hills around Gaza. Samson s strength was 
 supernatural, and therefore adequate to carry the gates of Gaza any dis 
 tance. But the more natural idea suggested by the narrative is that he 
 carried them to the top of a hill -in view of Gaza, and left them there as a 
 trophy of his victory over those who sought his life. Gaza was also the 
 place of Samson s dishonor. Here the Philistines, having put out his eyes 
 and bound him with fetters of brass, made him grind in the prison-house ; 
 and here, after his hair was grown, he pulled down the temple of Dagon 
 upon himself and the assembled multitude. Judg. chap. 16. Gaza ap 
 pears once in the New Testament in the angel s direction to Philip : "Arise 
 and go towards the south, unto the way that goeth down from Jerusalem 
 to Gaza, which is desert." Acts 8:26. Respecting the true interpreta 
 tion of these words there has been much discussion. JBut the words 
 
128 SACKED GEOGRAPHY. 
 
 "which is desert" (literally, "this is desert") are most naturally refeired 
 to the road, not the city. Philip is directed to take the desert road to 
 Gaza, viz., "the southern road leading from Eieutheropolis to Gaza 
 through the desert, or region without villages, as is the case at the pres 
 ent day." Robinson, Bib. Res., 2, p. 41. 
 
 The modern Arabic name of Gaza is Ghuzzeh, a place without walls, of 
 about fifteen thousand inhabitants. It resembles a group of villages, of 
 which the principal one stands on the southern slope of a low round 
 hill elevated not more than fifty or sixty feet above the adjacent plain, 
 and which seems to be composed in great measure of the ruins of suc 
 cessive cities. But the greater part of the city lies on the plain below. 
 The hill is crowned by the great mosque, and its houses are mostly of stone, 
 while those on the plain are mean mud hovels with narrow and filthy lanes 
 between them. Gaza is surrounded on the south, east, and north by lux 
 uriant gardens hedged with prickly pear. Beyond the gardens toward the 
 north lie extensive olive-groves. The distance of Gaza from the sea is 
 three miles, the whole occupied by the belt of drifting sand hills already 
 noticed. Some have thought that the primitive city lay nearer to the sea; 
 but of this there is no certain proof. 
 
 The five principal cities of the Philistines have been considered togeth 
 er in their geographical order. It remains that we notice some other places. 
 
 (I.) Jcibneel (Josh. 15:11), or Jabneli (2 Chron. 2G:6), which stands 
 on a slight eminence just south of Nahr Rubin, two miles from the sea 
 and three or four from Ekron. It is the Jamneia or Jamnia of Josephus 
 and the Maccabees. During the wars of the Maccabees it was an impor 
 tant place. 1 Mac. 4 : 15 ; 5 : 58 ; 10 : 69 ; 2 Mac. 12 :8, 9. At the time 
 when Jerusalem was destroyed it was a populous place, and contained a 
 celebrated Jewish school, which survived the overthrow of the metropolis 
 and became the seat of the great Sanhedrim. According to Jewish tradi 
 tion the celebrated Rabbi Gamaliel taught and was buried here. The 
 name Jalneh is perpetuated in the modern village Ycbna, which probably 
 occupies the site of the ancient city. It should be distinguished from the 
 Jabnecl of Josh. 19 : 33, which was in the tribe of Naphtali. 
 
 (2.) Eglon (Josh., 10:5), one of the five cities that made war upon 
 Gibeon and was destroyed by Joshua. The name survives in the modern 
 AjUm, about fourteen miles northeast of Gaza, which is described by Por 
 ter as completely desolate. "The ruins are mere shapeless heaps of rub 
 bish strown over a low white mound." 
 
 Porter (in Alexander s Kitto) would identify the ruins called Urn Litkis, 
 a short distance west of Eglon, with the ancient Lachish; but Robinson 
 (Bib. Res., 2, p. 47) dissents. 
 
PALESTINE. 129 
 
 14. The prophets denounce upon the Philistine cities, in 
 common with all the countries adjacent to Palestine, a destruc 
 tion that shall be simultaneous and of terrible magnitude. It 
 shall come from the north, "and shall be an overflowing flood, 
 and shall overflow the land and all that is therein." Isa. 14 : 31 ; 
 Jer., chap. 47; 25:20; Ezek. 25:15-17; Joel 3:4; Amos 
 1 : 6-8 ; Zeph. 2 : 4-7. The first instalment, so to speak, of this 
 threatened desolation, and that to which the prophets had im 
 mediate reference, came by the Chaldean armies under Nebu 
 chadnezzar when he was on his way to Egypt. Ezek. 25 : 15- 
 17 compared with chap. 26. But other judgments awaited 
 these ancient and inveterate enemies of the covenant people 
 after the close of the Babylonish captivity. Zech. 9:5, 6. The 
 issue of the whole has been a desolation such as the prophet 
 Zephaniah described with wonderful vividness more than twen 
 ty-four centuries ago a picture to which the modern Ghuzzeh, 
 standing on the ruins of the ancient city, forms no real excep 
 tion : " Gaza shall be forsaken, and Ashkelon a desolation : they 
 shall drive out Ashdod at the noonday, and Ekron shall be 
 rooted up. "Woe unto the inhabitants of the seacoasts, the 
 nation of the Cherethites! the word of the Lord is against 
 you, O Canaan, the land of the Philistines, I will even destroy 
 thee, tha.t there shall be no inhabitant. And the seacoast shaU 
 be dwellings, and cottages for shepherds, and folds for flocks 
 And the coast shall be for the remnant of the house of Judah ; 
 they shall feed thereupon : in the houses of Ashkelon shall they 
 lie down at evening: for the Lord their God shall visit them, 
 and turn away their captivity." Zeph. 2:4-8. An earnest of 
 the promise to God s people contained in the latter part of this 
 prophecy was received after the captivity, and who can teh 1 what 
 a consummation of it remains for the time when " all Israel 
 shall be saved !" 
 
 15. Among the hills near the eastern border of the Philis 
 tine plain, and a little south of the latitude of Ashkelon, is the 
 modern village of Beit Jibrin; the site of the geographer Ptole 
 my s Betogabra, and of the Eleuthcropolis of the Roman age, 
 
 G* 
 
130 SACRED GEOGRAPHY. 
 
 where, says Robinson, there are ruins, "apparently of different 
 ages, and more extensive and massive than any we saw in Pal 
 estine, except the substructions of the ancient temple at Jerusa 
 lem and the Haram at Hebron." The most important of them 
 are described by him and Porter as consisting of a large irreg 
 ular enclosure surrounded by the ruins of a very ancient and 
 strong wall measuring on its northern side six hundred feet. 
 Within towards the west and northwest, is a row of ancient 
 massive vaults with five round arches, apparently of the same 
 age as the wall itself. In the midst of the area stands the cas 
 tle, the lower part of which Robinson judges to be as ancient 
 as the exterior wall, but the upper part of which belongs to the 
 age of the Crusaders. Twenty minutes south-southeast from 
 the village are the ruins of an ancient church, aud near by those 
 of an ordinary village. The limestone ridges which enclose 
 the valley south of Beit Jibrin abound on both sides in artifi 
 cial excavations, occurring in large groups, like subterranean 
 villages, of which Robinson has given an elaborate description. 
 Similar excavations are found near Deir Dubban north of Beit 
 Jibrin. Their general form mostly that of bell-shaped domes 
 lighted from above and especially their intercommunication, 
 shows that they were subterranean dwellings. According to 
 the statement of Jerome (Commentary on Obadiah) : " All the 
 southern region of the Idumseans from Eleutheropolis as far 
 as Petra and Aila (this is the territory of Esau) has cave-dwell 
 ings ; and on account of the excessive heat of the sun, because 
 it is a southern province, uses subterranean abodes." The 
 Horim, whom the Edomites dispossessed (Gen. 14 : 6 ; Deut. 
 2:12, 22), were cave-dwellers, as the word Horim signifies; 
 and from them the Idumaeans seem to have adopted the cus 
 tom. 
 
 Dr. Robinson has the high merit of having identified Beit 
 Jibrin with the Eleutheropolis of the Romans, a most impor 
 tant fact for sacred geography, since Eusebius and Jerome as 
 sumed it as the central point in southern Palestine, from which 
 to fix the position of many other places. For the evidence ad- 
 
PALESTINE. 131 
 
 duced by him, as well as for a description of the place and its 
 vicinity, see Bib. Eos., 2, pp. 24-31, 51-66. 
 
 16. The belt of lower hills intermediate between the Philis 
 tine plain and the mountains of Judea was the border region 
 between the IsraelitislT people and the Philistines, and was, 
 therefore, naturally the scene of many bloody struggles. Here 
 is Wady-es-Swnpt, the ancient volley of Elah in which the 
 famous encounter between David and Goliath took place 
 (1 Sam., chap. 17) ; and on its left bank are the ruins of Shochoh 
 now called Shutveikeh, " Azekali" says Porter, " appears to have 
 stood on a conical hill some two miles distant on the same 
 bank. The valley itself runs in a northwesterly direction 
 through the low hills at the base of the mountains into the 
 Philistine plain, which it enters some six miles north of Beit 
 Jibrm." 
 
 The Philistines occupied the southern bank of the valley, and the 
 Israelites the northern. "The distance between the armies was about a 
 mile ; and the vale beneath is flat and rich. Through the centre winds a 
 torrent bed, the banks fringed with shrubbery of acacia, and the bottom 
 covered with rounded smooth stones. The ridges on each side rise to 
 the height of about five hundred feet, and have a steep uniform slope, so 
 that the armies ranged along them could see the combat in the valley. The 
 Philistines, when defeated, fled down the valley towards Gath and Ekron." 
 (Porter in Alexander s Kitto.) The valley of Elah signifies the valley of 
 Tei-ebinths, and one of the largest terebinths in Palestine now stands in a 
 branch of this valley only a few miles from the scene of conflict. Kobinson 
 Bib. Ees. , 2, p. 21 ; Handbook for Syria and Palestine, p. 280. The mod 
 ern name, Wady-es-Sumpt, means vale of acacias, so called from the aca 
 cias scattered in it. 
 
 17. Other places in this intermediate belt of hills, beginning 
 from the south, are the following : 
 
 M<irc)tJi(i7i, memorable for the great battle between Asa and Zerah the 
 Ethiopian, in which the latter was defeated and fled south towards Gerar 
 (2 Chron. 14 : 9-15), is placed by Eusebius and Jerome (Onomasticon) "in 
 the second mile from Eleuth eropolis. " Robinson would identify its site 
 with the ruins still visible on a hill about a Roman mile and a half south 
 of Beit Jibrin, the Eleutheroplis of the Romans. Bib. Res., 2, pp. 67, 68. 
 
132 SARED GEOGRAPHY. 
 
 Mureshcth-naih (Micah 1 :14), the birthplace of "Micali the Morasthite, " 
 was also, according to Jerome, in the vicinity of Eleutheropolis, but its 
 site is not clearly determined. 
 
 Jarmuth, one of the royal cities of the Canaanites (Josh. 10 : 3 ; 12 :11), 
 and reinhabited after the captivity (Nek. 11 : 29), has been identified with 
 the modern village of Yarmuk. It lies about eight miles northeast of 
 Eleutheropolis, on the crest of a rugged kill. The name Jarmuth signifies 
 height, and it answers well to its site. 
 
 The site of Adulfam, which lay in this vicinity, and was one of the royal 
 cities of the Canaanites, has not been ascertained. 
 
 Befli-sJiemesh, that is, home of the sun, has been satisfactorily identified 
 with the modern Ain Shems, fountain of the Kim. It lies on the eastern 
 side of the Shephelah, close to the foot of the Judeau mountains, and 
 about ten miles north-northeast from Eleutheropolis. The ruins of the 
 ancient place are beautifully situated on the rounded point of a low ridge 
 between the Wady Surar on the north and a smaller ravine on the south. 
 The two unite below on the west, and then the Surar runs off in a north 
 westerly direction as a broad fertile valley into the plain of the Philistines. 
 Beth-shemesh is celebrated as the place to which the Philistines brought 
 the ark from Ekron, a little north of the valley. 1 Sam. , chap. 6. " Ekron," 
 says Porter (in Alexander s Kitto), "is ten miles distant in the same direc 
 tion [as the vale of Surar], but is hid by an intervening swell. Standing 
 on the site of Beth-shemesh, one can trace the line of the old road to 
 Ekron for miles through the valley. Along that road the ark was brought. " 
 
 About two miles west of Ain Shems, near where the Surar issues upon 
 the plain, is a deserted site called Tibneh, in which, says Robinson (Bib. 
 Res., 2, p. 17), "we may recognize the Timnah or Timnath of Dan, the 
 city of Samson s wife, to which he went down from Zorah. It lies south 
 of west from Zorah, and not more than an hour distant from it." It was 
 here that he caught three hundred foxes (or jackals, the same Hebrew 
 word being used for both classes of animals), "and took firebrands, and 
 turned tail to tail, and put a firebrand in the midst between two tails," 
 and sent them into the standing corn of the Philistines. Judg. 15 : 3-5. 
 The havoc thus made in the sea of cornfields which then, as now, covered 
 the plain "in the time of wheat-harvest," must have been immense. 
 
 North of Beth-shemesh, on a spur of the mountains running into the 
 plain, stood Zorah, the birthplace of Samson. It still retains its ancient 
 name but slightly changed, being called Surah by the modern Arabs. 
 
 About two miles east of Surah is Yeshua, which Porter is disposed to 
 regard as the site of the ancient Eshtaol; and a little south is Zanua, the 
 Hebrew Zanoah. The connection in which the four places, Beth-shemesh 
 
PALESTINE. 133 
 
 (called also Ir-s/H mi dt, city of Ike sun), Zorah, Zanoah, and Eshtaol, are* 
 mentioned (Josh. 15 : 33, 34 ; 19:41; Judg. 13:25; 16:31), shows that 
 they were near to each other. 
 
 On the road from Jerusalem to Lydda, twenty-two Koman miles from 
 the former place and ten from the latter, is the modern village Amwas. 
 This doubtless represents that Emmaus of Joseplms which is also called 
 Nicopolis. Whether it is the Emmaus of Luke (chap. 24 : 13) is a question 
 that has been warmly debated. Both Eusebius and Jerome explicitly 
 identify the two places. But then the text of Luke ought to read "<t hun 
 dred and sixty furlongs." This is the reading of the Sinai Codex and three 
 other uncial manuscripts (I, K, and N); while the great body of manu 
 scripts read " sixty furlongs, " that is, seven and a half Roman miles; and 
 this is the reading of Jerome s own Latin version. That the Emmaus of 
 Luke was different from the Emmaus now under consideration appears 
 probable from the following considerations: (1) the weight of manuscript 
 testimony is in favor of the reading "sixty furlongs ;" (2) there was an Em 
 maus nearer Jerusalem, as appears from Josephus, Jewish War, 7. 6. 6, 
 where he speaks of Amniaus as distant from Jerusalem, according to some 
 copies thirty, according to others sixty stadia. This, then, should be the 
 Emmaus of Luke ; (3) the distance of twenty-two Roman miles is too great 
 for the transaction as recorded by Luke. See on the one side, for the 
 identity of the two places, Robinson, Bib. Res., 2, p. 255 and note; 3, 
 pp. 147-150; on the other, against their identity, Porter in Alexander s 
 Kitto and Smith s Bible Diet., art. Emmaus. 
 
 Yalo, the ancient Ajalon, on the southern side of the fine valley called 
 Merj Ibn Omeir, has already been noticed. See above, chap. 2, No. 47. 
 
 18. From about the latitude of Gaza southward, the Philis 
 tine plain gradually passes into the southern desert, the desert 
 of Par an. This transition region is the " south country " where 
 Abraham and after liim Isaac sojourned. Here, apparently at 
 no great distance from Gaza and Beersheba, was the valley of 
 Gerar, the residence of the Philistine king Abimelech. Will 
 iams (Holy City, 1, app. 46-4) thinks he has discovered the 
 ruins of Gerar about three hours south -southeast of Gaza. 
 
 In journeyiiig from Akabah to Beer-sheba, Robinson and Smith came 
 to a place called RuJmibeh, between eight and nine hours with camels 
 south of Beer-sheba. Here are the ruins of an extensive city. The name 
 answers to Rcliobotli, where Isaac s sen-ants digged a well. Gen. 26 : 22. 
 Robinson thinks that Ruhaibeh is too far south to be the Rehoboth of 
 Isaac ; but Porter is inclined to identify the two places. 
 
134 SACKED GEOGRAPHY. 
 
 CHAPTEE IV. 
 
 THE VALLEY OF THE JORDAN AND PEAD SEA. 
 I. GENERAL REMARKS. 
 
 1. THE most remarkable feature of Palestine and Syria is 
 the enormous longitudinal chasm or valley that extends from the 
 Red sea on the south to Antioch on the north. The sea of 
 Akabah the eastern arm of the Dead sea occupies the south 
 ern end of this valley. Thence it stretches in a straight line 
 almost due north to the base of Hermon, the Anti-Libanus 
 (Anti-Lebanon) of the ancients. Crowded westward by that 
 mighty range, it passes around its southwestern extremity, and 
 then runs along its northwestern base in a northeasterly direc 
 tion in the form of a long narrow vale the Wady-et-Teim 
 which finally opens into the great valley of Ccele-Syria, that sep 
 arates the two ranges of Lebanon and Anti-Lebanon. 
 
 2. The Dead sea occupies the lowest part of this chasm, its 
 surface being more than one thousand three hundred feet below 
 the level of the Mediterranean. Into this sea the Jordan flows 
 from the north, and all the winter forrents from the south for 
 that part of the valley which lies north of the water-shed 
 between the sea of Akabah and the Dead sea. The great 
 valley of Ccele-Syria sends its waters into the Mediterra 
 nean, for the northern part northward by the Orontes, for 
 the southern part southward by the Leontes; both streams 
 bending abruptly to the west in the lower part of their course, 
 the latter through a narrow chasm of frightful depth. The 
 water-shed of Wady-et-Teiin is near Ain FAluj, about nortli lat 
 itude thirty-three degrees thirty-six minutes, according to Rob 
 inson s map. Thence its waters flow north into the Orontes 
 and south into the Jordan. Nortli of the chasm of the Leontes 
 
PALESTINE. 135 
 
 all the waters of Lebanon flow of course into the Mediterra 
 nean. But the eastern brow of the high land south of the Leon- 
 tes, which may be regarded as the continuation of the Lebanon 
 range, sends off its waters eastward into the Jordan valley. 
 The streams from the southeastern side of Anti-Lebanon flow off 
 eastward towards Damascus, as will be evident from an inspec 
 tion of the map. 
 
 3. It is certain that the Jordan never flowed into the Bed 
 sea, at least in historic ages. On the contrary, were the 
 chasm under consideration deepened for only a moderate dis 
 tance north of the sea of Akabah, this sea would stretch north- 
 ward beyond the sea of Galilee, covering the Dead sea to the 
 depth of one thousand three hundred feet or more, and the sea 
 of Galilee to the depth of several hundred feet, the exact amount 
 of depression of this little lake being yet uncertain. 
 
 II. THE UPPER JORDAN AND LAKE HULEH. 
 
 4. The range of Hermon terminates abruptly at Banias, the 
 Paneas of the Greeks and Komans ; and here, under its south 
 western extremity, are the chief sources of the Jordan, which will 
 be described in the order of their magnitude. 
 
 (1.) On the northern border of a rich but marshy plain, about a mile 
 and a half from the southwest corner of Hfcrmou, and about midway of the 
 plain from east to west, is a low cup-shaped hill thickly covered with 
 shrubs. This is the modern Tell-el-Rady, Hill of the Judge. From its west 
 ern side bursts an immense stream of the most limpid water. "This," 
 says Robinson (Bib. Res., 3, pp. 390, 391), "is one of the largest fountains 
 in the world; the stream that issues from it being not less than four times 
 as large as the Hasbany " (see below), "even after all the accessions which 
 the latter receives." "Not all the water, however, from the interior of 
 the tell, escapes in this way. In the surface of the tell directly above is a 
 cavity of some extent, into which the water also rises and runs off, as a 
 considerable stream, through a break in the edge of the tell, tumbling 
 down its southwestern side. This stream drives two mills, and furnishes 
 water power enough for any number. It then goes to join the other river. 
 This of itself would be regarded as a very large fountain." The stream 
 then flows off south into the marshes of the Huleh, under the name of Led- 
 ddn, which Rev. Eli Smith regards as an abbreviation of El-ed-Dan, the 
 Arabic article being repeated. Robinson, Bib. Res. , p. 392, note. 
 
136 SACRED GEOGRAPHY. 
 
 At this fountain, on the northern border of the Israelitish territory, 
 was situated the ancient Dan, so familiar to all in the formula, "from Dan 
 even to Beer-sheba." The testimony of Eusebius and Jerome on this 
 point is explicit. They describe Dan as four Roman miles distant from 
 Paneas (see below), on the way to Tyre ; which is the present position of 
 Tell-el-Kady. Equally explicit is the testimony of Josephus, though he 
 incorrectly styles this stream the lesser Jordan. See the references in 
 Robinson, 3, p. 392. The story of the occupation of this place, originally 
 called Laish, by the Danites, is familiar to all. See Judg., chap. 18. The 
 description given by their spies "We have seen the land, and behold it 
 is very good ;" "a place where there is no want of any thing that is in the 
 earth " (ver. 9, 10) applies to the region around Tell-el-Kady. It was at 
 Dan that Jeroboam placed the second of his two golden calves. 1 Kings 
 12 : 29, 30. A short distance below Tell-el-Kady is "a low mound of rub 
 bish with cut stones, evidently the remains of a former town." Robinson 
 as above, p. 393. It bears the modern name Dif/ieh, and probably marks 
 the site of the Daphne of Josephus, respecting which he speaks as "hav 
 ing fountains which send forth the lesser Jordan, so called, under the tem 
 ple of the golden calf, to join the greater." Jewish War, 4. 1. 1. 
 
 (2.) At Bdnias, the Caesarea Philippi of Roman times, about an hour 
 or an hour and a quarter east of Tell-el-Kady, is the second source of the 
 Jordan, so far as size is concerned, but which the ancients made the prin 
 cipal source. The place and fountain are thus described by Porter (in 
 Alexander s Kitto) : " Baneas occupies one of the most picturesque sites in 
 Syria. A broad terrace on the mountain-side looks out over the rich plain 
 of Huleh westward to the castellated heights of Hunin. Behind it rises, 
 in bold, rugged peaks, the southern ridge of Hermon, wooded to the sum 
 mit. Two sublime ravines descend from the ridge, having between them 
 a conical hill more than a thousand feet in height, and crowned by the 
 ruins of the castle of Subeibeh. On the terrace, at the base of- this cone, 
 lie the ruins of Ceesarea Philippi. The terrace is covered with groves of 
 evergreen-oak and olive-trees, with intervening glades of the richest green 
 turf, and clumps of hawthorn and myrtle here and there. A cliff of ruddy 
 limestone, nearly one hundred feet high, rises on the north side of the 
 ruins. At its base is a cave, whose mouth is now almost choked up with 
 the debris of ancient buildings and fragments of the overhanging cliff. 
 From the midst of these ruins, and from numerous chinks in the sur 
 rounding rocks, the waters of the great fountain gush forth. They collect 
 a short distance below, and form a rapid torrent, which leaps in sheets of 
 foam down a rocky bed." This is the cave described by Josephus (Autiq., 
 15. 10. 3) under the name of Panium. "It is," says he, "a very beautiful 
 cave in the mountain, and under it a chasm of the earth and a steep al>ys-, 
 of enormous depth, full of standing water. Above impends a huge moun- 
 
PALESTINE. 137 
 
 tain, and below the cave spring forth the fountains of the river Jordan. 
 This, as being a place eminently distinguished, he [Herod] also adorn* d 
 with the temple which he consecrated to Crcsar." "At a later period, . 
 says Robinson (3, p. 410), "the place was made part of the territory of 
 Philip, tetrarch of Trachonitis ; was enlarged and embellished by him, 
 and named Crcsarea Philippi, in distinction from the Csesarea of the sea- 
 coast. See in Robinson the references to Josephus. A visit of our Lord 
 to this vicinity is recorded, Matt. 16: 13 ; Mark 8 : 27. Robinson is inclined 
 to identify this place with "Baal-Gad, in the valley of Lebanon, under 
 Mount Hermon." Josh. 11 ; 17 ; 12 : 7. 
 
 The stream from Banias unites with that, from Tell-el-Kady about an 
 hour and a half below the latter place. 
 
 (3.) The _iV</7/r Hasbany, river Hasbany, flows south from the water-shed 
 of the Wady-et-Teim, a short distance south of Am Faluj. But it exists as 
 a permanent stream only from a great fountain near Hasbeiya, twelve miles 
 north of Tell-el-Kady. Robinson, Bib. Res., 3, p. 378. It joins the uni 
 ted streams from Tell-el-Kady and Banias about a mile below their junc 
 tion. In the Hasbany we find the most remote source of the Jordan,. though 
 it is the smallest of the three. Robinson estimates their relative size as 
 follows: "That from Banias is twice as large as the Hasbany; while the 
 Leddan, including its branch the Bureij, is twice, if not three times the 
 size of that from Banias " (3, p. 395). Above the junction these streams all 
 run swiftly in channels fifteen or twenty feet below the level of the plain. 
 The river below the junction flows southward through the flat, marshy 
 plain to the lake Huleh, a distance of five or six miles. 
 
 (4.) The above three perennial streams, having their origin in three 
 immense fountains, constitute the proper sources of the Jordan. Besides 
 these, there are other minor streams which, however, can hardly be reck 
 oned as perennial. Such is that which comes down to Banias from the east 
 through a wild narrow chasm, and the Derdarah from Merj Ayun, a roman 
 tic little valley west of et-Teim. Other springs and rivulets burst forth 
 along the base of Herinon ; and large fountains also at the base of the 
 mountains of Naphtali send their waters to the Hiileh. 
 
 5. La,ke Pineda (Greek pJiicde, a bold) is celebrated for the 
 story related of it by Joseplius (Jewish War, 3. 10. 7), that Philip, 
 tetrarch of Trachonitis, caused chaff to be cast into it, which 
 reappeared at the fountain Paniuni, already described ; whence 
 it was ascertained that there existed a subterranean passage 
 from Phiala to Panium. He describes Phiala as a circular pool 
 one hundred and twenty stadia from Cresarea on the way to 
 Trachouitis, a short distance from the road on the right hand. 
 
138 SACRED GEOGRAPHY. 
 
 Its waters, he tells us, stand always at the same level, neither 
 sinking nor overflowing. Hobinson describes a pool called Bir- 
 ket-er-Eam, which answers in form and position to this account 
 of Josephus. The lake lies at the bottom of a deep bowl, appa 
 rently an ancient crater, a hundred and fifty or two hundred 
 feet below the level of the surrounding tract, has the form of 
 an irregular circle, and is perhaps a mile in diameter. The 
 water of the lake is stagnant and impure, " the very paradise 
 of frogs," and "supplies the whole country with leeches." Hob 
 inson thinks it evident that there is at present no communica 
 tion between Banias and Phiala. "The bright, limpid, spark 
 ling waters of the former can have no connection with the dark, 
 stagnant, slimy masses which fill the latter." 
 
 6. The upper part of the Jordan valley is occupied by the 
 basin or plain of the, Hutch, of which the length is some sixteen 
 miles, with a width of about five miles. The lake itself is of a 
 triangular form, with its apex at the exit of the Jordan on the 
 south. It is subject to periodical variations from the fall of 
 rain in the rainy season and the melting of the snow on the 
 mountains in the spring ; but its average length from north to 
 south may be stated at four and a half miles, with a breadth of 
 about three and a half. " Round the lake is a broad margin of 
 marshy ground, which extends several miles to the northward 
 along the banks of the streams, and is covered with dense jun 
 gles of canes, the home of wild swine and buffaloes." Porter 
 in Alexander s Kitto. " A large triangular sheet of water," says 
 Tristram (Land of Israel, p. 589), " at the lower end of the vast 
 swampy plain, it has neither the bold outlines nor the deep col 
 oring of the holy lake. The base of the triangle is at the north 
 end, where the impenetrable mass of reed and papyrus suddenly 
 breaks into a lake." The same writer speaks of seeing "herds 
 of ill-looking buffaloes wallowing in the mud or standing with 
 only their noses out of water." The lake appears to be shal 
 low, and is covered for acres with yellow water-lilies, with some 
 patches of the white lily (nymphcea) growing behind papyrus 
 tufts ; for the true Egyptian papyrus is abundant here. North 
 
PALESTINE. 139 
 
 of the marshes "succeeds a fertile meadow-like tract," in which 
 is the junction of the streams of the Jordan. See Robinson, 
 Phys. Geog., p. 199. 
 
 The name Huieh is very ancient, for it occurs in Josephus 
 (Antiq., 15. 10. 3) under the form Ulatha, where he speaks of 
 "the region of Ulatha, Paneas, and the surrounding country," 
 "lying between Trachon [Trachonitis] and Galilee." But the 
 name by which he calls this lake is Semechonitis : "The Jordan 
 beginning as a visible stream from this cave [that of Panium 
 described above] cuts through the marshes and fens of the lake 
 Semechonitis." Jewish War, 3. 10. 7. See also 4. 1. 1; Antiq., 
 5. 5. 1. This lake is generally regarded as identical with " the 
 waters of Merom" (Josh. 11:5, 7), where the confederate kings 
 of Canaan assembled their forces, and were defeated by Joshua. 
 See Robinson, Bib. Res., 2, p. 440; Porter in Alexander s Kitto; 
 and, on the other side, the difficulties suggested by Grove in 
 Smith s Bible Dictionary. 
 
 7. On issuing from the Huleh, the Jordan flows for a short 
 distance along a narrow cultivated plain; its current being 
 swift, but without rapids, and its breadth from thirty to forty 
 yards. A mile below the lake is the bridge called Jisr Benat 
 Yakob, Bridge of Jacob s daughters. It has four pointed arches, 
 is sixty paces long, and is built of the black volcanic stones of 
 the region. About two miles below the lake begins a series of 
 rapids, over w r hich the w r ater rushes through a deep and some 
 what winding ravine, dashing and foaming along its rocky bed, 
 till it reaches the level of the lower plain two miles north of the 
 sea of Galilee. The direct distance from the upper to the lower 
 lake is about twelve miles; and in this short space the river 
 falls several hundred feet. See farther in Robinson s Phys. 
 Geog. (pp. 154-156), from which the above particulars are 
 drawn. 
 
 Van de Velde gives the elevation of the surface of Lake Huleh above the 
 Mediterranean at one hundred and twenty feet, and that of the sea of Gal 
 ilee (after Lynch) at six hundred and fifty-three feet below; making a differ 
 ence of seven hundred and seventy-three feet. The difference according to 
 
140 SACRED GEOGRAPHY. 
 
 Berteau is seven hundred and thirty-five feet. But according to the trig 
 onometrical survey of Lieutenant Simonds in 1841 (which, however, Yiui 
 de Velde discredits), the depression of the sea of Galilee is only three hun 
 dred and twenty-eight feet. Even this would give a great descent for 
 the distance of twelve miles. 
 
 The present structure of the bridge Jisr Benat Yacob is referred by 
 Robinson to the fifteenth century ; but from the importance of the pas 
 sage, lying as it does on one of the great roads leading from Egypt and 
 Palestine to Damascus, we must suppose that the present structure is only 
 the renewal of one more ancient. 
 
 III. THE SEA OF GALILEE AND THE JORDAN BELOW. 
 
 8. To the Christian the holiest associations cluster around the 
 Sea of Galilee. In Capernaum, on the border of this sea, was 
 the later residence of our Lord (Matt. 4:13): in the cities and 
 villages around it he performed most of his mighty works 
 (Matt. 11:20-24; Luke 10:13-15): walking on its shore, he 
 called Peter and Andrew his brother, James the son of Zebedee 
 and John his brother (Matt. 4 : 18-22) : from a boat on the mar 
 gin of this sea he taught the assembled multitudes and inaugu 
 rated that wonderful series of parables recorded by the evan 
 gelists (Matt. 13 : 1, 2 ; Mark 4:1): over its clear waters he often 
 sailed: on them he walked (Matt. 14:25; Mark 0:48; John 
 6:19), and hushed the tempest to a great calm (Matt. 8:23-27; 
 Mark 4 : 37-41 ; Luke 8 : 23-25) : in a desert place on its shore 
 he twice fed the assembled multitudes with a few loaves and 
 fishes (Matt. 14 : 15-21 ; 15 : 32-39) : it was when he came out of 
 the ship on the other side, in the country of the Gadarenes, 
 that he met two furious lunatics possessed of devils coming out 
 of the tombs, and healed them, by his word, while the swine 
 were driven by the demons down a steep place into the sea and 
 perished (Mark 5 : 1-13) ; and it was immediately upon his return, 
 when " he was nigh unto the sea," that he was summoned to 
 raise from the dead Jairus daughter, and healed on his way 
 to the house the woman with a bloody issue (Mark 5 : 22-43). 
 But why enumerate farther, in a region filled throughout with 
 the Saviour s mighty works ? Honored above all other waters 
 

 THE DEAD SEA J AND THE CONVENT OF SANTA SABA, ON TIIE BKOOK KIDRON. 
 
 SEA OF GALILEE, FliOM THE NORTHWEST COAST ; WITH MAGDALA AND TIEERIA ;. 
 
PALESTINE. 141 
 
 were these waters of Geimesaret, for they oiten bore on their 
 pure bosom the Lord of glory. 
 
 9. This sheet of water is called the Sea of Galilee from the 
 region, in which it is situated ; the Sea of Tiberias (John G : 1 ; 
 21 :1), from the principal city on its border (see below, No. 11); 
 while the name Gennesaret or Genncsarefh, the Gennesar of Jo- 
 sephus, seems to be a modification of the Hebrew name G/tinne- 
 reth or Cinneroth, and is, like it, applied to the sea itself and an 
 adjacent tract. Numb. 34 : 11 ; Deut. 3:17; Josh. 11 : 2 ; 1 Kings 
 15:20; Matt, 14:34; Mark 6:53; Luke 5:1. The sea is "a 
 beautiful sheet of limpid water lying in a deep depressed basin, 
 and shut in by rounded hills which rise steeply from its margin. 
 Most travellers are agreed in describing the scenery of this lake 
 as tame and monotonous, having neither the romantic boldness 
 of that around the Dead sea nor the softer beauties of our west 
 ern lakes. On the east the banks are nearly 2,000 feet high, 
 destitute of verdure and of foliage, deeply furrowed by ravines, 
 but quite flat along the summit ; forming, in fact, the supporting 
 wall of the table-land of Bashan." Porter in Alexander s Kitto. 
 The length is given by Eobinson at " nearest thirteen miles, by 
 a breadth of about six miles across the middle." Its depression 
 below the surface of the Mediterranean is, according to Lynch, 
 about six hundred and fifty feet. Symonds, in 1841, made its 
 depression only three hundred and twenty-eight feet, which 
 Van de Velde thinks must be an error. The lake abounds now, 
 as in ancient times, in fish, some species the same as those found 
 in the Nile ; but a bad government has caused the fishery, like 
 the surrounding soil, to be neglected. The last accounts repre 
 sent " one little crazy boat" as "the sole representative of the 
 fleets that covered the lake in New Testament times." 
 
 10. On the western shore of the lake lies the plain of Gcn- 
 < t, called in the New Testament the land of Gennc*"i-<t 
 
 (Matt. 14:34; Mark 6:53), the marvellous fertility of which 
 
 Josephus describes in such glowing terms. Jewish War, 3. 10. 
 
 8. It is & crescent-shaped plain, extending along the shore a 
 
 distance of about three geographical miles, its greatest breadth 
 
142 SACKED GEOGRAPHY. 
 
 being nearly two. It has the sea in front, and is shut in by a 
 semicircle of steep and rugged hills. Its great depression gives 
 it an almost Egyptian climate. Its extraordinary* fertility re 
 mains, and its melons and cucumbers are still the best and ear 
 liest in Palestine. But the same causes that have brought des 
 olation to the fisheries of the sea have made this plain for the 
 most part a neglected waste, overgrown with tangled thickets 
 of lote-trees, oleanders, dwarf-palms, and gigantic thistles and 
 brambles. 
 
 Joseplius description of this little plain is interesting, as showing in a 
 representative way what Palestine once was, and might now be under a 
 stable and righteous government: "A region of the same name borders 
 the lake Gennesar, admirable for its character and beauty: for the soil 
 itself, on account of its richness, refuses nourishment to no plant, and all 
 varieties are accordingly cultivated here by the inhabitants, the happy 
 temperature of the air suiting those of different kinds ; for nut-bearing 
 trees, which flourish in the coldest climate, thrive here in endless profu 
 sion ; then again palms, which are nurtured by heat, and figs and olives, 
 
 which belong to a softer temperature, grow by their side It not 
 
 only produces, contrary to what one might think, crops of opposite kinds, 
 but it preserves them also. Grapes and figs, the most noble of fruits, it 
 furnishes ten months without interruption, and the other fruits ripening 
 by their side all the year round. For, in addition to the genial character 
 of the air, it is watered also by a most fertilizing fountain which the natives 
 call Capharnatim. Some have regarded this as a vein of the Nile, since it 
 produces a fish similar to the coracinus of the Alexandrine lake." 
 
 11. We add a notice of the towns on the border of the lake, 
 or in its near vicinity. 
 
 Tiberias, the Tubariyeh of the Arabs, "lies," says Robinson (Bib. Res., 
 2, pp. 380, 381), " directly upon the shore, at a point where the heights 
 retire a little, leaving a narrow strip, not exactly of plain, but of undula 
 ting land, nearly two miles in length along the lake. Back of this the 
 mountain ridge rises steeply. The town is situated near the northern end 
 of this tract, in the form of a narrow parallelogram, about half a mile long, 
 surrounded towards the land by a thick wall, once not far from twenty feet 
 high, with towers at regular intervals. The city suffered terribly by the 
 earthquake of Jan. 1, 1837. The walls were thrown down, the castle much 
 damaged, and very many of the houses destroyed. About 700 persons oufc 
 of a population of 2,500 are said to have perished. The Jews, who occupy . 
 
PALESTINE. 143 
 
 a quarter in the middle of the town nearest to the lake, were the greatest 
 sufferers. 
 
 According to Josephus (Antiq., 18. 2. 3 ; Jewish "War, 2. 9. 1), Tiberias 
 was founded by Herod Antipas, and so named in honor of the emperor 
 Tiberius. After the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans, it became 
 the chief seat of the Jews. The national council, which was at first trans 
 ferred to Jamnia, was removed hither, and here was for several centuries 
 a celebrated Rabbinical school ; one of the Gamaras, that is, commenta 
 ries to the Talmud, having been composed here in the third century, 
 which, with the Mishnah, or text, is called the Jerusalem Talmud, in dis 
 tinction from the Babylonian. 
 
 At the southern end of the strip of land on which Tiberias is built are 
 the celebrated warm baths, of which Robinson has given an elaborate 
 description. The taste of the water is excessively salt and bitter, like 
 heated sea- water," the thermometer indicating 144 degrees of Fahrenheit. 
 See in Bib. Res., 2, pp. 383-385. 
 
 Magdala, or, as the best manuscripts read, Magadan, was certainly on 
 the west side of the lake, not on the east, as Eusebius and Jerome place it. 
 For the Saviour came thither by ship from the desert on the east where he 
 had fed the multitudes, and after an encounter with the Pharisees, "he 
 left them, and entering into the ship again, departed to the other side." 
 Matt. 15 : 3216 : 4 ; Mark 8 : 1-13. Travellers recognize this Magdala or 
 Magadan in the modern Mejdel, called by Robinson "a miserable little 
 Muslim village. " It lies about three miles above Tiberias, on the e^dge of 
 the water, at the southeast corner of the plain of Gennesaret. See Rob 
 inson, Bib. Res. , 2, note 397 ; Stanley, Sinai and Palestine, pp. 375, 376. 
 
 Dalmanutlia was evidently near to Magdala; for "the coasts of Mag 
 dala (Matt. 15 :39) are equivalent to "the parts of Dalmanutha " (Mark 
 8 : 10). The site of this place is only conjectured. Porter would place it 
 about a mile south of Magdala, in a narrow glen, at the mouth of which 
 "are some cultivated fields and gardens, amid which, just by the beach, 
 are several copious fountains, surrounded by heavy ancient walls and the 
 ruins of a village." 
 
 Respecting the site of Capernaum there is much controversy. (1.) Rob 
 inson places it at Klian Minyeh, at the northern extremity of the plain of 
 Gennesaret, near which is a fountain called Ain-et-Tin ; and he defends 
 this view at length. Bib. Res. , 3, pp. 348-359. Dr. Robinson s view is 
 adopted by Porter (in Alexander s Kitto, art. Capernaum) ; and Stanley 
 (Sinai and Palestine, pp. 376, 377). (2.) "Wilson (Lands of the Bible, 
 2, pp. 142-149), Van de Velde (Syria and Palestine, 2, pp. 394-396), 
 Thomson (The Land and the Book, 2, pp. 8, 9), and others contend for 
 
144 SACRED GEOGRAPHY. 
 
 Tdl Hum, three miles north of Khan Minyeli, whore are extensive ruins 
 of walls and foundations standing on a point of the shore which projects 
 into the lake. (3. ) Three miles south of Ain-et-Tin there is another largo 
 and beautiful fountain called Ain-d-MudauvDarah, that is, " Round Foun 
 tain." It rises immediately at the foot of the western line of hills, a mile 
 and a half back of the lake, to which it sends a considerable stream, inter 
 secting the plain of Gennesaret about the middle. Of this Grove says cor 
 rectly (in Smith s Bible Diet.), that it answers better to Josephus account 
 than a spring so close to the shore and so near one end of the district as 
 is Aiii-et-Tin. The objection raised against this fountain by Robinson 
 (Bib. Res., 3, p. 3,51), on the ground that the fountain of Capernaum 
 described by Josephus "was held to be a vein of the Nile, because it pro 
 duces a fish like the coracinus of that river," while this fountain, as lie 
 affirms, " could neither itself have in it fish fit for use, nor could fish of any 
 size pass between it and the lake," is turned into a strong argument in its 
 favor by Tristram s discovery that this very fish "does abound to a 
 remarkable degree in the Round Fountain to this day. As I mentioned 
 above, we obtained specimens a yard long, and some of them are deposited 
 in the British Museum." Land of Israel, p. 442. So far as our present 
 information extends, the Round Fountain has the strongest claims to be 
 considered the Fountain of Capharnaum mentioned by Josephus. 
 
 In denouncing woe upon Capernaum, our Saviour named also CJiorazhi 
 and B< t//*iii/,t. Matt. 11 : 20-24 ; Luke 10 : 13-15. The situation of those 
 places is unknown further than that they were in the near neighborhood 
 of Capernaum, and that the latter (the western Bothsaida ; for there was 
 another east of the Jordan) was in the plain of Gennesaret. Mark G : 45, 
 compared with 53. Robinson places this Bothsaida at Ain-et-TtV>i(/lt(th, a 
 short distance north of Khan Minyeli. Bib. Res., 3, p. 359. Cborazin 
 he would place at Tell Hum. The woes denounced by the Saviour on Cho- 
 raziu, Bethsaida, and Capernaum have been so terribly fulfilled that, as 
 Grove remarks (in Smith s Bible Diet., art. Capernaum), it is impossible 
 to say which of these ruins represents Capernaum, which Chorazin, or 
 which Bethsaida. 
 
 The name Bethsaida signifies j>Jnce offish. We need not be surprised, 
 therefore, to find that there was another Bethsaida east of the Jordan, in 
 lower Gaulonitis, called also Jiilins. See Josephus, Jewish War, 2. 9. 1 ; 
 3. 10. 7. It is this Bethsaida to \vhicli reference is made Luke 9 : 10, where 
 it is said that the Saviour took the disciples "aside privately into a dosort 
 place belonging to the city called Bethsaida." It was here in the desert 
 region east of the Jordan and <>fi tho north side of the lake that the Sav 
 iour miraculously fed the multitudes, as all the incidents of the narrative 
 show. The ruins of this eastern Bethsaida lie on a tell or hill a short dis 
 tance north of the sea of Galilee, on the borders of the Batihah, as the 
 
PALESTINE. 145 
 
 plain is called which borders the Jordan at its entrance into the sea of 
 Galilee. See Robinson, Bib. Res., 2, pp. 410, 411. 
 
 A remarkable incident connected with the sea of Galilee is the healing 
 of the demoniacs, and in connection with this, the destruction of the herd 
 of swine. Matt. 8 : 28-34 ; Mark 5 : 1-17 ; Luke 8 : 26-37. The event 
 occurred on the eastern shore of the lake, but the name of the place con 
 nected with it is uncertain, the manuscripts varying, as is well known, 
 between Gadarenes and Gerasenes, while in Matthew some copies have 
 Gergesenes. If Gadarenes be the true reading, there is no difficulty in 
 respect to the place. Gadara, the modern Um Keis, was a strong city of 
 Peraea, standing, according to Porter, "on the northern end of the moun 
 tains of Gilead, five miles east of the river Jordan, and about six from the 
 sea of Galilee," in a southeasterly direction, and it may well have given its 
 name to the country adjacent to the lake. If, with the majority of mod 
 ern textual critics, we adopt the reading Gerasenes, the reference cannot 
 well be to the famous city Gerasa, on the eastern boundary of Peraea, 
 some thirty-five miles southeast of the sea of Galilee. More probable is 
 the hypothesis of another Gerasa, on the eastern border of the lake. Thom 
 son (The Land and the Book, 2, pp. 34, 35) thinks he has discovered the 
 remains of the Gergesa noticed by Origen at a ruin called by the Arabs 
 Kersa or Gersa, east of the lake, only a few rods from the shore, with an 
 immense mountain rising above it, in which are ancient tombs. 
 
 Before leaving the sea of Galilee, we pause a few moments to notice a 
 wild and romantic glen with perpendicular walls, abounding in calcareous 
 caverns, which runs down from the west to the plain of Mejdel on the 
 shore of the lake. The valley bears the name of Wady-el-Hamam, that is, 
 Pigeon-glen, from the immense flocks of pigeons that nestle among its 
 clefts, furnishing a beautiful illustration of the bridegroom s words (Cant. 
 2 : 14): " O my dove, in the clefts of the rock, in the hiding-places of the 
 cliff." The caverns, according to Burckhardt, have been enlarged, and 
 united by artificial passages cut in the rock, and protected against assault 
 by walls built across the natural openings. The whole might afford refuge 
 to about six hundred men. Robinson has satisfactorily identified this 
 place with the Arbela of Josephus, a famous resort of robbers. Situated 
 in the midst of perpendicular cliffs, these caverns seemed impregnable ; 
 but Herod the Great caused parties of soldiers to be let down in large 
 boxes suspended by chains from above, and. provided with long hooks, by 
 means of which they dragged out the robbers and dashed them down the 
 precipice. This Arbela, as Robinson suggests, may well be regarded as 
 the Beth-arbel of Hosea (chap. 10 :14), in reference to which the prophet 
 says: "All thy fortresses shall be* spoiled, as Shalman spoiled Bcth-urbcl 
 
146 SACKED GEOGRAPHY. 
 
 in the day of battle : the mother was dashed in pieces upon her children." 
 See in Robinson s Bib. Res., 2, pp. 398, 399. 
 
 12. According to Robinson (in Phys. Geog., pp. 73, 74) the 
 whole valley of the Jordan and Dead sea, from the southern 
 base of Hermon to the Scorpion cliffs (Akrabbim), some eight 
 miles south of the Dead sea, is called d- Ghor, the valley the 
 term Ghor being applied by the Arabs to " a long valley or low 
 plain between mountains." Farther south this valley, which, as 
 already remarked, extends to the Ked sea, retains its ancient 
 Hebrew name Aralah, waste, or desert tract. The Greeks and 
 Romans called the Ghor by the similar name Aulon. The He 
 brew name of this great valley in its whole extent is Aralah, 
 always with the article. In the Old Testament, the Aralah is a 
 definite geographical term, but it is unfortunately confounded in 
 our version with other terms, being customarily -rendered by 
 the indefinite words the plain. 
 
 Besides the general term Aralah, other names are applied to 
 particular parts of this valley. Of these, the only one that 
 needs mention in the present connection is kikkar, circuit, and 
 with the addition of the river, the circuit of Jordan, applied to 
 the low tract or plain along the river, and which, Robinson 
 remarks (Phys. Geog., p. 80), "would seem to be as compre 
 hensive perhaps as the Ghor itself." If, as is commonly assumed, 
 the cities of the plain occupied the site of the southern bay of 
 the Dead sea, this remark is correct. See below, No. 35. 
 
 The word kikkar with the article occurs in the following passages, 
 in all of which it is rendered in our version the plain, viz.: Gen. 13:10, 
 11, 12 ; 19:17, 25, 28, 29 ; Deut. 34:3 ; 2 Sam. 18:23 ; Neh. 3:22 ; 1 Kings 
 7:46 ; 2 Chron. 4:17. In the last two of the above passages the term is 
 applied to the region midway between the sea of Galilee and the Dead 
 sea, for here Succoth was situated. See below, No. 22. 
 
 13; The length of the Ghor or general valley of the Jordan, 
 from the sea of Galilee to the Bead sea, is, according to Robin 
 son (Phys. Geog., p. 80), about sixty-five English miles. The 
 difference of level between the two lakes is given by Lynch at 
 
PALESTINE. 147 
 
 663.4 feet, making a descent of over ten feet for every English 
 mile. The width of the Ghor varies from about six miles at its 
 northern end to ten or twelve in the latitude of Jericho, where 
 the mountains retire, especially on the western side. Its aver 
 age width is about eight miles. It is shut in on both sides by 
 steep and rugged ridges, which send out into it here and there 
 rocky spurs terminating in bluffs. According to Robinson, on 
 " the western wall is a series of irregular and precipitous cliffs, 
 ranging from eight hundred to twelve hundred feet in height, 
 everywhere naked and desolate." The mountains on the east 
 ern side are still higher. About one-third of the way from the 
 Dead sea to the sea of Galilee the frowning ridge called Kurn 
 Surtabeh stretches in a southeasterly direction far into the Ghor, 
 dividing it into two parts, the upper and the lower Ghor. There 
 seems to be here a sudden depression of the bed of the Jordan 
 the "break-down" noticed by- Lynch (Official Report, p. 2 J), 
 and corresponding apparently to the similar break-down at the 
 Scorpion cliffs, south of the Dead sea, which constitutes the 
 dividing-line between the GJtor and the higher level of the 
 AmbaJi. See below, No. 25. Above this break-down the Ghor 
 is for the most part well watered and fertile ; below it becomes 
 a parched desert. 
 
 From the lake of Tiberias to Sakut, regarded by him as the ancient 
 Succoth, "the long low plain of the Ghor," says Robinson (Phys. Geog., 
 pp. 78, 79), "besides the Jordan meandering through it, is full of foun 
 tains and rivulets, and bears in a high degree the character of a well-wa 
 tered and most fertile region." Below Sakut to the promontory el-Makh- 
 rud the valley is more or less contracted. Then follows, at the opening of 
 wady Faria, a luxuriant and fertile tract extending to the base of Kurn 
 Surtabeh. Of the same region Porter says (in Alexander s Kitto) : "Small 
 portions are cultivated around fountains and along the banks of streamlets, 
 where irrigation is easy ; but all the rest is a wilderness, in spring covered 
 with rank grass and thistles, but in summer parched and bare. " The two 
 accounts are not contradictory, but supplementary to each other ; the one 
 describing the natural capabilities of the soil, the other its actual condition 
 of neglect. Below Kurn Surtabeh the southern section known as the plain 
 of Jericho is covered with a white nitrous crust, and is, except at the oasis 
 of Jericho and along the margin of the river, entirely desolate. 
 
148 SACKED GEOGRAPHY. 
 
 14. "Within the general valley of the Ghor lies the inner and 
 lower valley, through which the Jordan pursues its winding 
 course. The general valley is in fact the upper terrace, and 
 this inner valley the lower. The breadth of this lower valley 
 varies, according to Kobinson, " from a quarter of a mile or 
 perhaps less in some parts, to half a mile in others." The 
 ascent from the inner to the outer valley varies from forty feet 
 to a hundred and fifty or more. The inner valley, like the outer, 
 pursues a direct course from north to south. But within it the 
 Jordan pursues an exceedingly tortuous course. Although the 
 distance from the sea of Galilee to the Dead sea is only about 
 sixty-five English miles, in a straight line, Lynch estimates the 
 length of the river, if one follow its windings in this part of its 
 course, at not less than two hundred miles. Owing to its rapid 
 descent, it is broken by a series of falls and rapids which make 
 its navigation practically impossible. A good idea of this won 
 derful river will be gained by the perusal of Lynch s account 
 of his perilous voyage from the. upper to the lower sea "down 
 seven threatening rapids, besides a great many of lesser mag 
 nitude." 
 
 A line of trees, shrubs, and green herbage borders the Jor 
 dan on each bank, the breadth of which is regulated by the 
 extent to which the water penetrates the soil. In some places 
 it becomes a dense jungle of tamarisks, willows, and other trees, 
 intermingled with cane-brakes. 
 
 15. The annual rise of the Jordan is owing to the melting of 
 the snows on Hermon, in consequence of which " Jordan over- 
 floweth all his banks all the time of harvest" (Josh. 3:15), or, 
 as we may render the Hebrew, "Jordan is full upon all its 
 banks;" that is, fills them to the brim. At the present day the 
 river does not overflow even the inner valley after the manner 
 of the Nile; but it fills up its banks completely, so as to over 
 flow them in depressed places, but not so as to inundate its 
 proper valley. In the judgment of Kobinson, the lakes Huleh 
 and Gennesaret operate as regulators to prevent sudden and 
 violent inundations. 
 
PALESTINE. 149 
 
 "tflie swelling of Jordan," spoken of in our version (Jer. 12:5 ; 49:19; 
 50:44), may be better rendered the pride of Jordan, as in Zech. 11:3, where 
 the Hebrew words are the same. The pride of Jordan or the glory of 
 Jordan is its luxuriant thickets and cane-brakes, in olden times the chosen 
 lair of the lion, whence he came up (Jer. 49:19; 50:44) in search of prey, 
 and over the desolation of which he roared (Zech. 11:3). These also fur 
 nish an image of imminent danger (Jer. 12:5): "What wilt thou do in the 
 pride of Jordan ?" that is, entangled in its mazes among beasts of prey. 
 
 16. About six miles below the lake is a Saracenic bridge 
 built of volcanic rocks called Jisr el-Mejdmia. It lies on an old 
 caravan route from Damascus to Egypt. About half a mile 
 below the lake are the ruins of an old Roman bridge. No other 
 bridge exists between the sea of Galilee and the Dead sea, nor 
 any boat for transportation. During summer, when the river 
 is low, it is fordable in many places ; but in high water the fords 
 are few, and known only to the natives. 
 
 There is a ford by the ruins of the Roman bridge, a short distance 
 below the sea of Galilee. The river is here some twenty- five or thirty 
 yards wide, with a swift current and many rapids. Opposite to Beisan, 
 the ancient Beth-shean or Beth-shan, are three fording-places near each 
 other. The river here spreads itself to the width of about forty-five yards. 
 Eobinson says that in May, 1852, the water came up to the horses sides. 
 Low r er down, not far north of Sakut, is another important ford. If this 
 be the ancient Succoth, it is the place where Jacob, on his return from 
 Padan-aram, tarried awhile, and where he crossed the river with his flocks 
 and herds, on his way to Shechem. Gen. 33:17, 18. Over against the 
 mouth of Wady Faria is another ford, and just above it are the remains of 
 another Eoman bridge over a channel now dry. Below Kurn Surtabeh 
 are three or four fords ; but at these, when the river is f ull, the Arabs are 
 compelled to swim their horses. The so-called ford el-Helu, three miles 
 above the Dead sea, is never passed without swimming. Eobinson describes 
 the stream here, at the time of high water in May, as strong and swift, 
 about forty yards wide, with a probable depth of ten or twelve feet. The 
 water was of a clayey color, but sweet and pleasant to the taste. Opposite 
 to Jericho, near the ruined convent of St. John, is the place where the 
 Latin pilgrims bathe. The bathing-place of the Greek pilgrims is two or 
 three miles below. Each party believes that its place is that where our 
 Lord was baptized. See further in Eobinson, Phys. Geog., pp. 156-161. 
 
 17. The Jordan receives its largest and most important trib 
 utaries from the east. Of these the largest is the Hieromax, the 
 
150 SACRED GEOGRAPHY. 
 
 modern Yannu!?, which enters the Jordan about five miles 
 below the sea of Galilee. In its lower part it flows through a 
 wild glen, the sides of which are rugged cliffs of basalt, in sonic 
 places more than a hundred feet in height. The next perma 
 nent stream is the Jabbok of Scripture, the modern Nalir ez- 
 Zerka, that is, the river Zerka. It enters the Jordan about mid 
 way between the upper and the lower lakes. It was over the 
 ford of this river that Jacob passed with his family on his return 
 from Padan-aram, and here he wrestled till morning dawn with 
 the Angel of the covenant. Gen. 32 : 22-32. The only peren 
 nial stream on the west is the Nalcr d-Jalud, which flows down 
 the valley of Jezreel from the great fountain described above 
 (Chap. 2, No. 5). The ravines on both sides send down copious 
 torrents during the rainy season. 
 
 18. Owing to its deep depression, the Ghor has an Egyptian 
 climate, excessively hot, and in the summer months unhealthy, 
 especially for strangers. In the vicinity of Jericho winter is 
 unknown. The wheat harvest here is completed about the mid 
 dle of May, while the wheat-fields in the mountainous region 
 are still green. Here also flourished in ancient times the palm, 
 the balsam-tree, the sugar-cane, and other trees and plants 
 peculiar to tropical regions. Wherever there is water, the soil 
 produces the most abundant harvests. 
 
 On the thirteenth of May Robinson and Smith found the thermometer 
 in their tent standing at two o clock at one hundred and two degrees; 
 while another, hanging in the shade of a fig-tree, stood at ninety-one 
 degrees. In the southern part of the Ghor and on the shores of the Dead 
 sea grows the osher of the Arabs, a species of milkweed, found in abun 
 dance in Upper Egypt, Nubia, Arabia Felix, and other tropical countries. 
 "The fruit," says Robinson (Bib. Res., 1, p. 523), greatly resembles 
 externally a large smooth apple or orange, hanging in clusters of three or 
 four together, and when ripe, of a yellow color. It was now fair and deli 
 cious to the eye, and soft to the touch ; but on being pressed or struck, it 
 explodes with a puff, like a bladder or puff-ball, leaving in the hand only 
 the shreds of the thin rind and a few fibres. It is indeed filled chiefly 
 with air, like a bladder, which gives it ite round form ; while in the centre 
 a small slender pod runs through it from the stem, and is connected by 
 thin filaments with the rind. The pod contains a small quantity of silk 
 
PALESTINE. 151 
 
 with seeds, precisely like the pod of the silk-weed, though very much 
 smaller, being indeed scarcely the tenth part as large. The Arabs collect 
 the silk, and twist it into matches for their guns, preferring it to the com 
 mon match, because it requires no sulphur to render it combustible." 
 Kobiuson and others recognize in this fruit the celebrated apples of- Sodom, 
 which Josephus (Jewish War, 4. 8. 4) describes as producing ashes within ; 
 fruits "which have a color like that of edible fruits, but when plucked with 
 the hands are dissolved into smoke and ashes." Another ^>lant growing 
 abundantly in the neighborhood of Jericho is the Leimun Lut, that is, Lot s 
 lemon, a species of solanum, which attains a height of from three to five 
 feet, and bears berries an inch to an inch and a half in diameter, respect 
 ing which, says Hitter (Geog. Pal., 3. 21), there is a tradition that they 
 were once the finest of lemons, but were changed by the curse pronounced 
 upon them by Lot to this bitter fruit. 
 
 19. The Jordan, like the covenant people through whose 
 territory it flows, is alone in its character among all the rivers 
 of the world. Bursting at once out of the base of Lebanon, it 
 pursues its impetuous course through the lakes of Huleh and 
 Tiberias, down the sunken valley of the Ghor far below the level 
 of the ocean, shut in on each side by ranges of rugged cliffs, till 
 its sweet waters are swallowed up in the deep caldron of the 
 Dead sea, where no living thing was ever found. Throughout 
 its entire course, its banks are enlivened by the presence of no 
 city. In solitude it pursues its winding path, foaming, roaring, 
 and dashing over the rapids that lie in its way, only to lose itself 
 
 in the awful desolation of the Dead sea. 
 
 
 
 Unique in its character, it is unique in its history also. With 
 its waters are connected some of the most stupendous events in 
 sacred history. "What ailed thee," asks the psalmist, "thou 
 Jordan, that thou wast driven back?" At the time of wheat 
 harvest, when this impetuous stream filled up all its banks to 
 the brim, its waters, arrested by the invisible hand of Jehovah, 
 " rose up upon a heap very far from the city of Adam that is 
 beside Zaretan; and those that came down toward the sea of 
 the plain, even the salt sea, failed and were cut off; and the 
 people passed over right against Jericho." Josh. 3 : 16. The 
 same river was twice miraculously divided at a later day to 
 make a passage for the prophets Elijah and Elisha. 2 Kings 
 
152 SACKED GEOGRAPHY. 
 
 2 : 8, 14. Li the same Jordan Naaman the Syrian was sent to 
 bathe, that he might be healed of his leprosy ; and it was while 
 the sons of the prophets were taking every man a beam from 
 the trees that lined its banks that Elisha caused the iron to 
 swim in its waters. 2 Kings 6:5-7. John the Baptist, who 
 came in the spirit and power of Elijah, baptized in the same river ; 
 here the Saviour himself was baptized, and announced by a 
 voice from heaven as God s beloved Son (Matt. 3 : 13-17; Mark 
 1 : 9-11 ; Luke 3 : 21, 22) ; and in the adjacent wilderness lay the 
 scene of his temptation. 
 
 20. Of the few cities belonging to the Ghor, the most cele 
 brated was Jericho. It lay on the western border of the Ghor, 
 six miles from the Jordan, under the brow of the rugged moun 
 tain called Quarantana, where the monkish legends place the 
 scene of the Saviour s temptation. Its modern representative 
 is the miserable and filthy village called Rilia, consisting of a 
 collection of hovels, which "are merely four walls of stones taken 
 from ancient ruins, and loosely thrown together, with flat roofs 
 of cornstalks or brushwood spread over with gravel. Robinson, 
 Bib. Res., 1, p. 552. It lies on the northern bank of Wady 
 Kelt (conjectured to be the brook Cherith of the Old Testament, 
 1 Kings 17 : 5, 7). The Jericho of Joshua s day is supposed to 
 have lain about a mile and a half northwest of Riha, near the 
 fountain called Ain-es-Sultdn, Fountain of the Sultan, and also 
 Elisha s Fountain, as being without doubt the fountain whose 
 waters were healed by him. 2 Kings 2 : 19-22. The Jericho 
 of our Saviour s time, which had been beautified and adorned 
 with palaces by Herod the Great (Josephus, Antiq., 16. 5. .2 ; 
 Jewish War, 1. 21. 4), seems to have lain about the same dis 
 tance from the modern Riha, but farther south, where the great 
 Wady Kelt breaks through the mountains into the plain, conse 
 quently on the road from this part of the plain up to Jerusalem, 
 which runs, and must always have run, up the gorge of Wady 
 Kelt, that it may reach the high ground above. See Robinson, 
 Bib. Res., 1, pp. 544-569; Porter in Alexander s Kitto, art. 
 Jericho. 
 
PALESTINE. 153 
 
 After the destruction of Jericho in Joshua s day, the city 
 lay desolate for more. than five centuries, when the curse pro 
 nounced by Joshua was fulfilled on Hiel its builder. Josh. 
 6 : 26 compared with 1 Kings 16 : 34. This Jericho was hon 
 ored by the presence of the prophets Elijah and Elisha, and 
 here was a school of the prophets. 2 Kings 2:4, 5, 18-22 ; 
 6 : 1-7. Jericho appears again in the New Testament, in con 
 nection with the healing of the two blind men and the call of 
 Zaccheus. Matt. 20:29-34; Mark 10:46-52; Luke 18:35 
 19 : 10. The distance from Jerusalem to Jericho is given by 
 Josephus at one hundred and fifty stadia, that is, eighteen and 
 three quarters Roman miles, or about seventeen English miles. 
 Within this short distance there is the immense descent of more 
 than three thousand feet. The road, moreover, which leads 
 through a succession of naked chalky hills, is infested now, as it 
 was in ancient days, by bands of robbers. Here therefore the 
 Saviour places, very appropriately, the scene of the parable of 
 the good Samaritan. Luke 10 : 30-37. 
 
 21. The oasis of Jericho is produced by the abundant foun 
 tains in its vicinity. Of these, Ain-es- Sultan lies about two miles 
 northwest of the modern Eiha ; and, as remarked above, very- 
 near the site of the primitive Jericho. It is a large and beauti 
 ful fountain of sweet and pleasant water, bursting forth at the 
 eastern foot of a high double mound at the southeastern end of 
 Mount Quarantana. "It is," says Robinson (Bib. Res., 1, p. 
 554), "the only one near Jericho, and there is every reason to 
 regard it as the scene of Elisha s miracle." Following up the 
 base of Quarantana about an hour in a north-northwesterly 
 direction, we come to the still larger fountain of Duk. The 
 water of these fountains was formerly distributed over the plain 
 by means of aqueducts, the ruins of which are still visible. The 
 tropical heat of the climate and the exuberant fertility of the 
 soil wherever water is supplied made this tract very celebrated 
 in ancient days. Josephus is lavish in the praise which he 
 bestows on this oasis, which he calls "a divine region." After 
 describing the miracle of Elisha in healing the fountain, he says 
 
 7* 
 
154 SACRED GEOGRAPHY. 
 
 (Jewish War, 4. 8. 3) that it waters a space of seventy stadia in 
 length and twenty in breadth (in English measurement, about 
 eight miles by two miles and one-third) abounding in very pleas 
 ant gardens and many kinds of palms differing in their names 
 and flavor. Of these the richest kinds, he tells us, yield, when 
 their fruit is pressed, an abundant supply of honey, not much 
 inferior to that of bees, which latter also abounds in the region. 
 Here, moreover, he proceeds to say, are produced the opobal- 
 samum, cypros, and myrobalanum. Of these the opobalsamum 
 is the true balm of Gilead, a resinous exudation from a small 
 tree celebrated for its healing qualities; the cypros is the el- 
 Henna of the Arabs and the " camphire" of our version (Cant. 
 1 : 14; 4 : 13), a shrub or low tree with fragrant whitish flowers 
 growing in clusters like grapes; and the myrobalanum is the 
 zukkum of the natives, a thorny tree with large olive-like fruit, 
 from which the false balm of Gilead, a sort of oil, is extracted, 
 and sold to the pilgrims as the genuine article. Tristram, Land 
 of Israel, pp. 202, 203; Eobinson, Bib. Res., 1, p. 560. Such 
 was this region in the days of Josephus. From the abundance 
 of palms in its vicinity, Jericho was called " the city of palni- 
 trees." Deut. 34: 3; Judg. 1 :16; 3 : 13; 2 Chron. 28:15. Jose-, 
 phus describes its palms as many and beautiful, and speaks of 
 palm-plantations on the banks of the Jordan also, which he 
 describes as more flourishing and fruitful than those at a dis 
 tance from the river. Jewish War, 4. 8. 2. 
 
 But the double curse of a bad government and an indolent, 
 sickly population has turned this fruitful tract in great measure 
 into a waste. The fountains remain, and with them the exu 
 berant fertility of the soil. "Maize is here," says Robinson, 
 " a biennial plant, yielding a crop for two successive years from 
 the same roots." The soil yields luxuriant crops of grain ; but 
 the inhabitants are too indolent to cultivate it themselves, leav 
 ing this work to the mountaineers, who sow and reap upon 
 shares. The groves of palm have disappeared, one solitary 
 tree alone lingering in all the plain ; the true balm of Gilead is 
 no more found here; the el-Henna also, and even the sycamore- 
 
PALESTINE. 155 
 
 trees, have retired from Jericho ; and honey, if found at all, is 
 now comparatively rare. See Kobinson as above, p. 559. 
 
 Respecting the culture of the sugar-cane and the remnants of sugar- 
 mills in this region, see Robinson, 2, pp. 561, 562. 
 
 22. We add a brief notice of some other places in the Jor 
 dan valley. 
 
 Gilgal, the place where the Israelites first encamped after crossing the 
 Jordan (Josh. chap. 5), is described by Josephus as fifty stadia from the 
 Jordan and ten from Jericho, which latter city he places, as we have seen, 
 sixty stadia from the Jordan. Antiq., 5. 1. 4. With Josephus Jerome s 
 description (Onomasticon, art. Galgala) agrees. It must then have been 
 at or near the modern village of Riha, This Gilgal must be carefully dis 
 tinguished from the Gilgal in the mountains whence Elijah and Elisha 
 went doicn to Beth-el. See above, Chap. 2, No. 21. . In the latter days of 
 the Israelitish kingdom idolatrous rites were celebrated here, as at the 
 other holy places of Canaan, for which the desolating judgments of God 
 were denounced upon the place. Hosea 4 : 15 ; Amos 4:4; 5:5. 
 
 In the ruins called Fiisail, where the wady Fusail breaks through the 
 western mountains into the Ghor," some ten or eleven miles north of Jeri 
 cho, we recognize the site of Pliasaelis, a city built by Herod the Great 
 (Josephus, Autiq., 16. 5. 2), where are foundations of houses, and of walls 
 perhaps for gardens, with remains of conduits. See Robinson, 3, p. 293. 
 Here Van de Velde (2, p. 310) places the brook Cherith. But Porter (in Alex 
 ander s Kitto) adopts Robinson s suggestion, that the brook Cherith is the 
 modern Wady Kelt, which opens from the mountains directly west of Jeri 
 cho. No spot, " he says, in Palestine is better fitted to afford a secure 
 asylum to the persecuted than Wady el-Kelt." "The Kelt is one of the 
 wildest ravines in this wild region. In some places it is not less than five 
 hundred feet deep, and just wide enough at the bottom to give passage to 
 a streamlet (1 Kings 17 : 6) like a silver thread, and to afford space for its 
 narrow fringe of oleanders. The banks are almost sheer precipices of 
 naked limestone, and here and there pierced with the dark openings of 
 caves and grottoes, in some one of which probably Elijah lay hid." "To 
 any one passing down from Jerusalem or Samaria towards Jericho " (the 
 road leading through this pass), "the appropriateness of the words in 
 1 Kings 17:3 would be at once apparent the brook Cherith, that is 
 before Jordan. " The same wild and desolate wady is regarded by Porter 
 as "unquestionably the valley of Achor, in which the Israelites stoned 
 Achan (Josh. 7:26), and which served to mark the northern border of 
 
l.r>(> SACKED GEOGRAPHY. 
 
 Judali." Josh. 15; 7. Indeed the whole geography of the region points 
 to "VVady Kelt as the scene of this solemn transaction. 
 
 Beisan, the modern representative of the ancient Beth-shean or Betli- 
 shan (that is, house of quiet] , is magnificently situated in a strong position 
 at the mouth of the valley of Jezreel, where it breaks down by an abrupt 
 descent of some three hundred feet to the valley of the Jordan. It is 
 about four miles from the Jordan, and eighteen south of the southern end 
 of the sea of Galilee. The ruins of Beth-shean cover a space of about 
 three miles in circuit. The site is well watered, no less than four streams 
 flowing through it. For the origin of the Greek name Scythopolis, cil>/ of 
 the Scythians, which the place received after the exile, see Robinson s Bib. 
 Res. , 3, p. 330. Scythopolis abounded in temples built of black basaltic 
 stone, except the columns. It was, according to Josephus (Jewish 
 War, 3. 9. 7), the largest city of the Decapolis, and the only city of that 
 district lying west of the Jordan. In the time of Eusebius and Jerome it 
 was still an important city of Palestine ; but it is now reduced to a misera 
 ble village of about five hundred souls. See farther in Robinson, 3, pp. 
 326-332. 
 
 A sad interest attaches to the history of Beth-shean. It was in the 
 adjacent mountains of Gilboa that Saul s army was defeated by the Philis 
 tines, and he and his three sons perished. The Philistines, finding the next 
 day his body and those of his sons, cut off their heads, and fastened them to 
 the wall of Beth-shan. The men of Jabesh-Gilead, a city on the other 
 side of the Jordan, a few miles farther down, crossing at one of the ford- 
 ing-places leading to Beisan (Robinson, 3, p. 325), came by night, and 
 removing the bodies from the wall "came to Jabesh, and burned them 
 there. And they took their bones, and buried them under a tree in 
 Jabesh, and fasted seven days." 1 Sam. 31:8-13. 
 
 The site of Succoth is uncertain. Burckhardt (Travels in Syria, p. 345) 
 mentions the ruins of a place called Sukkot, six miles or more below Beisan, 
 but without stating clearly on which bank of the river they lay. Robinson 
 discovered another ruin called Sakut on the west side of Jordan, about ten 
 miles below Beisan, which he would identify with the Succoth of the Old 
 Testament. But that place, notwithstanding Robinson s arguments to 
 the contrary (Bib. Res., 3, pp. 310-312), certainly lay east of the Jordan. 
 It was allotted to the tribe of Gad, whose possessions were on that side of 
 the river (Josh. 13:27); and it was after Gideon had passed over the Jor 
 dan, in pursuing the Midianites, that he asked the men of Succoth for 
 bread. Judg. 8:4, 5. The same position is assigned to it by Jerome, 
 according to the fair interpretation of his words (Quest, on Gen. 33:16): 
 "There is at this day a city of this name beyond Jordan, in the region of 
 Scythopolis." "But it is just possible," says Porter (in Alexander s Kitto), 
 
PALESTINE. 157 
 
 "that the miine may have been transferred from the ancient town on the 
 east side to a more modern village on the west." Hitter is inclined to 
 assume two places of this name, one on the east side of the Jordan, the 
 other on the west. His argument for a western Succoth, from the fact 
 that Solomon had his foundery "in the clay-ground between Succoth and 
 Zarthau" (1 Kings 7:46), deserves consideration. It is in the highest 
 degree improbable that the brazen sea, the brazen oxen, and the other 
 heavy articles mentioned in the context should have been cast on the other 
 side of the Jordan. As to the position in latitude, there is no difficulty in 
 respect to either the Sukkot of Burckhardt or the Sakut of Robinson. 
 Jacob had declined Esau s offer to accompany him, preferring to proceed 
 at his leisure. So Esau returned that day " from the ford of the Jabbok 
 "on his way unto Seir, and Jacob journeyed to Succoth, and built him a 
 house, and made booths for his cattle : therefore the name of the place is 
 called Succoth," that is, bootlis. Gen. 33:16, 17. The fact, therefore, that 
 the places in question lie north of the direct road from the Jabbok to 
 Shechem, the next place to which Jacob removed, constitutes no difficulty. 
 
 The ford of Beth-barah, that is, place of crossing ( Judg. 7 : 24 compared 
 with 8:4), was undoubtedly in this vicinity. The " Betliabara beyond 
 Jordan, where John was baptizing, according to the received text of John 
 1:28, would naturally be the same place. But if we adopt the more 
 approved reading Belhania, the site is unknown. 
 
 "Where "^Enon near to Salim" (John 3:23) lay can be only conjectured. 
 It is not certain that it was in the Jordan valley, ^non is an Aramaic 
 plural signifying springs. The places claimed for it are, (1) some ancient 
 ruins with a copious fountain in the plain of the Jordan eight miles south 
 of Scythopolis. This seems to be the Salim of Eusebius and Jerome 
 (Onomasticon, art. ^Enon); (2) tlje Salim in the plain of Mukhna east of 
 Nabulus, where are also fountains ; (3) a large fountain in Wady Suleim, 
 about six miles northeast of Jerusalem. So Barclay (City of the Great 
 King, pp. 558, seq.), according to whose description it is indeed a place of 
 "much water." 
 
 The precise place of our Lord s baptism is unknown. The two places 
 claimed by the Greek and Latin pilgrims respectively have been already 
 noticed. See above, No. 16. 
 
 IV. THE DEAD SEA AND ITS VICINITY. 
 
 23. The place of the Dead sea, in the long deep chasm 
 extending from the Bed sea to the base of Herrnon, and con 
 tinued thence to Antioch (No. 1 above), is determined by its 
 
158 SACRED GEOGRAPHY. 
 
 greatest depression. It lies in the lowest part of this valley, its 
 surface being at the astonishing depth of one thousand three 
 hundred feet below the level of the Mediterranean. Its greatest 
 depth, according to the soundings of Lieutenant Lynch, is one 
 thousand three hundred and eight feet; the eastern brow of 
 the overhanging mountain on the western side Kojoinson gives 
 at one thousand three hundred feet, or almost precisely the level 
 of the Mediterranean, while Jerusalem is one thousand three 
 hundred feet higher, or two thousand six hundred feet above 
 the Mediterranean. Phys. Geog., p. 35. Hence we have the 
 f ollowing remarkable gradation : 
 
 Descent from Jerusalem to the brow of the overhanging 
 mountain on the west side . ... ,. ... . 1,300 feet. 
 Descent from the brow to the surface of the sea 1,300 " 
 Greatest depth of the sea 1,300 " 
 
 Total descent to the bottom of the sea . . . 3,900 " 
 No open chasm of like depression is known to exist elsewhere 
 on the globe. The small lake Assal, on the eastern coast of 
 Africa, nearly southwest of the straits of BabelmandeL, which is 
 of an oval form, and about thirty-two miles in circumference, is 
 said to be seven hundred feet below the level of the sea. 
 According to the survey of the Russian government, the surface 
 of the Caspian sea is but eighty-four feet below the level of the 
 ocean. 
 
 Lynch s soundings give the depth of the sea at the time of his survey. 
 It is, well known that this varies to the extent of ten or fifteen feet. See 
 below. The survey in 1865 made the depression of the surface at that 
 time one thousand two hundred and ninety-two feet, which is twenty-five 
 feet less than that given by Lynch, and twenty feet less than the same 
 depression according to Synionds. The greatest depth of sea in the lake 
 is that opposite to the eastern mountains between the wadys Zurka Main 
 and Mojib. Lynch s soundings show that the slope of the bottom of the 
 west side is comparatively moderate, while on the east it is very steep. 
 See in his Expedition to the Dead Sea and the Jordan the chart opposite 
 to p. 268. The axis of greatest depth lies in a line drawn from the north 
 end to near the southern peninsula somewhat east of the middle ; and this 
 constitutes a real, though not perfectly straight continuation of the inner 
 
PALESTINE. 159 
 
 valley of the Ghor, through which the Jordan flows. South of the penin 
 sula the depth nowhere much exceeds two fathoms. 
 
 % 
 
 24. The extent of the Dead sea, as to both surface and depth, 
 is determined, on the one hand, by the quantity of water con 
 veyed to it by the Jordan, and on the other by the amount 
 of evaporation from its surface, these two opposite factors always 
 balancing each other in the long run. But since both vary with 
 the different seasons of the year, and the quantity of water with 
 different years also, it follows that the amount of water in the 
 sea must vary also ; its depth some ten or fifteen feet, and its 
 length on the flats at its southern end two or three miles. Its 
 length, as determined by Lynch and his party, is forty geo 
 graphical miles, and its breadth from nine to nine and three- 
 fourths geographical miles. 
 
 About two hundred and thirty feet above the present level of the sea 
 there are, according to Tristram (Land of Israel, p. 256 and elsewhere), 
 traces of an ancient shore-line, showing that the water once stood at that 
 level. This, however, seems to have been long before the historic period. 
 Tristram also speaks (p. 278) of "no less than eight low gravel terraces, 
 the ledges of comparatively recent beaches distinctly marked above the 
 present high-water mark. The highest of these was forty-four feet above 
 the present level of the sea." As to the terraces of which he speaks in the 
 old secondary limestone, about the present level of the Mediterranean 
 (p. 247), these belong to a remote geological era, and need not be here 
 discussed. 
 
 25. In the vast deep cliasm above described lies the Dead 
 sea, "shut in," says Robinson (Phys. Geog., p. 211), "on both 
 sides by ranges of precipitous mountains, their bases sometimes 
 jutting out into the water, and again retreating so as to leave 
 a narrow strip of shore below." The same author estimates the 
 general height of the overhanging brow on the western side at 
 one thousand three hundred feet, with cliffs rising still higher. 
 The brow on the eastern side is higher and steeper, the ridges 
 and precipices which slope down from the mountainous crest 
 on the east " in wild confusion to the shore of "the Dead sea, 
 some five thousand feet below," terminating "in a series of per- 
 
160 SACRED GEOGRAPHY. 
 
 pendicular cliffs from twelve hundred to two thousand feet above 
 the water." Phys. Geog., p. 61. These mighty walls are cleft, 
 sometimes to their bases, by the deep valleys and gorges that 
 issue from the mountains, and, except in the vicinity of the few 
 fountains or streams of fresh water, present a scene of utter 
 sterility and deathlike solitude. "All is irregular and wild," 
 says Eobinson (ubi supra), " presenting scenes of savage grand 
 eur." The mountains on the western side are mainly lime 
 stone, passing at the southern end into naked chalk-hills and 
 indurated marl. On the east appears with the limestone a 
 1 sandstone undercliff," as Anderson calls it (Official Report of 
 Lynch s Expedition, p. 190), particularly around Wady Mojib 
 (the Arnon of the Old Testament), and along the shore farther 
 north. On the northeast coast of the lake igneous rocks also 
 make their appearance. 
 
 The low belt of shore noticed above is of varying width, 
 from a mere strip to a mile and more. It extends around the 
 southern end of the lake and along the western side, inter 
 rupted, however, by the two cliffs called Eas Mersed and Eas 
 el-Feshkhah (see the map), which project their bases into the 
 water, and entirely cut off the road along the shore. For this 
 reason the marauding parties which come from the east around 
 the south end of the lake ascend now, as in ancient days, by 
 the pass of En-gedi. See Eobinson, Bib. Res., 1, pp. 508, 509, 
 530. The contour of this strip of shore is not regular, but has 
 indentations and shoal-like points running out into the lake, 
 especially in the southern part. 
 
 A striking feature of the Dead sea is, the peninsula in the 
 southern part, which sets out on the eastern side opposite to 
 Kerak. The Arabs call it Lisan, the tongue. It bears a general 
 resemblance to the human foot, the toe projecting north and 
 the ankle forming the connection with the main land. Its 
 length from heel to toe is about nine miles. The main body is 
 composed of layers of marl, gypsum, and sandy conglomerate. 
 The top is a table-land broad towards the south, but narrowing 
 to a serried edge at the northern extremity. It is connected 
 
PALESTINE. 161 
 
 with the main land by a strip of low bare sand measuring five 
 miles across. See farther, Porter in Alexander s Kitto; Eobin- 
 son, Bib. Ees., 1, pp. 518, 519. 
 
 On the south of the sea is " a naked miry plain called 
 Sabkhah, ten miles long from north to south by about six wide. 
 It is in summer coated with a saline crust, but is so low that 
 when the water is high a large section of it is flooded. Numer 
 ous torrent-beds from the salt range on the west" (see below, 
 No. 27), "and from the higher ground of the Arabah.on the 
 south, run across it, converting large portions into impassable 
 swamps. On its southern border the old diluvium terrace rises 
 like a white wall to the height of more than tvvo hundred feet." 
 Porter as above. This chalky wall constitutes the cliffs of 
 Akrabbiin already noticed. To the Arabs it is the line of divis 
 ion between that part of this long valley on the north called the 
 Ghor and that on the south called the Arabali. At the northern 
 end of the lake, where the Jordan enters it and farther west, is 
 a plain of less extent, covered with a nitrous crust, through 
 which the feet of men and horses sink, as in ashes, up to the 
 ankles. Eobinson, Bib. Ees., 1, p. 535. Just west of the 
 Jordan it projects into the lake a mile or more, and is partly 
 covered at high water. To these miry salt flats and swamps, 
 particularly those at the southern end of the sea, the prophet 
 Ezekiel refers, when speaking of the river which he saw in 
 vision flowing out of the sanctuary, and which gave life wher 
 ever it went (chap. 47:1-10). "But the miry places thereof" 
 (he adds, ver. 11) " and the marshes thereof shall not be healed ; 
 they shall be given to salt." They are not healed, because the 
 water of the river does not reach them; and they represent, 
 symbolically, those nations that do not receive the life-giving 
 waters of salvation which flow out to the world from God as 
 their source through Christ and the ordinances of his church. 
 
 26. The extraordinary depression of the Dead sea, sunk as 
 it is in its deep caldron between enormous walls of naked rock, 
 and exposed for seven or eight months in the year to the bla 
 zing beams of the sun poured down from an unclouded sky, fur- 
 
162 SACKED GEOGRAPHY. 
 
 nislies a sufficient explanation of its excessive heat and the trop 
 ical plants that appear on its borders wherever there is fresh 
 water. In April Lieutenant Lynch found the thermometer 
 ranging between seventy and ninety degrees. Under the influ 
 ence of a sirocco it rose, April 26, at eight o clock p. M., to 
 one hundred and six degrees. The next day it stood with a 
 west wind at ninety-six degrees. The heat of summer is unen 
 durable to all Qxcept the native Arabs. Aside from the intense 
 heat, it does not appear that the air of the Dead sea is more 
 noxious than in the northern part of the Ghor. 
 
 Tacitus (Hist., 5. 7) relates the story respecting the production of 
 ashes in the fruits that grow on the border of this sea : " All things that 
 grow spontaneously or are sown by man, whether slender herbs or flow 
 ers, as soon as they have attained to their customary form, become black 
 and empty, and vanish into the appearance of ashes." And he gives cre 
 dence to the report of pestilential vapors arising from its waters, which 
 corrupt the circumambient air and cause the fruits and crops to perish. 
 Robinson adds (Bib. Res., 1, p. 511) the legends reported by Brocardus 
 and Quaresniius, that this sea "continually sends up a smoke and cloud 
 like an infernal furnace. Wherever the vapor arising from that sea is 
 driven, there the products of the earth perish, as if touched by frost; and 
 that it is "a most fetid pool of infernal blackness, having a horrible odor." 
 Dense vapors do indeed arise from the lake, but they are neither offensive 
 nor pestilential. The offensive odors perceived at certain points are due 
 to hot sulphureous springs, several of which are described by Tristram, on 
 the western shore, having a strong smell of sulphur and rotten eggs (Land 
 of Israel, pp. 279, 301) ; but these phenomena are local, and not peculiar 
 to the shores of the Dead sea. As to the legend of pestilential vapors, it 
 is sufficient to say that wherever fresh water is found there is a profusion 
 of vegetable and animal life jungles of tall canes, with acacias, oleanders, 
 tamarisks, fig-trees, and other tropical plants, and multitudes of birds 
 which fly with impunity over the surface of the waters. 
 
 27. The most remarkable feature of the southern shore is 
 the line of hills called by the Arabs KJtasJtm Usdum, Ridge of 
 Sodom, first described in modern times by Seetzen, and after 
 wards more fully explored by Robinson and other travellers. 
 It is a ridge running from northwest to southeast along the 
 southwestern part of the southern bay for the distance of seven 
 
PALESTINE. 1G3 
 
 miles with an average elevation, according to Porter, of three 
 hundred feet, and composed of solid rock-salt, the top and sides 
 being overlaid with "a loose crust of gravel, rolled flints, and 
 gypsum, but chiefly with a chalky marl." Tristram, p. 322. 
 "The declivities of the range are steep and rugged, pierced 
 with huge caverns, and the summit shows a sarried line of sharp 
 peaks. The salt is of a greenish white color, with lines of cleav 
 age as if stratified, and its base reaches far beneath the present 
 surface." Porter in Alexander s Kitto. "In several places," 
 says Tristram (p. 322), " we found the ground hollow, and ech 
 oing under our feet as we walked along the shore ; and in some 
 the crust has given way, and a laden camel has suddenly disap 
 peared from the file of a caravan, and been salted to death 
 below. The layers of rock-salt are frequently contorted con 
 formably with the overlying marl and gypsum." Journeying 
 along the shore between this salt ridge and the sea, Robinson 
 passed over a naked tract full of salt-drains, sluggish and dead. 
 Lumps of nitre were scattered along the base, of which his com 
 pany picked up one as large as the fist. Farther south they 
 passed two purling rills, beautifully limpid, coming down from 
 near the base of the mountain, " as salt as the saltest brine." 
 Bib. Res., 2, p. 115. In this salt mountain we have an abun 
 dant explanation of the intense saltness of the water of the Dead 
 sea. Without any outlet, it has been for scores of centuries 
 drinking in the briny streams from Khashm Usdum. There are 
 also hidden deposits of salt, apparently subterranean branches 
 of this mountain ; for Tristram speaks of " a marsh fed by innu 
 merable salt springs oozing out through the mud," at the mouth 
 of Wady Zuweirah, some two miles north of the ridge (p. 319). 
 
 In some valley (Heb. Ge) adjacent to this salt mountain we 
 must, in all probability, place the valley of salt (2 Sam. 8 : 13 ; 
 1 Chron. 18 : 12 ; Psa. 60, title) ; also the city of salt, Josh. 15 : 62. 
 
 28. Although the traces of volcanic action in the form of 
 craters and recently ejected lava are not very marked around 
 the Dead sea, yet the volcanic character of the region must be 
 admitted. This appears especially from the hot springs around 
 
164 SACKED GEOGRAPHY. 
 
 the border of the lake, and from the fact that the valley in which 
 it lies belongs to a district subject to earthquakes. 
 
 Lyell s definition of volcanic action is, "the influence exerted by tlie 
 heated interior of the earth on its external covering." Principles of Geol 
 ogy, chap. 22. Of such influence the region around the Dead sea presents 
 distinct traces. Tristram describes a sulphur hot spring north of Ras 
 Horsed on the western shore, ther. ninety-five degrees Fahrenheit; another 
 south of En-gedi, ther. eighty-eight degrees. Land of Israel, pp. 279, 
 301. Then there are on the eastern side the celebrated hot springs of 
 Callirrhoe, in the Wady Zurka Main, near its mouth, which send down a 
 copious stream of hot sulphureous water to the sea amid thickets of canes, 
 palms, and tamarisks. Lynch found the temperature of the stream one 
 mile up the chasm ninety-five degrees Fahrenheit (Expedition, p. 370); 
 and the springs themselves are much hotter. See below, No. 32. Accord 
 ing to Seetzen, another large brook of hot water enters the Dead sea a lit 
 tle farther south, coming from another cluster of hot springs. De Saulcy 
 also found a copious hot spring at the northeastern corner of the sea ; 
 and there is another at its southeastern angle. 
 
 The presence of sulphur around the Dead sea has also been adduced in 
 proof of the volcanic character of the region ; but Lartet thinks it is formed 
 by the reduction of the gypsum beds, according to a well-known action 
 often observed elsewhere. We add, however, an interesting extract from 
 Tristram (pp. 354, 355), in which he describes a formation in Wady 
 Mahauwat, just north of the salt mountain. Here are "large masses of 
 bitumen mingled with gravel. These overlie a thin stratum of -sulphur, 
 which again overlies a thicker stratum of sand, so strongly impregnated 
 with sulphur that it yields powerful fumes on being sprinkled over hot 
 coals. Many great blocks of bitumen have been washed down the gorge, 
 and lie scattered over the plain below, along with large boulders, and other 
 traces of tremendous floods." Respecting this appearance, Tristram sug 
 gests the following explanation, which we give without comment: "The 
 whole appearance points to a shower of hot sulphur and an irruption of 
 bitumen upon it, which would naturally be calcined and impregnated by 
 its fumes, and this at a geological period quite subsequent to all the dilu 
 vial and alluvial action of which we have such abundant evidence." 
 
 As to earthquakes, Lyell remarks that the violent shock which devas 
 tated Syria in 1837 was felt on a line five hundred miles in length by ninety 
 in breadth; more than six thousand persons perished; deep rents were 
 caused in solid rocks, and new hot springs burst out at Tabereah. " Prin 
 ciples of Geology, chap. 27. The same author notices the periodical alter 
 nation of earthquakes in Syria and Southern Italy, and says, "We may 
 suppose Southern Italy and Syria to be connected, at a much greater depth, 
 
PALESTINE. 165 
 
 with a lower part of the very same system of fissures; in which case, any 
 obstruction occurring in one duct may have the effect of causing almost all 
 the vapor and melted matter to be forced up the other ; and if they can 
 not get vent, they may be the cause of violent earthquakes " (chap. 22). 
 
 As to the existence of ancient coulees lava-streams terminating in the 
 lake on the eastern side, see Lartet in Bitter s Geog. of Palestine, 3, pp. 
 367, 368. 
 
 29. That bitumen exists in vast masses, at the bottom of the 
 southern bay at least, is manifest from the fact of its being 
 thrown up after earthquakes. Josephus says (Jewish War, 4. 
 8. 4) that it " throws up in many places masses of black asphal- 
 tum, which float upon the surface in form and size resembling 
 headless oxen." Diodorus Siculus, as quoted by Eobinson, rep 
 resents the masses as covering sometimes two or three plethra 
 (the Greek plethron was about a quarter of an acre), and having 
 the appearance of islands. After the earthquake of January, 
 1837, a large mass of bitumen, described by the Arabs as an 
 island or as a house, w r as thrown up and driven aground on the 
 west side, not far from Usduni. Eobinson, Bib. Res., 1, p. 518. 
 That the bitumen is not confined to the bottom of the sea 
 appears from the statements of Tristram quoted above. Tris 
 tram also speaks of a large vein of the bituminous stone called 
 "stink-stone" at the northwestern part of the lake, mixed with 
 flints and pebbles, and forming the matrix of a very hard con 
 glomerate of gravel and flints. "."When thrown into the fire, it 
 burnt with a sulphureous smell, but would not ignite at the 
 flame of a lamp" (p. 254). 
 
 30. The water of the Dead sea "has a slightly greenish hue, 
 and is not entirely transparent; but objects seen through it 
 appear as if seen through oil. It is most intensely and intoler 
 ably salt, and leaves behind a- nauseous bitter taste, like Glau 
 ber s salts." Eobinson, 1, p. 507. The statements of the an 
 cients as to its buoyancy are fully confirmed by modern obser 
 vation. "Although," says Eobinson, "I could never swim 
 before, either in fresh or salt water, yet here I could sit, stand, 
 lie, or swim in the water without difficulty." Wherever the 
 
166 SACRED GEOGRAPHY. 
 
 skin is broken its waters have an irritating effect. The shore is 
 lined with drift-wood brought down from the Jordan and the val 
 leys that open into it from the mountains. 
 
 We add a single analysis of its waters made by Prof. Booth of Phila 
 delphia with water from the depth of 1,110 feet, by which it appears that 
 more than a quarter consists of various salts held in solution. Specific 
 gravity at sixty degrees, 1.22742. 
 
 Chloride of magnesium 145.8971 
 
 " calcium . . 31.0746 
 
 " sodium (common salt) 78.5537 
 
 " " potassium , . . . 6.5860 
 
 Bromide of potassium 1.3741 
 
 Sulphate of lime ,.-.... 0.7012 
 
 264.1867 
 Water 735.8133 
 
 1000.0000 
 
 In water of such a character it -is obvious that no living thing can exist. 
 The fishes brought down into it from the Jordan inevitably perish. 
 
 31. In the above description, the various names applied to 
 this extraordinary lake find a ready explanation. 
 
 The salt sea. Gen. 14 : 3 ; Numb. 34 : 3, 12 ; Deut. 3:17; Josh. 
 3:16; 15:2,5; 18:19. 
 
 " The sea of the Arabah; in our version, sea of the plain. Deut. 
 3:17; 4:49; 2 Kings 14:25. 
 
 The east sea, in distinction from the Mediterranean, which is 
 called the ivestern sea. Ezek? 47 : 18 ; Joel 2 : 20. 
 
 The above are the only scriptural names applied to it. Jose- 
 phus calls it the asphaltic lake, from the asphaltum or bitumen 
 above described ; and in the Talmud it is called the sea of Sodom. 
 The modern Arabic name, Bahr Lut, sea of Lot, is suggested by 
 the history of Lot. The name Dead sea is most appropriate to 
 a lake in which no living thing is found, and on whose shores, 
 moreover, desolation reigns, broken only by a few small oases. 
 
 32. The geographer finds no cities or villages to be described 
 on the shores of the Dead sea. There are, however, some points 
 of interest on or near its shores which may detain us a few mo 
 ments. 
 
PALESTINE. 167 
 
 The pass of En-gedi has already been alluded to. It lies on the western 
 shore, about midway between the northern and the southern end. Here, 
 at the elevation of more than four hundred feet above the level of the sea, 
 the beautiful fountain of Ain Jidy the Arabic equivalent of En-gedi 
 bursts forth upon a sort of narrow terrace or shelf of the mountain. The 
 fountain is limpid and sparkling, with a copious stream of sweet water of 
 the temperature of eighty-one degrees, which rushes down the steep 
 descent, its course being hidden by a luxuriant thicket of canebrake, with 
 trees and shrubs belonging to a more southern clime. Among the latter 
 Robinson notices the Seyal, which produces gum-arabic, the lote-tree of 
 Egypt, the Osher or apple of Sodom described above, the el-Henna or 
 "camphire," the egg-plant nightshade, or mad-apple. At the fountain 
 are the remains of several buildings apparently ancient, though the main 
 site of the ancient town seems to have been farther below. The right dis 
 tribution of water, with skilful culture, would make it now, as anciently, a 
 delightsome place. Josephus says (Antiq., 9. 1. 2) that here were pro 
 duced the choicest palms and opobalsam. No wonder that Solomon, who 
 delighted in every thing rare, had here his pleasure-grounds (Cant. 1:14), 
 for in this tropical clime flourished plants unknown to the mountains and 
 even the Mediterranean plain. 
 
 Robinson describes the pass of En-gedi as frightful, the path descending 
 by zigzags along ledges or shelves on the perpendicular face of the cliff. 
 Yet, as already remarked, the great Arab road ascends this pass, and it 
 was by this pass that the Moabites and Ammonites came up against King 
 Jehoshaphat. 2 Chron. 20:1, 2. The more ancient name Hazezon-tamar 
 (Gen. 14:7; 2 Chron. 20:2) means, according to Gesenius,^>r?w ing of palms; 
 acccording to Fiirst, row of palm-trees. The Ascent of Ziz (2 Chron. 20: 16) 
 seems to have been this very pass. Josephus defines the word Ziz to mean 
 prominence. Antiq., 9. 1. 2. "The wilderness of Eu-gedi" (1 Sam. 24:1) 
 was the wilderness behind this pass. Now, as anciently, it has innumera 
 ble caverns, in any one of which David and his men could find refuge. 
 1 Sam. 24:3. 
 
 No perennial stream breaks through the mountains on the western side. 
 On the eastern side is the Zurka Mam, entering the sea through a deep 
 chasm of red and yellow sandstone. .The stream at the mouth is a copious 
 brook, descending with great velocity. Above in the valley are the hot 
 springs called by the ancients Callirrhoe, the water of which is quite hot, 
 but not boiling. The hand cannot be held in it for half a minute. See 
 the authorities in Robinson, Phys. Geog., p. 179. Seetzen relates that 
 half an hour south another large brook of hot water enters, the sea. 
 
 Farther south is the Arnon of the Old Testament, naw called Wady 
 Mojib, flowing at the bottom of a deep chasm formed by perpendicular 
 cliffs of red, brown, and yellow sandstone, looking as if "formed by some 
 
168 SACRED GEOGRAPHY. 
 
 tremendous convulsion of the earth." Robinson, Phys. Geog., p. 181. 
 Its stream flows over a rocky bed ; and when Lynch saw it, May 3, 1848, 
 it was eighty-two feet wide and four feet deep. In summer it is nearly or 
 quite dry, but very large and powerful during the rainy season. Still far 
 ther south, opposite to the peninsula, is the Wculy Kerak, in many places 
 a wild chasm of great depth. In winter it sends down a powerful stream, 
 which flows, however, only in the rainy season. Lynch s Expedition, pp. 
 352-354. 
 
 Two or three permanent streams enter the southern bay on the eastern 
 jSide. Here, at the mouth of Wady-es-Safieh, is a well-watered oasis like 
 that about Jericho, only with a more tropical climate. Farther north, 
 where Wady Kerak opens, is another. The plain at the northeastern end, 
 also, is in general well watered, and covered with a luxuriant vegetation. 
 
 On the western side of the sea, towards the south, just beyond Wady 
 Seyal, and opposite to the peninsula, is seen the ruin called by the Arabs 
 Sebbeh, and which has been satisfactorily identified as the renowned for 
 tress of Masada, the last refuge of the Jewish zealots after the destruction 
 of Jerusalem. Here occurred the last horrible act of the great Jewish 
 tragedy. The whole garrison, at the persuasion of their leader, Eleazer, 
 devoted themselves to self-destruction, and chose out ten men to massacre 
 all the rest. This was done, and nine hundred and sixty persons, including 
 women and children, perished. Two females and five boys alone escaped." 
 Robinson, from Josephus (Bib. Res., 1, p. 526). The ruins are of great ex 
 tent, occupying the truncated summit of a lofty isolated rock, described by 
 Robinson as "apparently inaccessible ;" but which has been since his visit 
 to the Dead sea repeatedly climbed and described. Tristram, who, in Janu 
 ary, 1864, climbed to the summit, has given a description of the stupen 
 dous fortifications of Masada with various drawings. Land of Israel, pp. 
 303-313. 
 
 We may notice here, as often visited in connection with the Jordan and 
 Dead sea, the ancient convent of Mar Saba, founded in the sixth century, 
 and once an institution of great eminence. It lies about three hours from 
 the sea. on the border of the Wady Nar, a continuation of the Kidron, in 
 a wild and romantic situation, and in the heart of a frightful wilderness. 
 Of this convent, with its history and appointments, the reader may find 
 an account in Ritter s Geog. of Palestine, 3, pp. 86-91. See also Tristram s 
 Land of Israel, pp. 259-270. 
 
 V. DESTKUCTION OF SODOM AND THE NEIGHBORING 
 
 CITIES. 
 
 33. The belief once prevalent that the Dead sea was formed 
 in its whole extent at the time when Sodom and the neighboring 
 
PALESTINE. 169 
 
 cities were destroyed is found to be untenable, and is abandoned 
 by common consent. The Jordan can never have flowed into 
 the Red sea within the historic period ; consequently there- must 
 always have been a lake in the lowest part of this long valley. 
 Nor is this inconsistent with the scriptural narrative, which 
 requires only that "the vale of Siddirn" be now covered with 
 its waters. Gen. 14 : 3. 
 
 According to Bertou, the summit of the water-shed in the Arabah south 
 of the Dead sea is about the latitude of Petra, and i five hundred and 
 twenty-five feet above the ocean ; but M. Vigues gives from his baromet 
 rical observations a much greater elevation 787.44 feet. See Hitter s 
 Geog. of Palestine, 3, p. 360. 
 
 34. The question respecting the mode in which the enormous 
 chasm of the Dead sea and the valley north and south of it was 
 formed belongs to geology. We simply remark that, upon any 
 theory, there must have been an enormous subsidence, occupy 
 ing perhaps a vast period of time; for the whole valley from 
 the sea of Galilee to a point considerably south of the Dead sea 
 lies below the level of the ocean the surface of the sea about 
 one thousand three hundred feet and its bottom two thousand 
 six hundred feet. The simplest hypothesis would seem to be 
 that proposed by Dr. Edward Hitchcock in 1850, and advocated 
 at length by Lartet in the Appendix to the third volume of Kit- 
 ter s Geography of Palestine. This hypothesis assumes a vast 
 line of fracture in the direction of north and south, with a down 
 ward movement along the line of dislocation on the western 
 side, producing the depressed trench which separates Palestine 
 proper from the high lands on the eastern side. 
 
 35. It has been generally assumed, in accordance with the 
 statements of Josephus (Jewish War, 4. 8. 2, 4), that Zoar, and 
 consequently the cities of the plain, lay at the southern end of 
 the Dead sea. Mr. Grove (in Smith s Bible Diet.) maintains 
 that they were at the northern end. His chief argument is drawn 
 from the fact that Sodom and the neighboring cities lay in the 
 circuit (kikkar) of the Jordan, a name naturally belonging to the 
 valley through which the Jordan flows. 
 
 8 
 
170 SACKED GEOGRAPHY. 
 
 Beyond contradiction, the region surveyed by Lot from his position 
 "between Beth-el and Hai " (Gen. 13 : 3), when "he lifted up his eyes, and 
 beheld the whole circuit of the Jordan " (ver 10), lay at the north end of 
 the sea. We need not press the words, "the whole circuit of the Jordan," 
 as if Lot actually surveyed it in its entire extent. The circuit extended 
 north as far as Succoth (1 Kings 7:46), consequently far beyond the scope 
 of Lot s vision. What he saw represented the general character of the 
 circuit. It is, however, somewhat difficult to suppose that the term circuit 
 (Jcikfcar) of the Jordan was extended to the then fertile plain south of the 
 Dead Sea, as it must have been if Sodom lay there. The other arguments 
 adduced by Mr. Grove are of subordinate value. 
 
 Against the hypothesis of Mr. Grove, and in favor of the common belief, 
 may be alleged, (1) the situation of Zoar, which Josephus, Eusebius, and 
 Jerome place at the southern end of the Dead sea. Their statements Mr. 
 Grove admits, but suggests that the Zoar of the Pentateuch was a different 
 place. This assumption of two places yarned Zoar should not be admitted 
 without stronger proof than exists at present; (2) the scriptural state 
 ments respecting the vale of Siddim, which we naturally seek to find in the 
 vicinity of the cities of the plain. It was "full of slime-pits," and was, 
 moreover, w hen the book of Genesis "was written, a part of the Salt sea. 
 Gen. 14:3, 10. Both these statements are satisfied by the assumption that 
 this vale is now covered by the shallow southern bay of the Dead sea. 
 That the bottom of this bay contains deposits of bitumen is evident from 
 the masses that are thrown up after earthquakes (see abore, No. 29); and 
 that a slight subsidence of this part of the valley may have taken place in 
 connection with the catastrophe of Sodom or soon afterwards is surely not 
 incredible in a valley like this, formed apparently by a series of enormous 
 subsidences. We do not attach any weight to the argument from the name 
 Usdum applied to the salt ridge above described, as indicating the exact 
 site of Sodom. The Zoar of Josephus lay on the other side of the Arabah, 
 too far removed from Usdum to allow of Lot s flight thither. The reader 
 will find the question of the site of Sodom discussed at length by Dr. Sam 
 uel Wolcott in the Bibliotheca Sacra for 1868, p. 112, seq. 
 
 36. All that is known respecting the manner in which the 
 cities of the plain were destroyed can be stated in few words. 
 It is not said that the bituminous soil on which they stood was 
 set on fire and consumed by lightnings from heaven, though 
 this may be true ; nor that the sea rushing into the void thus 
 created converted the plain into a part of itself, though this 
 also may have happened. The scriptural statement is, that 
 " the Lord rained upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah brimstone 
 
PALESTINE. 171 
 
 and fire from the Lord out of heaven." It was then by a shower 
 of "brimstone and fire" from heaven that Sodom and Gomor 
 rah were destroyed. There is no reason for departing from the 
 literal meaning of the narrative. The words "brimstone and 
 fire" naturally mean either burning brimstone, or masses of 
 brimstone not ignited (perhaps a mixture of sulphur and bitu 
 men), mingled with burning lumps of the same. Such a shower 
 would be sufficient to overthrow " those cities, and ah 1 the cir 
 cuit (kikkar), and all the inhabitants of the cities, and that which 
 grew upon the ground," and to cause the smoke of the land to 
 go up as the smoke of a furnace. It is not necessary to sup 
 pose that the brimstone and fire were created in heaven. It is 
 more in accordance with the general method of God s providen 
 tial dealings, even where he brings in the element of the mirac 
 ulous, to suppose that he made use of stores ready at hand; 
 that the brimstone and fire were ejected from a fissure opened 
 in the plain, and then fell in a burning shower upon the devo 
 ted cities. The submersion of the vale of Siddim, at the time 
 of this catastrophe or afterwards, we infer from the words of the 
 inspired narrative : " The vale of Siddim, which is the Salt sea." 
 Gen. 14 : 3. Whether the site of- the cities was also submerged 
 is a question which we may well leave undecided. Nor need 
 we feel bound to determine the manner of the submergence. 
 It is, however, a fair inference from the scriptural account (Gen. 
 13 : 10) that the desolation produced by this catastrophe was of 
 wide extent and permanent in character. 
 
 How great were the changes produced in the Arabali by this catastro 
 phe we have no means of knowing, nor what were its relations to the ridge 
 of salt described above. An eruption of brimstone and fire might well be 
 connected with a disturbance of the previously existing fountains of the 
 plain, perhaps with a considerable subsidence the sinking down, it may 
 be, of the vale of Siddim into a cavity previously existing or produced at 
 the time. Some have assumed an elevation of the bottom of the sea, by 
 which means the vale was overflowed. On this point we need make no affir 
 mation, since the credibility of the inspired narrative does not depend on 
 our ability to determine the manner in which the vale of Siddim became 
 the Salt sea. 
 
172 SACKED GEOGRAPHY. 
 
 An authentic account of some remarkable elevations and depressions of 
 the earth s surface, several of them of vast extent, may be found in Lyoll s 
 Principles of Geology, chaps. 27-29. These changes were, it is true, con 
 nected with earthquakes, but they give evidence of the existence in some 
 regions of subterranean cavities of vast dimensions. Such cavities, we 
 know, are especially common in limestone regions. 
 
PALESTINE. 173 
 
 CHAPTEK V. 
 
 THE REGION EAST OF THE JORDAN VALLEY. 
 
 1. THE eastern region occupied by the Israelites is described 
 by Joshua as the land " on the other side of Jordan, towards the 
 rising of the sun, from the river Arnon unto Mount Hermon, 
 and all the Arabah eastward." Josh. 12 : 1. " The Arabah 
 eastward," that is, the eastern side of the Jordan valley, has 
 already been sufficiently described. The high land from Arnon 
 to the base of Hermon the sacred writers comprehend under 
 the two divisions of Baslian and Gilead. We follow this division. 
 
 I. BASHAN. 
 
 2. Under the name Baslian the sacred writers comprehend 
 the region extending from the base of Hermon southward to 
 the Hieromax, the modern Tarmuk; and on the southeast to 
 Salcah, the Sulkhad of the Arabs. Dent. 3 : 10; Josh. 12:2 
 4, 5. This country, with the exception apparently of " the 
 Hagarites, with Jetur and Nephish and Nodab " (in all proba 
 bility the Iturcea of the Romans, a small province on the north 
 west under the roots of Hermon, subsequently added by con 
 quest to the Hebrew territory, 1 Chron. 5 : 18-23), constituted, 
 along with the northern part of Gilead, the dominion of " Og 
 the king of Bashan." After his destruction, the territory of Og 
 was all given to the half tribe of Manasseh. Dent. 3 : 13. The 
 Baslian of the Old Testament comprised, accordingly, the region 
 afterwards constituting the four Roman provinces, Gaiilonitis, 
 AuranitiSj Batancea, and Trachonitis ; to which, as we have seen, 
 the region afterwards constituting the Eoman Iturcea was added 
 by later conquest. Of these four provinces Gaulonitis, the mod 
 ern Jaulan, lay on the western flank of Bashan, and Batannea on 
 
174 SACRED GEOGRAPHY. 
 
 its extreme eastern border. Between these provinces, in the 
 middle belt of Bashan, lay, on the northern border, Traclionitis, 
 the Lejali of the modern Arabs, and south of this Auranitis, the 
 Hauran of Scripture (Ezek. 47 : 16, 18), a name which the Arabs 
 have retained without change to the present day. Ituraea lay 
 northeast of Gaulonitis towards the territory of Damascus. 
 
 3. Hermon throws off from its southeastern base a range of 
 low, round-topped, picturesque hills called Jebel HeisJi. These 
 extend south for nearly twenty miles, covered in part with for 
 ests of oak and terebinths. As the ridge runs south, it declines 
 in height, until it is lost in the table-land of Gaulonitis east of 
 the sea of Galilee. Seen from the west, this region appears as 
 a continuous range of purple-tinted mountains rising up ab 
 ruptly from the chasm of the Jordan (Porter, Handbook of 
 Syria and Damascus., p. 278), and intersected by deep ravines ; 
 but seen from the east, it is found to be an elevated plateau 
 upwards of two thousand five hundred feet in height. The 
 greater part of Gaulonitis and Auranitis is a level plain, dotted, 
 however, here and there with conical hills, on the tops of which 
 are seen the remains of ancient fortresses and villages. The 
 soil is very rich and well watered, clothed with luxuriant herb 
 age, and adorned with groups of oak-trees and clumps of shrub 
 bery. Batansea, on the contrary, is a mountainous region of 
 the most picturesque character. The Druze mountain (Jebd- 
 ed-Deruz), running from north-northeast to south-southwest 
 some forty or fifty miles, occupies a large part of this division. 
 It is mostly volcanic in character, and has several lofty peaks, 
 having an elevation of between five and six thousand feet. The 
 scenery of this mountain is described as most picturesque, and 
 its soil is extremely rich, abounding with forests of evergreen 
 oak. 
 
 Balanaea is only the Greek form for Bashan, and it is retained in the 
 modern Bailianyeli, a name applied to the region and to a small town on 
 the northern declivity of the mountain. Hence it has been conjectured, 
 not without reason, that Batancoa was the original Bashan, the name hav 
 ing been afterwards extended to the whole country north of the Hieromax, 
 
PALESTINE. 175 
 
 as far as the territory of Damascus. In like manner the term Hauran is 
 applied in a wider sense to a large district of plain and mountain bounded 
 on the west by the Haj road (the pilgrim caravan road), on the north by 
 the territory of Damascus, and on the east by the desert ; and in a stricter 
 sense, to the plain south of the Lejah, and east and southeast of Batana?a. 
 It is in accordance with the wider sense of the term that the mountainoiis 
 ridge of Batansea is often called by the Franks Jebel Hauran, mountain of 
 Hauran. 
 
 The question has been raised whether this mountain is named in the 
 Old Testament. In Psa. 68 : 15, 16 we read, according to the most ap 
 proved rendering, " a mount of God is the mount of Bashan ; a mount of 
 peaks is the mount of Bashau. Why do ye envy, ye mounts, ye peaks, 
 the mountain God hath desired for his habitation ?" Kobinson thinks 
 that the force of the antithesis between Mount Zion and the mount of 
 Bashan requires that the latter be the loftiest of the mountains of Pales 
 tine, and therefore Hermon, which may be said to cast its shadow over 
 the whole land of Bashan." Phys. Geog., p. 57. This reasoning is not 
 conclusive. If the sacred writer had Herinon in mind, no reason can be 
 assigned why he should not have called it Hermon. The description of 
 the mount of Bashan as a mount of peaks applies preeminently, according 
 to Robinson s own description, to this ridge with its "many isolated higher 
 hills or tells." But the question seems to be settled by a following verse: 
 "The Lord said, I will bring again from Bashan ; I will bring my people 
 again from the depths of the sea. " The poet is evidently at home in the 
 scenery of Bashan ; and here he contrasts the fastnesses and hiding-places 
 of Mount Bashau on the eastern border of Palestine with the depths of the 
 sea on the western border. 
 
 4. North of the plain of Hauran lies the singularly wild 
 region called by tbe Arabs el-Lejah, the Asylum, as furnishing a 
 safe retreat to persecuted persons and outlaws. This is the 
 Trachonitis, rough country, of the Greeks and Eomans; and 
 Porter has shown by satisfactory arguments that it is the Argob, 
 stony region, of the Old Testament, at least the nucleus of that 
 region. Five Years in Damascus, 2, pp. 268-272. The Lejah 
 is of an oval shape, about twenty-two miles long by fourteen 
 wide. The general surface is elevated from twenty to thirty feet 
 above the surrounding plain. It is wholly composed of black 
 basalt rock, which appears to have issued in past ages from 
 innumerable pores in the earth in a liquid state, and to have 
 flowed out on every side until the plain was almost covered. It 
 
17(5 SACRED GEOGRAPHY. 
 
 was afterwards rent aiid shattered by internal convulsions. It 
 has a wavy surface, broken by deep fissures and yawning gulfs 
 with jagged edges. The rock is filled with little pits and pro 
 tuberances, like air-bubbles, is as hard as flint, and emits when 
 struck a sharp metallic sound. The border is almost every 
 where as clearly defined as the line of a rocky coast, which 
 indeed it very much resembles, with its inlets, bays, and prom 
 ontories. Its borders are studded with ancient towns, some of 
 them in a wonderful state of preservation. The interior con 
 tains towns also ; one of them, named Dama, having, according 
 to Burckhardt, about three hundred houses, most of them still 
 in good preservation. Travels in Syria, p. 110. 
 
 In the days of Roman rule Trachonitis was, as it is now, the retreat of 
 desperate men who lived by robbery, and plundered the neighboring 
 regions. Josephus describes with minuteness their abodes in caves and 
 houses with a single narrow entrance, but within of incredible magnitude. 
 Their houses, he tells us, were all built of stone, with low stone roofs ; and 
 the access to their retreats was by winding paths, which only a guide could 
 know. Autiq., 15. 10. 1. 
 
 5. The few travellers who have enjoyed the privilege of ex 
 amining the region of Bashan are profuse in its praises. Por 
 ter says of its wooded hills and grassy plains, that no part of 
 Palestine can be compared with them in fertility. It has a 
 deep, black, loamy soil of wonderful productiveness, as is attested 
 by the luxuriance of its grass and its teeming crops of grain. 
 Giant Cities of Bashan, p. GO. Beautiful undulations of the 
 richest herbage, varied with long belts of dense oak forests, 
 shrubberies of hawthorn and ilex, and a profusion of bright 
 wild flowers, offer themselves to the traveller s gaze. With these 
 descriptions accord the scriptural notices of Bashan. The 
 " oaks of Bashan," the " bulls of Bashan," and the " rams of 
 the breed of Bashan" are familiar to all readers of the Old Tes 
 tament. When the prophets would describe the desolation of 
 the promised land they say, " Lebanon is ashamed; it languish- 
 eth; Sharon is like the wilderness (Arabalt) , and Bashan and 
 Carrael cast their leaves" (Isa., 33:9); "Bashan languisheth, 
 
PALESTINE. 177 
 
 anil Carmel; and the blooin of Lebanon languisheth." Nalmm 
 1 : 4. When they speak of the restoration of Israel in the latter 
 day, they say : " I will bring Israel again to his habitation, and 
 he shall feed on Carmel and Bashan : and his soul shall be sat 
 isfied on Mount Ephraim and Gilead" (Jer. 50 : 19) ; " Feed thy 
 people with thy rod, the flock of thine heritage, dwelling solita 
 rily in the wood in the midst of Carmel : let them feed on Bashan 
 and Gilead, as in the days of old." Micah 7 : 14. Thus Bashan 
 comes in as one among the noble parts of Palestine. 
 
 6. This region is capable of sustaining, and it did once sus 
 tain, an immense population, as is evident from the remains of 
 ancient cities and villages scattered over it ; some of them in ruins, 
 but many of them in a remarkable state of preservation. All 
 that is needed to restore the ancient prosperity of the region is 
 a strong and just government, which should protect the inhab 
 itant from the incursions of the Arab tribes that swarm in the 
 eastern desert, and secure to each inhabitant the fruits of his 
 industry. But the feeble sway of the Turk fulfils neither of 
 these conditions. The merciless exactions of the rulers and the 
 ravages of the Bedouins, who come from the east "like grass 
 hoppers for multitude, and their camels without number, as the 
 sand by the seaside for multitude" (Judg. 7 : 12), have converted 
 the greater part of this fertile region into a desolate wilderness. 
 Porter, who was taken captive by a band of Arabs, says : " Far 
 as the eye could see, the plain was covered with countless droves 
 of camels and flocks of sheep and horsemen and dromedaries 
 laden with tents, and all manner of furniture and utensils." 
 
 Speaking of the conquest of Og the king of Bashan, Moses says : "We 
 took all his cities at that time, there was not a city that we took not from 
 them, three-score cities, all the region of Argob, the kingdom of Og in 
 Bashan. All these cities were fenced with high walls, gates, and bars ; 
 besides unwalled towns a great many" (Deut. 3:4, 5); and again (ver. 14), 
 "Jail" the son of Manasseh took all the line of Argob unto the boundary <>{ 
 the Jeslmrite and the Maachathitc ; and called them after his own name, 
 Bashan-havoth-Jair " (that is, Basltan, the villages of Jair] "unto this day." 
 The discoveries of modern travellers show that the foregoing statement 
 of three-score cities "fenced with high walls, gates, and bars; besides 
 
 8* 
 
178 SACRED GEOGRAPHY. 
 
 unwalled towns a great many," is no ex:iirircratioii. Van de Veldc .s map 
 gives the names of more than thirty deserted towns lying around the bor 
 der of the Lejah alone, and there are others in its interior. Such towns 
 appear also on the conical hills that are scattered over the plain, as well as 
 in the mountains of Batansea. The styles of architecture which they 
 exhibit belong to different and distant ages. The massive structures of 
 the primitive inhabitants, distinguished for simplicity and strength, and 
 many of them remaining perfect to the present day; the magnificent ruins 
 of Greek and Roman architecture ; the "miserable little shops and quaint 
 irregular houses " of the Saracens all these offer themselves to the travel 
 ler s notice. 
 
 By far the most interesting are the simple, massive stone houses, with 
 stone doors and low stone roofs, which are believed by Porter to be the 
 remains of the Rephaim (giants of our version), a gigantic race inhabiting 
 this region at the time of the conquest by Israel. Many of the houses 
 in the ancient cities of Bashan," says Porter, speaking of these aboriginal 
 dwellings (Giant Cities of Bashan, pp. 19, 20), "are perfect, as if only fin 
 ished yesterday. The walls are sound, the roofs unbroken, the doors, and 
 even the window-shutters in their place." "The houses of Bashan are 
 not ordinary houses. Their walls are from five to eight feet thick, built of 
 large squared blocks of basalt; the roofs are formed of slabs of the same 
 material, hewn like planks, and reaching from wall to wall ; the very doors 
 and wdndow-shutters are of stone, hung upon pivots projecting above and 
 below. Some of these ancient cities have from two to five hundred houses 
 still perfect, but not a man to dwell in them. On one occasion, from the 
 battlements of the castle of Salcah, I counted some thirty towns and villa 
 ges, dotting the surface of the vast plain, many of them almost as perfect 
 as when they were built, and yet for more than five centuries there has 
 not been a single inhabitant in one of them." In describing one of these 
 houses in which he passed the night, the same author says: "The walls 
 were perfect, nearly five feet thick, built of large blocks of hewn stones, 
 without lime or cement of any kind. The roof was formed of large slabs 
 of the same black basalt, lying as regularly and jointed as closely .as if the 
 workmen had only just completed them. They measured twelve feet in 
 length, eighteen inches in breadth, and six inches in thickness. The ends 
 rested on a plain stone cornice, projecting about a foot from each side- 
 wall. The chamber was twenty feet long, twelve wide, and ten high. 
 The outer door was a slab of stone four and a half feet high, four Avide, 
 and eight inches thick. It hung upon pivots formed of projecting parts 
 of the slab, working in sockets in the lintel and threshold; and though so 
 massive, I was able to open and shut it with ease. At one end of the room 
 was a small window with a stone shutter." An inner door of stone led to 
 another chamber of the same size and appearance. From it a much largor 
 
PALESTINE. 171 
 
 door led to a third chamber, to which tlinv was a descent by a flight of 
 stone steps. This last chamber was a spacious hall twenty-four feet by 
 twenty-five, and twenty feet high. From it a camel s gate opened to the 
 street. Ib., p. 26. While these simple massive structures, which have all 
 the marks of high antiquity, remain many of them uninjured, the magnifi 
 cent temples and theatres of the Roman age have fallen into ruin. 
 
 7. Of the ancient towns of Bashaii we have room to give 
 only a cursory notice of the following : 
 
 Bozrah, that is, fortress, stronghold, stands in the midst of a rich plain 
 on the southern boundary of Hanraii. It is the Bostra of the Greeks and 
 Romans, and the Busrah of the modern Arabs. It was a strong city in the 
 time of the Maccabees across the Jordan, "three days journey in the wil 
 derness" (1 Mac. 5:24, seq.), and became the capital city of the region 
 under Roman sway. "It was," says Porter, "one of the largest and most 
 splendid cities east of the Jordan. Its walls are four miles in circuit, and 
 they do not include the suburbs." On the southern side is the celebrated 
 citadel, of great size and strength, and still nearly perfect. Some parts of 
 the city walls are still standing, a massive rampart of solid masonry, fifteen 
 feet thick, and nearly thirty high, with great square towers at intervals. 
 The streets are blocked up with fallen buildings and heaps of rubbish 
 the r.uins of theatres, temples, churches, palaces, baths, fountains, aque 
 ducts, triumphal arches, and other structures, mingled with Saracenic 
 remains. "Bozrah," says Porter, "had once a population of a hundred 
 thousand souls or more ; when I was there its whole inhabitants comprised 
 just twenty families. These live huddled together in the lower stories of 
 some very ancient houses near the castle." 
 
 This Bozrah must be carefully distinguished from the Bozrah of Edom, 
 southeast of the Dead sea. The question has been raised whether it is 
 mentioned in the Old Testament. Porter thinks that it is once named as 
 a city of Moab, in connection with Kiriathaim, Beth-gamul, Beth-Meou, 
 and Keriotli (Jer. 48:23, 24) ; of which places Beth-gamul certainly be 
 longs to the plain of Hauran. This was at a time when the Moabites had 
 repossessed themselves of this whole region. See below, No. 13. For a 
 full account of Bozrah, see Porter s Five Years in Damascus, 2, pp. 142- 
 169 ; Giant Cities of Bashau, pp. 64-73. 
 
 Salcah, the modern Sitlkhacl, in the southeastern extremity of Bashau, 
 has been long deserted ; yet Porter says (Giant Cities of Bashan, p. 75) 
 that "five hundred of its houses are still standing, and from three to four 
 hundred families might settle in it at any moment Avithout laying a stone 
 or expending an hour s labor on repairs. The circumference of the town 
 and castle together is about three miles." 
 
180 SACKED GEOGRAPHY. 
 
 In Um t l-f/nniil, mother of conn-lx, some eight or ten miles southwest of 
 Bozrah, we may recognize the Beth-yamnl, place of camels, of Jeremiah 
 cited above. It is another of the deserted cities of Hauran, surrounded 
 by high walls, with massive houses of black basalt, " in as perfect preserva 
 tion as if the city had been inhabited until within the last few years." 
 Porter as above, p. 69. 
 
 Og the king of Bashan is represented as dwelling at Ashtaroth, and twice 
 at Ashtaroth and Edrei, at which latter place he was overthrown by the Isra 
 elite^. Numb. 21 : 33-35 ; Deut. 1 : 4; Josh. 9 : 10 ; 12 :4; 13 : 12, 31. Edrei 
 is probably the modern Edhra, in a very strong position at the south western 
 angle of the Lejah ; not Dera, some fourteen miles south of Edhra, in the 
 open plain. Its ruins are among the most extensive in Hauran. See far 
 ther Porter in Alexander s Kitto ; Five Years in Damascus, 2, pp. 219--228. 
 The site of Ashtaroth is unknown. It was probably identical with Ashta- 
 rotli Karnaim ( Tiro-horned Aslartes, probably so named from the numerous 
 images there found of Astarte, with crescent-like horns, one of which is 
 described by Porter, Giant Cities of Bashan, p. 41 and elsewhere), a city 
 mentioned in Gen. 14 : 5 ; and also with the Karnain of 1 Maccabees 5 : 43. 
 Eusebius places it six Roman miles from Edrei. 
 
 KunawcU, the Kanatha or Kanotlia of the Greeks, is undoubtedly the 
 Kenath of the Old Testament. Numb. 32 : 42 ; 1 Chron. 2 : 23. It stands 
 in the mountainous region of Batanaea, in a beautiful and romantic posi 
 tion. Its magnificent ruins cover a space of one mile long by half a mile 
 wide. 
 
 For fuller notices of the deserted cities scattered over this most inter 
 esting region the reader must be referred to the three works of Porter so 
 often referred to above, and from which most of our notices have been 
 drawn. 
 
 II. GILEAD. 
 
 . 8. The whole region east of the Jordan, from the Arnon, 
 which bounded the kingdom of Sihon on the south (Numb. 
 21 : 26), to Bashan, is variously described as " the land of 
 Jazer and the land of Gilead " (Numb. 32 : 1) ; as " all the cities 
 of the plain (Heb. Misltor) and all Gilead " (Deut. 3 : 10) ; as 
 " all the plain of Medeba unto Dibon, and all the cities of Sihon 
 king of the Amorites, who reigned in Heshbon, imto the border 
 of the children of Ammon, and Gilead." Josh. 13 : 9-11. Com 
 pare also ver. 25 ; 20 : 8 ; Deut. 2 : 36. Gilead, again, is repre 
 sented as divided by the Jabbok, which separated the kingdom 
 
PALESTINE. 181 
 
 of Silion from that of Og, into two parts, each called " half Gil- 
 ead." Josh. 12 : 2, 5. It would seem, then, that originally Gil- 
 ead consisted of two divisions lying north and south of the Jab- 
 bok; while farther south lay the region variously designated 
 "the land of Jazer," " Jazer and the villages thereof" (Numb. 
 21 :32), "the plain of Medeba," "the land of the plain." Deut. 
 4 : 43. But the term Gilead came to be used in a wider sense 
 of the whole tract between the Arnon and Bashan, and so we 
 employ it here. 
 
 The northern boundary of Gilead is nowhere expressly given. The 
 mountain range of Gilead, however, terminates with the Hierornax, which 
 enters the Jordan a little south of the sea of Galilee, while north of this 
 river the plain of Bashan is spread out. Here, then, is the natural division 
 between Bashan and Gilead. By a looseness of expression the term Gil 
 ead seems to have been sometimes applied to the whole region beyond tho 
 Jordan. Deut, 34 : 1 ; Josh. 22 : 9 ; Judg. 20 : 1. 
 
 The term Mislior, plain, table-land, is applied, as a geographical term, 
 to the highlands of southern Gilead (Deut. 3 : 10 ; 4 : 43 ; Josh. 13 : 9, 16, 
 17, 21 ; 20 : 8 ; Jer. 48 : 21), and should not be confounded, as is done in 
 our version, with the ShepJielah, or lowland of. the Mediterranean coast ; nor 
 with the Arabali, waste, and kikkar, circuit, of the Jordan valley. 
 
 9. South of the Hierornax the mountains that had disap 
 peared rise again, rather suddenly, along the valley of the Jor 
 dan, constituting the northern part of Gilead between the Hie- 
 romax and the Jabbok. The western side of these mountains 
 presents steep slopes or steps, with intervening terraces and 
 fertile tracts. The summit, in the northern parts, forms a broad 
 ridge of uneven table-land. Robinson, Phys. Geog., p. 58. 
 This region called Jebel Ajlun, Ajlun mountain, is populous and 
 well cultivated. The Rev. Eli Smith, who travelled through it 
 in 1834, says : " Jebel Ajlun presents the most charming rural 
 scenery that I have seen in Syria. A continued forest of noble 
 trees, chiefly the evergreen oak (Sindian), covers a large part of 
 it, while the ground beneath is clothed with luxuriant grass, 
 which we found a foot or more in height, and decked with a 
 rich variety of wild flowers. As we went from el-Husn to Ajlun, 
 our path lay. along the very summit of the mountain, and we 
 
182 SACRED GEOGRAPHY. 
 
 often overlooked a large part of Palestine 011 one side, and the 
 whole of Hauran on the other." Second Appendix to Robin- 
 son s Bib. Res., 3, p. 162, edit. 1841. 
 
 10. " South of the Jabbok, and extending from it to the 
 deep chasm of the Arnon, is the range of mountains forming 
 the southern part of Gilead." " From the Jabbok and from the 
 Jordan valley the mountain rises steeply to a high uneven 
 tract, on which, after an interval of two hours, lies the still 
 higher ridge of Jebel Jelad (Gilead), so called from a ruined 
 town upon it." Robinson, Phys. Geog., p. 59. The elevation 
 of this mountain is given at three thousand six hundred and 
 fifty feet above the Mediterranean. From its summit there is a 
 very wide and splendid prospect. The slopes are clothed with 
 forests of oak and other trees. Es-Salt, the ancient Ramotli 
 Gi/rdd, that is, Heights of Gilead, lies near the southern foot of 
 Jebel Jelad. " For six or eight miles south of es-Salt the coun 
 try continues hilly, richly wooded, and picturesque. Farther 
 south it spreads out into a high and wide plain, apparently on 
 a level with the eastern desert, and bordered towards it by a 
 chain of hills." Robinson, Phys. Geog., p. 60. This is the 
 J// .s//o/ , jift i in. or table-land, described above, which Robinson 
 thinks to be not less than three thousand feet above the Medi 
 terranean, or four thousand three hundred above the Dead sea. 
 Ib., p. 61. 
 
 The whole of Gilead south of the Jabbok constitutes the 
 modern district el-Belka, the Belka. The ridge of the Belka 
 rises more gradually from the Jordan valley, but along the 
 eastern shore of the Dead sea, all becomes wild and pre 
 cipitous a bare gray ridge, deeply furrowed by mountain- 
 torrents, which cut through it from the high plateau above. 
 After ascending some three thousand feet, we come upon an 
 irregular table-land, diversified with undulating downs, low 
 ridges, and stony tells. It is partially covered with grass such 
 as is rarely met with in Western Palestine, except among the 
 hills of Galilee and on the ridge of Carmel. These are the pas 
 ture-lands of Reuben and Gad. The whole district is well 
 
PALESTINE. 183 
 
 described as " a land for cattle" (Numb. 32 : 1, 4); and Stanley 
 (Sinai and Palestine, pp. 318, 319) well remarks on the impor 
 tant results which followed from the fact that it was on the 
 western, not on the eastern side of the Jordan valley, that the 
 .great body of the Israelites settled. Thus they were made an 
 agricultural instead of a nomadic people, and brought into con 
 nection with the western world in the way of both giving and 
 receiving. 
 
 It was from one of the mountains of the Belka that Moses surveyed the 
 promised land : "Get thee up into this mountain of Abarim* Mount Nebo, 
 which is in the -land of Moab, that is over against Jericho " (Deut. 32 : 49) ; 
 "And Moses went up from the plains of Moab unto Mount Nebo, the top 
 of Pisgah, which is over against Jericho." Deut. 34 : 1. " The plains of 
 Moab " and "the land of Moab " are so called from the fact that this whole 
 region had belonged to the territory of Moab, and had been but recently 
 wrested from the Moabites by Sihon king of the Amorites. Numb. 21 ; 26. 
 Abarim signifies regions beyond, that is, east of the Jordan valley. "This 
 mountain of Abarim " is simply the mountain range on the eastern side, 
 opposite to Jericho. The scriptural notices of Pisgah (division) indicate 
 that it was a ridge divided into summits, of which the field of Zopliim (Numb. 
 23 : 14), Pew (Numb. 23:28), and Nebo (Deut. 32 :49 ; 34 :1) were parts. 
 " Under the springs of Pisgah " (Deut. 3 : 17 ; 4 : 49 ; Josh. 12 : 3) might be 
 better rendered, under the ravines of Pisgah ; that is, under its western 
 brow, which is cut up with ravines ; but either way, the expression is more 
 appropriate to a ridge than to a particular summit. "The mountain of 
 Nebo, the top of Pisgah" (as we may literally render the words), is then 
 the summit called Nebo on the ridge of Pisgali. As this ridge lies "over 
 against Jericho," we can have no difficulty in identifying it with the high 
 mountain brow overlooking the mouth of the Jordan. But which partic 
 ular summit Moses ascended we cannot determine. Tristram (Land of 
 Israel, pp. 535-538) describes the "glorious panorama" from these heights, 
 extending south "to Mount Hor and Seir, and the rosy granite peaks of 
 Arabia ;" southwest and west to the ridge of Hebron as far as Bethlehem 
 and Jerusalem; northwest to Gerizim, the plain of Esdraelon, and "the 
 utmost sea" beyond ; north to Tabor and Hermon ; northeast to the vast 
 Hauran and the tall range of Jebel Hauran, behind Bozrah ; eastward and 
 southeastward over the "boundless plain, stretching far into Arabia, till 
 lost in the horizon one waving ocean of corn and grass." 
 
 It was from the same heights that Balaam, with Balak and the princes 
 of Moab, surveyed the Israeli tish camp lying below on "the plains of 
 Moab. " They ar called the high places of Baal " (Numb. 22 : 41) because 
 
184 SACRED GEOGRAPHY. 
 
 Baal was worshipped there, apparently on the top of Peor, whence his 
 name Baal-peor. Numb. 25 : 3, 5. From " the field of Zophim on the top 
 of Pisgah (Numb. 23 : 14) Balaam could see only the utmost part of the 
 people "(ver. 13); but from "the top of Peor that looketh toward Jeshi- 
 nion " (the wilderness) "he saw Israel abiding in his tents according t<> 
 their tribes," and exclaimed: ; How goodly are thy tents, O Jacob, and 
 thy tabernacles, O Israel ! As the valleys are they spread forth, as gar 
 dens by the river s side, as the trees of lign-aloes which the Lord hath 
 planted, and as cedar-trees beside the waters." Numb. 24 :2, 5, 6. 
 
 Tristram estimates the height of this brow at not less than four thou 
 sand five hundred feet. It is greatly to be regretted that, with such rims 
 opportunities for surveying this region, he had neither compass nor 
 barometer. 
 
 11. The three principal rivers of Gilead are the Yarmuk, the 
 Jahbok, and the Arnon. 
 
 The Yarmuk is the Hieromax of the ancients. It flows along the 
 northern border of Gilead, having its remote fountains in the ravines on 
 the western slope of Jebel Hauran, and receiving also some tributaries 
 from Jebel Heish and Gaulonitis. It exists as a permanent stream only in 
 the lower part of its course. Here it flows through a deep and wild ravine, 
 the sides of which are rugged cliffs of basalt. North of Um Keis are the 
 hot springs of Amatha, rising up in the bottom of the chasm. The water 
 is beautifully clear, but has a strong smell of sulphur, and deposits a yel 
 low sulphureous crust upon the stones. They are much resorted to for 
 medicinal purposes. 
 
 The Jabbok, now the Nyhr ez-Ze? ka (river Zei-ka), enters the Jordan 
 nearly opposite Nabulus, and about halfway between the sea of Galilee 
 and the Dead sea. It has its remotest sources in the plateau east of the 
 mountains, through which it breaks down by a deep chasm to the Jordan. 
 In summer the upper branches become dry, and it dwindles to a small 
 stream ; but in winter the river is often swollen and impassable. Travel 
 lers describe its banks as fringed throughout nearly its whole course with 
 thickets of cane and oleander. It separates, as stated above, the province 
 of Jebel Ajlun from the Belka. 
 
 The Zurka Main and the Arnon, now the Wady el-Mojib, which flows 
 into the Dead sea, have been already noticed (Chap. 4, No. 32). The 
 Arnon forms the southern boundary of Gilead, separating it from the 
 proper territory of Moab. 
 
 12. This region, now in great part desolate through the 
 exactions of the Turkish officials and the ravages of the fierce 
 
PALESTINE. 185 
 
 Arab tribes, is capable of supporting a numerous population, 
 and it contains the ruins of many ancient cities. 
 
 Gadura, the Um Keis of the Arabs, stood on a partially isolated hill at 
 the north western extremity of the mountains of Gilead, three miles south 
 of the Hieromax. Its site is five miles east of the Jordan, and about six 
 southeast of the sea of Galilee. It was a large and splendid city, and at 
 one time the capital of Perasa. Its ruins occupy a space of about two 
 miles in circuit, and there are traces of the ancient wall all round. At the 
 base of the mountain, by the Hieromax, as already remarked, are the cele 
 brated warm springs called Amatha by the ancients. From Gadara the 
 adjacent district is called "the country of the Gadarenes." Mark 5:1; 
 Luke 8 : 26. The northeastern declivity is full of tombs excavated in 
 the limestone rock, and consisting of chambers of various sizes, some 
 above twenty feet square, with deep recesses in the sides for bodies. In 
 such tombs the demoniacs whom our Lord healed had their abode. Matt. 
 8 : 28 ; Mark 5 : 2, 3, 5 ; Luke 8 : 27^ For fuller notices of this place, see 
 Porter s Handbook, pp. 319, 320, and his articles in Smith s Bib. Diet, 
 and Alexander s Kitto. 
 
 Gerasa, the modern Jerclsli, lay on the eastern border of Pera?a, some 
 twenty miles east of the Jordan, and more than that distance southeast of 
 Gadara. Porter says that its ruins are by far the most beautiful and exten 
 sive east of the Jordan. The form of the city was an irregular square, 
 each side measuring a mile. It was surrounded by a strong wall, with 
 towers at intervals, much of which is still in a good state of preservation. 
 Three gateways are still perfect ; and within the city upwards of two hun~ 
 dred and thirty columns remain on their pedestals. See Porter s Handbook, 
 pp. 311-316 ; also Burckhardt s Travels in Syria, and Tristram s Land of 
 Israel, pp. 560, 581. 
 
 A few miles below Beth-shean, on the opposite side of the valley, there 
 comes down from the mountains of Gilead a wady called Y&bis, the exact 
 Arabic representative of the Hebrew Jabesh. On the south side of the 
 wady are the ruins called Maklub, with no hewn stones distinguishable ; 
 and farther down on the same side the more extensive ruins known as ed- 
 Deir, which Dr. Robinson conjectures to be the site of the ancient Jabesh- 
 Gilead. To this Tristram, who visited both ruins in 1864, gives his assent. 
 The position answers well to the scriptural notices of Jabesh-Gilead, and 
 is, moreover, six miles from Pella, the distance specified by Eusebius and 
 Jerome in their Onomasticon, art,. Jabis-Gctlaad. 
 
 Jabesh-Gilead first appears in the Old Testament in connection with 
 the terrible vengeance visited upon it by the Israelitish tribes because its 
 
186 SACKED GEOGRAPHY. 
 
 inhabitants had neglected to aid them in punishing the Benjamites (Judg. 
 21 :8-12); then again as besieged by the Ammonites and delivered by Saul 
 (1 Sam., chap. 11), an act which they afterwards remembered and requited 
 when they secretly removed the headless bodies of Saul and his sons from 
 the wall of Beth-shean, burned them, and interred their ashes under a 
 tree at Jabesh, and fasted seven days." 1 Sam. 31 : 11-13. 
 
 Pella is not named in the Bible, but has become celebrated throughout 
 Christendom as the place to which the Christians of Jerusalem withdrew 
 for safety before the siege and overthrow of the city by Titus. Eusebius 
 (Hist. Eccl., 3. 5) says that they did this in accordance with a revelation 
 made to the approved among them before the war. Robinson has satis 
 factorily identified the site of Pella in the ruins upon a low flat tell or 
 mound standing upon a narrow plain called by the Arabs Tubakat F< / /, 
 Terrace of Ftthil. It is about six miles from Pella to Jabcsh-Gilead, on 
 the road across the mountain to Gerasa, as given by Eusebius and Jerome. 
 See farther in Robinson s Bib. Res., 3, pp. 321-325. 
 
 The site of Eamoth- Gilead, that is, Heights of Gilead, has already been 
 mentioned as probably that of the village es-Satt, about two miles south 
 east of the highest peak of Mount Gilead. It lay in the territory of Gad. 
 Josh. 20 : 8. : The situation is strong and picturesque. The hill on which 
 it stands is separated by deep ravines from the higher mountains that 
 encompass it ; and its lower slopes are covered with terraced vineyards, 
 while the neighboring hillsides and valleys abound with olive groves. On 
 the summit stands the castle, a rectangular building with towers at the 
 corners, and defended by a deep moat hewn in the rock." Porter in Alex 
 ander s Eitto. It was one of the three cities of refuge east of the Jordan. 
 Deut. 4:43. 
 
 The scriptural history of RamotJi-Gilead is well known. In the reign 
 of Ahab it was held by the Syrians. This monarch, with Jehoshaphat 
 king of Judah, marched against it contrary to the prophetic warning of 
 Micaiah, and was mortally wounded in the assault. 1 Kings, chap. 22. 
 The struggle was renewed by Jorain, the grandson of Ahab (2 Kings 8 : 28, 
 29), and apparently with success; for we find Jehu, one of his captains, 
 at Ramoth-Gilead. There he was anointed as king in.Joram s stead, and 
 thence he rode in a chariot to Jezreel, and executed vengeance upon the 
 house of Ahab. 2 Kings, chap. 9. 
 
 It would be interesting to know the site of MaJtanaim, where the angels 
 of God met Jacob (Gen. 32 : 2), and in later times an important walled town. 
 Here Abner made Ishbosheth, Saul s son, king after the death of that 
 monarch (2 Sam. 2:8, 9) ; here David also had his headquarters when he 
 fled from Absalom (2 Sam. 17 : 24, 27) ; and to the same place apparently 
 tidings of Joab s victory over Absalom and Absalom s death were brought 
 
PALESTINE. 187 
 
 to David (2 Sam. 18 : 3 compared with verses 24, 33). The search for the 
 site of this place has hitherto proved fruitless. Mahanaim lay on the bor 
 der between the tribes of Gad and Manasseh (Josh. 13 : 26, 30), and also 
 on the western border of the highland of Gilead adjacent to the Jordan 
 valley; for when Ahimaaz ran from the field of battle to Mahanaim he 
 "ran by the way of the circuit (kikkar), and overran Cushi" (2 Sam. 
 18 : 23), who seems to have taken a more direct but rougher route over the 
 highland. The coast of Gad, again, extended evidently in a northern 
 direction, " from Heshbon unto Ramath-Mizpah and Betonim ;" and then, 
 apparently in an easterly course, "from Mahanaim unto the border of 
 Debir." Josh. 13 : 26. We are to look then for the site of Mahanaim in 
 the northwestern corner of the highland of Gilead near to the Jabbok ; 
 the battle being, as we may suppose, in the heavily-wooded and rough 
 region farther south (2 Sam. 18 : 6-9), where oak forests abound to the 
 present day. See above, No. 9. 
 
 13. The southern part of the Belka east of the Dead sea 
 contains the ruins of many ancient cities, some of which have 
 preserved more or less perfectly their ancient names, by means 
 of which they can be identified. At the time of the conquest of 
 Canaan by the Israelites these belonged to the territory of Sihon 
 king of the Amorites, " who had fought against the former king 
 of Moab, and taken all his land out of his hand, even unto 
 Arnon." Numb. 21 : 26. But upon the decline and fall of the 
 kingdom of the ten tribes, which included all the region east of 
 the Jordan, the Moabites repossessed themselves of this region ; and 
 hence its cities are named by the prophets as belonging to 
 Moab. See Isa. chaps.. 15, 16 ; Jer. chap. 48 ; Ezek. 25 : 8-11. 
 Among these cities may be named Heshbon, Elealeh, Baal- 
 raeon, Medeba, Kiriathaiin, Dibon, and Aroer. 
 
 Heshbon is the modern Hesbdn. It stood twenty-one miles east of 
 the northern end of the Dead sea. The ruins of the town cover the 
 sides of an insulated hill, but not a single edifice is left entire. Hesh 
 bon was the residence of Sihon. Numb. 21 : 26 ; Dent. 4 : 46. The ruins 
 of Elealeh, the modern el-dl (the height), lie a mile northeast of Hesh 
 bon, on the summit of a conical hill commanding a wide extent of 
 country. In the vicinity of Heshbon was a place called Beth-baal-meon 
 (Josh. 13 : 17), and in shorter forms Beth-meon (Jer. 48 :23) and Baal-meon 
 (Numb. 32:38; 1 Chron. 5:8). At the distance of two miles southeast 
 of Heshbon Burckhardt found ruins called Myoun (or, as Dr. Eli Smith 
 
188 SACRED GEOGRAPHY. 
 
 corrects it, M<im}, which arc supposed to be those of the old Moabitish 
 town. Medeba is the Madeba of the Arabs. The ruins lie about four 
 miles southeast of Heshbon, with which they are connected by an ancient 
 paved road. They occupy a low hill a mile and a half in circumference, 
 but not a solitary building remains standing. Kiriathaim is supposed by 
 Porter to be the modern Kureiydi which lies on the southwestern slope of 
 Jebel Attarus; but Grove (in Smith s Bib. Diet.) dissents. The ruins of 
 Dibon, still retaining the name in the modern Dltiban, lie some four miles 
 north of the Arnon. In Isa. 15 : 9 it is called Dimon for the sake of an 
 alliteration with the following noun: "The waters of Dimon are full of 
 blood (Heb. dam}. Aroer stood south of Dibon on the brow of the. 
 precipice overhanging the Arnon. Its ruins bear the modern name^nw-. 
 It must not be confounded with the Aroer farther north, before Rabbah, 
 which belonged to the Gadites (Josh. 13 : 25). Aroer was in the southern 
 extremity of the Israelitish territory east of the Jordan valley and Dead 
 sea. It extended from Aroer, which is by the bank of the river Arnon, 
 even unto Mount Sion, which is Hermon" (Deut. 4:48); just as on the 
 western side it reached from Beersheba on the border of the southern 
 wilderness to Dan at the base of Hermon. See farther in the Handbook 
 of Porter and his articles in Alexander s Kit to, also Grove s articles in 
 Smith s Bible Dictionary. 
 
 14. The present condition of the land of promise, which has 
 now been surveyed in its whole extent, is a solemn commentary 
 on the prophecies of the Old Testament; prophecies written 
 centuries before the advent of Christ, and the fulfilment of which 
 depended, under God s all-comprehending providence, upon 
 trains of events which no human sagacity could foresee. More 
 terribly than in the Babylonish captivity are fulfilled the words 
 of inspiration in answer to the prophet s inquiry how long the 
 blindness of the covenant people should continue: "Until the 
 cities be wasted without inhabitant, and the houses without 
 man, and the land be made desolate with desolation ; and the 
 Lord have removed man far away, and the forsaking be great 
 in the midst of the land. Isa. 6:11, 12. The land of promise 
 is, indeed, not utterly without inhabitant ; for it, as well as the 
 holy city, is "trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of 
 the Gentiles be fulfilled." But the covenant people are, and 
 have been for many dreary centuries, " wanderers among the 
 nations." Only a feeble and oppressed remnant is found in the 
 
PALESTIM:. 181) 
 
 holy land ; forbidden under penalty of death to tread upon the 
 site of their ancient "holy and beautiful temple" where their 
 fathers worshipped God, and permitted only to kiss the stones 
 of its enclosure in a single place and bathe them with their 
 tears, while they exclaim : " O God, the heathen are come into 
 thine inheritance ; thy holy temple have they defiled ; they have 
 laid Jerusalem on heaps." "We are become a reproach to our 
 neighbors, a scorn and derision to them that are round about 
 us." Psa. 79 : 1-4. Centuries of misrule have reduced to deso 
 lation large regions of Palestine. Only enough of culture re 
 mains to show what this land once was, and what it might be 
 again under a good Christian government. On the territory 
 east of the Jordan valley the curse has fallen, as we have seen, 
 in double measure. Here are awfully fulfilled the words of 
 prophecy : " Your land shall be desolate, and your cities waste. 
 Then shall the land enjoy her Sabbaths, as long as it lieth des 
 olate" (Lev. 26:33, 34); "Behold the Lord maketh the earth 
 empty, and maketh it waste, and tumeth it upside down, and 
 scattereth abroad the inhabitants thereof;" "In the city is left 
 desolation, and the gate is smitten with destruction" (Isa. 
 24 : 1, 12); " I beheld, and lo, the fruitful place was a wilderness, 
 and all the cities thereof were broken down at the presence of 
 the Lord, and by his fierce anger. For thus hath the Lord 
 said, The whole land shah 1 be desolate; yet will I not make a 
 full end." Jer. 4:26, 27. 
 
 The Lord will "not make a full end." With the pouring out 
 of his Spirit and the repentance of his covenant people shall 
 come the full restoration of the former prosperity of the land; 
 yea, more than all its former prosperity. " Upon the land of 
 my people," says the sure word of prophecy (Isa. 32:13-18), 
 " shall come up thorns and briers ; yea, upon all the houses of 
 joy in the joyous city : because the palaces shall be forsaken ; 
 the multitude of the city shall be left; the forts and towers 
 shall be for dens forever, a joy of wild asses, a pasture of flocks; 
 until the Spirit be poured upon us from on high, and the wil 
 derness be a fruitful field, and the fruitful field be counted for 
 
190 SACKED GEOGRAPHY. 
 
 a forest. Then judgment shall dwell in the wilderness, and 
 righteousness remain in the fruitful field. And the work of 
 righteousness shall be peace; and the effect of righteousness, 
 quietness and assurance for ever. And my people shall dwell in 
 a peaceable habitation, and in sure dwellings, and in quiet rest 
 ing places." Then, in both the natural and the spiritual world, 
 " the mountains shall drop down new wine, and the hills shall 
 flow with milk, and all the rivers of Judah shall flow with 
 water" (Joel 3:18); "and they shall say, This land that was 
 desolate is become like the garden of Eden ; and the waste and 
 desolate and ruined cities are become fenced, and are inhab 
 ited." Ezek. 36:35. 
 
PALESTINE. 191 
 
 CHAPTEK VI. 
 
 ANCIENT DIVISIONS OF THE JSRAELITISH LAND. 
 
 1. THE present chapter will be devoted mainly to the and nt 
 civil divisions of the land of Israel. For clearness of apprehen 
 sion, however, it seems proper to prefix a recapitulation of the 
 natural divisions of the land, as they have been considered in 
 the preceding chapters. Of these divisions west of the Jordan 
 valley we have three enumerations in the book of Joshua ; one 
 partial, being that of the southern part (Josh. 10:40, 41), and 
 two of the whole region (Josh. 11: 16, 17; 12:7, 8). We begin 
 with the third and final enumeration : "And these are the kings 
 of the land whom Joshua and the children of Israel smote on 
 the side of the Jordan westward, from Baal-gad in the valley of 
 Lebanon even unto the mount Halak (Bald mountain) that 
 ascendeth towards Seir: and Joshua gave it to the tribes of 
 Israel for a possession, according to their divisions; in the 
 mountain (har, mountain, here taken collectively), and in the 
 loidand (Shephelah, the low plain of the Mediterranean coast), 
 and in the desert (Arabah, the valley of the Jordan, and Dead 
 sea), and in the slopes (Ashcdhoth, see below), and in the wilder 
 ness (Midhbar, the desert part of the mountainous region 
 bordering on the Jordan valley and the Dead sea), and in the 
 south (Negebh, here a geographical division of the country, see 
 below), the Hittite, the Amorite, and the Canaanite, the Periz- 
 zite, the H^vite, and the Jebusite." 
 
 In the above description the Bald mountain (Halak) is proba 
 bly, as suggested by Porter and others, the Scorpion cliffs 
 (Chap. 1, No. 4) south of the Dead sea, which constitute the 
 beginning of the ascent to the mountains of Edom. 
 
 The mountain, the loidand, to wit, of the Mediterranean 
 
192 SACRED GEOGRAPHY. 
 
 
 
 coast, and the Aralah, the desert valley of the Jordan and Dead 
 sea, need no further explanation. 
 
 The word Ashedhoth, rendered in our version springs, properly 
 denotes outpourings; and is commonly understood as denoting 
 the mountain slopes, which pour out torrents of water through 
 their ravines in the rainy season. "We may render it torrent-slopes, 
 or simply slopes. Here it naturally denotes the intervening belt 
 of hills between the mountains and the Mediterranean plain, 
 which constitute so striking a feature of their western side. 
 Chap. 1, No. 7. 
 
 The icilderness belongs here to the land of Canaan. It is, 
 then, the desert tract along the shores of the Dead sea, called 
 also "the wilderness of Judah." Chap. 2, No. 24. 
 
 The south is the term applied to that part of the territory of 
 Judah which lay south of a line drawn from about the latitude 
 of Gaza eastward to Maon, and thence southeast to the southern 
 extremity of the Dead sea. It differs strikingly in its physical 
 character from the rest of Palestine. Chap. 2, No. 24. 
 
 In Josh. 10 : 40, 41, we have a partial enumeration of the 
 same divisions south of Gibeon the mountain, the south, the 
 lowland, the slopes. The luilderness and the Aralah are omitted, 
 as not coming within the territory of the kings mentioned in the 
 chapter. The land of Goshen, on the other hand, is added, the 
 situation of which is unknown. It may have been the continua 
 tion of the slopes on the south. 
 
 In Josh. 11 : 16, appended to an account of the conquest of 
 the northern part of Palestine, we have an enumeration of the 
 natural divisions of the land under two heads; first, those of 
 the southern part the mountain, and all the south, and all the 
 land of Goshoi, and the lowland, and the Aralah; secondly, the 
 two main divisions of the northern part, the conquest of which 
 had just been described the mountain of Israel and its low 
 land (Shephdah). In this enumeration the two divisions of 
 the slopes and the n ilderncss, that is, the western and eastern 
 borders of the mountain, are omitted, perhaps as being included 
 in it. 
 
PALESTINE. 193 
 
 The natural divisions of the Israelitish territory cast of tJte 
 Jordan valley and Dead sea are the following : 
 
 (1.) The Aralah eastward, that is, that part of the Arabah 
 which lies east of the Jordan. Deut. 3:17; 4:49. 
 
 (2.) All Bashan, the rocky part of which towards the east is 
 called Argob. Deut. 3 : 4-10. 
 
 (3.) The two halves of Mount Gilead divided by the Jabbok, 
 Deut. 3:12, 13. 
 
 (4.) The Plain (Mishor, plateau, table-land, Deut. 3 : 10 ; 4 : 43 ; 
 Josh. 13:9; etc. " As a special appellative, it w^as given only 
 to the great^plateau of Moab, even as distinguished from that 
 of Bashan, Deut. 3 : 10. This plateau of Moab commences at 
 the summit of that range of hills, or rather lofty banks which 
 bound the Jordan valley, and extends in a smooth, gently undu 
 lating surface, far out into the desert of Arabia." Porter in 
 Alexander s Kitto. Using the term Gilead in its wider accepta 
 tion, we may say that the Plain is a part of it. The various 
 Hebrew terms Shephelah, Aralah, Kikkar, Mishor, which are 
 confounded in our version, represent, as we have seen, when 
 ever they are used in a geographical sense, each its specific 
 division of the promised land. 
 
 I. HEBREW DIVISION BY TRIBES. 
 
 2. The primitive division of the land of Israel was, as all 
 know, fa/ tribes. We are not able in all cases to determine the 
 exact boundaries of the several tribes, owing to our ignorance 
 of so many of the places by which then- borders are designated. 
 An approximation to the true form and extent of the territory 
 allotted to each of the tribes is all that can reasonably be de 
 manded. See the map of Palestine under the judges and 
 kings. 
 
 3. The territory east of the Jordan and Dead sea, embracing 
 "the kingdom of Sihon king of the Amorites, and the kingdom 
 of Og king of Bashan," was given by Moses to the tribes of 
 Eeuben and Gad and half the tribe of Manasseh. Numb. 32 : 33. 
 Of these two kingdoms that of Sihon extended on the hiah land 
 
194 SACRED GEOGRAPHY. 
 
 from the Arnon to the Jabbok, and along "Jordan and his bor 
 der" to the sea of Galilee (Numb. 21:24; Deut. 3 : 16, 17 ; Josh. 
 13 : 15-28) ; that of Og included the highland of Gilead north of 
 the Jabbok and all Bashan with Argob (Deut. 3 : 13-15 ; Josh. 
 13 : 29-31). The whole kingdom of Og was given to the half 
 tribe of Manasseh, and that of Sihon was divided between the 
 tribes of Gad and Reuben ; Reuben having the southern part, 
 and Gad the northern. Since the coast of Gad extended on 
 the high land " from Heshbon unto Ramath-mizpeh and Be- 
 tonim" (Josh. 13:26), evidently in a northern direction, while 
 Heshbon itself with the neighboring places belonge^d to Reuben 
 (ver. 17), we infer that the boundary of Reuben extended 
 on the north just far enough to include Heshbon and the 
 adjacent towns ; that is, in all probability, as suggested by Por 
 ter in Alexander s Kitto, to the Wady HeMn that enters the 
 Jordan just north of the Dead sea. This would give to Reuben 
 the slopes of Pisgah, Beth-peor, and Beth-jeshiinoth (ver. 20), 
 with a small part of " the Jordan and the border thereof" 
 (ver. 23). 
 
 The territories, then, of the two tribes and a half beyond 
 the Jordan were as follows : 
 
 That of Reuben, the region extending from the Arnon north 
 ward to the Wady Hesban and eastward to the Arabian desert, 
 and probably in part also to the territory of Ammon. Josh. 
 13:10. 
 
 That of Gad, the region extending from the border of Reuben 
 northward on the highland to the Jabbok, and along the Jordan 
 valley to the sea of Galilee ; the eastern border being the coun 
 try of Ammon. From a comparison of Deut. 2 : 19, where the 
 Israelites are forbidden to appropriate to themselves any part 
 of the land of Ammon, with Josh. 13 :25, where "half the land 
 of the children of Ainnion" is allotted to the tribe of Gad, we 
 infer with certainty that the Israelites found this half of the 
 Ammonitish territory in the possession of Sihon, who had 
 wrested it from the Ammonites, as he had from the Moabites 
 their territory north of the Arnon. This fact explains perfectly 
 
PALESTINE. 195 
 
 the charge brought three hundred years afterwards against the 
 Israelites by the king of Ainmon, that they had taken away his 
 land, and Jephthah s answer. Jud. 11 : 12-28. Upon the de 
 cline and fall of the Israelitish kingdom, the Ammonites repos 
 sessed themselves of the territory of Gad. Jer. 49 : 1. 
 
 That of the half tribe of Manasseh, the half of Gilead which 
 lay north of the Jabbok, and all Bashan with Argob. Its 
 boundaries were on the west the valley of the upper Jordan and 
 the sea of Galilee ; on the north, Mount Herinon and the terri 
 tory of Damascus (Itunea having been added by subsequent 
 conquest. 1 Chron. 5 : 18-22) ; and on the east the Arabian 
 desert. " The country occupied by the Manassites east of the 
 Jordan," says Porter (in Alexander s Kitto), "was the richest in 
 all Palestine. It is to this day the granary of a great part of 
 Syria." 
 
 4. The above named tribes had, on their eastern frontier the 
 warlike and predatory Arabs of the desert. A notable expedi 
 tion made against these by their combined forces" in the days of 
 Saul is described in 1 Chron. 5 : 18-22. On this occasion they 
 took from the Hagarites and their allies " of their camels fifty 
 thousand, and of sheep two hundred and fifty thousand, and of 
 asses two thousand, and of men a hundred thousand ;" thus 
 preparing the way for the extension of the Israelitish territory 
 under Solomon to the Euphrates (1 Kings 4 : 24), according to 
 the original grant made to Abraham (Gen. 15 : 18). It would 
 seem> also, that the territory of Gad at one time overlapped that 
 of Manasseh ; for we read (1 Chron. 5 : 11, 16) that the children 
 of Gad dwelt " in the land of Bashan unto Sale ah." 
 
 The warlike valor of the Gadites is commended by Jacob and Moses, 
 (Gen. 49:19 ; Dent, 33:20, 21), and by the author of the books of Chron 
 icles (1 Chron. 12:8-15). It was signally manifested in the expedition 
 against the Hagarites and their allies noticed above. Then was fulfilled 
 the prediction of Jacob: " Gad" (meaning in Hebrew troop), "a troop shall 
 assail him, but he shall assail it at the end :" or, "he shall assail its heel," 
 that is, its rear when routed ; and also the prediction of Moses: "Blessed 
 be he that enlargeth Gad: he dwelleth as a lion, and teareth the arm and 
 also the crown of the head." 
 
196 SACKED GEOGRAPHY. 
 
 5. When the work of distributing the land west of the Jordan 
 and the Dead sea to the several tribes had been commenced, 
 and had advanced so far that the tribes of Judah and Ephraim, 
 and the half tribe of Manasseh had received their inheritance, 
 it was for some reason interrupted, and not resumed again till 
 the tabernacle and camp of the Israelites had been transferred 
 to Shiloh. Josh, chaps. 15-17 and chap. 18 : 1-9. Respecting 
 the first attempt at distribution, it is worthy of notice that it was 
 begun on too liberal a scale, the tribe of Judah receiving about 
 one-third of this whole tract, or double its due proportion ac 
 cording to the census of the tribes recorded in the twenty-sixth 
 chapter of the book of Numbers. The expectation at that time 
 seems to have been that not only Philistia but the whole of 
 Lebanon with its valleys as far as "the entrance of Hamath" 
 would come into the possession of the tribes, according to the 
 boundaries marked out in the thirty-fourth chapter of Numbers. 
 But this expectation was never realized, except in a certain 
 measure during the reigns of David and Solomon. The perma 
 nent northern boundary was Dan at the base of Mount Hermon, 
 and on the southwest the Philistines retained possession of the 
 Mediterranean plain. Thus the western border of the tribe of 
 Judah was greatly abridged ; and its territory was still further 
 reduced, as we shall see, by the allotment of its southwestern 
 section to the tribe of Simeon. Some of its cities in the north 
 west were also given to the tribe of Dan. 
 
 6. The territory originally assigned to Judah was in the 
 southern part of Palestine, extending across the whole breadth 
 of the land. It is sufficient, therefore, to give its northern 
 boundary as marked out in Josh. 15:5-11. Here, passing 
 from east to west, we have several well-known landmarks the 
 bay of the sea, at the uttermost part of Jordan (that is, the bay 
 at the northwestern extremity of the Dead sea where the Jor 
 dan ends), En-rogel, the valley of Hinnom south of Jerusalem, 
 Kirjath-jearim, Beth-shemesh, Timnath, the side of Ekron 
 northward, Jabneel, the Mediterranean. The general course, 
 then, was from the northern extremity of the Dead sea west- 
 
PALF.ST1NE. 197 
 
 ward to the Mediterranean ; so that it struck the Kidron appa 
 rently a little southeast of Jerusalem, passed up that valley into 
 the valley of Hinnoni, and curved a little to the north between 
 Hinnoni and Tinmath. 
 
 7. The inheritance of Simeon fell " within the inheritance of 
 the children of Judah;" "for the part of the children of Judah 
 was too much for them." Josh. 19:1,9. Their territory is 
 described only by its cities; among which are named Beer- 
 sheba, Hormah, and Ziklag. Hence we infer that it lay in the 
 southwest and south of Judah. 
 
 If Robinson is right in identifying Hormah, else called Zeplmtli, with 
 es-Sufah on the road from Petra to Hebron (Bib. Res., 2. 181), the terri 
 tory of Simeon must have trended on the south of Judah far towards the 
 Arabah. The so-called blessing pronounced by Jacob upon Simeon and 
 Levi began with a denunciation of their cruelty towards the Shechernites, 
 and ended with the words, "I will divide them in Jacob, and scatter them 
 in Israel." Gen. 49:5-7. How these memorable words were fulfilled 
 in the case of Levi, is well understood. How they were accomplished 
 in the case of Simeon is not so clear. We have, perhaps, a part of their 
 fulfilment in the record of the settlement of one part of the tribe at 
 " the entrance of Gedor," and another on "Mount Seir." 1 Chron. 4:39- 
 43. In the blessings pronounced by Moses (Dent., chap. 33), Simeon is 
 not named. The remarkable decrease of the tribe, between the first and 
 second census recorded in the book of Numbers, from 59,300 to 22,200, is 
 worthy of notice. In the matter of Beth-peor, the tribe of Simeon had a bad 
 preeminence ; for it was "Zhnri the son of Salu, prince of a father s house 
 among the Simeonites," that brought the Midianitish woman into the 
 camp in the presence of Moses and the whole congregation of Israel. 
 Numb., chap. 25. Perhaps a double share of the plague and slaughter on 
 that occasion fell upon this tribe. But another reason for the smallness of 
 this tribe is assigned (1 Chron. 4 :27), which began to operate, as it would 
 seem, upon the departure of the Israelites from Egypt, at which time the 
 tribe of Simeon was surpassed in number only by those of Judah and Dan. 
 Shimei, a descendant from Simeon iti the fifth generation, " had," says the 
 record, "sixteen sons and six daughters : but his brethren had not many 
 children, neither did all their family multiply like the children of Judah." 
 
 8. The territory of Benjamin was bounded on the south by 
 that of Judah, and on the east by the Jordan. Its northern 
 boundary passed up by the side of Jericho on the north to the 
 
198 SACRED GEOGRAPHY. 
 
 highland, and so westward on the south side of Beth-el to "the 
 hill which is south of the nether Beth-horon." Thence it turned 
 south to Kirjath-jearim, where it met the border of Judah. Josh. 
 18 : 11-15. As it included Ophrah (ver. 23), the line seems to 
 have run in a northwesterly direction past Jericho, and to have 
 afterwards curved towards the south. 
 
 The boundary excludes Beth-el (ver. 13); yet this city is afterwards 
 named as one of the cities of Benjamin (ver. 22). Some have assumed 
 here a corruption of the text ; but, as Keil remarks (Commentary on Josh 
 ua), " It is quite possible that the town of Beth-el may have been assigned 
 to the tribe of Benjamin, although the boundary of their territory ran 
 along the southern side of that city." Thomson (The Land and the Book, 
 2, pp. 546, 547) conjectures that "the sea," mtrned in ver. 14, is "a little 
 lake near el- Jib" (Gibeon), that exists there in the wet season, and that it 
 is the same as "the great waters that are in Gibeon." Jer. 41 : 12. 
 
 Jerusalem lay within the territory of Benjamin, in accordance with the 
 prophetic words of Moses : " The beloved of the Lord shall dwell in safety 
 by Him : He covereth him all the day long, and he dwelleth between His 
 shoulders " (Deut. 33 : 12) a double figure of covering with the wings as 
 a bird and bearing on the shoulders as a father. 
 
 9. The district assigned to the tribe of Dan, as may be gath 
 ered from the enumeration of the border cities belonging to it 
 (Josh. 19:40-46), lay west of Benjamin and partly of Judah, 
 extending northwesterly so as to include the Mediterranean 
 coast from Japho, that is, Joppa, as far south as the latitude of 
 Ekron. Thus it included a part of the Philistine plain; of 
 which, however, the Danites were not able to gain possession. 
 Judg. 1:34,35. 
 
 The lot of the children of Dan came out last ; and the territory left for 
 them was very small in consideration of their number, which was inferior 
 only to that of the tribe of Judah. Josh. 19 : 47. Their country was fur 
 ther limited by their inability to drive out the Amorites of the plain. 
 This evil they remedied by taking forcible possession of a very fertile 
 region at the base of Hermon, as is described in the eighteenth chapter of 
 the book of Judges, thus fulfilling the declaration of Moses (Deut. 33:22), 
 "Dan is a lion s whelp : he shall leap from Bashan ;" that is, as a lion from 
 Bashan leaps upon his prey. 
 
PALESTINK. 199 
 
 10. The account of the boundaries of };///////>/ mid Hancut- 
 seh (Josh., chaps. 16, 17) is very obscure, owing to our ignor 
 ance of most of the landmarks named. It is plain, however, 
 that the territory of Ephraim stretched across the whole land 
 from the Jordan to the Mediterranean, having on the south the 
 tribes of Benjamin and Dan. On the Mediterranean coast it 
 extended north to the torrent of Kanah (reeds), the identifica 
 tion of which is difficult. The suggestion of Porter (in Alexan 
 der s Kitto), that the Kanah of Joshua is the modern Na/tr </- 
 Akltdar, which enters the Mediterranean about two miles south 
 of CaBsarea, is worthy of favorable consideration: "Its banks 
 are low, marshy, and covered with jungles qf reeds." 
 
 The coast of the lialf tribe of Manasseh, as originally denned, 
 began on the north at Asher (Josh. 17:7, 10), while that of 
 Asher reached to Carrael westward (chap. 19 : 26), with a strip 
 of the seacoast extending south so as to include Dor (chap. 
 17:11). The ridge of Carrnel, then, was its boundary on the 
 northeast, the territory of Ephraim on the south, and it touched 
 upon Issachar on the east. It was thus nearly triangular in 
 form. With this agrees the statement of Josh. 17:10, which 
 may be literally translated : " On the south [of the torrent 
 Kanah] it [the coast] belonged to Ephraim, and on the north 
 to Manasseh, and the sea was its border : and they [the Manas- 
 sites] touched upon Asher on the north, and upon Issachar on 
 the east." They further received a liberal grant out of the ter 
 ritory of Asher and Issachar (ver. 11), so that their coast ex 
 tended on the sea to the promontory of Carrnel, and included 
 the towns on the northeastern slope of Carniel, with some impor 
 tant places farther east. 
 
 We have seen that the portion of Manasseh east of the Jordan was the 
 richest part of Palestine. That of Ephraim and Manasseh west of the Jor 
 dan was worthy also of the prophetic encomiums pronounced on it by both 
 Jacob and Moses. Gen. 49 : 22-26 ; Deut, 33 : 13-17. They had the first 
 choice after Judah, and they selected a portion blessed of the Lord "with 
 the precious things of heaven, with dew and with the deep that croucheth 
 beneath ; and with the precious things of the increase of the sun, and with 
 
200 SACKED GEOGRAPHY. 
 
 the precious things of the produce of the moon ; and with the choicest 
 things of the ancient mountains, and with the precious things of the ever 
 lasting hills ; and with the precious things of the earth and her fulness ; 
 and with the favor of Him who dwelleth in the bush." 
 
 11. The boundaries of the four remaining Galilean tribes 
 cannot be given with any degree of accuracy. The following is 
 a general statement of their position and relation to each other. 
 
 Issachar s territory lay along the Jordan, having Ephraim 
 on the south and Manasseh on the southwest, and it extended 
 to Tabor. Josh. 19 : 17-23. In the words of Joseplius (Antiq., 
 5. 1. 22), it had " for its boundaries in length, Mount Carmel 
 and the river [Jordan] ; and in breadth, Mount Tabor;" that is, 
 it extended in breaclth from Ephraim north to Mount Tabor. 
 Thus it included, in great part at least, the large and fertile 
 plain of Esdraelon, the battle-field of nations, through which 
 lay the route from Egypt on the south to Damascus and the 
 eastern empires. 
 
 "Issachar," says Jacob s prophetic blessing, "is a strong-boned ass, 
 crouching among the folds" (so the Hebrew is rightly rendered, Judg. 
 5 : 16). ; And he saw rest, that it was good; and the land that it was 
 pleasant ; and he bowed his back to bear, and became subject to tribute " 
 (Gen. 49 : 14, 15) ; the tribute, apparently, imposed on him by the chief 
 tains who passed through and ravaged his fair inheritance, as is done by 
 the marauding Arabs at the present day. Yet the men of Issachar are 
 commended for their valor and alacrity in war (Judg. 5 : 15), and for their 
 practical wisdom (1 Chron. 12 :32), as men "that had understanding of 
 the times to know what Israel ought to do." 
 
 12. Next above the tribe of Issachar was the territory of 
 Zeltduu. Josh. 19 : 10-16. It seems to have lain along the 
 Jordan on the east from Issachar to the sea of Galilee. How 
 far it extended westward towards the Mediterranean is uncer 
 tain. One of its landmarks was Jokneant, which has been, with 
 a reasonable degree of probability, identified with the modern 
 Tell Kaiinon, under Carmel, near the northwestern angle of the 
 plain of Esdraelon (Robinson, Bib. Res., 3, p. 115, note), so 
 that it seems to have included the northern rim of the plain of 
 Esdraelon. 
 
I ALKSTINE. 201 
 
 According to Joseplms (Antiq. , 5. 1. 22), "the Zebulonites obtaimd 
 by lot the land as far as the lake of Gennesareth, and extending by Carmel 
 and the sea" (the Mediterranean). According to the division given in the 
 book of Joshua, it could not have reached to the sea ; for Asher reached 
 to Carniel westward (chap. 19 : 26). Bub we may well suppose that after 
 wards it reached to the Mediterranean. Thus the prophetic words of 
 Jacob had their fulfilment : "Zebulun shall dwell at the coast of the sea, 
 and he [shall dwell] at the coast of ships ; and his border shall be upon 
 Zidon " (Gen. 49 : 13) ; that is, not the city of Zidon, but Phoenicia, the 
 territory of Zidon. The words of Moses, "Rejoice, Zebulun, in thy going 
 fortU " (that is, in the activities of life), "and Issachar in thy tents " (Deut. 
 33 : 18), contrast the enterprise of Zebulun with the quiet of Issachar. See 
 farther 1 Chron. 12 : 32-40. 
 
 1*3. Finally, at the extreme northern limit of Palestine lay 
 the tribes of Aslier and NapJitali, side by side ; Asher on the 
 west and Naphtali on the east. Josh. 19 : 24-39. The terri 
 tory of Asher included the Phoenician coast as far as " Great 
 Zidon;" but the Asherites obtained possession of it only to a 
 very limited extent, as we learn from Judg. 1 : 31, 32. To 
 Naphtali belonged most of the western coast of the sea of Gal 
 ilee, with the warm and fertile valley of the upper Jordan, to 
 the base of Lebanon. 
 
 Of the beauty and fertility of this part of Galilee all travellers speak in 
 terms of admiration. It is well worthy of the prophetic encomiums pro 
 nounced upon it by Jacob and Moses : " Out of Asher his bread shall be 
 fat, and he shall yield royal dainties " (Gen. 49 : 20) ; " Let Asher be blessed 
 with children ; let him be acceptable to his brethren ; and let him dip his 
 foot in oil ;" "O Naphtali, satisfied with favor, and full of the blessing of 
 the Lord, inherit thou the sea and the south." Deut. 33 :23, 24 The 
 Hebrew word rendered "the south" is Darom, and is entirely distinct 
 from the geographical term Negeb, which is used of the south country in 
 Judah. Here it probably means the south with reference to Lebanon 
 the warm and fertile valley of the Jordan, lying at its base. Jacob s bless 
 ing on Naphtali (Gen. 49 : 21) refers apparently to the personal qualities 
 of the tribe. But the true rendering of the original is a matter of con 
 troversy. 
 
 14. The tribe of Levi received no separate territory, being 
 maintained by the tithes paid by the other tribes. Numb. 
 
 9* 
 
2O2 SACIIKI) GEOGRAPHY. 
 
 18 : 20 ; 26 : 62 ; Deut. 10 : 9 ; 18 : 1, 2 ; Josh. 18 : 7. For their 
 residence forty-eight cities with their suburbs were assigned to 
 them, six of them being also cities of refuge, and these cities were 
 distributed among all the other tribes. Numb. 35 : 1-8; Josh., 
 chap. 21. Thus the prophetic announcement of Jacob respect 
 ing Simeon and Levi, " I will divide them in Jacob, and scatter 
 them in Israel" (Gen. 49 : 7), was so fulfilled in the case of this 
 tribe as to be made a blessing to the tribe itself and the whole 
 nation; for the functions of the Levites were spiritual, .and 
 they became, in a measure at least, the instructors of the 
 people. 
 
 In respect to the Levitical cities Moses gives the following directions : 
 "And the suburbs [pasture-grounds] of the cities which ye shall give to 
 the Levites from the wall of the city and outward shall be a thousand cubits 
 round about. And ye shall measure without the city the east side [not, on 
 the east side ; for the Hebrew has the accusative case] two thousand cubits, 
 and the south side two thousand cubits, and the west side two thousand 
 cubits, and the north side two thousand cubits ; and the city shall be in 
 the midst : this shall be to them the suburbs of the city. " Numb. 35 : 4, 
 5. The commentators have expended much labor, and proposed many 
 plans, some of them very artificial, in the effort to bring these two verses 
 into agreement with each other. See in Alexander s Kitto, art. Levites ; 
 and in Saalschiitz Mosaic Law, chap. 8, 7. The simplest explanation of 
 the fourth verse, taken in connection with the fifth, is that which assumes 
 that the suburbs of the Levitical cities ; from the city wall and outward" 
 extended in each direction a thousand cubits, when measured from the 
 centre of the city, this being of a square form. 
 
 15. After the secession of the ten tribes, the whole southern 
 kingdom, comprising the territory of Judah and Benjamin, was 
 called by the name of Judah, while that of the ten tribes went 
 by the name of Israel ; or, as often in tlie prophets, Epliraim, 
 from the leading tribe, and Joseph, from the father of the two 
 great tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh. Psa. 78 : 67 ; Ezek. 
 37:16, 19; Zech. 10:6, 7. 
 
 We should naturally infer from the position of the tribe of Simeon that 
 its territory must have fallen to the kingdom of Judah. But in 2 Chron. 
 15 : 9 ; 34 : 6, it seems to be distinguished from that of Judah. 
 
PALESTINE. 203 
 
 II. DIVISIONS OF PALESTINE IN THE KOMAN AGE. 
 
 16. It is well known that in our Saviour s time all Palestine 
 west of the Jordan was divided into the three provinces of 
 Galilee, Samaria, and Judea ; although the latter, as we shall 
 see, did not include the whole of the ancient kingdom of 
 Judah. 
 
 17. Galilee, the most northern province, was bounded on the 
 south by a line running along the base of Carmel by Ginsea afc 
 the southeastern extremity of the plain of Esdraelon to Scyth- 
 opolis (the ancient Beth-shan) and the Jordan. Josephus, Jew 
 ish War, 3. 3. 1, 4; Antiq., 20. 6. 1. If the line ran from Ginsea 
 along the southern arm of the great plain, it struck the Jordan 
 a little below Scythopolis, thus including Gilboa and the terri 
 tory adjacent to Scythopolis on the south. It did not extend 
 on the west to the Mediterranean, being cut off in that quarter 
 by the Phoenician territory of Ptolemais (the ancient Accho), 
 Phoenicia at this time extending, according to Josephus (Antiq., 
 15. 9. 6), so far south as to include Caesarea. 
 
 The province was subdivided again into Upper and Lower 
 Galilee, the line of division running, according to Josephus 
 (Jewish War, 3. 3. 1), " from Tiberias to Chabulon [Cabul], near 
 to which, on the seacoast, is Ptolemais." Hence " Lower Gal 
 ilee included the great plain of Esdraelon with its offshoots, 
 which run down to the Jordan and the lake of Tiberias; and 
 the whole of the hill country adjoining it on the north to the 
 mountain range." Porter in Smith s Bible Dictionary. Upper 
 Galilee embraced the whole mountain range lying between the 
 upper Jordan and Phoenicia to the northern extremity of Pal 
 estine. 
 
 The term Galilee signifies circuit, and is thought to have been originally 
 applied to a small region of country in the northwest of the region which 
 constitutes the Galilee of the New Testament. It was called "Galilee of 
 the Gentiles" (Isa. 9:1; in 1 Mac. 5 : 15 Galilee of the foreigners) from the 
 great number of Gentiles who inhabited the region. Compare 1 Mac. 
 5 : 17-22. 
 
204 SACRED GEOGRAPHY. 
 
 18. Samaria lay between Galilee on the north and Judea on 
 the south. Its southern boundary corresponded substantially 
 with that which separated the ancient kingdoms of Judah and 
 Israel ; in other words, it ran along the northern border of the 
 tribe of Benjamin. 
 
 Joseplms, speaking of the northern boundary of Judea, which separa 
 ted it from Samaria, says (Jewish War, 3. 3. 5) that "it extends from the 
 river Jordan to Joppa." He also says (ib., 4) that Samaria extends, 
 evidently in a southern direction, "from a village in the great plain named 
 Ginaea to the toparchy of the Acrabatenes. " Acrabatta, the modern Akra- 
 beh (Robinson, Bib. Res., 3, p. 296) lies some eight miles southeast of 
 Nabulus, and considerably north of a* line drawn east from Joppa to the 
 Jordan. But the toparchy of Acrabatta may have extended some miles 
 south of the town. 
 
 19. Judcea, as a Roman province, extended south of Sama 
 ria to the Mediterranean. But that part of the ancienfr king 
 dom of Judah lying south of the mountains of Judah, and known 
 as the South (Heb. Negeb) seems to have been included in the 
 province of Idumcea; for Josephus expressly states (Antiq., 5. 
 1. 22) that the tribe of Simeon " received that part of Idumsea 
 which bordered on Egypt and Arabia." 
 
 The original territory of the Idumseans (Edomites) was Mount Seir, 
 lying east of the Arabah, or southern continuation of the valley of the 
 Jordan and Dead sea. But upon the decline of the Jewish power, and 
 especially during the Babylonish captivity, the Edomites spread them 
 selves over the region of the Ainalekites south of Judah, and took posses 
 sion of the southern border of Palestine. Judas Maccabeus found them in 
 possession of Hebron and Mareshah and Azotus. Antiq., 12. 8. 6. Although 
 the Idumseans were conquered, they were permitted to remain in the 
 region upon condition of their receiving circumcision (Josephus, Antiq. , 
 13. 9. 1), and thus the name of Idumsea was perpetuated. 
 
 20. The division of ancient Bashan into the four provinces 
 of Gaidonitis, Aiiranitis, Batan&a, and Trachonitis, to which 
 Iturcea on the northeast was added, has been already consid 
 ered (Chap. 5, No. 2). Galaaditis is the ancient Gilead, with 
 Ammonitis (Ammon) lying east of its southern part; and Moab- 
 
1 ALESTINK. -205 
 
 it i-s (the Moab of Scripture) on the south. Josephus uses the 
 term Percea, that is, the region beyond, as substantially equivalent 
 to Gilead. He gives the length of Peraea as extending north* 
 from Machserus to Pella ; and its width east and west from Phil 
 adelphia (Kabbath Ammon) to the Jordan. Jewish War, 3. 3. 
 3. The site of Machserus, where, according to Josephus (Antiq., 
 18. 5. 2), John the Baptist was imprisoned and beheaded, is 
 supposed to be that of the ruined fortress Mkauer, on the north 
 end of Jebel Attarus. It was certainly near the Arnon, for 
 Josephus says that the southern termination of Peraea was 
 Moabitis. 
 
2011 SACRED GEOGRAPHY. 
 
 CHAPTEK VII. 
 
 CLIMATE, SOIL, AND* NATURAL HISTORY. 
 I. CLIMATE. 
 
 1. THE Scorpion cliffs (ascent of Akrabbim, Numb. 34:4) 
 at the southern extremity of Palestine are in about north lati 
 tude 31 degrees ; Tell-el-Kady (the ancient Dan) at the northern 
 extremity is in north latitude 33 degrees 16 minutes. These 
 two parallels of latitude run through our gulf states ; the former 
 a little north of Mobile in Alabama, the latter a little north of 
 Milledgeville in Georgia. The latitude of the southern half of 
 these two states corresponds, therefore, with that of Palestine. 
 But the gulf states have in their southern half a comparatively 
 level and uniform surface ; the surface of Palestine is, as we have 
 seen, wonderfully diversified : the gulf states have on the south 
 anct east an immense expanse of ocean, while Palestine is bor 
 dered on the south and east by the hot and dry regions of 
 Africa and Arabia : the gulf states have on their western border 
 the continent ; Palestine has on the same border the Mediterra 
 nean sea. These differences of surface and relation to the sur 
 rounding regions produce corresponding differences of climate 
 some of which are of a very marked character. 
 
 2. In our country, as in Europe generally, rain falls more or 
 less during the whole year. But in Palestine it is confined to 
 certain months. The rainy and the dry season constitute the 
 two divisions of the year; the former being the winter or cold 
 season, the latter the summer or hot season. When the rainy 
 season has begun the seed-time comes, and at its close the har 
 vest. Hence the division given in the book of Genesis (chap. 
 8: 22), " seed-time and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer 
 and winter," is for Palestine perfectly natural. 
 
PALESTINE. 207 
 
 Against the idea of some expositors that six different divisions of the 
 year are here meant, see Delitzsch on Genesis 8 : 22. It is the two natural 
 divisions considered in three different aspects. 
 
 3. The rains usually begin to fall in the last half of October 
 or the beginning of November; and they continue into April, 
 sometimes even till the first of May. The rainy season does 
 not come suddenly, but by degrees, and it ends in like manner. 
 It finds the earth hard-baked and incapable of being ploughed. 
 The showers, coming at intervals, soften the soil, and give the 
 husbandman an opportunity to plough his ground and sow his 
 fields of winter wheat and barley. The rains are, as a rule, 
 most abundant in the middle of the rainy season, but through 
 out the whole period there is an " alternation of groups of rainy 
 days, followed by longer intervals of sunshine." Robinson, 
 Phys. Geog., p. 289. 
 
 The average annual fall of rain at Jerusalem for seven years is stated 
 by Barclay (City of the Great King, p. 428) to have been 56.5 inches ; 
 which is about one-fourth more than the annual average for Massachusetts. 
 But it all falls within the period of six months. We who live in this west 
 ern world can with difficulty apprehend the force and beauty of the Psalm 
 ist s words (Psa. 65:9,10) where he describes the blessed influence of the 
 early or former rains after a continuous drought of six months: "Thou 
 visitest the earth, and waterest it abundantly: thou greatly enrichest it: 
 the river of God is full of water: thou preparest the corn ; for so hast thou 
 prepared it. Abundantly . watering its furrows, settling its ridges, thou 
 makest it soft with showers: thou blessest its springing." The transfor 
 mation is wonderful. The fields lately so brown parched and desolate, put 
 on their robes of "living green," and all nature rejoices; "the pastures 
 are clothed with flocks: the valleys also robe themselves with corn: they 
 shout for joy ; yea, they sing." 
 
 4. "We are not to understand- the language of the Scriptures 
 in reference to the early and the latter rain as if these two periods 
 were separated by a considerable interval of dry weather. " There 
 are no definite and distinct seasons of early and latter rain, 
 separate from the rest of the rainy season. The whole period 
 from October to April constitutes only one continued season in 
 which rain falls; without any regularly intervening term of 
 
208 SACKED OEOG I! A I HY. 
 
 prolonged fair weather." Kobinson, Phys. Geog., p. 292. TJie 
 terms former and latter rain Jiave reference to the labor of tlic 
 husbandman. " Should the early rain fail, or be too long de 
 layed, so that the rainy season should begin at once with heavy 
 and constant showers, there would be no opportunity for the 
 husbandman to plough his ground or sow his seed; and there 
 could be no crop. Or, if the latter rain, the showers of March 
 and April, do not take place, the ripening grain and springing 
 verdure are arrested, and do not reach their full maturity. In 
 such case the crops are diminished, or fail altogether. On the 
 other hand, when the latter rain occurs in full, the husbandman 
 is never disappointed in his harvest." Robinson, ibid. 
 
 5. The prevailing winds of winter are westerly; and it is 
 from the Mediterranean sea lying in this direction that the rains 
 come. The west wind continues to blow " from one to seven or 
 eight days at a time, continuing through each group of rainy 
 days. Sometimes the west wind itself clears away the clouds; 
 though fair weather more commonly foUows a change of wind 
 to the north or east." Robinson, ib., p. 303. Next to the west 
 wind, that from the east is the most common, and this usually 
 brings serene weather. Respecting the Sirocco, or wind from 
 the south quarter, see below. 
 
 "When Elijah cast himself down on Carmcl to pray for rain, he sent his 
 servant seven times with the command: "Go up now, look towards the 
 sea." The seventh time the servant returned with the report: "Behold 
 there ariseth a little cloud out of the sea, like a man s hand." Immedi 
 ately upon hearing this, the prophet sent the message to Ahab: "Prepare 
 thy chariot and get thee down, that the rain stop thee not." 1 Kings, 
 18 : 41-46. Our Saviour alludes to the same phenomenon : When ye see, " 
 says he (Luke 12:54), "a cloud rise out of the west, straightway ye say. 
 There conieth a shower ; and so it js ;" on which passage Robinson well 
 remarks (ib., p. 303): "It does not follow that it always rains when the 
 west wind blows ; but it is true that the west is the rainy quarter, and that 
 in winter a west wind seldom fails r sooner or later, to bring rain." 
 
 6. The beginning of the dry season in April and May is de 
 lightful. The sky is serene, the air balmy, and the face of nature 
 arrayed in verdure, with a profusion of gay flowers. All this 
 
PALESTINE. 209 
 
 is portrayed with inimitable grace and beauty in the bride 
 groom s address to his bride (Cant. 2:10-13): "My beloved 
 spake, and said unto me, Eise up, my love, my fair one, and 
 come away. For lo, the winter is past; the rain is over and 
 gone ; the flowers appear on the earth ; the time of the singing 
 of birds is come, and the voice of the turtle is lieard in our land ; 
 the fig-tree ripeneth her green figs, and the vines are in Blos 
 som ; they give a goodly smell. Arise, my love, my fair one, and 
 come away." 
 
 But as the dry season advances, this cheerful aspect of 
 nature gradually disappears. The " grass upon the house-tops," 
 which had sprung up during the rainy season, speedily withers. 
 Next the fields lose their freshness and verdure, and the land 
 scape becomes brown and parched. "The deep green of the 
 broad fig leaves and the lighter shade of the millet is delightful 
 to the eye amid the general aridness ; while the foliage of the 
 olive, with its dull grayish hue, scarcely deserves the name of 
 verdure." Eobinson as above, pp. 293, 294. Later in the sea 
 son "the cloudless sky and burning sun dry up all moisture. 
 The grass withers, the flower fades, the bushes and shrubs take 
 a hard, gray look, the soil becomes dust, and the country as 
 sumes the aspect of a parched barren desert." Porter in Alex 
 ander s Kitto. If the usual showers have not fallen in the pre 
 ceding rainy season, or if the early rains of autumn are with 
 held, great is the distress of man and beast : " Their nobles have 
 sent their little ones to the waters : they came to the pits, and 
 found no water ; they returned with their vessels empty ; they 
 were ashamed and confounded, and covered their heads. Be 
 cause the ground is chapped, for there was no rain in the earth, 
 the ploughmen were ashamed, they covered their heads. Yea, 
 the hind also calved in the field, and forsook it, because there 
 was no grass. And the wild asses did stand in the. high places, 
 they snuffed up the wind like dragons; their eyes did fail, 
 because there was no grass." Jer. 14:3-6. 
 
 7. The clouds that come in the rainy season from the Medi 
 terranean deposit their moistures on the western slope of the 
 
210 SACKED GEOGRAPHY. 
 
 mountains of Judaea and Samaria: while the eastern slope of 
 these mountains beyond their crest is left parched and desert. 
 Where the mountain barrier ceases, as at the plain of Esdraelon, 
 the desert ceases also. The higher mountains of Gilead, again, 
 intercept the residuuni of moisture brought to them from the 
 west. When this is exhausted, the great Arabian desert begins. 
 Souh of the Mediterranean sea the desert extends quite across 
 the southern rim of Palestine to Egypt. 
 
 The same cause which operates in South America, where the east wind 
 prevails, to make the eastern slope of the Andes a rainy and the western 
 a dry region, operates in Palestine, where the western winds bring the 
 rain, to produce a contrary result. 
 
 8. The temperature of the different sections of Palestine 
 varies with their elevation. The valley of the Jordan and Dead 
 sea, which is the most depressed, is the hottest region, ^he 
 mountainous tracts on both sides of the Jordan valley are the 
 coolest. Intermediate between these two extremes is the tem 
 perature of the Mediterranean plain. 
 
 9. The climate of the mountainous regions is temperate and 
 salubrious. Except when the Sirocco blows, the days are never 
 oppressively warm, and the nights are cool, often with a heavy 
 dew. The westerly winds which prevail much of the time in 
 summer, coming as they do from the Mediterranean, temper the 
 heat of the dry season, and make it at Jerusalem, according 
 to Barclay (City of the Great King, p. 49), " much more endur 
 able than in any portion of the Atlantic coast of the United 
 States from Maine to Texas. This is due not only to its [Jeru 
 salem s] elevated position," .... " but to a northwesterly breeze 
 from the Mediterranean, which uniformly springs up as soon as 
 the ground becomes somewhat heated about eight or nine 
 o clock in the morning and continues till ten at night." Re 
 specting the -climate of the hill country east of the Jordan we 
 have but few observations. But from its elevation we naturally 
 infer that it resembles that of the mountainous tract west of 
 the Jordan valley. It wants, however, the moderating influence 
 of the fresh breezes from the Mediterranean. 
 
PALEST INK. 211 
 
 The highest elevation of the mercury recorded by Barclay at Jerusa 
 lem, is 92 degrees Fahrenheit, and the lowest in a single instance imme 
 diately before sunrise 28 degrees. The mean annual average of temper 
 ature is 66.5 degrees, that of Boston being 49 degrees, of Philadelphia, 
 52 degrees, of New Orleans, 62 degrees, of San Erancisco, 56 degrees. 
 Slight frosts are quite frequent at Jerusalem, ; sufficiently severe to black 
 en the fig-leaf prematurely in the fall. And although there may not be a 
 particle of snow or ice for several consecutive years, in general, yet 
 there were several snows though of short continuance during the winter 
 of 1853-4 and 1854-5, and pellicles of ice at one time an eighth of an inch 
 thick on thin sheets of water in places protected from the rays of the 
 sun ; and portions of ground similarly situated were slightly frozen for 
 several days." Barclay, p. 50. Robinson states (Phys. Geog., p. 290) that 
 "snow often falls at Jerusalem and in the hill country, mostly in January 
 and February, to the depth of a foot or more ; but does not long remain." 
 "During the whole winter the roads, or rather tracks, in Palestine, are 
 muddy, deep, and slippery ; so that the traveller at this season is subjected 
 to great inconvenience and discomfort." Ib., p. 291. " Pray ye," says our 
 Saviour to his disciples, in anticipation of the overthrow of Jerusalem 
 (Matt. 24 : 20), " that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the Sab 
 bath-day." 
 
 10. In the sunken valley of the Jordan, the lowest part of 
 which is 1,300 feet below the level of the ocean, and about 3,900 
 below that of Jerusalem, snow never falls and winter is unknown, 
 and the heat of the summer months is excessive. 
 
 Lynch s table of meteorological observations (official report, p. 74), gives 
 for the Dead sea the following record : 
 
 April 18, Noon, 82 degrees Fahr. April 23, 12 p. M. 74.5degs. Fahr. 
 
 " 19, 1 P. M. 87.5 " " " 24, 6 A. M., 78 
 
 " " 8 " 70.5 " " " " Noon, 90 " 
 
 " " 12 " 68 " " " " 8 P. M. 78.5 " 
 
 " 20,9A.M. 88 " " " " 12 " 78 
 
 "12n., 89 " " " 25, 6A.M. 79 
 
 " " 8i P. M. 72 " May 6, 8 A. M. 92 " 
 
 21, 8 A. M. 88 " " " " Noon, 97 " " 
 
 " 22, 8 P. M. 75.8 " " " " 2 p. M. 102 " " 
 
 " "10 P.M. 74 " " " "12p.M. 76 " 
 
 " 23, 7A.M. 85 " " " 7, 8 A. M. 84 " 
 
 " " Noon, 86 " " " " 11 A. M. 106 " " 
 
 " " 1 P. M. 90 " " " " 4p. M. 93 " 
 
212 SACKED GEOCHAniY. 
 
 The lust two of the above days the mercury felt the influence of a Si 
 rocco. Eobinson and Smith s record for May 10-14, 1838, and for May 29 
 and 30, of the same year, is not materially different. Under a Sirocco, the 
 thermometer rose, May 29, to 102 degrees. 
 
 On the Mediterranean plain but few observations have been 
 made. Since, however, it has but little elevation above the 
 sea, and is consequently more than 2,000 feet lower than Jeru 
 salem, it must have a corresponding increase of temperature. 
 Its climate, as already remarked, is intermediate between that 
 of the Jordan valley and that of the mountainous tracts. 
 
 11. Besides the direct method of observations made with 
 the thermometer, there are two other means of determining the 
 average relative temperature of the different sections of Pales 
 tine. The first consists in comparing the times of the barley and 
 wheat harvest. According to Eobinson, "the barley harvest 
 usually precedes the wheat harvest by a fortnight or three 
 weeks." Phys. Geog., p. 301. The same author states (ib., p. 
 302) that " the wheat harvest in the Ghor takes place [from May 
 7th to May 14th] about four weeks earlier than at Jerusalem ; 
 the two being hardly more than twenty miles apart. The har 
 vest of the western plain lies between; about ten days later 
 than in the Ghor, and eighteen or twenty days earlier than on 
 the mountains." The other means consists in noticing the pro- 
 1 1 a i-lions peculiar to the different regions. Thus the valley of the 
 Jordan and the Dead sea has, with an Egyptian climate, Egyp 
 tian plants also the thorny lote-tree, the acacia, the dom-palm, 
 the tamarisk, the papyrus, the apple of Sodom, the " camphire" 
 or henna of the Arabs, the egg-plant, nightshade, and various 
 other Egyptian trees and plants. Around Jericho date-palms 
 were once abundant, and the sugar cane was cultivated there 
 also. Palms also nourish with suitable culture, on the Medi 
 terranean plain. The vine and olive, on the other hand, are the 
 staple productions of the mountains. 
 
 12. The most disagreeable and oppressive wind of Palestine 
 is the Sirocco, coming from any point of the southern quarter 
 from southeast to southwest, and bringing hot dry blasts from 
 
PALESTINE. 213 
 
 the African and Arabian deserts. These winds are marked by 
 an oppressive sultriness which causes great lassitude and disin 
 clination to all labor bodily or mental. Their extreme dryness 
 closes the pores of the animal body, and has a withering effect 
 upon vegetation. They bring from the deserts an impalpable 
 dust, which gives a lurid appearance to the atmosphere, and 
 which penetrates every part of the clothing and every crevice 
 and cranny of the houses. These winds commonly last but a 
 single day ; but sometimes two or three days. See farther in 
 Robinson s Phys. Geog., pp. 305, 306 ; and Buckingham s Lec 
 tures on Egypt; Barclay, pp. 51, 52. 
 
 According to Robinson the name Sirocco is but an Italian form of the 
 Arabic Sliurkiyeh, east wind. It was originally applied to the sultry south 
 east winds ; then to all hot and sultry winds blowing from any quarter be 
 tween the southeast and the southwest. This is the south wind referred to 
 by our Saviour: "when ye see the south wind blow, ye say, A burning 
 heat ; and it cometh to pass. " Luke 12 : 55. This also was the " vehement 
 east wind" that " beat upon the head of Jonah that he fainted, and wished 
 in himself to die." Jonah 4 : 8. The Sirocco sometimes blows with great 
 violence, amounting to a hurricane. See Lynch s Expedition, p. 375 ; Eob- 
 inson, Phys. Geog., p. 306. The oppressive stillness and sultriness that 
 accompany the Sirocco are beautifully described in the book of Job (chap. 
 37 : 17): "Dost thou know how thy garments are warm, when the earth is 
 quieted from the south wind ?" 
 
 * 
 
 II. SOIL. 
 
 13. The basis of the rocks of Palestine is Jura limestone, com 
 pact, hard, and full of caverns ; above which, capping its hills in 
 many places, are the remains of a more recent chalk formation 
 abounding in flints. On the west side of the Jordan valley sand 
 stone is rare ; but on the eastern shore of the Dead sea sandstone 
 underlies the limestone, and from Kerak south sandstone of sin 
 gular forms and colors constitutes the mass of the mountains. 
 In some parts particularly from" Beisan and northward on the 
 west side of the Ghor, as also in the region of Bashan east of 
 the Jordan valley this general limestone formation has been 
 broken up, and volcanic rocks in the form of black basalt have 
 
214 SACRED GEOGRAPHY. 
 
 been protruded into it. The whole of the Lejah is, as we have 
 seen, a sea of rough basaltic rocks, resembling an ocean of lava 
 suddenly congealed. 
 
 14. The rocks of Palestine constitute the foundation of a 
 strong and fertile soil, the natural capabilities of which are uni 
 versally conceded. The cutting away of the ancient forests in 
 Palestine is thought to have exerted a deteriorating influence on 
 both the climate and the soil, by diminishing the amount of rain 
 and exposing the naked surface of the earth for six months to 
 the scorching rays of the sun. How far this cause may have 
 operated it is difficult to determine. The curse of a bad gov 
 ernment, which oppresses the husbandman without protecting 
 him from the incursions of the predatory Arabs, is sufficient to 
 account for the desolation that now reigns over so large a part 
 of the promised land. The enormous crops of grain which the 
 plains of Palestine yield wherever they are cultivated, and the 
 no loss enormous growth of thistles and other weeds where they 
 are neglected, give proof of their capacity to be now, as ancient 
 ly, the granary of the whole adjacent region. The palm-groves 
 of Jericho have disappeared from the deterioration, not of the 
 climate and soil, but of the people and government. Now, as of 
 old, the hills of Judea are capable of being clad to their sum 
 mits with vineyards and olive-groves. If all the rains of Pales 
 tine fall now during the winter months, so did they also in the 
 days of Josephus, when "neither cowardice oppressed the men 
 of Galilee, nor thinness of population the region ; since it was 
 fertile throughout, and abounding in rich pasture land, and 
 planted with trees of all kinds; alluring by its luxuriousness 
 even those who were least fond of agriculture. It was accord 
 ingly all cultivated by its inhabitants, and no part of it lay idle. 
 The cities, moreover, were frequent, and there was every where 
 a multitude of populous villages on account of the goodness of 
 the soil, the least of which contained above fifteen thousand in 
 habitants." Jewish War, 3. 3. 2. He elsewhere says (Life, 45) 
 that the number of these cities and villages amounted to two 
 hundred and forty. 
 
PALESTINE. 215 
 
 When Moses describes Palestine as " a land of brooks of water, of foun 
 tains and depths that spring out of valleys and hills" (Deut. 8 : 7), and as 
 "a land of hills and valleys, that drinketh water of the rain of heaven" 
 (Deut. 11 : 11), we must remember that his standard of comparison is not 
 Europe or this western world, but Egypt, where there are neither foun 
 tains nor rain. From Moses point of view both descriptions are strictly 
 accurate. During the winter months Palestine " drinketh water of the rain 
 of heaven ;" and the " fountains and depths that spring out of valleys and 
 hills," if not as numerous as in. our highly favored country, are sufficient 
 for the wants of the people, provided only their waters be rightly distrib 
 uted. Several large fountains have been noticed in the preceding pages ; 
 and there are hundreds of others, many of them sufficient to turn each a 
 mill-wheel, scattered through the length and breadth of the land. In the 
 environs of Jerusalem, within a circuit of eight or ten miles, not less than 
 thirty permanent fountains have been enumerated. See Barclay s City of 
 the Great King, p. 544, seq.; Robinson, Phys. Geog., pp. 238-264. 
 
 III. NATURAL HISTORY. 
 
 15. It does not coine within the plan of the present work to 
 give an enumeration in detail of the various plants and animals 
 belonging to Palestine. The reader will find such of them as 
 are mentioned in the Scriptures described in the various Bible 
 Dictionaries of the day, so far as Jhey can be identified ; for un 
 fortunately in respect to the names of many plants and animals 
 it is impossible to determine with any degree of certainty to 
 what species the Hebrews applied them. All that will be here 
 attempted is a general survey of the vegetable and animal king 
 doms of Palestine. 
 
 16. Among the plants that furnish food to the human race 
 wheat and barley hold the first place. "What abundant crops of 
 these grains the soil of Palestine yields is known to all. " The 
 fat of wheat" and "the fat of kidneys of wheat" (Ps. 81:16; 
 147:14; Deut. 32:14), these are the terms used by the sacred 
 writers in describing the wheat of Palestine. Twenty thousand 
 measures of wheat with twenty measures of pure oil were given 
 by Solomon to Hiram annually in return for his services. In 
 enumerating the long list of products embraced in the com 
 merce of Tyre, Ezekiel names for Judah and the land of Is- 
 
216 SACKED GEOGIIAPHY. 
 
 rael " wheat of Minnith and Pannag and honey, and oil, and 
 balsam." Ezek. 27 : 17. To these grains are to be added the 
 leguminous plants peas, beans, and various kinds of lentiles ; 
 millet, sorghum, rice in the swampy grounds bordering the lake 
 Huleh ; melons, cucumbers, pumpkins, and gourds ; the whole 
 store of garden vegetables cabbages, carrots, lettuce, endives, 
 etc. Many plants not known in ancient times have been intro 
 duced from abroad ; as the potato, sweet potato, maize, banana, 
 sugar-cane, etc. 
 
 17. Of plants that furnish dot! ting, cotton, hemp, and flax are 
 cultivated in Palestine : but the latter not very abundantly at 
 the present time. Silk is once mentioned in the New Testa 
 ment as an article of commerce (Rev. 18:12); perhaps also in 
 the Old Testament by Ezekiel (chap. 16 : 10, 13) under the name 
 mesM. No notice of it occurs at an earlier date. 
 
 18. Of fruit-bearing trees the vine, olive, fig, pomegranate, 
 and sycamore are often mentioned in Scripture. To these 
 must be added the apple, quince, apricot, mulberry, prickly pear, 
 hawthorn, orange, shaddock, lime, eto. The date-palm, once so 
 common, is now found at various places along the maritime plain, 
 but scarcely elsewhere. . 
 
 Palestine has always been celebrated for the excellence of its vineyards. 
 It is said that no vines can vie for produce with those of Judaea. Dr. 
 Hooker (in Smith s Bible Diet., art. Palestine) speaks of bunches pro 
 duced near Hebron which are sometimes so long that, "when attached to 
 a stick which is supported on the shoulders of two men, the tip of the 
 bunch trails on the ground." Compare Numb. 13 : 23. The terraced hills 
 of Judaea were once covered in great part with vineyards, and could be 
 again under suitable culture. 
 
 Next in importance to the vine is the olive. The olive-tree, with its 
 gray bark, knotted and gnarled limbs, and dull foliage, forms a very stri 
 king feature of the landscape of Palestine. Olive orchards with their 
 precious crop constitute now, as from time immemorial, one of the chief 
 sources of wealth to the inhabitants of the land. "Corn and wine and 
 oil" by these three staple products the holy land is often characterized. 
 
 The fig constitutes another important crop. It is planted like the olive 
 in orchards, which are carefully cultivated, and it bears two or three crops 
 in the year. 
 
ALMONDS. 
 
 ALMOND-TREE. 
 
PALESTINE. 217 
 
 The sycamore is a species of tig with a leaf resembling that of the mul 
 berry. Hence its -Greek name sycamoros, that is, jig-mulberry. The tree, 
 which is of considerable size, thrives on the plains and in the vales where 
 it is not exposed to severe cold. 1 Chron. 27 : 28. The fruit grows directly 
 from the trunk itself on little sprigs, and in clusters like grapes. Though 
 inferior to the true fig, it constitutes an important article of food. Its 
 wood, though light and porous, is very durable ; and was much used an 
 ciently for doors and various articles of furniture ; for mummy cases also, 
 it is said. 
 
 The pomegranate is rather a bush than a tree, with a dark green f oliago 
 and crimson flowers. It bears a large reddish-colored fruit filled with nu 
 merous seeds, surrounded with juicy pleasant tasted pulp. The beauty of 
 the fruit caused it to be selected as an ornament of the high-priest s 
 robes (Ex. 28 : 33, 34 ; 39 : 24-26) ; and of the pillars to Solomon s temple 
 (1 Kings 7 : 18, 20, 42) ; and in Canticles the bridegroom says to the bride 
 (chap. 4:3): "Thy temples are like a piece of a pomegranate within thy 
 locks." 
 
 What kind of tree was denoted by the Hebrew lappuah, rendered in 
 our version apple and apple-tree, is a matter of doubt. The corresponding 
 Arabic word tuffah denotes apple ; but also lemon, peach, apricot, etc. 
 Thomson (Land and Book, 2, pp. 328, 329) decides for the apple. Tris 
 tram (Land of Israel, pp. 604, 605) dissents from this view. He would 
 prefer the meaning citron to that of apple, but has no hesitation in express 
 ing his opinion that the apricot alone is the apple of Scripture. The tree 
 yields a pleasant shade (Cant. 2:3; 8:5), and its fragrant golden fruit 
 has, he thinks, all the qualities ascribed to the apple of the Old Testament. 
 Prov. 25 : 11 ; Cant. 2:5; 7:8. The prevailing opinion is that the citron 
 is the apple of Scripture. 
 
 Oranges are apparently of later introduction. Joppa on the Mediter 
 ranean plain is surrounded by gardens containing groves of oranges and 
 date-palms, with lemons, citrons, and bananas. The hedges of these gar 
 dens are formed by the prickly pear, itself yielding a fruit extensively eat 
 en by all classes. 
 
 19. Among nut-bearing and other forest-trees may be mention 
 ed the walnut, almond, pistachio, carob-tree, oak, plane-tree, 
 wild-olive, etc. The banks of the Jordan are lined with the 
 oleander, poplar, willow, tamarisk, and other trees and shrubs, 
 along with dense jungles of canebrakes. The oleander, with 
 its gay flowers, fringes the banks of lakes and pools, and fills 
 the ravines where water runs during the whole or most of the 
 year. 
 
 10 
 
218 SACRED GEOGRAPHY. 
 
 The most common forest tree is the oak, of which there are three spe 
 cies. Except some forests of pine on the seacoast, ridges of Carmel, and 
 a few other high crests, the oak alone forms continuous forests. It is most 
 abundant in Bashan and Gilead. The valonia oak (Quercus cegilops] is 
 probably the prevailing oak of Bashan and Gilead. Its thick gnarled limbs 
 answer well to the thick boughs of the great oak that caught Absalom s 
 head as his mule rushed under them in the flight from Joab s men, 2 Sam. 
 18:9. 
 
 Of the pistacia there are three species. That which yields the pistachio 
 nut (Pistacia vera) is rare ; but the two other kinds, the lentiscus and tere 
 binth, are very common. The former is a bush conspicuous for its dark 
 evergreen leaves and numberless scarlet berries ; the latter becomes a largo 
 tree. 
 
 The carob-tree (Ceratonia siliqua] is related to the locust family. Its 
 large pendulous pods filled with a sweetish pulp are extensively used as 
 food for cattle, horses, mules, and swine. These are "the husks \keratia, 
 carob-pods] that the swine did eat." Luke 15 : 16. 
 
 20. Odoriferous plants abound on the hills of Palestine. Dr. 
 Hooker specifies marjoram, thymes, lavenders, calaminths, 
 sages, and teucriums. Fennels also, and mustard of gigantic 
 size, with other umbelliferous and cruciferous plants are very 
 common. 
 
 What was the plant known to the Hebrews by the name Ezobh, which 
 the translators render by the word hyssop, is a matter of uncertainty. The 
 various conjectures may be seen in the modern Bible Dictionaries, which, 
 however, shed but little light on the question. Thomson (Land and 
 Book, 1, p. 161) speaks of having seen a variety of hyssop having the fra 
 grance of thyme, with a hot, pungent taste, and long slender steins. Such 
 a plant would agree well with the qualities ascribed to the hyssop of Scrip 
 ture. 
 
 21. We have already noticed the fact that in the deep sunk 
 en valley of the Jordan and Dead sea many Egyptian plants are 
 found, and some that belong to the flora of India. Such are 
 the thorny lote-tree, the zukkum that yields the false balsam, 
 the henna, the apple of Sodom, the mad apple, etc. One of 
 the most interesting plants of this region is the papyrus, said to 
 have once grown on the banks of the lower Nile, but which is 
 now found without the tropics only in one spot in the island of 
 
PALESTINE. 219 
 
 Sicily, and in certain localities of modern Syria. It abounds in 
 the marshes by the upper lakes of the Ghor, and is said to grow 
 near Haifa at the foot of Carmel and elsewhere. Hooker in 
 Smith s Bible Diet., art. Palestine. 
 
 The papyrus is the babeei of the Arabs (b being, as usual with them, 
 substituted tor p}. It is a tall stout three-cornered plant, growing to the 
 height of eight or ten feet, and ending above in a wide-spreading broom- 
 like tuft. "It imparts," says Thomson, speaking of the marshes of the 
 Huleh (1, p. 401), " a singular appearance to the whole marsh, as if ten thou 
 sand thousand brooms were waving over it." Of this plant the ancients 
 manufactured paper, and hence the name- 1 papei* from papyrus. The Arabs 
 make mats of it for the walls and roofs of their huts. 
 
 22. The green compact turf of England and the United 
 States is rarely found in Palestine ; but the variety and beauty 
 of the wild flowers at the close of the rainy season is wonderful. 
 Particularly worthy of notice is the predominance of those 
 which have a scarlet hue scarlet anemones, wild tulips, pop 
 pies, etc. 
 
 Of all the ordinary aspects of the country, this blaze of scarlet color 
 is perhaps the most peculiar. " Stanley, Sinai and Palestine, p. 137. The 
 brilliancy of the vernal flora of Palestine is often noticed by Tristram : 
 " The lovely scarlet anemone," writes he at Bethlehem, under date of Feb. 
 11 (Land of Israel, pp. 403, 404), "was coming into flower, and showing 
 signs of spring ; pretty little annuals a pink lychnis, saponarias, blue 
 pimpernels, and red valerians carpeted with a sheet of color the soil 
 under the olive-trees." Feb. 26th, near Nazareth, he writes : "The ground 
 was carpeted with brilliant patches of anemone and other red flowers, 
 bunches of lovely cyclamen, composite flowers in endless variety, not omit 
 ting a blue iris and species of periwinkle." In view of the blaze of bright 
 flowers hojv natural and apt is the Saviour s illustration : Consider the 
 lilies of the field how they grow ; they toil not, neither do they spin ; and 
 yet I say unto you that Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one 
 of these." Matt, 6:28, 29. 
 
 23. As the dry season advances, this gorgeous carpeting of 
 flowers withers away along with the tall thistles, the matted 
 thorns, and the sprawling brambles. Then their common des 
 tiny is to feed the fires of the inhabitants ; for in this land, so 
 bare of forest-trees, fuel is a very precious article. The dry 
 
SACKED GEOGRAPHY. 
 
 stalks of the lily and thistle are cast together into the oven. 
 "If," says the Saviour (Matt. 6:30), "God so clothe the grass 
 of the field, which to-day is, and to-morrow is cast into the oven, 
 shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith?" 
 
 The dried ordure of animals is carefully gathered up and used for fuel 
 aloug with the withered stalks of flowering plants, thistles, brambles, thorns, 
 and weeds of all kinds. " You see," says Thomson (Land and Book, 1, p. 
 81), "an immense quantity of this low matted thorn-bush collected around 
 them. That is the fuel with which the lime is burned. And thus it was 
 in the days of Isaiah. The people shall be, says he, as the burnings of 
 lime ; as thorns cut up shall they be burned in the fire. Those people 
 among the rocks yonder are cutting up thorns with their mattocks and 
 pruniug-hooks, and gathering them into bundles to be burned in these 
 burnings of lime." 
 
 24. The domestic animals of Palestine the ox, sheep, goat, 
 ass, camel are well known. Horses also were in use on the 
 plain country, among the native inhabitants of Canaan, at the 
 time of the conquest ; for we repeatedly read of their chariots 
 of iron, by the help of which they successfully withstood the 
 Israelites (Josh. 17:16; Juclg. 1:19; 4:3). But among the 
 Israelites themselves horses and niules did not come into com 
 mon use till a later period. In Palestine, as throughout the 
 East generally, the buffalo, which is larger and stronger than 
 the ox, is domesticated, and much used for ploughing and 
 draught purposes. It is also found wild in the marshes about 
 the upper lakes. 
 
 Tristram saw "herds of buffaloes standing half buried in the mud" in 
 the marshy ground bordering the sea of Galilee (Land of Israel, p. 429) ; 
 and in the morasses of the Huleh * herds of ill-looking buffaloed were wal 
 lowing in the mud, or standing with only their noses out of water " (ib., p. 
 588). These may be, as he suggests, the true representatives of the " bulls 
 of Bashan." 
 
 The Mosaic law discouraged the multiplication of horses (Deut. 17 : 16) ; 
 but Solomon introduced, them in great numbers (1 Kings 10 : 26 ; 2 Chron. 
 1 : 14). Mules are first mentioned in David s time (2 Sam. 13 : 29); for in 
 Gen. 36 : 24 the Hebrew word rendered mules might be better translated 
 warm, springs, as in the Vulgate. Indeed, the Levitical law (Lev. 19 : 19) 
 forbade the breeding of niules. 
 
THE BULL OF SY1U.V. 
 
 THE FAT-TAILED SYRIAN SHEEP. ROE AND ROEBUCK : AXTILOPA DOECAS. 
 
 
 HKAD OF THE SYRIAN GOAT. 
 
PALESTINE. 221 
 
 The broad-tailed variety of sheep is very common in Palestine. The tail 
 is the part (rendered rump in our version) which was to be removed in the 
 case of certain sacrifices, and burned on the altar. Lev. 3;9;7:3;8:25; 
 9 : 19. Its weight is often fifteen pounds and more. 
 
 25. Of the tr if> I <in i mals mentioned in Scripture, the lion lias 
 disappeared from Palestine ; and the bear, once common in the 
 land, is very rare at present, except in the mountains of Leba 
 non. Tristram encountered a brown Syrian bear in the IVady 
 Hamdm, which enters the plain of Gennesaret at its western 
 side. Other wild beasts are the leopard, wolf, hyena, jackal, fox, 
 with a multitude of smaller animals. 
 
 The leopard, wolf, and hyena are not common. The leopard inhabits 
 the heights of Lebanon and Hcrmon, and is occasionally found in Pales 
 tine ; in the jungles of the Jordan, for example, and the canebrakes around 
 the fountains on the shore of the Dead sea. Tristram, pp. 242, 274. Tris 
 tram saw wolves in the wilderness of Judah at Mar Saba and farther south 
 (pp. 267, 268, 367) ; and he several times speaks of hyenas as inhabiting 
 the Ghor (pp. 242, 275, 325). Jackals are extremely numerous, as is suffi 
 ciently attested by their nocturnal bowlings. The Hebrew term SJnial, 
 rendered in our version fox, seems to include both foxes and jackals. The 
 latter go in troops, and are easily caught. The three hundred foxes of 
 Samson (Judg. 15 : 4) may have been jackals. The jackal, like the hyena 
 and vulture, feeds upon carrion. To "fall by the sword" and "be a por 
 tion for foxes " (Psa. 63 : 10) is to be left on the battle-field to be the prey 
 of jackals, which here represent all beasts that feed on carrion. 
 
 The jungles of the Jordan and the marshes of the upper lakes are the 
 favorite haunts of wild swine. 
 
 It is generally agreed that the Hebrew term shaphan, which our trans 
 lators have rendered cony, is the Syrian hyrax, which has its retreat in 
 rocky cliffs. Tristram describes it as "about the size of a well-grown rab 
 bit, with short ears, round head, long plantigrade foot, no tail, and nails 
 instead of claws. With its weak teeth and short incisors, there seem few 
 animals so entirely without the means for self-defence. The conies are 
 but a feeble folk, yet make they their houses in the rock. Prov. 30 : 26. 
 But the stony rocks are a refuge for the conies, and tolerably secure are 
 they in such rocks as these. No animal ever gave us so much trouble to 
 secure" (p. 250). The shaphan is not properly a ruminant, but is placed 
 with ruminants in a popular classification (Lev. 11 : 5). "It is quite suffi 
 cient," says Tristram (p. 251), "to watch the creature working and moving 
 its jaws, as it sits in a chink of the rocks, to understand how any one wri- 
 
222 SACKED GEOGRAPHY. 
 
 ting as an ordinary observer, and not as a comparative anatomist, would 
 naturally thus speak of it." 
 
 Besides the use of the dog to guard the shepherd s flocks (Job 30 : 1 ; 
 Isa. 56 : 10), multitudes of dogs without owners wander in troops through 
 the cities and villages of the East in search of food. To this fact there 
 are various allusions in the Old Testament (1 Kings 14 : 11 ; 16 : 4 ; 21 : 24 ; 
 2 Kings 9 : 10, 36 ; Psa. 22 : 16 ; 59 : 6, 14, 15 ; Jer. 15 : 3 ; Luke 16 : 21). 
 These "greedy dogs," feeding on offal and dead bodies, were to the He 
 brews preeminently unclean (Matt. 7:6); and they represent the shame 
 lessly impure among men. Phil. 3:2; Kev. 22 : 15. In Deut. 23 : 18 the 
 word dog represents a Sodomite. Compare ver. 17. 
 
 26. Now, as anciently, Palestine abounds in numerous kinds 
 of birds. Among birds of prey and such as feed on carrion maybe 
 named eagles, vultures, falcons, kites, owls, ravens. Among marsh 
 and water fowl are cranes, herons, bitterns, cormorants, curlews, 
 pelicans, gulls, ducks, teal, etc. " The rocky hill-sides abound 
 with partridges and quails ; the cliffs in the glens with pigeons ; 
 the bushes with turtle-doves." Alexander s Kitto, art. Pales 
 tine. Among singing-birds is the bulbul, or Palestine nigh tin- 
 gale, which, says Tristram (p. 201), "positively swarm" in the 
 thickets which line the Jordan, "almost every tree being inhab 
 ited by a pair, and the thickets reechoing with their music." 
 
 The number of rock-pigeons is immense. No description, " ays Tris 
 tram (p. 446), speaking of Wady Leimuu, a narrow gorge opening upon 
 the sea of Galilee, with limestone cliffs from five hundred to seven hundred 
 feet high, perforated with innumerable caves, "can give an adequate idea 
 of the myriads of rock-pigeons. In absolute clouds they dashed to and 
 fro in the ravine, whirling round with a rush and a whirr that could be 
 felt like a gust of wind." This passage well illustrates Solomon s descrip 
 tion of his bride : "O my dove, in the clefts of the rock, in the hiding- 
 place of the ledges." Cant. 2 : 14. 
 
 27. Of reptiles we notice only those of the serpent kind. 
 Besides the generic word nahasJt, serpent (also tannin, dragon), 
 the Hebrew uses several terms, apparently all specific, for ven 
 omous serpents. 
 
 Ackshub, in our version adder (Psa. 140 : 3) ; epke, in our version viper 
 (Job 20 : 16 ; Isa. 30 : 6 ; 59 : 5). The particular species is not known in 
 either case. 
 
THE VULTURE. 
 
 THE FOX. OK JACKAL. 
 
 THE CONKY. 
 
 THE SCIJEECH-OWL. 
 
 THE EAGLE. 
 
 THE WILD ASS. 
 
PALESTINE. 223 
 
 Pethen, rendered adder in the book of Psalms (58 : 4 ; 91 : 13) ; else 
 where asp (Deut. 32:33; Job 20:14, 16; Isa. 11:8). The prevailing 
 opinion is, that this word denotes the Nnja liaye of naturalists, which is 
 nearly allied to the cobra of India. It has the body spotted with black 
 and white, and is very venomous. 
 
 Sliephiphon (Gen. 49 : 17), rendered adder. It is thought by some to 
 be the horned cerastes. 
 
 Tsepha and tsiphoni, once rendered adder (Prov. 23 : 32) ; elsewhere 
 cockatrice (Isa. 11 : 8 ; 14 : 29 ; 59 : 5 ; Jer. 8 : 17). The particular species 
 is unknown. 
 
 It remains to consider the term saraph, bunting or fiery, used with or 
 without the addition oinahash, serpent (Numb. 21 : 6, 8 ; Deut. 8 : 15). In 
 Isa. 14 : 29 ; 30 : 6, the epithet fly ing is added. No serpents have wings, but 
 some of them have the habit, when excited, of raising themselves up on 
 the coil of the tail, and expanding the skin in the upper part of the body 
 below the neck into a thin disk, before they make the fatal spring. This 
 cannot enable them to fly, though it may perhaps help them in throwing 
 themselves upon the victim. Such u spring from an upright position, with 
 the skin of the neck expanded, may possibly have suggested the epithet 
 ftying. Some have supposed that they were called flying serpents from 
 their power of darting at their prey from trees, or of swinging themselves 
 from limb to limb. But we need more light concerning the habits of the 
 serpent in question. 
 
 28. Concerning the fishes and marine animals of Palestine 
 and the adjacent seas our information is very scanty. " The 
 great fish" that swallowed Jonah is not said to have been a whale. 
 It is from the Alexandrine version that the rendering whale 
 comes, apparently in the sense of any great sea-monster. That 
 there exist in the Mediterranean sea fish capable of swallowing 
 a man entire is a well-attested fact. The question concerning 
 the particular species is unimportant; since, whatever it may 
 have been, his preservation in the belly of the fish, as well as 
 his deliverance thence, was miraculous. 
 
 The iahash, rendered in our version badger, is thought by many to 
 have been some species of the marine animals that anciently abounded in 
 the Red sea, possibly the seal or the dugong. Others incline to the opin 
 ion that it was of the antelope family ; mainly on the ground that the ante 
 lope was, according to the Mosaic law, a clean animal. 
 
 In the Hound Fountain (Ain el-Mudauwarah), whose waters flow 
 through the plain of Gennesaret, Tristram discovered a large species of 
 
224 SACRED GEOGRAPHY. 
 
 catfish identical with the catfish of the ponds of Lower Egypt. Land of 
 Israel, pp. 435, 442. This goes far to identify this fountain with the foun 
 tain of Capernaum described by Josephus (Jewish War, 3. 10. 8), where 
 lie says : "It is watered by a most fertilizing fountain, which the inhabit 
 ants call Capharnaum. Some have thought this to be a vein of the Nile, 
 since it produces a fish similar to the coracinus of the Alexandrine lake." 
 
 29. Of tlie insects of Palestine we notice particularly two ; 
 one for the benefits it confers, the other for the injuries it in 
 flicts. The land of Palestine is celebrated for its bees, and they 
 seem to have been anciently more abundant than at present. 
 They select for their hives fissures in the rocks, hollow trees, or 
 any other cavity that offers itself. The narrative in 1 Sam. 
 14 : 25-27, where we are told that " when the people were come 
 into the wood, behold, the honey dropped" from the combs 
 namely in the trees; and Jonathan "put forth the end of the rod 
 that was in his hand, and dipped it in a honey-comb, and put 
 his hand to his mouth, and his eyes were enlightened" this 
 simple narrative illustrates the oft-recurring description of Pal 
 estine as " a land flowing with milk and honey." 
 
 The Arabs apply the term honey (dibs answering to the Hebrew debhash) 
 to other sweet substances, particularly the syrup of grapes, or must, which 
 is a decoction made from the newly expressed juice of grapes. This syrup 
 is in common use in Palestine at the present day : and doubtless the He- 
 bivws used the word honey in the same wide sense. 
 
 Locusts are a terrible scourge to Palestine and the adjacent 
 regions. They fly with the wind in swarms of incredible mag 
 nitude, which cover the heavens and darken the air ; and when 
 they alight they sometimes cover the surface of the ground a 
 foot deep for many miles in extent Every green thing disap 
 pears before them. " The land," says the prophet (Joel 2 : 3), 
 " is as the garden of Eden before them, and behind them a des 
 olate wilderness ; yea, and nothing shall escape them." 
 
 The insects popularly called grasshoppers in the United States are prop 
 erly locusts, and they give the best idea of the migratory oriental locust. 
 But the size of the latter is much greater. It is about two and a half 
 inches long, of a greenish color obscurely spotted, with pale brown wing- 
 covers marked with black. In all its forms, from the larva to the perfect 
 
LEVIATHAN. 
 
 VIPER. 
 
 KIIINOCEBOS. 
 
 OSTKICH. 
 
 HIPPOPOTAMTS. OK BEHEMOTH. 
 
PALESTINE. 225 
 
 insect, it is very voracious. When driven by the wind over the sea they 
 often perish there ; and their dead bodies wafted to the shore sometimes 
 form banks extending for miles, the stench of which taints the air to a 
 great distance. 
 
 Locusts are used now as in ancient times for food. Lev. 11 : 21, 22. 
 They are prepared in various ways. The legs and wings being pulled off 
 they are roasted or fried in oil ; or they are dried in the sun, pounded up 
 and used as flour ; at other times they are boiled or stewed in butter. In 
 many Arabian towns they are sold in the shops by measure as articles of 
 food. There is no reason for understanding the scriptural declaration that 
 the Baptist s food was "locusts and wild honey" (Matt. 3 :4) in any other 
 than a literal sense. 
 
 Locusts are most abundant in dry seasons, so that the two calamities of 
 drought and locusts often come together. Compare Joel, chap. 1 : 17-20 ; 
 2:23. 
 
 30. We bring this chapter to a close by a brief notice of three 
 animals respecting which there has been no little discussion; 
 namely, %e unicorn, behemoth, and leviathan. 
 
 In our version the Hebrew word reem is rendered, in accordance with 
 the Septuagint and Vulgate, by the word unicorn, that is, one-horned. But 
 no such idea is conveyed by the original. In Psa. 92 : 10, the Hebrew 
 reads elliptically : My horn shall thou exalt like a unicorn; while in Deut. 
 
 33 : 17 the animal is plainly represented as having tiro horns. "His glory," 
 says Moses of Joseph, "is like the firstling of his bullock, and his horns 
 -are the horns of a unicorn." The rendering of the English version: 
 
 "like the horns of unicorns," is acknowledged in the margin to be not in 
 accordance with the Hebrew, and was made under the idea that the word 
 reem must have in this passage a collective sense. But for this there is no 
 ground, since the plural form reemim or remim is also in use. See Isa. 
 
 34 : 7, Psa. 29 : 6, where the original reads, like a son of unicorns ; and Psa. 
 22 : 21, where the Jiorns of unicorns are mentioned. 
 
 Again : when other animals nre associated with the unicorn, they are 
 always of the ox kind. Thus in Deut. 33 : 17, the bullock and unicorn are 
 named together ; in Psa. 29 : 6, the calf and young unicorn : in Isa. 34 : 6, 7, 
 all the clean animals in use for sacrifices are named, and with them uni 
 corns in ver. 6, the small cattle, lambs, goats, rams ; in \fcr. 7, the large 
 cattle, unicorns, bullocks, bulls: in the twenty-second Psalm the sufferer 
 describes his enemies as bulls of Bashan, roaring lions, and dogs (vers. 12, 
 13, 16) ; and he prays for deliverance from them in the inverse order, aa 
 dogs, lions, and unicorns (vers. 20, 21). See also the description of the 
 unicorn in Job 39 : 9-12, from which passage we learn that the unicorn 
 had not then been tamed. 
 
 10* 
 
226 SACKED GEOGRAPHY. 
 
 Once more : it is obvious that the unicorn is not a foreign animal known 
 to the Hebrews by report only, but one which they knew from observa 
 tion. 
 
 We come then with much certainty to the conclusion that the unicorn 
 was a wild animal of the ox kind. It is generally thought to have been the 
 wild buffalo. But this is not certain. It may have been some other 
 species of wild ox, like the urns described by Caesar (Gallic War, 6. 28), 
 which, along with the lion, has now disappeared from the region. 
 
 The behemoth is mentioned only in Job 40 : 15-24. It is not necessary 
 to assume that he was an inhabitant of Palestine, but only that the pa 
 triarch was acquainted with him. It is agreed that the animal described 
 must have been the hippopotamus or some species of elephant ; but between 
 the two it is difficult to decide. The animal "lieth under the shady trees 
 (or, lotus-bushes) ; in the covert of the reeds and fens. The shady trees 
 (or, lotus-bushes) cover him with their shadow ; the willows of the brook 
 compass him about" (vers. 21, 22). This description suits either the hippo 
 potamus or the elephant. "The mountains bring him forth food ; where 
 all the wild beasts of the field play" (ver. 20). These words apply perfectly 
 to the elephant, but not to the hippopotamus. If we adopt tlie rendering 
 of the last clause of verse 19 proposed by many Hebrew scholars, his 
 Maker hath furnished him with his sword," it may describe either the 
 tusks of the elephant or the teeth of the hippopotamus. The exact sense 
 of verse 23 is not clear ; but according to any proposed rendering it suits 
 the hippopotamus better than the elephant. We may, perhaps, translate 
 it as follows : "Lothe river is violent [swells and rushes upon him with 
 violence]; he hasteth not away; he is confident when Jordan bursteth 
 forth unto his mouth" (swells so as to fill his mouth). The last verse of 
 the chapter (verse 24) is rendered by De Wette : "Does one take him be 
 fore his eyes ? in fetters does one bore through his nose ?" Tims taken 
 the words express simply the difficulty of capturing him. But, if we fol 
 low the rendering of the last clause proposed in our version, "his nose 
 pierceth through snares," it might well be regarded as a description of the 
 elephant s trunk. 
 
 It does not seem possible, therefore, to decide with confidence between 
 the elephant and the hippopotamus. The fact that the behemoth is asso 
 ciated in this chapter with the leviathan may, perhaps, incline us to the idea 
 that a marine animal is intended ; which must then be the hippopotamus. 
 As to the supposed Egyptian origin of the name p-ehe-mout, the water 
 ox we want evidence that the Egyptians ever used it. In its Hebrew 
 form it is a "plural of majesty ;" as if beast of beasts. 
 
 The word leviathan signifies, according to Gesenius, "an animal 
 wreathed, gathering itself in folds;" and this explanation is supported by 
 
PALESTINE. 227 
 
 Isa. 27:1 : "In that day Jehovah, with his hard, and groat, and strong 
 sword, shall visit upon [inflict judgment upon] leviathan the swift ser 
 pent, and upon leviathan the crooked serpent ; and shall slay the dragon 
 that is in the sea." Leviathan, the crooked serpent and dragon, is here 
 obviously a symbol of some great oppressive power, apparently the Baby 
 lonish monarchy. In Psa. 74 : 13, 14, the Psalmist says, with evident al 
 lusion to the passage through the Eed sea : " Thou didst divide the sea by 
 thy strength : thou didst break the heads of the dragons upon the waters. 
 Thou didst crush the heads of leviathan : thou didst give him as food to 
 the people, to the dwellers in the desert." In this passage, also, the drag 
 on and leviathan are best understood as representatives of the persecuting 
 Egyptian monarch and his host. In Psa. 104 : 26, leviathan is described 
 as an inhabitant of "the great and wide sea" over which the ships pass. 
 In Job 3 : 8, magicians are apparently spoken of " who are ready to raise 
 up leviathan," that is, who profess to raise up leviathan from the deep. 
 There is ground for thinking (though this is denied by some) that in all 
 the above passages the term leviathan is used generically, much as we em 
 ploy dragon ; and that it denotes a great sea-monster. But in the forty-first 
 chapter of Job, which is the only remaining passage where leviathan is 
 mentioned, a specific animal is plainly intended ; and one, too, with which 
 the patriarch was acquainted. Unless now we assume without evidence 
 that the reference is to some sea-monster that has become extinct since the 
 time of the patriarch, we must of necessity understand the crocodile. The 
 description as a whole agrees with this animal, and with no other. The 
 account of his impenetrable skin (verses 7, 15-17, 26-29) applies perfectly 
 to the crocodile, but not in the least degree to the whale. A difficulty is 
 created by the mention of the deep and the sea (verses 31, 32), since the 
 crocodile is a fresh-water animal having his home in rivers. But in a 
 highly wrought poetic description, like the present, the deep and the sea 
 may represent the Nile with the lakes at its mouth ; not to say that in 
 Nahum 3 : 8 the Nile is certainly called the sea. If a difficulty be found 
 with that part of the description which represents fire and smoke as issu 
 ing from his nostrils (verses 19-21), this is not removed by substituting the 
 whale or any other marine animal for the crocodile. No one can suppose- 
 that this or any other animal literally breathes flames, or that his breath 
 literally kindles coals. The description must be taken as highly figura 
 tive. 
 
223 SACRED GEOGRAPHY. 
 
 CHAPTEK VIII. 
 
 COUNTRIES ON THE SOUTHWEST AND jSouTH OF 
 PALESTINE. 
 
 THE countries that come under consideration in the present 
 chapter are Egypt and Ethiopia on the southwest of Palestine, 
 and the Arabian Peninsula on the south. The scriptural referen 
 ces to the regions west of Egypt, as, for example, " the parts of 
 Libya about Cyrene" (Acts 2:10), are but few and casual, and 
 do not require particular notice. 
 
 I. EGYPT AND ETHIOPIA. 
 
 1. Ancient Egypt deserves special attention, partly on ac 
 count of its great antiquity and the high degree of civilization 
 to which it attained ; but more particularly because of the close 
 connection between its history and that of the covenant people. 
 The Hebrew name of Egypt (retained in the modern Arabic 
 Misr) is Mizraim, a noun of the dual form, referring apparently 
 to the earliest division of the country into Upper and Lower 
 Egypt. 
 
 The ancient Egyptians, as we learn from the monuments, called their 
 country Kern, or ia the demotic form Kemee (Poole in Smith s Bible Diet.). 
 The Coptic name appears in the dialects as CUame, Chemi, Kerne, Kemi, 
 with which the poetic Hebrew designation tlie land of Ham (Psa. 105 : 23 ; 
 106 : 22 ; compare Psa. 78 : 51) apparently agrees. Another poetic appel 
 lation is the field of Zioan, from Zoan or Tanis, a city of Lower Egypt. 
 
 2. In regard to antiquity it is w.ell-known what extravagant 
 claims the ancient Egyptians made. There has come down to us, 
 through Julius Africanus, Eusebius, and Syncellus a list of thirty 
 Egyptian dynasties compiled by the Egyptian historian Manetho, 
 a priest of Sebennytus in Lower Egypt, who flourished in the be 
 ginning of the third century before Christ. The forms of this 
 
PALESTINE. 229 
 
 j 
 
 list, as given by Eusebius and Syncellus, present important differ 
 ences, and the true text, as it proceeded from Manetho s pen, 
 must remain a matter of uncertainty. Respecting the general 
 credibility of Manetho s list and the principles upon which it was 
 constructed there has been much discussion. The study of the 
 Egyptian monuments leads to the conclusion, on the one hand, 
 that Manetho composed his list from authentic Egyptian 
 records ; and, on the other, that these thirty dynasties cannot 
 have been all successive, as he seems to present them, but that 
 many of them must have been contemporaneous. "The series of 
 dynasties," says Poole (ul>i x>(j>rc \ "is given as if they were suc 
 cessive, in which case the commencement of the first would be 
 placed full five thousand years B. c., and the reign of the king 
 who built the great pyramid four thousand. The monuments 
 do not warrant so extreme an antiquity, and the great majority 
 of Egyptologers have therefore held that some of the dynasties 
 were partly contemporary." The extreme antiquity assigned 
 to Egypt by Bunsen and Lepsius, on the assumption that the 
 thirty dynasties of Manetho were all successive, rests on con 
 jectural computations rather than on sure historic evidence. 
 But, after all reasonable deductions have been made for con 
 temporaneous dynasties, it still remains true that no nation can 
 claim a higher antiquity than Egypt. 
 
 According to Mr. Poole s scheme, which is regarded with favor by 
 Rawlinson (Herodotus 2, p. 340), the first seventeen dynasties were in part 
 contemporary, while from the eighteenth and onward Egypt was an undi 
 vided kingdom, and the dynasties are to be regarded as successive. He 
 assigns Menes, the first historic sovereign, to the year B. c. 2700. As to 
 the time of the Exodus there is much diversity of opinion. Poole would 
 place it under the shepherd-kings as early as B. c. 1652 ; and this is nearly 
 the date adopted by Hales. Calmet places it B. c. 1487 ; Bunsen and 
 others still later. The chronology of this part of Hebrew history is in 
 volved in .much obscurity. See Companion to the Bible, pp. 233, 234. 
 
 3. The religion, government, and civilization of the ancient 
 Egyptians constituted an organic whole. Their religion, like 
 all others of heathen origin, rested on a foundation of nature- 
 
230 SACRED GEOGRAPHY. 
 
 
 
 worship. They deified the powers of nature, and by dividing 
 these powers among different natural objects beasts, birds, 
 reptiles, insects, plants, the sun, moon, etc. they multiplied the 
 number of their deities without end, and worshipped them under 
 hideous forms. They had gods and goddesses with the heads 
 of rams, lions, jackals, cats, storks, hawks, crocodiles, frogs, etc. 
 In worshipping these nature-gods, they offered to them sacrifi 
 ces of animals, oblations of fruits and vegetables, libations of 
 wine, and incense. Nevertheless their religion retained some 
 grand relics of the primitive revelation of God to man. Thus 
 the doctrine of a future life, with rewards and punishments for 
 the deeds of the present life, was taught by the priests, and 
 this was one element, perhaps the chief, of their great power 
 over the popular mind. 
 
 For the refusal of the Egyptians to eat with the Hebrews, as foreign 
 ers, we need not seek to find a special historic reason. It had its founda 
 tion in religious scruples. The Egyptians, namely, sacrificed only male 
 kine. To offer cows in sacrifice was in their view an abominable act, since 
 these were sacred to Isis, a goddess having the form of a woman with the 
 head and horns of a cow. Compare Exod. 8 : 26. Hence they regarded 
 foreigners who violated this and other of their religious usages as unclean. 
 "The Egyptians," says Herodotus (2. 41), "one and all, venerate cows 
 more highly than any other animal. This is the reason why no native of 
 Egypt, whether man or woman, will give a Greek a kiss, or use the knife 
 of a Greek, or his spit, or his caldron, or taste the flesh of an ox, known to 
 be pure, if it has been cut with a Greek knife." On the same general 
 ground shepherds, that is, in the wide sense of the term, those whose occu 
 pation was the care of flocks and herds, were to the Egyptians unclean in a 
 special sense. Hence the declaration of Moses (Gen. 46 : 34) that "every 
 shepherd is an abomination unto the Egyptians." 
 
 4. The government of Egypt was monarchical. It was man 
 ifestly a strong government affording efficient protection to life 
 and property ; and it rested preeminently on a religious founda 
 tion. The high prerogatives of the priests, and their great in 
 fluence, appear very clearly in the scriptural account of Joseph s 
 administration. When he took for Pharaoh the people s land 
 in exchange 1 for bread, the priests alone were excepted: "Only 
 
PALEST INK. 231 
 
 the laud of the priests bought he not ; for the priests had a 
 portion assigned them of Pharaoh, and did eat their portion 
 which Pharaoh gave them ; wherefore they sold not their lands." 
 Gen. 47 : 22. 
 
 5. The civilization of the Egyptians grew up in close connec 
 tion with their religion and government. It was thoroughly 
 heathen in its character, yet it cannot be denied that it was in 
 many respects of a high order; the best probably that existed 
 in that age of the world. The monuments present to us a 
 lively picture of Egyptian life in all its details. To their archi 
 tectural skill the stupendous remains described by so many 
 travellers bear abundant testimony. Their excellence in astron 
 omy and mathematics, judging them by the standard of that 
 age, cannot be denied. All the pyramids face accurately north 
 and south ; and long ages before the time of the Romans they 
 had the Sothic or sidereal year consisting of three hundred and 
 sixty-five and a quarter days, beginning with the heliacal rising 
 of Sothis or Sirius ; that is, when Sirius rose about an hour be 
 fore the sun. In medical science they were not excelled by any 
 nation ; and their skill in embalming is known to all. They 
 understood the art of glass-blowing, and their glass beads and 
 richly colored bottles remain to the present day. They had 
 musical instruments in use in their religious services. Their 
 skill in spinning and weaving , as Avell as the brilliancy of their 
 dyes, is known to all. In leather they were expert workmen. 
 They had vases of gold and silver engraved and embossed : also 
 of porcelain in rich colors. M> their meals they sat upon car 
 pets and mats, or on stools and chairs around the table. The 
 more wealthy Egyptians had villas with pleasure-grounds and 
 flower-gardens; and houses, which did not generally exceed 
 two stories, were placed round open courts after the fashion in 
 Eastern countries. They were familiar with the use o"f iron from a 
 .remote period, and understood the art of manufacturing bronze. 
 For writing they used leather, or paper manufactured from the 
 the papyrus-plant. The monuments represent inkstands with 
 red and black ink, and scribes holding the pen behind the ear. 
 
232 SACRED GEOGRAPHY. 
 
 Finally, the monuments exhibit the whole process of brick-ma 
 king with the taskmasters armed with rods set over the workmen. 
 
 6. The relation of tJie covenant people to tlte Egyptians began 
 with Abraham, who sojourned in Egypt during a time of famine. 
 Gen. 12 : 10-20. Afterwards Joseph; in the providence of God, 
 was sold into Egypt, which became the occasion of the settlement 
 of the whole family there. Here the growing Hebrew nation 
 spent, according to some chronologists, four hundred and thirty 
 years, according to others two hundred and fifteen ; and then 
 they left the country carrying with them much of its wealth 
 (Exod. 3 : 21, 22; 12 : 35, 36), and the knowledge of all its arts 
 that pertained to daily life. It was the plan of God to bring 
 his covenant people at the outset into intimate and long con 
 tinued contact with the highest form of civilization which the 
 world then possessed. If they took with the knowledge of 
 Egyptian civilization, its superstitions also, this was an inciden 
 tal evil for which an efficient remedy was provided in the forty 
 years training to which they were subjected in the wilderness 
 of Arabia, shut out from the rest of the world. 
 
 7. After the exodus, the intercourse between the Hebrews 
 and the Egyptians does not seem to have been renewed till- the 
 time of Solomon, when it was of a friendly character. 1 Kings 
 3 : 1 ; 10 : 28, 29. After Solomon s day the Egyptians and Ethiopi 
 ans appear as the oppressors and spoilers of the Hebrew people. 
 1 Kings 14 : 25, 26 ; 2 Chron. 14 : 9. Again we find the kings of 
 Israel and Judali, in the decline of their power, relying on the 
 broken reed of Egyptian help against the Eastern monarchies 
 (2 Kings 17 : 4; Ezek., chap. 17), for which sin they were sharply 
 rebuked by the prophets. Isa. 30 : 1-7 ; 31 : 1-3 ; Ezek. 17 : 15 ; 
 Hosea 12 : 1. After the captivity, the Jews in great numbers 
 settled in Egypt. Here they had their temple, and here was 
 executed the Greek version of the Old Testament called the Sep- 
 tuagint, which has exerted such an important influence on the. 
 language of the New Testament, and was the basis of the Latin 
 version used in the Western church for many centuries. See 
 farther under the head of Alexandria, in No. 17 below. 
 
PALESTINE. 
 
 8. The geographical features of Egypt are unique and simple. 
 Eain never falls there in such quantities as to be of any avail for 
 agricultural purposes. The Nile flows through the land from 
 south to north in a narrow valley until it reaches the apex of 
 the Delta twelve miles below the modern Cairo. From this 
 point the river expands, its current becomes sluggish, and it 
 soon begins to flow off in separate branches. Thus we have 
 the most ancient natural division of Upper Egypt above the 
 Delta and Lower Egypt. The whole extent of the country 
 from the Mediterranean to the island of Philae, latitude twenty- 
 four degrees one minute north, is in a direct line about five hun 
 dred and twenty miles ; but if we follow the course of the river, 
 seven hundred miles. 
 
 9. Upper Egypt extends from the island of Philae, on the 
 border of Nubia, to the apex of the Delta, a distance of about 
 six hundred miles, though there are monuments of the Egyptian 
 .sovereigns in abundance above Philae.. The valley is nowhere 
 much above eleven miles in breadth, and its average breadth is 
 about seven or eight miles. It is shut in on each side by a 
 chain of hills rarely higher than three hundred feet, which form 
 the border of the desert region. A little above Cairo these hills 
 open on either hand ; those on the western side running off to 
 the northwest, and those on the eastern side curving round tow 
 ards the head of the Red sea. 
 
 In the times of the earlier Cscsars this part of Egypt was divided into 
 two provinces, the Heptanuvnis, or Middle Egypt, and the TJiebdis, or Upper 
 Egypt in the strict sense of the term ; so named from Thebes, its ancient 
 capital. All the provinces were again subdivided into Nomes, of which 
 the Heptanomis had seven. Hence the name, which signifies district of 
 seven nomes. Respecting Pailiros (Isa. 11 : 11 ; Jer. 44 : 1, 15 ; Ezek. 29 : 14 ; 
 30 : 14), whence the Gentile term Pathrusim, people of Palhros (Gen. 
 10 : 14). the commonly received opinion is, that it is the ancient domestic 
 name for Upper Egypt, or at least a part of Upper Egypt. 
 
 10. Lower Egypt consists of the triangular gore formed by 
 the divergent branches of the Nile near its mouth, and which is 
 called the Delta from its resemblance to the Greek letter of that 
 
234 SACRED GEOGEAPHY. 
 
 name (A). Its length from its apex, twelve miles below Cairo, 
 to the sea, is about ninety miles. Its present breadth on the 
 seacoast, reckoning from the eastern branch at Damietta to the 
 western at Rosetta, is eighty miles. But the ancient Delta was 
 much wider. It had for its eastern border the Pelusiac branch 
 of the Nile, now only a canal, which enters the Mediterranean 
 some fifty miles or more to the southeast of Damietta ; while its 
 western or Caiiopic branch had its mouth at Canopus, only 
 twelve miles east of Alexandria. This was the Delta proper, 
 lying within the extreme eastern and western branches of the 
 Nile, and intersected by several subordinate branches and vari 
 ous canals. But the province of the Delta included anciently, as 
 now, a considerable strip of territory beyond these branches on 
 each side, which enjoyed the fertilizing influence of the Nile. 
 
 The coast of the Delta bordering on the Mediterranean is 
 low and barren, consisting of a line of sand-hills, with occasional 
 barriers of rock, behind. which are extensive tracts of salt lakes, 
 with marshy borders. To these succeeds the vast alluvial plain 
 of the Delta, intersected by the branches of the Nile and many 
 canals, and having a soil of % great richness, consisting of the 
 black mud deposited by the Nile through a period of many ages 
 to the depth, it is said, of thirty or forty feet. As in the case of 
 the Mississippi and some other large rivers, the surface of the 
 alluvial deposits descends from the margin of the stream on each 
 side towards the hills, owing to the greater amount of deposi 
 tion on its borders. 
 
 11. The position and boundaries of the land of Goslten are 
 nowhere directly defined. But the Scriptural notices of it indi 
 cate that it lay on the eastern border of Lower Egypt. Joseph 
 " went up to meet Israel his father to Goshen," when the patri 
 arch was on his way from the land of Canaan to Egypt. Gen. 
 16 : 29. When the Israelites left Egypt, they journeyed in three 
 days from Goshen to the Red sea, manifestly without crossing 
 the Nile. Ex. 12 : 37 ; 13 : 20 ; 14 : 2. If we define the land of 
 Goshen as " the country intervening between the desert of Ara 
 bia and Palestine on the one side and the Pelusiac arm of the 
 
PALESTINE. 235 
 
 Nile on the other, with the Mediterranean at the base" (Smith s 
 Bible Diet.), it is perhaps as far as we can go with certainty. 
 Goshen will thus include the modern province eah-Skwrttyek, 
 which Robinson says (Bib. Res., 1, p. 53) has ever been " the 
 best of the land" down to the present time. Certainly it was 
 to the Israelites, for their purposes as shepherds and herds 
 men, " the best of the land of Egypt;" and that is all that the 
 statements of Scripture require us to assume. 
 
 At the time of the exodus, the Israelites, though living as a people by 
 themselves in the land of Goshen (Exod. 8 : 22 ; 9 : 26 ; 10 : 23, etc.), had 
 yet intimate connections with the Egyptians, as is manifest from their bor 
 rowing of them, "every man of his neighbor, and every woman of her 
 neighbor "(Exod. 11 : 2 ; 12 : 35). Perhaps a part of the people lived among 
 the Egyptians west of the proper land of Goshen, 
 
 12. It is well known that the existence of Egypt as a habit 
 able region depends on the annual overflow of the Nile. Tracing 
 up this wonderful river from the Mediterranean towards the 
 south, we find it dividing at Khartoom, in latitude fifteen degrees 
 forty minutes north, into two main branches, called the White 
 and Blue Nile ; of which the former conies in from the south 
 west, the latter from the southeast. The Blue Nile has its 
 sources in the district of Geesh, in about latitude eleven degrees 
 north, and longitude thirty-seven degrees east from Greenwich, 
 at an elevation of nearly six thousand feet above the sea. The 
 White Nile is the main stream. It has been explored as far 
 south as latitude three degrees twenty minutes north, but above 
 this its course is uncertain. According to present information, 
 its probable source is the great lata Nyanza, the southern ex 
 tremity of which is in latitude three degrees twenty-one minutes 
 south, with the probability of head-waters still farther soutli. 
 Thus it has a length, if we include the Nyanza, of almost thirty- 
 five degrees of latitude in a direct line, and is the longest river 
 on the globe. At the distance of one hundred and sixty miles 
 below Khartoom the Nile receives from the right, in latitude 
 seventeen degrees forty-five minutes, the Atbara or Black river, 
 so named from the black earth with which it is discolored in the 
 
236 SACKED GEOGRAPHY. 
 
 rainy season. This is its last affluent. In the remaining one 
 thousand five hundred miles of its course to the sea it does not 
 receive a single branch a phenomenon unparalleled in the his 
 tory of great rivers. Descending through Nubia, it passes in 
 succession five cataracts, the last of which (called ilie first cata 
 ract reckoning upwards from the north) is immediately below 
 the island of Philoe, and thus on the southern border of Egypt. 
 Of the branches which form the Delta, the western is said to 
 have, at low water, a breadth of one thousand eight hundred 
 feet, with a depth of five feet; the eastern, a breadth of only 
 nine hundred feet, but with a depth of about eight feet. 
 
 13. The animal rise of the Nile is due to the periodical rains 
 in the tropical regions from which it flows. In Egypt the river 
 begins to rise the latter part of June, and reaches its greatest 
 height at the autumnal equinox or soon afterwards. About the 
 middle of October it begins to fall, and by the end of November 
 the fields are left dry and covered with a fresh deposit of slime, 
 which acts as a powerful fertilizer. The crops are now sown, 
 and owing to the warmth of the climate, mature rapidly, so that 
 there is time in most cases for a succession of them before the 
 next inundation. 
 
 Rawlinson (Trans, of Herodotus, vol. 2, p. 301) gives the rise of the 
 Nile in an ordinary inundation for Asouan (the ancient Syene) at the south 
 ern extremity of Egypt, forty feet ; for Thebes in Upper Egypt, thirty- 
 six ; for Cairo just above the head of the Delta, twenty-five ; for Rosetta 
 and Damictta at the mouths of the river, four. During the inundation 
 the Delta has the appearance of an immense marsh, interspersed with, 
 numerous islands, on which are seen towns, villages, and plantations of 
 trees just above the water. Should the rise at Cairo reach thirty feet, it 
 sweeps away the mud-built cottages of the inhabitants, and does immense 
 damage. Should it, on the other hand, fall short of eighteen feet, a fam 
 ine is the consequence. The extent of territory fertilized by the overflow 
 of the Nile was greatly increased anciently by means of canals, many of 
 which have fallen into decay in modern times. Where the water cannot 
 be directly carried, irrigation becomes a more laborious and expensive 
 process. 
 
 In Pharaoh s dream the fat and the lean kine came up out of the river. 
 This represents the fact that in Egypt both plenty and famine come from 
 
PALESTINE. 237 
 
 the Nile as tlieir source. The seven years of famine were doubtless seven 
 successive years in Avhich the inundation failed to reach such a height as to 
 make agriculture practicable. 
 
 14. The fertility of Egypt, wherever the waters of the Nile 
 have access, is inexhaustible. With no other fertilizing sub 
 stance except the annual deposits of slime, and under the rudest 
 system of husbandry, the soil yields from "age to age the most 
 abundant crops. Herodotus tells us (2. 14) that the husband 
 man had no need of the plough or the hoe; that "he waits till 
 the river has, of its own accord, spread itself over the fields and 
 withdrawn again to its bed, and then sows his plot of ground, 
 and after sowing turns his swine into it. The swine tread in 
 the corn. After which he has only to await the harvest." This 
 cannot, however, be understood as the universal rule. At the 
 present day, where the level of the land is the lowest, they sow 
 the seed on the mud, and then drag it in with bushes ; or they 
 drive in a number of sheep, goats, or pigs, to tread it in. But 
 in other places the plough is indispensable, and the monuments 
 of ancient Egypt represent ploughs of rude construction drawn 
 by oxen, as is the custom at the present day. For raising water 
 from the Nile the slmduf is, and always was, in common use 
 an apparatus agreeing substantially with the old fashioned well- 
 siveep of New England. In Deut. 11 : 10, Moses contrasts the 
 land of Palestine with Egypt : " The land whither thou goest 
 in to possess it, is not as the land of Egypt, from whence ye 
 came out, where thou sowedst thy seed, and wateredst it with 
 thy foot, as a garden of herbs." In this passage Moses is gen 
 erally supposed to refer to the helix, a sort of treadwheel de 
 scribed at length by Philo, and a figure of which, as now in use, 
 is given by Niebuhr. It is possible, however, that he refers to 
 the common method of conducting the rills of water in a garden 
 from furrow to furrow by pushing the soil with the foot to open 
 or close the passage. See Thomson s Land and Book, 2, pp. 
 276-280, where is an interesting account of the different modes 
 of artificial irrigation. 
 
 15. Egypt produces in abundance the plants that furnish 
 
238 SACRED GEOGRAPHY. 
 
 food and clothing to the human family. Wheat is raised for 
 exportation. The soil is particularly adapted to maize and 
 millet. These grains, with rice, lentils, and other kinds of pulse, 
 constitute the principal food of the inhabitants. Melons and 
 cucumbers are raised in abundance and of excellent quality. 
 Grapes and other fruits dates, figs, pomegranates, apricots, 
 peaches, oranges, lemons, bananas, mulberries, olives are plen 
 tiful; and of garden vegetables there is a rich variety. Other 
 products are cotton, flax, coffee, tobacco, sugar-cane, indigo, 
 and madder. The lakes of Egypt furnish a variety of fish. The 
 nature of the country determines the Egyptians to be an agri 
 cultural rather than a pastoral people. Sheep and goats are 
 common, and asses, mules, and camels are in use as beasts of 
 burden. 
 
 . The articles of food for which the Israelites pined in the wilderness 
 are highly characteristic of Egypt fish, cucumbers, melons, leeks, onions, 
 garlics. Numb. 11 : 5. The lotus, a species of water-lily, which Herodo 
 tus represents the ancient Egyptians as using for food (2. 92) grows in the 
 ponds and small channels of the Delta during the inundations. The ne- 
 lumbium, another species described by him, is no longer found in Egypt. 
 The celebrated papyrus, of which the Egyptians manufactured paper, 
 mats, sails, baskets, sandals, and also small light boats, is no longer a 
 native of Egypt. The hippopotamus, formerly common in Egypt, is, ac 
 cording to Rawlinson, now rarely seen as low as the second cataract. Notes 
 to Herodotus, 2, p. 118. According to the same author, the crocodile does 
 not now descend below Beni Hassan in latitude 28 degrees north. 2, p. 
 114, note. 
 
 16. The climate of Egypt is dry and equable, and with the 
 exception of some spots in the vicinity of the salt marshes, it is 
 considered healthy. The prevailing diseases are affections of 
 the liver and skin, ophthalmia, and dysentery. The northerly 
 winds blow ten months of the year, and during their prevalence 
 the heat is never oppressive. "When these fail, about the be 
 ginning of May, and the khamsin sets in a hot wind from the 
 southern desert also called simoom which lasts about fifty 
 days, the sultriness and heat of the atmosphere become oppres 
 sive. 
 
PALESTINE. 239 
 
 The warm and equable character of the climate relieves the inhabitants 
 from the necessity of great outlays on their dwellings or wearing apparel, 
 while in ordinary years all the necessities of life are abundant and cheap. 
 Hence Egypt anciently supported, for the amoant of its tillable land, a 
 very great population. Under the Eomans Egypt was the granary of the 
 empire, nor has its natural fertility decreased. Under a good government 
 its inexhaustible natural resources might be again developed. Famines, 
 however, consequent on the failure of the usual rise of the Nile, are 
 common now, as in ancient days. See Genesis, chap 41, seq. History 
 records one since the time of Joseph of seven years duration (A. D. 
 1064-1071), which seems to have been as severe as that recorded in the 
 book of Genesis. See in Smith s Bible Diet., art. Famine. "Famines in 
 Egypt and Palestine," says the writer of that article, "seem to be effected 
 by drought extending from northern Syria through the meridian of Egypt, 
 as far as the highlands of Abyssinia." 
 
 17. We add a notice of some ancient places mentioned in 
 Scripture. 
 
 Alexandria is situated on the Mediterranean twelve miles west of the 
 Canopic mouth of the Nile, and near the northwestern angle of the Delta, 
 having in front the long narrow island of Pharos, and in the rear the lake 
 Mareotis. It was founded B. a 332 by Alexander the Great, who per 
 ceiving its pleasant and salubrious site and its great advantages for com 
 merce, marked out the plan of the new city, and connected it by a mole 
 with the island of Pharos, thus making a spacious and safe harbor. But 
 as it was difficult of access, he erected the celebrated lighthouse of Pharos 
 at the eastern extremity of the island, a square structure of white marble 
 on the top of which fires were kept constantly burning for the direction of 
 mariners. Owing to its great commercial advantages as the emporium of 
 commerce between the east and the west through the Mediterranean, the 
 Nile, and the Hed sea, with a short overland carriage from Coptos on the 
 Nile to Myos Hormos on the Red sea Alexandria speedily rose to be the 
 metropolis of the commercial world, with a population estimated at 600,000 
 souls. After various fortunes it fell in A. D. 640 into the hands of the 
 Saracens, who burnt its magnificent library of 700,000 volumes. . The city 
 continued, however, to be an important port till the discovery in 1497 of 
 the passage to the east by the Cape of Good Hope, w r hen it sunk into decay. 
 But with the restoration in modern times of the overland route to the east 
 by means of steamers and the railroad from Alexandria through Cairo to 
 Suez, the city is fast rising again into importance. The population of the 
 modern town is said to be about 40,000. 
 
 Allusion has already been made (No. 8 above) to the important religious 
 
240 SACKED GEOGKAPHY. 
 
 influences that emanated from Egypt before and after our Lord s advent. 
 Of these Alexandria was ever the centre. From the first the city was 
 inhabited by a large Jewish population. Here Jewish literature flourished 
 in intimate contact with the Grecian mind, and received from it import 
 ant modifications, as the writings of Philo show : here was executed the 
 Greek version of the seventy, the first translation of the Hebrew Scriptures 
 into a foreign tongue, and one that exerted a great influence on the Ian 
 guage of the New Testament : here, also, after the establishment of Chris 
 tianity, was the celebrated catechetical school presided over by Pantsenus, 
 Clement, Origen, and other illustrious teachers, the influence of whose 
 exegetical principles endures to the present day. 
 
 Zoan, the Tanis of the Greeks and the San of the modern Arabs, was 
 an important city of Lower Egypt. It stood on the eastern side of the 
 Tanitic branch of the Nile, not very far from its mouth. Nothing of its 
 ancient splendor remains except fragments of walls, columns, and fallen 
 obelisks. The modern village consists of mere huts in a desolate and un 
 healthy region. See Wilkinson s Modern Egypt, 1, pp. 449-452. 
 
 Sin, a strongly fortified place, called "the strength of Egypt" (Ezek. 
 30 : 15), is identified by Jerome with Pelusium ; and in this judgment bibli 
 cal scholars generally acquiesce. Both words signify mire or miry place, 
 a name which the city well deserved ; for it lay among the marshes on the 
 most northeasterly branch of the Nile. The site is now approachable only by 
 boats, except when the water of the Nile is low. The remains consist only 
 of a few mounds and fallen columns in the midst of pestilential marshes. 
 Thus is fulfilled the prediction of Ezekiel : "I will pour out my fury upon 
 Sin, the strength of Egypt." 
 
 About midway between the modern San and Pelusium is a mound sup 
 posed by Wilkinson (Modern Egypt, 1, p. 447) to be the site of the scrip 
 tural Tahpanhes or Tehaphnehes. Jer. 2 : 16 ; 43 : 7-9 ; 44 : 1 ; 46 : 14 ; Ezek. 
 30 : 18. It was thus the Daphne of Herodotus (2. 30, 107), a fortified 
 place on the Pelusiac or eastern branch of the Nile. 
 
 Hanes (Isa. 30 : 4) is identified by some with the Anysis of Herodotus 
 (2. 137) and the Heracledpolis of the Greeks in Middle Egypt above Memphis. 
 But the Targum reads Tahpanhes, evidently regarding Hanes as a con 
 tracted form of the same. With this assumption the context well agrees, 
 which would seem to indicate that Zoan and Hanes were neighboring 
 places. 
 
 Migclol (Exod. 14 : 2 ; Jer. 44 : 1 ; 46 : 14 ; also in the true marginal read 
 ing of Ezek. 29 : 10 ; 30 : 6 from Migdol to Syene] would seem to have been 
 the last town on the Egyptian frontier towards the Ked sea. 
 
 Pi-beseth (Ezek. 30 : 17) is the Bubastis of Herodotus (2. 137, 138) on the 
 
PALESTINE. 24l 
 
 Pelnsiac branch of the Nile, near the place where the ancient canal led off 
 from the Nile to Arsinoe at the head of the Red sea. Here was a celebra 
 ted temple to the goddess Bubastis, which Herodotus regards as the most 
 beautiful in Egypt. The site, now called Tell Bcista, Hill of Bastu is occu 
 pied by mounds consisting of the ruins of brick houses and heaps of 
 broken pottery. 
 
 Pithom and Ramescs or Eaamses were treasure-cities in the land of Go- 
 shen, built by the Israelites for their oppressors. Exod. 1:11. Of these 
 the former is believed with good reason to be identical with the Patumos 
 of Herodotus (2. 158), which was near Bubastis on the east side of the Pe- 
 lusiac arm of the Nile, and not far from the canal leading to the Red sea. 
 Rameses, from which place the Israelites took their departure (Exod. 
 12 :37), according to Robinson (Bib. Res., 1, pp. 54, 55), "lay probably on 
 the valley of the canal in the middle part, not far from the western ex 
 tremity of the basin of the Bitter Lakes. " 
 
 In Gen. 41 : 45 we read that Pharaoh gave Joseph to wife Asenath the 
 daughter of Potipherah priest of On. The same city is mentioned by 
 Ezekiel (chap. 30 : 17) under the form Aven (only a different vocalization 
 of the same Hebrew letters) ; and is called by Jeremiah (chap. 43 : 13) 
 Beth-shemesh, house of (lie sun. On signifies, as Egyptian scholars tell us, 
 light and the sun ; a name given to the city as the chief seat of the worship 
 of the sun, where there was a splendid temple dedicated to that luminary, 
 and an annual festival in its honor. The Greek name is HeKopoKs, city of 
 the sun. "The Arabs," says Sir Gardner Wilkinson (in Rawlinson s He 
 rodotus, 2. 8), "called it Ain SJiems, fountain of the sun, from the spring 
 there, which the credulous Christians believed to have been salt until the 
 Virgin s visit to Egypt." The site of On is still marked by the remains of 
 the massive walls that surrounded it. It stood on the east side of the Pe- 
 lusiac branch of the Nile about twenty miles northeast of Memphis, and 
 six miles northeast of the modern city of Cairo. In sacerdotal dignity its 
 priests seem to have held the first rank. Its priesthood constituted a 
 numerous body distinguished before other Egyptians for their learning. 
 Hence the city was a place of resort for foreign scholars. Under this col 
 lege of priests, Solon, Thales, Eudoxus, and Plato ah* studied, and through 
 thorn the wisdorL rf Egypt was transfused into Grecian philosophy. Po- 
 t//i/t>>r<th or Potiphar (Sepluagint Peiephres] is said to signify belonging to the 
 sun, and there can be no doubt that Joseph s father-in-law was a priest of 
 the highest rank. Of the celebrated temple of the sun, which was ap 
 proached between two rows of colossal sphinxes with two obelisks in front, 
 only one obelisk of red granite, remains standing. Thus signally are ful 
 filled the words of Jeremiah : "He shall break also the images of Beth- 
 shemosh, that is in the land of Egypt." 
 
 Sue.-; 11 
 
242 SACRED GEOGRAPHY. 
 
 Following up the west bank of the Nile we conic, at the distance of ten 
 miles above the modern city of Cairo, to the site of the celebrated Mem 
 phis, of which the Hebrew name is Noph (Isa. 19 : 13 ; Jer. 2 : 16 ; 46 : 14, 
 19 ; Ezek. 30 : 13, 16), and once Moph (Hosea 9 : 6), for which our version 
 puts the Greek form Memphis. According to Diodorns Siculus the city 
 was seventeen miles in circuit. Its position was such that it commanded 
 the whole inland trade of Egypt between the upper and the lower Nile. 
 Of its magnificent temples our limits do not permit us to speak. It con 
 tinued to be the chief city of Egypt until the founding of Alexandria, after 
 which it declined till it fell into such utter decay that its very site, buried 
 as it is by drifting sands, became for a time a matter of dispute among an 
 tiquarians. The disclosure in modern times of an immense number of 
 ruins of temples, palaces, and statues, with thousands of inscriptions, has at 
 once identified the site of this famous city, and furnished a solemn com 
 mentary on the prophetic words of inspiration : Noph shall be waste and 
 desolate without an inhabitant." In the hieroglyphics on the monuments 
 Memphis is called the city of the pyramids, and with good reason, for the 
 great field of the pyramids which was also the necropolis of Memphis, lies 
 on the western side of the Nile, extending past Memphis north and south. 
 See below No. 20. 
 
 Thebes, the renowned capital of Upper Egypt, was built on both sides 
 of the Nile in latitude twenty-five degrees forty three minutes north. Ac 
 cording to Herodotus (2. 9), Thebes was nine days sail up the river from 
 Heliopolis, the distance being eighty-one schoeni, or four thousand eight 
 hundred and sixty furlongs. This reduced to English measure would give 
 about five hundred and fifty-two miles. But Wilkinson (in Rawlinson s 
 Herodotus, 2, p. 12), says that the distance, following up the river, is only 
 about four hundred and twenty-one miles ; and that the distance of Thebes 
 from the sea, which Herodotus reckons at six thousand one hundred and 
 twenty furlongs or about seven hundred miles, is by modern measurement 
 only five hundred and sixty-six miles. The Hebrew name of this city is 
 No-<imon (Nahum 3 : 8, as it is rightly given in the margin of our version), or 
 simply No (Ezek. 30 : 14, 15). The derivation and signification of the 
 word No is obscure. According to Gesenius it signifies the place of Amon, 
 thus corresponding to the Egyptian name Ha-amen or Pa-amen, abode of 
 Amen. In Jer. 46 : 25 (marginal rendering) we read : "Behold I will pun 
 ish Amon of No," where the reference is to the deity Amon (the Ammon 
 of the Greeks and Romans) worshipped in No. In Ezek 30 : 15, "I will 
 cut off the multitude of No (hamon No), there is apparently a play upon 
 the similarly sounding words hamon, multitude, and Amon. 
 
 Thebes excelled all the other cities of Egypt in extent and the magnifi 
 cence of its temples. According to Strabo it covered an area of five miles i 
 
PALESTINE. 243 
 
 length by three in breadth, a statement fully justified, according to Sir Gard 
 ner Wilkinson, by the ruins that mark its former greatness. Thebes was 
 one of the most ancient cities of Egypt. It was known by fame to Homer, 
 who speaks of it as having a hundred gates and sending forth through 
 each two hundred war-chariots. Its antiquity is attested by the fact that 
 the bases of all its monuments are buried to the depth of ten feet by the 
 annual depositions of the Nile. The stupendous ruins of the city, which 
 are among the most magnificent in the world, have been the admiration of 
 all travellers. They are at the modern villages of Karnak and Luxor on 
 the eastern bank of the Nile, and Kurneh and Medinet Abu on the west 
 ern. To give a description of them in detail would far exceed our limits. 
 The great temple of Karnak was approached by an avenue of ram-headed 
 sphinxes. Then came a magnificent gateway flanked by broad wings ex 
 tending along the whole front of the temple, with gigantic statues and an 
 obelisk on either side. After this was a series of spacious courts with 
 magnificent columns in avenues leading to the temple proper. The first 
 court behind the gateway is three hundred and twenty-nine feet wide 
 and two hundred and seventy-five feet long. Immediately behind this 
 court is the great hall of the same width, but one hundred and seventy 
 feet long. It was supported by one hundred and thirty-four columns, the 
 loftiest of which, forming the central avenue are sixty-six feet in height 
 and twelve feet in diameter. No existing ruins are more grandly pictur 
 esque than those of this temple ; and there are many others of less gigan 
 tic proportions, but still filling the mind with amazement by their number 
 and extent. The walls of these temples, here as elsewhere in Egypt, are 
 covered with hieroglyphics, representing chiefly the exploits of the Egyp 
 tian monarchs. Behind the temples on the western side, the desert 
 tract bordering the hills is filled with countless mummy pits, tombs, and 
 sepulchral grottoes ; for here was the grand burial-place of Thebes, no 
 sepulchres existing on the eastern side. 
 
 Thebes was more than once captured by the Assyrians, and to one of 
 these events the prophet Nahum refers : " Art thou better than No-Amon, 
 that was situate upon the streams [branches of the Nile] , that had the 
 waters round about her, whose rampart was the sea [the name given by 
 the Arabs of the present day to the Nile], and her wall was of the sea ? 
 Ethiopia was her strength, and Egypt with endless multitudes ; Put anc\ 
 the Lubirn were among thy helpers. Yet she also went into exile in cap 
 tivity ; her children also were dashed in pieces at the head of all the streets ; 
 and upon her nobles they cast lots, and all her great men were bound 
 in chains." Chap. 3 :8-10. 
 
 Syene (whence the name syenite for a well-known species of rock 
 abounding in that vicinity) was the last town of Egypt on the southern 
 frontier towards Ethiopia. Hence the prophet Ezekiel describes the com- 
 
244 SACRED GEOGRAPHY. 
 
 ing desolation of the whole laud thus : "I will make the land of Egypt 
 utterly waste and desolate from Migdol to Syene [according to the true 
 marginal rendering], even unto the border of Ethiopia." Chap. 29:10; 
 30 : 6. Syene is represented by the Arabic village Asouan in latitude 
 twenty-four degrees five minutes north, and just below the first cataract of 
 tlio Nile. 
 
 18. The Egyptians, according to Herodotus (2. 123), were 
 " the first to broach the opinion that the soul of man is immor 
 tal, and that, when the body dies, it enters into the form of an 
 animal which is born at the moment, thence passing on from 
 one animal into another, until it has circled through the forms 
 of all the creatures which tenant the earth, the water, and the 
 air, after which it enters again into a human frame, and is born 
 anew. The whole period of the transmigration is (they say) 
 three thousand years." Wilkinson, in a note to the above pas 
 sages, says that their belief in this great doctrine is everywhere 
 proclaimed in the paintings of the tombs. But he thinks that 
 the disgrace of entering the bodies of animals was restricted to 
 the souls of wicked men alone, "when, weighed in the balance 
 before the tribunal of Osiris, they were pronounced unworthy 
 to enter the abode of the blessed." The same doctrine of the 
 transmigration of souls metempsychosis is the Greek term is 
 held, under various modifications, by the Brahmins and Bood- 
 hists of India and China, and may have been derived from a 
 common source with the Egyptian doctrine. But the Greek 
 doctrine of metempsychosis, as held by Pythagoras, Plato, and 
 others, was borrowed from the Egyptians, and modified to suit 
 the Grecian mind. 
 
 19. The extraordinary care bestowed by the Egyptians on 
 .the preservation of the bodies of the deceased was connected, 
 
 as some think, with this doctrine of metempsychosis, the idea 
 being to preserve the body from decay till the soul should again 
 reanimate it. But this view has never been conclusively estab 
 lished. It is certain, however, that the custom of embalming 
 the bodies of the dead, from whatever idea it may have pro 
 ceeded, was universal; and there was a class of men in Egypt 
 
PALKSTlNi;. 
 
 who made it their profession. Herodotus (2. 86-88) and Dio- 
 dorus Siculus (1. 91) describe three modes of embalming more 
 or less perfect and costly, and the monuments show that there 
 were other varieties. According to the most perfect mode, the 
 brain and contents of the abdomen were removed, and the 
 cavities of the body filled with myrrh, cassia, and other costly 
 spicery, after which the body was placed in natron subcarbo- 
 nate of soda and covered entirely over for seventy days. AW 
 omit the description of the cheaper methods, simply remarking 
 that the placing the body in natron for seventy days was com 
 mon to all three. When the process of embalming was com 
 pleted, the body was washed, swathed from head to foot in 
 bandages of fine linen, smeared over with gum, and given back 
 to the relatives, who enclosed it in a wooden case shaped in the 
 figure of a man. Thus we have the Egyptian mummy and 
 mummy-case. 
 
 20. The Egyptian tombs were more or less elaborate in struc 
 ture, according to the rank and wealth of their builders. It is 
 now generally thought that the famous pyramids of Egypt were 
 sepulchral monuments built over the tombs of kings. The num 
 ber and size of these fill the beholder s mind with amazement. 
 Near the western margin of the valley of the Nile, beginning a 
 few miles above Cairo and scattered in groups at short inter 
 vals for some sixty or seventy miles up the river, are seen as 
 many as sixty-nine of these structures with the ruins of many 
 more. Their form is familiar to all. They have a square base, 
 its four sides facing the four cardinal .points, and sloping up 
 wards so as to draw towards a point over the centre. The walls 
 had originally a smooth finish, but where the outer casing has 
 been torn off the corners of stones appear in the form of steps 
 which can be ascended without great difficulty. The great 
 pyramid of Cheops had originally a base of seven hundred and 
 sixty-four feet and a height of four hundred and eighty feet with 
 a slope of fifty-one degrees fifty-one minutes. But by the re 
 moval of the outer portions to furnish stone for the city of Cairo 
 these dimensions have been reduced to seven hundred and forty- 
 
246 SACKED GEOGRAPHY. 
 
 six feet by four hundred and fifty. These structures are solid 
 throughout, except the chambers designed for the sarcophagi 
 stone coffins with the narrow passage leading to them. 
 
 Around the pyramids were the tombs of the subjects, built 
 upon the rock or excavated in it. In the tombs deep pits were 
 sunk, and the mummies deposited in chambers at the bottom. 
 In Lower Egypt these structures were, from the necessity of the 
 case, built of brick. 
 
 But this superabundant toil bestowed on the bodies of the 
 deceased has only exposed them the more to desecration. While 
 the remains of those who have been unostentatiously committed 
 to the ground out of which they were taken, are, as a general 
 rule, left undisturbed, the coffins of even the Egyptian kings 
 have been broken open and despoiled of their contents ; and 
 the Arabs of the present day cut up and burn for fuel the mum 
 mies on which ages ago so much labor and wealth were lavish 
 ed. God will honor, in his own divine way, the bodies of the 
 righteous at the final resurrection ; but his providence pours 
 contempt upon the crude devices of man to evade the dread 
 sentence : " Dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return." 
 
 21. Ancient EtJiiojna (the Gusli of the Old Testament) is the 
 country which stretches south from Egypt probably beyond the 
 confluence of the White and Blue Nile, comprising the modem 
 Nubia, Senaar, and the northern part of Abyssinia. We do not 
 propose to consider the geographical features of Ethiopia, but 
 only its relations to Egypt so far as these help to elucidate cer 
 tain passages in the history of the Hebrew people. In 2 Chron. 
 14 : 9 we read that Zerah the Ethiopian, with a host of a thou 
 sand thousand, and three hundred chariots, invaded the land of 
 Judah from the south ; and in 2 Kings 19 : 9, that Tirhakah 
 king of Ethiopia came out to fight against the king of Assyria 
 in Palestine. The question immediately arises: How could 
 an Ethiopian army invade Palestine, since to do this it must 
 march through the whole length of Egypt? In regard to Zerah 
 it might be held that he was but an Ethiopian general with 
 Ethiopian and Libyan troops (2 Chron. 16 : 8) in the service of 
 
PALESTINE. 247 
 
 the king of Egypt. But this explanation is improbable, ami 
 does not apply to the case of Tirhakah, who is expressly called 
 king of Ethiopia. The more natural explanation is that the 
 Ethiopians were then the stronger people, and that they either 
 ruled Egypt as a tributary kingdom, or had the Egyptians for 
 their allies. We know that the twenty-fifth dynasty consisted 
 of Ethiopian kings who, according to Herodotus (2. 137) held 
 the dominion of Egypt for fifty years. Tarakos, the Tehrak of 
 the monuments, was the third king of this dynasty, and he is 
 with good reason regarded as the Tirhakah of Scripture. 
 
 22. We read in the New Testament (Acts 8 : 27), of " Can- 
 dace queen of the Ethiopians." We learn from several notices 
 of the ancients (Pliny, 6. 29; Strabo, 17. 820 ; Dio Cassius, 54. 5) 
 that Candace, like Pharaoh, was not the name of an individual 
 sovereign, but an official title borne by the successive queens of 
 the region, and that the Ethiopia here spoken of was that part 
 of the country called Meroe lying between the Nile and its local 
 branch, the Atbara. According to Josephus (Antiq. 2 . 10. 2) 
 Meroe was the Egyptian Seba (Isa. 43 : 3 ; 45 : 14), the inhabit 
 ants of which were distinguished for their tallness; and Hero 
 dotus 3. 20, speaks of the Ethiopians as "the tallest and hand 
 somest men in the whole world." 
 
 The Gush of Gen. 2 : 13 cannot, by any possibility, be the African Gush. 
 It must be understood of some province of Asia. 
 
 II. THE AKABIAN PENINSULA. . 
 
 23. In sacred geography that part of Arabia which comes 
 especially into view is the comparatively small division lying 
 between the two arms of the Bed sea, having Egypt on 
 the northwest, the Mediterranean and Palestine on the north, 
 and the mountains of ancient Edorn on the northeast. It is 
 commonly called the Sinaitic Peninsula, and corresponds nearly 
 with the Arabia Pctrcca of Ptolemy. 
 
 24. At the headland called Has Muhaniined the Red sea 
 divides into two narrow branches. Of these the icestern is the 
 longest and widest. The ancients called it the Heroopolitan 
 
248 SACKED (.JEOOIIAPIIY. 
 
 Gulf, from Herobpolis near its head. Its modern name is the 
 Gulf of Suez. Its length is said to be one hundred and sixty- 
 seven miles, with an average breadth of about twenty miles. 
 Its general direction is from northwest to southeast. A. ship 
 canal across the isthmus of Suez, connecting the gulf with the 
 Mediterranean, has recently been opened under the auspices of 
 the French government. The eastern arm, called by the ancients 
 the JElanitic Gulf from .ZElana at its head, and by the moderns 
 the Gulf of Akabah, is not over one hundred miles long, with a 
 breadth of from twelve to fifteen miles. It occupies the southern 
 extremity of the great valley of the Arabah extending from the 
 Bed sea to Antioch (Chap. 4, No. 1), which has here a general 
 direction towards the north-northeast. This gulf has at present 
 no commercial importance, but it was once a great channel of 
 trade, having at its head " Ezion-geber which is beside Eloth" 
 (elsewhere called ElatJi, Dent. 2:8; 2 Kings 14:22; 16:6), 
 whence Solomon s fleet sailed to Ophir. 1 Kings 9 : 28 ; 2 Chron. 
 8:17,18. 
 
 The site of Ophir has been for ages a famous geographical puzzle. 
 Three regions alone can, with any degree of probability, lay claim to the 
 honor of containing the Ophir of Scripture, namely, the southern part of 
 Arabia, India, and the eastern coast of Africa ; and between these it is dif 
 ficult to decide. The preponderance of evidence is, perhaps, in favor of 
 Arabia. The "ships of Tarshish" which Jehoshaphat made to go to Ophir, 
 and which were broken at Ezion-geber, are generally admitted to have 
 been so called simply from their size and form ships .built after the model 
 of those used in the trade with Tarshish in the southwest of Spain. See 
 farther in Chap. 10, No. 30. 
 
 25. The Sinai peninsula constituted that "great and terrible 
 wilderness" in which the Israelites, after their departure from 
 Egypt, sojourned for forty years. Its general geographical 
 outlines may be thus given. Along the western coast of the sea 
 of Akabah, at the distance of a mile or more, runs a range of 
 mountains described by Robinson (Bib. Res., 1, p. 155) as con 
 sisting mostly of precipitous cliffs of granite from eight hun 
 dred to two thousand feet in height. On the northeast side of 
 
PALESTINE. 
 
 the gulf of Suez reckoning from its head, runs a long parallel 
 ridge of mountains of a wall-like form at the distance of some 
 twelve or fifteen miles from it, which bears the name of er-Hahah 
 as far as the mountain called Ras Wady Ghurundel. Here it 
 bends off towards the southeast and east, and extends, under 
 the name of et-Tih, that is, the wandering, quite across the penin 
 sula to the gulf of Akabah. About the middle of the peninsula 
 it sends off two arms, one north into the desert, the other north 
 east to the sea of Akabah. Robinson describes et-Tih as "a 
 regular wall composed of strata of sandstone, with layers ap 
 parently of limestone or clay towards the top ;" and says that 
 at its eastern extremity it " comes tumbling down towards the 
 sea in immense masses apparently of yellow sandstone, but 
 is intercepted by a range of granite cliffs between it and the 
 shore" the cliffs of the granite range described above. 
 
 North of this mountain-wall lies the desert et-Tih, with a 
 general slope towards the northicest, except on its eastern border 
 which sends its water northward to the Dead sea. It is a deso 
 late region of naked hills and gravelly plains, with only here and 
 there a fountain and a few stinted shrubs. 
 
 South of et-Tih is the great sandy plain called by the Arabs 
 Debbet er-Ramleh having on its southern border the rugged 
 mountains of Horeb which constitute, so to speak, the nucleus 
 of the peninsula. Finally, southwest of Horeb is the naked 
 gravelly plain, called el-Ka a, skirting the whole shore of the 
 gulf of Suez. What remains to be said of this peninsula will 
 be given in connection with the joumeyings of the Israelites. 
 
 26. Upon leaving Egypt the Israelites, after a journey of 
 three days, reached the western arm of the Red sea, which was 
 miraculously divided to give them a passage into the wilderness 
 of Arabia. At what particular point they crossed it is a ques 
 tion that has been much debated, and cannot be regarded as 
 settled. 
 
 Upon the assumption that the head of the gulf of Suez remains sub 
 stantially the same as at the Exodus, one cannot well resist the conviction 
 that it must have been south of the ridge Atakah, and not north of it as 
 
 11* 
 
250 SACRED GEOGRAPHY. 
 
 Robinson contends. With this frowning ridge which runs quite down to 
 the sea, on their left, the desert on their right, Pharaoh s host behind 
 them, and the sea, here about ten miles wide, before them, they would be 
 hopelessly shut in from all human means of escape. Poole maintains (in 
 Smith s Bible Diet. , art. Red sea) that the head of the gulf of Suez has 
 been essentially shortened " for a distance of at least fifty miles from its 
 ancient head.*" If so, the attempt to ascertain the site of the miracle 
 would seem to be utterly vain. 
 
 27. After crossing the Ked sea the Israelites " went out into 
 the ivilderness of Shur" Ex. 15 : 22. Sliur signifies wall. The 
 wilderness which bore its name lay on the way between Pales 
 tine and Egypt (Gen. 16 : 7), and was before Egypt on the way 
 to- Assyria having Havilah on the east. Gen. 25 : 18 ; 1 Sam. 
 15 : 7 ; 27 : 8. It is possible that the wall-like ridge er-Kahah 
 described above is the Shur of Scripture, and that the wilder 
 ness of Shur is the adjoining desert. See in the Imperial Bible 
 Diet., art., Shur. 
 
 The Havilah mentioned in 1 Sam. 15 : 7, cannot be identical with the 
 Havilah of Gen. 2 : 11 ; for this latter place lay north of the Persian Gulf, 
 and it is inconceivable that Saul should have smitten the Amalakites over 
 such a space. 
 
 Upon entering the wilderness of Shur the Israelites turned 
 southeast in the general direction of the shore of the Red sea, 
 and came in four days journey to Elim (Numb* 33; 8, 9), sup 
 posed to be the modern Wady Ghurundel, which is compara 
 tively well supplied with water and shrubs. After another 
 day s march they encamped by the Eed sea. Numb. 33 : 10. 
 Thence they entered " the wilderness of Sin which is between 
 Elim and Sinai" (Ex. 16 : 1), and must be distinguished from the 
 iriltlerness of Zin at Kadesh (Numb. 33:36, and elsewhere). 
 Four days more of journeying brought them to the central 
 mountains of the peninsula in " the wilderness of Sinai," where 
 they abode more than eleven months (Ex. 19 : 1 ; Numb. 10 : 11), 
 receiving from God the law and all the ordinances of the the 
 ocracy. 
 
PLAIN E^-RAHAH, AND CONVENT OF ST. CATHAMNE: SINAI. 
 
 VIEW OF PAJRT OF THE MAIN VALLEY OF PETRA. 
 
PALESTINE. 251 
 
 It has been with biblical scholars a question what was the distinction 
 between Horeb and Sinai. Robinson (Bib. Res., 1, pp. 120, 591) is in 
 clined to adopt Heugstenberg s view, that Horeb is the general name of 
 the group, and Sinai the designation of a particular peak, although the 
 opposite view is held by Gesenius and others. The annexed plan of these 
 mountains will make the accompanying description intelligible to the 
 reader, and he will see at once that here the conditions for the promulga 
 tion of the ten commandments in the audience of all the people are fully 
 met. 
 
 28. Modern investigation leads with a reasonable degree of 
 certainty to the conclusion that the law was given from either 
 the northern or the southern peak of the central ridge lying be 
 tween Wady el-Leja on the west, and the narrow Wady Shueib 
 on the east. Of these the lower northern summit is called es- 
 Sufsafeh, and Robinson is quite positive that no other peak of 
 the group can possibly fulfil the scriptural conditions. It is 
 agreed on all hands that the plain er-Rahali lying directly be 
 fore it, with the adjacent area of Wady esh-STieikh, furnishes 
 ample room for a large encampment. Eobinson estimates the 
 whole plain at two geographical miles in length, with a breadth 
 of from one- third to two-thirds of a mile ; while this space is 
 nearly doubled by a recess on the west and the broad level area 
 of "Wady esh-Sheikh on the east. Bib. Res., 1, pp. 95, 96. 
 Before this spacious plain lies " the bold and awful front of 
 Horeb, rising perpendicularly in frowning majesty, from twelve 
 to fifteen hundred feet in height." Ib., p. 89. The southern 
 peak is much higher. It is the Sinai of tradition, and bears 
 accordingly the name Jebel Mwsa, Mountain of Moses. Eobinson 
 rejects the tradition with his usual decision on the ground that 
 there is not " any spot to be seen around it where the people 
 could have been assembled." " The only point in which it is not 
 immediately surrounded by high mountains, is towards tire 
 southeast, where it sinks down precipitately to a tract of naked 
 gravelly hills." Ib., p. 105. This is a question simply of testi 
 mony. Robinson unfortunately did not visit this " tract of 
 naked gravelly hills," as he and his companion did the northern 
 plain with measuring-line in hand. Another traveller, who tells 
 
252 SACKKl) (1 KOd HA PHY. 
 
 us that he paced every yard of both valleys, finds in Wady 
 Sebayeh on the southeast of Jebel Musa ample space for the Is- 
 raelitish congregation, one where " every eye would look on one 
 object, and Jebel Mousa, covered with cloud and fire, would 
 impress the whole concourse." Rev. William Arthur in the 
 Imperial Bible Diet., art. Sinai. But Stanley, who visited both 
 summits and also Wady Sebayeh, with a strong prepossession in 
 favor of Jebel Musa, confirms Robinson s judgment. " I came," 
 he says (p. 76), " to the conclusion that it [Wady Sebayeh south 
 east of Jebel Musa] could only be taken for the place if none 
 other existed. It is rough, uneven, narrow. The only advan 
 tage which it has is that the peak, from a few points of view, 
 rises in a more commanding form than the Ras Sasafeh [the 
 northern peak]. No. If we are to have a mountain without a 
 wide amphitheatre at its base, let us have Serbal [a magnificent 
 mountain northwest of Sinai]; but. if otherwise, I am sure that 
 if the monks of Justinian had fixed the traditional scene on 
 the Ras Sasafeh, no one would for an instant have doubted 
 that this only could be the spot." In this judgment Porter also 
 acquiesces. See Handbook for Syria and Palestine, p. 32. 
 
 29. The icilderness of Sinai, where the Israelites received the 
 law, is of course the wilderness adjacent to Sinai, and may be 
 reasonably regarded as embracing the sandy waste referred to 
 above (No. 25) between the mountains of Horeb and the wall of 
 et-Tih on the north. After leaving this wilderness the Israelites 
 came at the third encampment to Hazeroth. Nunib. 10:33; 
 11 : 3, 34, 35. This place seems to be identical with the modern 
 Ain-el-Hudherahj fountain of Hitdherah lying in a frightful desert 
 eighteen hours northeast from Sinai. Porter, Handbook, 1, p. 
 37. Here they seem to have turned north (Porter thinks by 
 fhe sublime Wady Wetir) across the Tih, which brought them 
 into the wilderness of Par an; for of the substantial identity of 
 this wilderness with the modern desert et- Tih north of the ridge 
 et-Tih (No. 25 above) there can be no reasonable doubt. All 
 the scriptural notices of Paran (Gen. 21:21; Numb. 10:12; 
 12:16; 13:3,26; Deut. 1:1; 33:2; 1 Kings 11:18; Hab.3:3) 
 
PALE STINK. 253 
 
 agree with this assumption, the wilderness of Shur bordering 
 it on the northwest, and that of Zin (Numbers 13 : 21 ; 20 : 1 ; 
 27:14 ; 33:36; 34:3,4; Deut. 32:51; Josh. 15:1,3) on the 
 northeast. 
 
 30. Eespecting the site of Kadesh there has been much con 
 troversy. Stanley places it at Petra in the mountains of Edom 
 east of the Arabah, Robinson and others at the fountain Ain el- 
 Weibeh on the western border of the Arabah some twenty-five 
 geographical miles south of the Dead sea, Rowlands and Will 
 iams much farther west at a remarkable fountain in the desert 
 of Tih about forty-five miles south of Beer-slieba; while others 
 are disposed to assume two places of this name, an eastern and 
 a western Kadesh. 
 
 In favor of the assumption of an eastern and a western Kadesh it might 
 be urged that in the passages clearly referring to the first encampment of 
 the Israelites at Kadesh for they were twice at Kadesh, once in the be 
 ginning of their wandering, once near its close it is placed in the wil 
 derness of Paran, and is several times called Kadesh-barnea (Numbers 
 12:16: 13, 3, 26; 32:8; Deut, 1 : 2, 19, 46;2:14; 9:23; Joshual4:6); 
 while in the passages that certainly refer to the second encampment, 
 Kadesh is uniformly placed in the wilderness of Zin and never called Ka 
 desh-barnea. Numb. 20 : 1, 13, 14, 22 ; 27 : 14 ; 33 : 36 ; Deut. 32 ; 51 ; 
 Jud. 11 : 17. But if these considerations be deemed insufficient to estab 
 lish the assumption of a double ICadesh, the middle of the three sites above 
 named, that of Ain el-Weibeh, has, according to present evidence, de 
 cidedly the best claim. The western site is too far removed from Mount 
 Hor in the edge of the land of Edom," to fulfil the scriptural condition 
 (Numb. 33 : 37) of a day s journey between that mountain and Kadesh. 
 The eastern site advocated by Stanley is west of Mount Hor in the heart 
 of Mount Seir, the very region from which the Edomites sternly excluded 
 the Israelites, and which they were compelled to compass by the way of the 
 eastern arm of the Red sea that they might reach the promised land. We 
 come, then, to the conclusion that if there were two places named Kadesh, 
 Ain el-Weibeh was the eastern ; if but one, Ain el-Weibeh was that place. 
 
 31. On all the routes leading from the west to Sinai numer 
 ous inscriptions are found on the rocks extending to the very 
 base of that mountain, but not 011 the proper mountains of the 
 group or east of them. They are more particularly abundant 
 
254 SACRED GEOGRAPHY. 
 
 in the Wady called ei-Mukatteb, that is, the written. Respecting 
 the age and character of these inscriptions there has been much 
 speculation. The common belief has been that they were 
 made by Christian pilgrims. But Prof. Tuch of Leipzig main 
 tains that they are Arabic; and that the authors of the in 
 scriptions were an ancient race of Arabs inhabiting the pen 
 insula. According to Tuch the epoch of some of these inscrip 
 tions reaches back beyond the time of Diodorus Siculus, an 
 historian of the age of Julius Caasar and Augustus, who men 
 tions them as already ancient, and is probably to be extended 
 down to the third or fourth century after Christ. See farther 
 in Robinson s Bib. Res., 1, pp. 593-597; Porter s Handbook of 
 Sinai and Palestine, p. 16, seq. ; Stanley s Sinai and Palestine, 
 p. 59, seq. 
 
 It is well-known that the Rev. Charles Forster professes to have inter 
 preted these inscriptions, and to have found in them the work of the chil 
 dren of Israel during their sojourn in the wilderness. In the Imperial 
 Bible Dictionary, art. Paran, the Rev. John Rowlands maintains very 
 earnestly the validity of Mr. Forster s interpretations, and gives several 
 specimens of them ; but oriental scholars generally dissent from this 
 view. One of the longest of the inscriptions records, according to Mr. 
 Forster, the plague of fiery serpents and the miraculous preservation of 
 the people by a serpent of brass ; yet, according to the scriptural narrative, 
 this event took place in the last year of the wandering, when the people, 
 after Aaron s death, "journeyed from Mount Hor by the way of the Red 
 sea to compass the land of Edom," and were now within three stations of the 
 border of Moab (Numb. 21 :4-ll ; 33:41-44), consequently on the east 
 side of Mount Seir. That an Israelite should be represented as having 
 then recorded the plague of fiery serpents in a valley west of Sinai lo oks 
 like a gross anachronism. 
 
 32. The general adaptation of the rugged scenery of the 
 peninsula to the grand transactions between God and his 
 covenant people recorded by the pen of Moses is finely illus 
 trated by Stanley (Sinai and Palestine, pp. 20, 21) : "They were 
 brought into contact with a desolation which was forcibly con 
 trasted with the green valley of the Nile. They were enclosed 
 within a sanctuary of temples and pyramids not made with 
 
PALESTINE. 255 
 
 hands the more awful from its total dissimilarity to any thing 
 which they or their fathers could have remembered in Egypt or 
 in Palestine. They were wrapt in a silence which gave full effect 
 to the morning and the evening shout with which the encamp 
 ment rose and pitched, and still more to the thunders and the 
 voice exceeding loud on the top of Horeb. The prophet and 
 his people were thus secluded from all former thoughts and as 
 sociations that 
 
 " Separate from the world, his breast 
 Might duly take and strongly keep 
 The print of God, to be expressed 
 Ere long on Zion s steep. " 
 
 33. The same writer, in common with Eobinson, Hitter and 
 all thoughtful travellers, raises the question: "How could a 
 tribe so numerous and powerful as on any hypothesis the 
 Israelites must have been, be maintained in this inhospitable 
 desert?" They were fed by manna, and sometimes had mirac 
 ulous supplies of flesh and water. But where did their flocks 
 and herds find sustenance ? There are in this wilderness at the 
 present time some oases, as at the convent of Sinai, in Wady 
 Feiran northwest of Sinai on the route from Egypt, and at Tur 
 on the gulf of Suez where Wady Hibran comes in from Horeb 
 (Burckhardt, Arabia, 2. 362); but these would be wholly inade 
 quate to the wants of such a multitude as came out of Egypt. 
 Stanley comes to the conclusion maintained also by Bitter 
 (Erdkunde, 14, p. 927), that there has been in the Sinaitic penin 
 sula a decrease of water and vegetation. No such acacia-trees 
 (shittim-wood) are now found in the region as were employed 
 in the construction of the tabernacle, furnishing planks a cubit 
 and a half in width. These belonged manifestly to the primi 
 tive forests of the peninsula. It has been supposed that the 
 removal of them was followed by a decrease in the amount of 
 rain. But however this may be, we have abundant evidence 
 that this part of Arabia was once, for some reason, more fertile 
 and populous. In the northeastern part are extensive ruins of 
 former habitations and enclosed fields ; so also south of Beer- 
 
25f> SACRED GEOGRAPHY. 
 
 sheba, where Robinson found ruins of former cities. Of Elusa 
 he says : " Once, as we judged on the spot, this must have been 
 a city of not less than twelve or fifteen thousand inhabitants. 
 Now it is a perfect field of ruins, a scene of unutterable desola 
 tion ; across which the passing stranger can with difficulty find 
 his way." Vol. 1, p. 197. Of Eboda farther south: "The large 
 church marks a numerous Christian population." "But the 
 desert has resumed its rights ; the race that dwelt here have 
 perished ; and their works now look abroad in loneliness and 
 silence over the mighty waste." Ib., p. 194. It would not be 
 safe, therefore, to infer from the present condition of the penin 
 sula its capacity to support the flocks and herds of the Israel 
 ites more than three thousand years ago. Then, again, it is 
 entirely reasonable to suppose that the same divine power which 
 fed the people in the wilderness with manna for the space of 
 forty years, may have graciously increased the amount of rain 
 during the same period, and thus the amount of sustenance for 
 the cattle of the Israelites. Such an additional supply of rain 
 would be sufficient ; for, according to the testimony of the Arabs, 
 in those years when there is plenty of rain grass springs up all 
 over the face of the desert. See in Robinson, 1, p. 184. 
 
 For an account of the manna now produced in the Sinai peninsula, as it 
 was also in the time of Joseplms (Antiq., 3. 1. 6), see Hitter s Geography 
 of Palestine 1, pp. 271-292. It exudes through the punctures made by a 
 certain insect, from the bark of a species of tamarisk ( Tamarix gaUica] in 
 drops which collect in small globules on the twigs or fall on the sand. It 
 has the appearance of gum, is of a sweetish taste, and melts when expos 
 ed to the sun. It falls only on certain years in June and July, and mainly 
 in the wadys Sheikh, Feiran, and Ghurundel, all of them in the vicinity of 
 Sinai. The eniire quantity gathered is said not to exceed five or six hun 
 dred pounds a year. The question what was the relation, if any, of the 
 manna on which the Israelites fed to any species of modern manna (for 
 there are several species), is rather curious than practical ; since upon any 
 assumption, the quantity furnished daily through all the twelve months of 
 the year was clearly miraculous, as were also several of the attending cir 
 cumstances. 
 
 34. The Amcdekites, descended from Amalek the grandson 
 of Esau (Gen. 36 : 12), and mentioned by way of anticipation in 
 
PALEST1N I 257 
 
 the history of Abraham (Gen. 14 : 7), were a nomadic people 
 having their seat from Havilah to Shur. 1 Sam. 15 : 7. The 
 site of the Havilah here referred to is unknown, but it should 
 not probably be placed far east of the gulf of Akabah ; while 
 Shur bordered on the northeastern extremity of Egypt. The 
 Sinaitic peninsula, then, was the proper range of the Amale- 
 kites, and with this agree all the scriptural notices of them. 
 When Israel came out of Egypt they attacked the rear of the 
 people in Kephidim near Sinai (Exod. 17 : 8-16) ; again they 
 were encountered in " the land of the south," near to Kadesh 
 (Numb. 13 : 29 ; 14 : 45) ; in alliance with the Midianites and 
 other eastern tribes they wasted the land of Israel, " till thou 
 come unto Gaza " (Judg. 6 : 4), and entered it by the way of the 
 valley of Jezreel in vast multitudes (Judg. 6 : 33) ; and finally 
 David encountered them in the southwest of Palestine. 1 Sam. 
 30:1. 
 
 In Numb. 24 :20 Amalek is called "the first of the nations." The ref 
 erence is to priority, not in time but in dignity, a sense in which the Hebrew 
 word is often used. Amos 6:6; Dan. 11 :41, and elsewhere ; and there 
 is, moreover, an antithesis between his dignity as first of the nation, and 
 his last end which is destruction. There are several indications in the Old 
 Testament that the Amalekites were once a powerful people. At the time 
 of the exodus we find them apparently spread across the whole peninsula 
 from east to west (Exod. 17 : 8 ; Numb. 13 :29 ; 14 :43, 45) ; and in alli 
 ance with the Moabites, Ammonites, and Midianites they ravaged the land 
 of Israel, entering it in countless multitudes as far north as the valley of 
 Jezreel. It would seem also that they once had, probably at an earlier 
 date, a settlement in the very heart of Palestine ; for we read (Jud. 12 : 15) 
 of "the mount of the Amalekites in the land of Ephraim." Compare also 
 Jud. 5 : 14, where the true rendering is : "From Ephraim [came they] 
 whose root" (that is, seat, fixed abode] "is in Ainalek." See Prof. Bob 
 bins in Bibliotheca Sacra, for 1855, p. 623. The marginal gloss, therefore 
 of our English version to Numb. 24:20, "the first of the nations that 
 warred against Israel," is unnecessary. 
 
 35. The Kenites were the tribe to which Hobab Moses father- 
 in-law belonged, and were thus a branch of the Midianitish 
 people. Numb. 10: 29. A part of them accompanied the tribe 
 of Judah into the land of Canaan, and settled among the rocky 
 
258 SACKED GEOGRAPHY. 
 
 fastnesses of the southern wilderness of Judali. Jud. 1:16; 
 Numb. 24:21. Thus they were neighbors to the Amalckites 
 and became intermingled with them. When Saul destroyed 
 the Amalekites he spared them in consideration of their good 
 offices bestowed on the Israelites in the wilderness through 
 Hobab the father-in-law of Moses, and probably in other ways 
 also. 1 Sam. 15 : 6. From Jud. 4 : 11 we learn that the family 
 of Heber the Kenite, a descendant of Hobab, had separated 
 itself from the rest of the tribe and settled in Kadesh of Naph- 
 tali ; still maintaining, however, its distinct nationality and 
 being on terms of friendship with Jabin the oppressor of Israel. 
 
 We leave the vexed question of the identity of Jethro and Hobab 
 to the commentators, to whom it properly belongs. 
 
PALESTINE. 259 
 
 CHAPTEK IX. 
 
 COUNTRIES ON THE SOUTHEAST AND EAST. 
 
 UNDER this head belong Edom, Moab, Animon, and the 
 nomadic or serai-nomadic Midianites, with some other Arabian 
 tribes. 
 
 I. THE LAND OF EDOM. 
 
 1. The Edom of Hoses day is repeatedly called Mount Seir, 
 or simply Seir, a range of mountains selected by Esau himself 
 as his residence (Gen. 36 : 8, 9 ; Deut. 2 : 4, 5, 8, 12, 22, etc.), and 
 extending along the eastern border of the Arabah from the Dead 
 sea to the eastern arm of the Ked sea. Accordingly we read 
 that when the Israelites were refused a passage through the 
 territory of Edom they passed by the way of the plain (Arabah), 
 Elath, and Ezion-geber around Edom into the wilderness of 
 Moab (Deut. 2:8); and that they journeyed from Mount Hor 
 on the border of Mount Seir by the way of the Eed sea to com 
 pass the land of Edom. Numb. 21:4. The Arabah, which 
 skirts the western base of Mount Seir and in which Kadesh- 
 barnea lies, was not properly reckoned to the Edom of Moses 
 times ; yet it was commanded by the mountains of Edom, and 
 it is possible that the Edomitcs advanced at times somewhat 
 into the desert west of it (Deut. 1 : 44) ; but the permanent occu 
 pation of the south country of Jud&a by the Edomites seems to 
 have taken place during the Babylonish exile. Judas Macca 
 beus, and his successors, found them after the captivity in pos 
 session of Hebron, Adora, Mareshah, and Ashdod. John Hyr- 
 canus conquered them, and compelled them to receive circum 
 cision, but did not dispossess them (Josephus, Antiq., 12. 8. 6 ; 
 13. 9. 1) ; and hence the whole south of Judaea was reckoned to 
 Idumaea. But this later extension of the term must not be 
 transferred to the earlier ages. 
 
260 SACKED GEOGRAPHY. 
 
 2. Robinson estimates the breadth of the range of 
 
 Scir at not more than fifteen or twenty geographical miles. Its 
 length is said to be about one hundred miles. 
 
 "Along the base of the mountain range on the side of the Arabah are 
 low calcareous hills. To these succeed lofty masses of igneous rock, chiefly 
 porphyry ; over which lies red and variegated sandstone in irregular ridges 
 and abrupt cliffs, with deep ravines between." " The average elevation of 
 the range is about two thousand feet. On the east is a long unbroken 
 limestone ridge, higher than the other, and declining gently to the Ara 
 bian desert. " Handbook for Syria and Palestine, p. 42. These mountains 
 seem to enjoy a sufficiency of rain, and are not sterile like those on the 
 west of the Arabah. " The Wadys are full of trees and shrubs and flow 
 ers ; while the eastern and higher parts are extensively cultivated and yield 
 good crops." "It is indeed the region of which Isaac said to his son : 
 * Behold thy dwelling shall be the fatness of the earth, and of the dew of 
 heaven from above. " Robinson, 2, p. 154. 
 
 3. The Arabah which skirts the mountains of Edom on the 
 west is a part of the great chasm already described which ex 
 tends from the Red sea to Antioch. Chap. 4, No. 1. It slopes 
 from a watershed not yet accurately determined northward to 
 the Dead sea and southward to the sea of Akabah. Its gene 
 ral width is the same as that of the Jordan valley, but at Aka 
 bah it is contracted to half that distance. It is furrowed in its- 
 northern part by the deep Wady el- Jeib which sends down to 
 the Dead sea torrents of water only during the rainy season. 
 Otherwise it is almost uninterruptedly a frightful desert. Eob 
 inson, 2, p. 184. 
 
 4. Our limits do not allow us to describe at length the vari 
 ous objects of interest in and around Mount Seir. We notice 
 briefly only a few of the more remarkable. 
 
 The central object of interest is the ruins of Petra, the ancient me 
 tropolis of the region, lying in the heart of Mount Seir, in a sort of irregu 
 lar basin, through the centre of which a stream winds its way from east to 
 west. It is shut in east and west by precipitous cliffs of sandstone, while 
 north and south of the stream the surface rises, at first gradually, after 
 wards more steeply, but not precipitously. Deep and rugged ravines 
 branch off into the mountains. The whole area of the basin available for 
 
PALESTINE. 2(U 
 
 building purposes is estimated by Robinson to be about half a mile square. 
 These ruins are the admiration of all travellers, not so much on account of 
 their size and magnificence, as of their unique character. They present 
 such a collection of novelties as can be seen nowhere else on this globe. 
 In the first place there is the romantic approach to Petra from the east 
 through the chasm (es-Slk) called Wady Musa, that is, Wady of Moses, 
 which anciently formed the only avenue to the city on this side. Of this 
 Stanley says it is the most magnificent gorge, beyond all doubt, that he 
 has ever beheld ; and Robinson, that the character of this wonderful spot, 
 and the impression which it makes, are indescribable, and that he knows 
 of nothing which can present even a faint idea of them. You enter be 
 neath a noble arch thrown across high up from one precipice to the other, 
 and immediately find yourself in a narrow chasm, here only twelve feet 
 wide, and nowhere more than three, or, at the most, four times this width. 
 The Sik is a full mile in length, winding this way and that like a river, 
 with a limpid brook flowing along its whole course, and watering a thicket 
 of oleanders so abundant as almost to block up the passage, and present 
 ing, when in full bloom, a most gorgeous appearance. The height of the 
 perpendicular walls is at first eighty or one hundred feet, and increases as 
 you descend to some two hundred and fifty feet. Above is seen a narrow 
 winding streak of blue sky, while green caper plants and wild ivy hang in 
 festoons over the traveller s head. The Sik opens at its western extremity 
 at right angles with a broader Wady or chasm, coming down from the 
 south and passing off northwest. And now, all at once, the beautiful 
 Khuzneh a temple, apparently, cut out of the living sandstone rock, and 
 standing on the opposite side of this chasm directly before the opening of 
 the Sik bursts like a fairy vision upon the traveller s view, as he enters 
 the proper area of Petra. 
 
 To describe ah 1 the objects of interest in this wonderful place would far 
 exceed our limits. This work has been well done by Burckhardt and many 
 travellers since his day. See, among other accounts, those of Robinson 
 (Res. 2, pp. 130-145); Stanley (Sinai and Palestine, pp. 88-92); Porter 
 (Handbook for Syria and Palestine, pp. 43-53). 
 
 We can only notice very briefly some general features of the place. The 
 architecture of Petra is florid and overladen with ornament. According to 
 Robinson the predominant styles are Egyptian and Roman-Greek and the 
 monuments of the place belong to the beginning of the Christian era and 
 the subsequent centuries. They are not, in themselves considered, very 
 high specimens of art ; but two circumstances unite to give them an inde 
 scribable charm. One is their singularly wild and romantic position ; the 
 other is the endless variety of hues displayed by the living rock in which 
 they are hewn. " They present," says Robinson, not a dead mass of 
 dull monotonous red ; but an endless variety of bright and living hues, 
 
262 SACRED GEOGRAPHY. 
 
 from the deepest crimson to the softest pink, verging also sometimes to 
 orange and yellow." Stanley calls them "duU crimson, indigo, yellow, 
 and purple;" "a gorgeous though dull crimson, streaked and suf 
 fused with purple." While the proper site of Petra is covered with the 
 foundations and ruins of an ancient city, the surrounding cliffs and ravines 
 constitute a vast necropolis, being filled with innumerable tombs which 
 present a great variety of architectural style and ornament. 
 
 It is a question of interest whether Petra is referred to in the Old Tes 
 tament. The name Petra signifies rock, and this answers to the Hebrew 
 Sela mentioned in 2 Kings 14 : 7, and Isa. 16 : 1. That Sela and Petra are 
 identical may be assumed with a reasonable degree of certainty. The 
 situation of Petra is graphically described by the prophets Obadiah and 
 Jeremiah. "The pride of thy heart hath deceived thee, thou that 
 dwellest in the cliffs of the rock, whose habitation is high, that saith in 
 his heart, who shall bring me down to the ground ?" Obad. 3 ; Jer. 
 49 : 16. 
 
 A few miles southwest of Petra rises the castellated summit of Nely 
 Harun, the prophet Aaron. That this is the Mount Hor, where Aaron died 
 and was buried (Numb. 20 : 23-29), admits not of any reasonable doubt. 
 Its situation answers to that of the Mosaic Hor ; it is the most conspicuous 
 object in the region ; and the tradition connecting it with Aaron s death 
 goes back beyond the time of Josephus, who does not indeed name it, but 
 describes it as a high mountain encircling Petra. Antiq., 4. 4. 7. Its 
 summit is said to be five thousand three hundred feet above the Mediter 
 ranean. It consisfs of two peaks, on the higher and western of which is 
 a work, erected over the vault or grotto supposed to be the burial place of 
 the first Levitical high priest. See farther in Robinson, 2, pp. 519-521. 
 
 In connection with Edom the Scriptures constantly make mention of 
 Bozrah. There is a Bozrah, as we have seen (Chap. 5, No. 7) far off in 
 the Hauran, at the distance of eighty or one hundred miles from the prop 
 er territory of Edom. But this cannot be reasonably identified with tho 
 Bozrah so often mentioned in the Old Testament as the capital of Idumaca. 
 Robinson regards el-Busaireh southeast of the Dead sea as representing 
 the site of the Bozrah of Edom ; and in his judgment biblical scholars have 
 very generally acquiesced. Two hours and three quarters north of Bozrah 
 is T n f deli, in which Robinson recognises the Tophel of Deut. 1:1. 
 
 Dedan and Teman are mentioned by the prophets in connection with 
 Edom. Jer. 49 : 7, 8, 20 ; Ezek. 25 : 13 ; Amos 1 : 12 ; Obad. 9. Con 
 cerning these nothing can be determined more definitely than that Teman 
 was a district in the south of Edom with perhaps a town of the same name 
 (Eusebius and Jerome, Onomasticou), while Dedan was apparently at the 
 
PALESTINE. 263 
 
 other extremity. Hence we may explain the words of Ezek. (chap. 
 25 : 13) : "I will also stretch out my hand upon Edom, and will cut off 
 man and beast from it ; and I will make it desolate from Teruan ; and they 
 shall fall by the sword unto Dedan " (marginal rendering) ; that is, I will 
 make the land desolate through its whole extent from Teinan to Dedan. 
 
 5. The rivalry between Edom and Israel began with Esau 
 and Jacob, the ancestral founders of the two nations. Esau re 
 tired from the face of his brother Jacob to Mount Seir; u for 
 their riches were more than that they might dwell together ; 
 and the land wherein they were strangers could not bear them, 
 because of their cattle." Gen. 36 : 6-8. The prophets accuse 
 the Edornites of cherishing towards their brethren the Israel 
 ites a perpetual hatred, and of rejoicing in their calamity, and 
 taking advantage of it to aggrandize themselves (Ezek. 25 : 12 ; 
 35 : 5, 11, 15 ; Joel 3 : 19 ; Amos 1 : 11 ; Obad. 10-14) ; an accu 
 sation fully sustained by the record of their conduct. When 
 the Israelites were passing from the Arabian desert into Pales- 
 .tine the Edomites refused them a passage through their terri 
 tory, and thus compelled them to pass around by the way of 
 Elath and Ezion-geber at the head of the gulf of Akabah. 
 Numb. 20 : 14-21 ; 21 : 4. Upon the establishment of the He 
 brew monarchy, the conflict between Israel and Edom began 
 under Saul (1 Sam. 14 : 47), and was renewed in the reign of 
 David, who defeated them with terrible slaughter and reduced 
 them to the condition of tributaries. 2 Sam. 8 : 13, 14 ; 1 King 
 11 : 15, 16 ; 1 Chron. 18 : 12, 13 ; Psa: 60, title. From this time 
 to the reign of Jehoram the son of Jehoshaphat the Edomites 
 had no king in their own right, but were ruled by a prefect 
 bearing the title of king appointed by the king of Judah ; or, as 
 the sacred writer expresses it (1 Kings 22 : 47) : " There was then 
 110 king in Edom: a deputy was king." In this tributary con 
 dition of Edom we have an explanation of the fact that when 
 Jehoshaphat king of Judah joined with Jehoram king of Israel 
 in an expedition against Moab, the king of Edom. went with 
 them. 2 Kings 3 : 9. He went, namely, as the deputy of Judah. 
 But under Jehoram, Jehoshaphat s son, the Edomites revolted 
 
261 SACRED GEOGEAPHY. 
 
 and appointed a king in their own right, in accordance with 
 the prophetic words of Isaac (Gen. 27 : 40), and though twice 
 defeated by the Jewish armies, they succeeded in maintaining 
 their independence. 2 Kings 8:20-22; 2 Chron. 21:8-10; 
 2 Kings 14:7; 2 Chron. 25:11, 12. As the power of Judali 
 waned, theirs increased, and we find them- present at the de 
 struction of Jerusalem by the Chaldeans and exclaiming with 
 malicious exultation : " Ease it, rase it, even to the foundation 
 thereof." Psa. 137 : 7. 
 
 During the Babylonish exile they took possession, as we 
 have seen, of the south country of Judaea ; but were themselves, 
 in turn, dispossessed of the southern part of their own territory 
 by the NabathaBans. See Robinson, 2, pp. 158, 159, and the 
 authorities to which he refers. When the Idumseans had been 
 conquered by the Maccabees and compelled by them to receive 
 circumcision, they were reckoned as Jews : and from them came 
 Herod the Great, and the Herods his successors, who figure so 
 largely in the later Jewish history. 
 
 In the present desolate condition of the ancient cities of 
 Edom we have a most impressive commentary on the words of 
 Isaiah, as recorded in the thirty-fourth chapter of his proph 
 ecy: "From generation to generation it shall lie waste; none 
 shall pass through it for ever and ever." 
 
 II. THE -COUNTRY OF THE MOABITES. 
 
 6. We have seen (Chap. 5, No. 13), that, before the arrival 
 of the Hebrew people, Sihou king of the Amorites had taken 
 from the king of Moab all his land north of the Arnon, and 
 that, upon the destruction of Sikoii and his people by the Isra 
 elites, this territory was allotted to the two tribes of Reuben 
 and Gad. We have further seen .that, upon the decline and 
 fall of the kingdom of the ten tribes, the Moabites reestablished 
 themselves in this same territory. As a part of the inheritance 
 of Israel its geography has already been considered. What we 
 have now to say relates to the proper Mbabitish country lying 
 south of the Arnon, which the Israelites were expressly forbid- 
 
PALESTINE. 265 
 
 den to enter. Deut. 2 : 9. This was bounded on the north by 
 the deep chasm of the Arnon, on the east by the Arabian des 
 ert, and on the south by Edom. On the west it was bordered 
 by the Dead sea, and seems to have extended somewhat south 
 of it. Of the character and face of the country we have but 
 little knowledge, as the traveller in these parts is constantly 
 exposed to robbery and murder at the hand of the predatory 
 Arabs. It is said to be an elevated plateau like the region 1 
 north of the Arnon, and where the desert has not encroached 
 upon it, to be naturally fertile. That it was once a populous 
 region is attested by the multitude of ruins sprinkled over its 
 area. " The whole of the plains are covered with the sites of 
 towns on every eminence or spot convenient for the construc 
 tion of one ; and as the land is capable of rich cultivation, there 
 can be no doubt that the country, now so deserted, once pre 
 sented a continued picture of plenty and fertility." Irby and 
 Mangles as quoted in Alexander s Kitto. 
 
 7. The shores of the Dead sea have the same bold and 
 precipitous character as farther north. The plateau which is 
 three thousand feet above the water of the lake, breaks down in 
 rugged desolate cliffs of sandstone and limestone. Through 
 these the Wady Kerak descends to the sea by a tremendous 
 chasm lined with "beetling crags, blackened by the tempests of 
 ages, in shape exactly resembling the waves of a mighty ocean, 
 which, at the moment of overleaping some lofty barrier, were 
 suddenly changed to stone, retaining, even in transformation, 
 their dark and angry hue." Lynch, Expedition, p. 352. 
 
 8. The two most noted places of this region in scriptural 
 times were the following. 
 
 (1.) Ar Moab or Ir Moab, that is, City of Moab (Numb. 21:28; 
 22:36; Isa. 15. :1), called also simply Ar (Numb. 21:15; Deut. 2:9). 
 Its ruins are situated on a low hill upon the plateau a few miles back 
 from the Dead sea, and about midway between wadys Arnon and Kerak. 
 In later times this place was called Rabbah, capital or metropolis, which 
 name it still retains. But the scriptural Kabbah is always Habbah of the 
 Ammonites. 
 
 Sc. 0og. 12 
 
266 SACKED GEOGRAPHY. 
 
 (2). Kir Moab, fortress of Mocib (Isa. 15 : 1), called also Kir-heres and 
 Kir-hareseth, brick fortress (Jer. 48 : 31, 36 ; Isa. 16 : 7, 11 ; 2 Kings 3 : 25), 
 is the modern Kerak, standing on the crown of a high hill between the 
 two forks of the Wtidy Kerak both of which it overlooks, at the elevation 
 of three thousand feet above the Dead sea. Before it is the sublime chasm 
 of the Kerak running down in a northwesterly direction to the Dead sea, 
 which is some ten miles distant. The position is one of great natural 
 strength, and the place was once strongly fortified. When Lynch visited 
 it, in 1848, he was informed that the Christian population, comprising 1 
 three-fourths of the inhabitants, amounted to nine hundred or one thou 
 sand. They are kept in subjection by the Moslem Arabs, who live mostly 
 in tents without the town. 
 
 9. The Moabites, like the Edomites, were the kinsmen of 
 the Israelites (Gen. 19 : 30-38), yet they appear through most 
 of their history in the character of determined foes. The king 
 of Moab hired Balaam to curse Israel, in the hope of thus pre 
 vailing against him. Numb., chaps. 22-24. The second servi 
 tude of the Israelites was that under Eglon king of Moab, as 
 sisted by the children of Ammon and Anialek. From this they 
 were delivered by Ehud, who "slew of Moab at that time ten 
 thousand men, all lusty, and all men of valor." Judg. 3 : 12-30. 
 The Moabites are mentioned among the nations against whom 
 Saul fought. 1 Sam. 14 : 47. David was descended from Ruth, 
 the Moabitess (Ruth 4 : 13-22), and this was, perhaps, the rea 
 son why, during the persecution which he suffered from Saul, 
 he committed his father and mother to the care of the king of 
 Moab. 1 Sam. 22 : 3, 4. But some eighteen or twenty years 
 afterwards we read that he defeated them with great slaughter, 
 and reduced them to the condition of tributaries. 2 Sam. 8 : 2. 
 Upon the death of Ahab, to whose dominion Moab seems to 
 have fallen upon the division of the kingdom, the Moabites re 
 volted (2 Kings 1:1; 3 : 4, 5), for which act they were visited 
 with terrible vengeance by the combined armies of Judah, Israel, 
 and Edom. 2 Kings 3 : 21-27. Upon the decline of the Isra- 
 elitish power we find the Moabites again invading the land 
 (2 Kings 13 : 20) ; and the prophets upbraid them with their 
 pride and enmity to the covenant people, and denounce upon 
 
PALESTINE. 267 
 
 them desolating judgments (Isa. chaps. 15, 16; Jer., chap. 48; 
 Ezek. 25 : 8-11 ; Amos 2:1-3; Zeph. 2 : 8-11). The first instal 
 ment of these judgments, so to speak, came by the hand of 
 Nebuchadn zzar. Since his day they have often been repeated, 
 and have reduced the land to its present desolate condition. 
 Yet there stands on record for Moab, as also for Ammon, the 
 promise that God will bring again her captivity in the latter day. 
 Jer. 48 : 47 ; 49 : 6. 
 
 In the narrative, 2 Kings 3 : 6-27, we read that water came without 
 wind or rain " by the way of Edom ;" that is, descending from the moun 
 tains of Edom in the south, the result apparently of heavy rains there ; 
 and that when the sun shone upon the water " the Moabites saw the water 
 on the other side as red as blood." This appearance may have been pro 
 duced by the redness of the sun s rays shining in the early morning through 
 a hazy atmosphere, by the reflection of his beams from the circumjacent 
 red rocks, or by the color which the water itself had received from the red 
 soil along its path ; or we may assume a combination of all these causes. 
 
 III. THE COUNTRY OF THE AMMONITES. 
 
 10. The territory of the Ammonite^ lay between Arnon and 
 Jabbok, having the country of Moab on the south and south 
 west, and the tribes of Keuben and Gad on the west. Numb. 
 21 : 24; 32 : 33-42 ; Josh. 13 : 15-28 ; Judg. 11 : 22. When the 
 Israelites approached the land of Canaan, they were forbidden 
 to appropriate to themselves any part of the country at that 
 time held by the Ammonites (Deut. 2 : 19) ; but the tribe of Gad 
 received " half the land of the children of Ammon, unto Aroer 
 that is before Kabbah" (Josh. 13 : 25), of which they had been 
 dispossessed by Sihon king of the Amorites (Judg. 11 : 12-27). 
 The Ammonites, thus crowded eastward upon the Arabian des 
 ert, seem to have become, as suggested by Grove (in Smith s 
 Bible Diet.), partly a nomadic people. Thus much may be rea 
 sonably inferred from the relative fewness of their towns as com 
 pared with those of the Moabites. Kabbah was the only place 
 of note among them. Jephthah is said, indeed, to have smitten 
 twenty cities of Ammon, but no one of them is named except 
 Minnith. Judg. 11 : 33. 
 
268 SACKED GEOGRAPHY. 
 
 11. RdbbaJi, that is, great city (Josh. 13 : 25 ; 2 Sam. 11 : 1; 
 12 : 27, 29 ; 1 Cliron. 20 : 1 ; Jer. 49 : 3 ; Ezek. 25:5; Amos 1 : 14), 
 or, more fully, Eabbali of the children of Ammon (Deut. 3 : 11 ; 
 2 Sam. 12 : 26 ; 17:27; Jer. 49 : 2 ; Ezek. 21 : 28), the metropolis 
 of the Ammonites, is situated about nineteen miles southeast by 
 east from es-Salt (the ancient Ramoth-Gilead), in a broad valley 
 on a head-stream of the Jabbok, which is perennial, and here 
 flows towards the northeast.. 
 
 Kabbah was a place of great military strength. The citadel lay on a hill 
 on the northeastern side of the valley, between two ravines coming in from 
 the north, and was thus almost isolated. When Joab had taken "the city 
 of waters " so named from the perennial stream flowing through it, called 
 also " the city of the kingdom," probably as containing the royal palace 
 it was apparently this citadel that remained to be captured to complete 
 the conquest of the place. 2 Sam. 12 : 26-29. 
 
 Ptolemy Philadelphia,, in the third century before Christ, rebuilt the 
 city, and named it Philadelphia (Jerome on Ezek. 25 : 1); but it retains in 
 modern Arab jp the name Amman. It is the Greek and Roman ruins of 
 this place that present such a scene of magnificent desolation. Tristram, 
 who describes them at considerable length, says : "In number, in beauty 
 of situation, and in isolation, they were by far the most striking and inter 
 esting I had yet seen in Syria. Yet it was not old Kabbah, but Philadel 
 phia, the Eonian city, among whose prostrate marbles we groped our way. 
 All is Roman or Greek, and all, probably, except the citadel, subsequent 
 to the Christian era." Land of Israel, p. 545. Here, among. other ruins, 
 are the remains of a large Christian church and a theatre capable of scut ing 
 six thousand spectators. "The citadel," says Porter (Handbook, p. 289), 
 " is a rectangular oblong building of great extent. The exterior walls are 
 nearly perfect, and are constructed of massive stones closely jointed, with 
 out cement, bearing the marks of high antiquity. " 
 
 12. The history of the Ammonites, in their relation to the 
 children of Israel, is substantially that of their neighbors the 
 Moabites, with whom they seem to have been in league in hiring 
 Balaam to curse Israel (Deut. 23 : 4). They joined with Moab 
 and Amalek in opposing the Israelites (Judg. 3 : 12, 13) ; made 
 war upon them in the days of Jephthah (Judg. 11 : 4) ; and after 
 wards in the days of Saul (1 Sam. 11 : 1-11 ; 14 : 47). Nahash 
 king of the Ammonites was on friendly terms with David, but 
 his son Hanun maltreated David s ambassadors, which brought 
 
 
PALESTINE. 2G9 
 
 upon him and his kingdom the terrible vengeance of that mon 
 arch (2 Sam., chap. 10) ; and afterwards, upon the conquest of 
 Rabbah, David treated the Ammonites with great severity. 
 2 Sam. 12 : 20-31. Among the wives of Solomon were " women 
 of the Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Zidonians, and Hit- 
 tites;" and they "turned away his heart after other gods" 
 (1 Kings 11 : 1-8), thus accomplishing in peace what the armies 
 of the Gentiles had failed to accomplish in war, even the dis 
 memberment of the Israelitish kingdom. 1 Kings 11 : 13. The 
 prophets denounce upon Ammon, as upon Moab, the desolating 
 judgments of God. The solemn threatening, " I will make Rab 
 bah a stable for camels, and the Ammonites a couching-place 
 for flocks" (Ezek. 25 : 5), is now literally fulfilled. 
 
 IV. THE MIDIANITES AND OTHEK ARABIAN TRIBES. 
 
 13. The Midianites were a nomadic or semi-nomadic peo 
 ple, descended from Abraham by Keturah. Gen. 25 : 2. The 
 boundaries of their territory cannot be definitely given. We 
 have seen (Chap. 8, No. 35) that the Kenites, to whom Hobab, 
 Moses father-in-law, belonged, were a branch of the Midianites. 
 Their range of pasturage in Moses time seems to have been the 
 peninsula of Sinai, perhaps the western border of the gulf of 
 Akabah, whence Moses led the flock of Jethro " to the back 
 side of the desert, and came to the mountain of God, even to 
 Horeb." Exod. 3 : 1. But a comparison of the various passa 
 ges of the Old Testament referring to the Midianites leads to the 
 conclusion that their main seat was east of Edom, Moab, and 
 Ammon, in the bordering desert of Arabia ; whence their course, 
 whether for trade or for plunder, was first northward and then 
 westward across the Jordan valley. 
 
 The Midianites and Ishinaelites to whom Joseph was sold seem to have 
 entered Palestine from Gilead by the valley of Jezreel (Gen. 37 : 25, 28, 
 36). The five kings of the Midianites who, in alliance with the Moabites, 
 seduced to idolatry the Israelites when encamped in the plains of Moab 
 east of the Jordan, were dukes of Sihou king of the Amorites ; that is, 
 vassals or tributary kings (Xumb. 31 : 8, compared with Josh. 13 : 21); and 
 consequently neighbors to both Sihon and Moab. From the same region 
 
270 SACRED GEOGRAPHY. 
 
 obviously came the Midianites who, accompanied by the Anialeldtes, crossed 
 the Jordan in Gideon s time, and encamped in the valley of Jezreel (Judg. , 
 chaps. 6-8). In 1 Kings 11 : 18 we find Hadad fleeing from the land of 
 Midian to Egypt by the way of Paran, "he and certain Edomites of his 
 father s servants with him," because Joab was desolating the land of Edom. 
 Hadad fled manifestly from that part of Midian that bordered on Edom, 
 but whether from its eastern border or from its Avestern, where a branch 
 of the Midianites seem to have dwelt (see above), is uncertain. The 
 wealth of the Midianites appears from the abundance of the spoils which 
 the Israelites took of them under Phinehas (Numb. 31 : 25-47), and after 
 wards under Gideon (Judg. 8 : 24-27). 
 
 14. The relation of the Midianites to the children of Israel 
 began with the origin of the two nations, for they were both 
 descendants of Abraham. Among the Kenite branch of this 
 people Moses found a home in his exile from Egypt, and the 
 relations of the Kenites to the Israelites continued to be friendly, 
 as we have seen above, Chap. 8, No. 35. But the Midianites as 
 a nation early appear among the enemies and corrupters of the 
 Hebrew people. They were the chief offenders in the matter 
 of Baal-peor (Numb., chap. 25), and it was upon them that the 
 divine vengeance fell so heavily (Numb., chap. 31). Yet we find 
 them again very numerous and powerful in the time of Gid 
 eon, some two centuries later. Then, with their allies the Ama- 
 lekites, "they came up with their cattle and their tents, and 
 they came as grasshoppers for multitude; for both they and 
 their camels were without number; and they entered into the 
 land to destroy it." Judg. 6 : 5. Their strength seems to have 
 been permanently broken by the signal overthrow which they 
 experienced at that time, and which is several times referred to 
 in the later Hebrew history. Psa. 83 : 9 ; Isa. 9:4; 10 : 26. 
 
 15. Various Arabian tribes to the east and southeast of Pal 
 estine are mentioned in Scripture. Our limits do not allow us 
 to discuss at any length the difficult geographical questions 
 connected with their boundaries and relative positions. We 
 notice only the following : 
 
 In Isa. 60 : 6, 7, a group of Arabian tribes is mentioned as ministering 
 to Zion in her future enlargement and glory the dromedaries of Midian 
 
PALESTINE. 271 
 
 and EphciTi, all they from Sheba with gold and frankincense, the flocks of 
 Kedar, the rams of Nebaioth. 
 
 Eplidh was the son of Midian (Gen. 25 : 4), and it is natural to think 
 of the tribe of Ephah as lying beyond the Midianites, and perhaps farther 
 south. 
 
 Three persons bearing the name of Stieba are mentioned in the gene 
 alogical tables of Genesis a grandson of Gush the son of Ham (chap. 
 10 : 7) ; a son of Joktan the grandson of Eber, descended through Arphaxad 
 from Shem (chap. 10 : 28) ; a son of Jokshan Abraham s son by Keturah, 
 consequently a descendant from Eber also (chap. 25 : 3). The relation 
 which the descendants of these three men held to each other is not known. 
 But it is generally agreed that the Sheba celebrated for its gold, frankin 
 cense, spicery, and precious stones, whose queen "came from the utter 
 most parts of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon" (Matt. 12 :42), 
 was the country of the Arabian Sabaeans situated in the southern part of 
 Arabia Felix, between the Red sea and the Persian gulf. The Ethiopians 
 of Seba are also called Sabeans in our version (Isa. 45 : 14), but these should 
 be carefully distinguished from the Arabian Sabeans (Job 1 : 15 ; Joel 
 3:8). In Ezek. 23:42, the true text should be translated, not Sabeans, 
 but drunkards. 
 
 Kedar was the second son of Ishmael. Gen. 25 : 13. The tribe of Ke 
 dar is often mentioned in the Old Testament as wealthy and powerful, and 
 inhabiting villages in a rocky region (Isa. 21 : 16, 17 ; 42 : 11 ; Jer. 2 : 10 ; 
 49 : 28 ; Ezek. 27 : 21, ete.). Forster (Geog. of Arabia 1, p. 238, seq.) pla 
 ces their site in the modern province of Hedjaz on the Red sea around 
 Mecca and Medina. The NabatJiceans, descended from Nebaioth Ishmael s 
 firstborn (Gen. 25 : 13), are placed by the same writer north of Kedar and 
 bordering on the Idtimreans, upon whose territory they afterwards en 
 croached as we have seen, No. 5 above. 
 
 The Hagarites or Hagarenes (I Chr. 5 : 10, 19, 20 ; Psa. 83 : 6), so-caUed 
 from Hagar the mother of Ishmael, are, in a general sense, the Ishmaeli- 
 tish tribes inhabiting the northern part of Arabia. But the particular 
 Hagarites upon whom the Israelitish tribes east of the Jordan made war, 
 dwelt to the east of the land of Gilead. 1 Chron. 5 : 10. 
 
 Tema was the ninth son of Ishmael. Gen. 25 : 15. His descendants 
 inhabited a tract in the northern part of Arabia still called Teima by the 
 Arabs. 
 
 Dumali was the sixth son of Ishmael. That his posterity settled in the 
 vicinity of Edom is plain from the words of Isaiah (chap. 21 :11) : "The 
 burden of Dumal^. He calletli to me out of Seir, Watchman, what of the 
 night ?" The name is perpetuated to the present day in an Arabian town 
 about two hundred and forty geographical miles due east of Petra (Por 
 ter, in Alexander s Krrto), which seems to have been the centre of the tribe. 
 
272 SACRED GEOGRAPHY. 
 
 The land of Uz, according to Forster (Geog. of Arabia, 2, p. 59, seq.) lay 
 on the banks of the Euphrates adjoining Chaldaea. But Porter (in Alex 
 ander s Ivitto) thinks that it was " in Arabia, bordering on Edom westward, 
 on Trachonitis northward, and extending perhaps indefinitely across the 
 pasture lands of Arabia towards the Euphrates." 
 
 The reader who wishes to investigate at length the difficult subject of 
 Arabian geography can consult the two volumes of Forster above referred 
 to, and the authorities there quoted. 
 
 
NORTHEAST AND NORTH. 273 
 
 CHAPTEK X. 
 
 COUNTRIES ON THE NORTHEAST AND NORTH. 
 
 HERE belong Mesopotamia, Syria proper in its several divis 
 ions, and Phoenicia. 
 
 I. MESOPOTAMIA. 
 
 1. The Hebrew word Aram is commonly rendered Syria in 
 the Greek version of the Seventy. It signifies highland, and 
 seems to have been originally applied to the mountainous 
 region of Syria proper, and afterwards extended to the lower 
 regions on the east. 
 
 Abraham was in the line of Arphaxad (Gen., chap. 11). He is called 
 the Hebrew (Gen. 14 : 13) ; according to some, as being one of "the chil 
 dren of Eber " (Gen. 10 : 21 ; 11 : 15-26) ; according to others, as having 
 come from the other side of the Euphrates Ibri, Hebrew, from eber, be 
 yond. But Bethuel and Laban are called Syrians (Gen. 25 : 20 ; 28 : 5 ; 
 31 : 20, 24), from their residence in Mesopotamian Syria ; and once Jacob is 
 called a Syrian (Deut. 26 : 5) for the same reason. 
 
 2. Aram-naharayim, Aram of the two rivers, is the Hebrew 
 name given to the vast region lying in a general northwest and 
 southeast direction between the Euphrates and Tigris. The 
 corresponding Greek names in the Septuagint are Mesopotamia. 
 that is, country beticeen the rivers (Gen. 24 : 10 ; Deut. 2o : 4) ; 
 Mesopotamia of Syria (Psa. 60, title) ; Syria of Mesopotamia 
 (1 Chron. 19 : 6) ; Syria of the rivers (Judg. 3 : 8). The Arabian 
 term, the Island, is not inappropriate, since the source of the 
 Tigris is only a few miles distant from the Euphrates at Telek. 
 The term Padan-aram, plain of Aram, or simply Padan (Gen. 
 48:7), called also the field of Aram (Hosea 12:12), is applied 
 to the northern part of this region. The Septuagint generally 
 
 12* 
 
* 
 
 274 SACRED GEOGRAPHY. 
 
 renders Padan-aram and Padan by the term Mesopotamia of 
 Syria (Gen 25:20 ; 28 : 6, 7 ; 33 : 18 ; 35: 9, 26 ; 46 : 15 ; 48 : 7) ; 
 but sometimes simply Mesopotamia (Gen. 28 : 2, 5 ; 31 : 18). 
 
 When the Septuagint adds to Mesopotamia the term Syria, the design 
 apparently is simply to represent the Hebrew Aram; not to indicate a 
 Syrian Mesopotamia lying between the Abana and Pharpar, as distinct 
 from the Babylonian between the Euphrates and Tigris, according to the 
 theory of Dr. Beke. There is no valid ground for assuming a second Mes 
 opotamia. See Porter, in Alexander s Kitto, art. , Aram. 
 
 3. Mesopotamia in its widest sense embraces a tract nearly 
 seven hundred miles long with a varying breadth of from twen 
 ty to two huncWsd and fifty miles. It extends from Telek on 
 the Euphrates, in latitude thirty-eight degrees twenty-three min 
 utes north, to Kurnah at the junction of the Tigris with the 
 Euphrates, in latitude thirty-one degrees north. The lower 
 part of this region, which is an alluvial plain scarcely raised 
 above the level of the river, will be considered hereafter, under 
 the head of Chaldea and Babylonia. To upper Mesopotamia 
 or Padan-aram, belong the scriptural incidents connected with 
 Haran, and this was also the seat of Cushan-rishathaim s king 
 dom. This region is described as being in general a vast plain, 
 but it has some ranges of hills, " and in its northern portion is 
 even mountainous, the upper Tigris valley being separated 
 from the Mesopotamian plain by an important range, the Mons 
 MHH IUS of Strabo." Smith s Bible Diet., art., Mesopotamia. 
 The most important tributary stream is the Chaboras now 
 called Klialur, probably identical with the CJtcbar, the scene 
 of I^zekiel s visions (chap. 1:1, 3), which rising in upper 
 Mesopotamia flows for a while parallel to the Euphrates, and 
 ^hen turning westward enters it at Circesium, the Carchemish of 
 Scripture. 
 
 4. Haran, where Terah stopped on his way from Ur of the 
 
 Chaldees to the land of Canaan (Gen. 11 : 31), is thought with 
 
 good reason to be identical with the CharrJiw of the Greeks and 
 
 Eomans and the Harran of the modern Arabs. It stands with- 
 
 . in the great bend of the Euphrates on the banks of a small 
 
NORTHEAST AND NORTH. 275 
 
 liver called Belik which flows south into the Euphrates. Hith 
 er Abraham sent his servant to obtain a wife for his son Isaac, 
 and here Jacob found his wives. Abraham calls it his country 
 and his kindred (Gen. 24 : 4), and this is the place referred to, 
 " as on the other side of the flood " (Hebrew river], where 
 Terah the father of Abraham and the father of Nachor dwelt. 
 Josh. 24 : 2. It has been a popular theory, having in its favor 
 a very ancient Jewish tradition, that Ur of the Chaldees, whence 
 Terah went forth with Abraham and Lot to go into the land of 
 Canaan (Gen. 11 : 31), was identical with the modem Oorfo, the 
 Adessci of the classic authors, situated about twenty miles north 
 west by north from Haran. But there is an increasing incli 
 nation among oriental scholars of the present day to identify 
 the site of Ur of the Chaldees with the extensive ruins at Mu 
 gheir or Umcjheir, on the right-hand side of the Euphrates about 
 halfway between the ruins of Babylon and the Persian gulf. 
 The inscriptions disinterred at Mugheir are said to prove that 
 the ancient name of this place was Ur, or rather Hur. But 
 inscriptions discovered at other places make it probable that 
 Ur or Hur was also a territory extending across the Euphrates ; 
 and it may be that "Ur of the Chaldees," indicates not a par 
 ticular city, but a region of lower Mesopotamia. See Rawlin- 
 son s Ancient Monarchies, 1, p. 19, seq. 
 
 The distance between Mugheir and Haran is not a valid objection ; for 
 the narrative implies that Terah, in going to Haran, left Chaldaea the land 
 of his nativity, which cannot be shown to have included in Abraham s and 
 Moses time upper Mesopotamia. The natural route from lower Mesopo 
 tamia to Canaan "would be first north and t^ien west around the Arabian 
 desert, so that Haran might well be taken on the way. If we identify Ur 
 not with a territory but with Mugheir some six or eight miles west of the 
 present channel of the Euphrates, it would still belong virtually to lower 
 Mesopotamia ; so that Stephen, who did not stand on geographical nice 
 ties, would still be substantially correct in placing it, as he does (Acts 
 7:2), in Mesopotamia. 
 
 " Habor the river of Gozan " (2 Kings 17 : 6 ; 18 : 11) is without doubt 
 identical with the modern Khabur (see above) ; and on the upper waters 
 of this stream we must look for Halah and the district of Gozan, to which 
 
276 SACKED GEOGRAPHY. 
 
 places the king of Assyria transported a part of the Israelites. Hara, which 
 is added, 1 Chron. 5 : 26, is perhaps identical with Haran. If not, its site 
 is unknown. 
 
 It does not come within the province of this work to describe the im 
 portant modern towns in upper Mesopotamia. Among these Diarbekr, 
 Jezireh, and Mosul are on the Tigris ; the first near its head waters, the 
 third two hundred and twenty miles below in a southeasterly direction, 
 and the second some seventy-five or eighty miles above Mosul. Mnrdiu 
 and Oorfa are in the interior, the former fifty-seven miles southeast of 
 Diarbekr on the edge of Mount Masius, the latter about one hundred miles 
 southwest and towards the Euphrates. ^ 
 
 5. The first servitude of tlie Israelites was under Cushan- 
 rishathaim king of Mesopotamia. Judg. 3 : 8-10. We find 
 the Mesopotamians again furnishing the Ammonites with horses 
 and chariots against David (1 Chron. 19 : 6), but after that the 
 name appears no more in Scripture. 
 
 II. SYRIA PROPER. 
 
 6. Syriaproper, excluding Palestine and including Phoenicia, 
 is bounded on the south by Palestine, on the west by the Medi 
 terranean, on the north by Mount Arnanus and Mount Taurus, 
 and on the east by the Euphrates and desert of Palmyra. Por 
 ter (in Alexander s Kitto) gives its length from the Litany on 
 the south to the bay of Iskanderun (gulf of Issus) on the north, 
 at two hundred and fifty miles, with an average breadth of one 
 hundred and thirty miles. 
 
 7. The grand feature of Syria, which determines alike its 
 physical and political divisions, is the tico miglitij parallel chains 
 of Lebanon and Anti-Lebanon, with their lower -continuations 
 towards the north ; that of Lebanon quite to the northern ex 
 tremity of the region with two remarkable breaks, that of Anti- 
 Lebanon to a point near the bend of the Orontes, with an inter 
 ruption over against the southern break in the western chain. 
 The valley lying between these chains is, as already remarked 
 (Chap. 4, No. 1), a continuation of the great chasm extending 
 from the Red sea to Antioch. 
 
NORTHEAST AND NORTH. 277 
 
 8. In describing the chain of Lebanon we begin with the deep 
 gorge of the Leontes, its lower southern continuation having 
 been already considered in the geography of Palestine. It runs 
 parallel with the coast in a northeasterly direction about ninety 
 miles to the great valley of the Nahr el-Kebir (the Eleutherus 
 of the ancients) which connects the plain of Hamath with the 
 Mediterranean, and is thought with good reason to be " the en 
 tering in of Hamath." *See Eobinson s Bib. Kes., 3, pp. 568, 569. 
 The base of Lebanon is said to be about twenty miles in width. 
 Its loftiest summits are towards the north. Of these the highest 
 is Dahar el-Kudib about twenty-five miles from the northern ex 
 tremity, with an elevation, according to Yan de Yelde; of ten 
 thousand and fifty-one feet. South of this, at the distance of 
 twenty-three miles, is the rounded summit of Jebel Sunnin, eight 
 thousand and five hundred feet high. From this point the range 
 decreases in height towards the south. The mountain is com 
 posed of Jura limestone. Its eastern declivity is steep, with few 
 streams, and mostly without inhabitants or tillage. Robinson, 
 Phys. Geog., p. 339. The western declivity, on tTie contrary, is 
 more gradual, furrowed every where by deep and rugged ravines, 
 between which appear lofty cliffs of white rock. It teems with 
 villages, and is cultivated more or less to the top, the tillage 
 being carried on by a succession of terraces rising one above 
 another. 
 
 The word Lebanon signifies White Mountain. Robinson thinks that 
 the name is derived not from its snows, but from the whitish appearance 
 of the mountain as the light is reflected from its rocky surface. In sum 
 mer snow is found only in the ravines, where it presents the appearance of 
 radiant stripes. The views of the mountain from below and above are ex 
 ceedingly different. When one looks upward from below the vegetation of 
 the terraces is not seen, "so that the whole mountain side appears as if 
 composed only of immense rugged masses of naked whitish rock-, severed 
 by deep wide ravines running down precipitously to the plain. No one 
 would suspect, among these rocks, the existence of a vast multitude of 
 thrifty villages, and a numerous population of mountaineers, -hardy, indus 
 trious, and brave." Robinson, Bib. Res., 2, p. 493. But the view from 
 afave is rich and picturesque. " The tops of the little stair-like terraces 
 are seen, all green with corn, or straggling vines, or the dark foliage of 
 
278 SACRED GEOGRAPHY. 
 
 the mulberry. The steeper banks and ridges have their forests of pine and 
 oak ; while far away down in the bottom of the glens, and round the vil 
 lages and castellated convents, are large groves of gray olives." Porter, in 
 Alexander s Kitto. The northern extremity of Lebanon is sharply defined, 
 the chain terminating abruptly at the valley of the Kebir. A lower side 
 ridge runs along the eastern base of the main chain from the town of 
 Zahleh (about latitude thirty-three degrees, fifty-one minutes north) to its 
 northern extremity. 
 
 According to Robinson "the oak, walnut, p^ane, silver poplar, acacia, 
 and various other trees are not infrequent. The olive and the mulberry 
 are widely cultivated ; the one for its oil, the other as food for silkworms. 
 The wine of Lebanon was celebrated of old. At present extensive vine 
 yards surround many of the villages, the vines being left to run upon the 
 ground.* The fruit is mostly eaten, or is converted into raisins and dibs 
 (syrup) ; a small part only is made into wine, which is still accounted of 
 superior excellence." Phys. Geog., p. 343. The glory of Lebanon in an 
 cient days was its magnificent forests of cedar. These, though immensely 
 diminished, have not yet disappeared. The principal grove is at the head 
 of "Wady Kadisha in a vast recess in the central ridge of Lebanon two 
 hours and three quarters from Ehden. Above it rise the loftiest summits 
 of Lebanon streaked with perpetual snow. The grove is now scarcely 
 half a mile in circumference, and contains about four hundred trees of all 
 sizes perhaps a dozen very ancient and venerable. One or two of the 
 oldest are more than forty feet in girth with short and irregular branches. 
 There are other cedar groves on the higher slopes of Lebanon north of the 
 Kadisha and elsewhere. See in Porter s Handbook, pp. 549-551. The 
 cedar has been for ages too rare to be employed in building. In the 
 Scriptures it is, as all know, the standing image of strength, majesty, and 
 beauty. 
 
 9. Parallel with Lebanon runs the chain of Anti-Lebanon, 
 beginning at Banias and terminating over agamst the northern 
 end of Lebanon some fifteen miles south of Hums (Emesa). It 
 is described by Robinson as " made up of two parts, lying north 
 and south of the parallel of Damascus ; or rather as divided at 
 a point- somewhat north of that parallel." Phys. Geog., p. 345. 
 The northern part, running parallel with Lebanon, is called 
 Ji/H-f esh-Shurky, that is, East imnuihi m. It is less lofty than 
 Lebanon, " and in contrast with that mountain," says Robinson, 
 " having its steepest declivity on the west towards the Buka 
 (valley of Coele-Syria) almost without streams or villages," while 
 

 CEDAHS OF LEBANON. 
 
 ^--- 
 
 RUINS OF BAALBEC. 
 
NORTHEAST AND NORTH. 279 
 
 
 
 "the eastern declivity is quite gradual; or rather this eastern 
 side is characterized by successive lower ridges with intervening 
 open tracts, or terraces, running parallel with its course, and 
 presenting towards the east steep declivities and sometimes 
 perpendicular precipices." Porter says (in Alexander s Kitto) 
 that " with the exception of the little upland plains, and a few 
 of the deeper valleys, this ridge is incapable of cultivation." 
 " Vegetation is abundant among the rocks, and though the in 
 habitants are few and far between, immense flocks of sheep and 
 goats are pastured upon the mountains, and wild beasts bears, 
 boars, wolves, jackals, hyaenas, foxes are far more abundant 
 than in any other part of Syria or Palestine."" 
 
 The southern part of Anti-Lebanon, which trends a little 
 more to the southwest, is called Jebd esh- Sheikh, Chief mountain, 
 and is the Hermon of the Old Testament. It has, according to 
 Porter (Handbook, p. 430), three summits, or rather its general 
 summit has three peaks, the loftiest of which is, according to 
 Van de Velde, nine thousand three hundred and seventy-six feet 
 in height. Its lower slopes are thinly clothed with oak forests. 
 The central cone of gray limestone is naked, and glittering with 
 snow through the winter months. In summer the snow remains 
 only in the ravines. 
 
 Porter describes Hermou as the centre and culminating point of Anti- 
 Lebanon, whence a number of ridges radiate like the ribs of a half-open 
 fan. The first and loftiest of these ridges is Jebel esh-Shurky already 
 described ; the last and lowest, reckoning from west to east, runs nearly 
 east (elsewhere he says more accurately northeast by east), skirting the 
 magnificent plain of Damascus on its northern border, and continued on 
 ward to Palmyra, These ridges are of bare whitish limestone, and present 
 "a series of terraces on plateaus with cliffs from one hundred to one thou 
 sand feet. The scenery on these steppes is dreary and desolate. The 
 gravelly soil, in many places strowii with flints, is as bare as the cliffs that 
 bound them. Yet they are intersected by several rich and beautiful glens, 
 so deep, however, that their verdure and foliage cannot be seen from a dis 
 tance. 
 
 There is ground for thinking that some one of tho southern peaks of 
 Hermon was the scene of the transfiguration ; for it took place in the neigh 
 borhood of Cresurea Philippi. Stanley, Sinai and Palestine, pp. 391, 392; 
 Porter s Damascus, 1, p. 306. 
 
280 SACRED GEOGRAPHY. 
 
 
 
 10. Between these two mighty ramparts lies the noble valley 
 
 called by the modern Arabs el-Bukaa, that is, deft, deep plain. 
 This was appropriately named by the ancients Code-Syria, 
 Hollow Syria, or the Syrian Hollow. It is from three to seven miles 
 wide and seventy miles long, running in a direction from south 
 to northeast. Its surface is said to be quite flat, and its soil 
 rich, and abundantly watered by streams from the mountain 
 sides. Its watershed is a few miles north of Baalbec, with an 
 elevation above the level of the ocean of some three thousand 
 feet. Thence its waters flow north into the Orontes, and south 
 into the Litany. A low spur running out from the northern 
 extremity of Jebel esh-Sheikh towards the southwest passes 
 obliquely across the Buka a towards the southern end of Leb 
 anon, thus gradually narrowing the main valley to a point ; 
 while on the eastern side of this spur, as it diverges from Jebel 
 esh-Sheikh is formed a higher and narrower valley known as 
 Wady ct-Tebn, which enters the plain of Banias at the north 
 west corner. In this valley, as has already been shown (Chap. 
 4, No. 4), is the remotest perennial source of the Jordan near 
 Hasbeiya. AVady et-Teim has an open connection at its north 
 ern extremity into the Buka a by a low watershed. Robinson, 
 Phys, Geog., p. 348. 
 
 The term Coele-Syria was sometimes used by the ancients in a more 
 extended sense, as including the whole valley of the Jordan as well as that 
 between Lebanon and Anti-Lebanon, and also the bordering habitable 
 region on the east. Thus Joseplms places in Coele-Syria the Ammonites 
 and Moabites (Antiq., 1. 11. 5), and Ptolemy Damascus and Gerasa, and 
 even Scythopolis on the west of the Jordan, perhaps because this latter 
 city was reckoned as belonging not to Samaria but to the Decapolis east 
 | of the Jordan. But Strabo (16. 2. 16) accurately defines Ccele-Syria 
 proper as lying between the two parallel mountains Lebanon and Anti- 
 Lebanon. So Pliny, Hist. Nat., 5. 17. 
 
 11. The southern half of the Buka a is drained by the Lita 
 ny (the Leontes of the ancients) the watershed lying a little north 
 of Baalbec ; but the remotest perennial fountain is a few miles 
 south of that place, below which it is fed by numerous rivulets 
 from the springs at the base of the two mountains. The valley 
 
NORTHEAST AND NORTH. 281 
 
 contracts towards the south in the manner above described 
 (No. 10), till the channel becomes a deep rocky gorge down 
 which the river rushes, tumbling, foaming and roaring along its 
 impetuous course. Then turning westward in about latitude 
 thirty-three degrees twenty minutes north it breaks its way to 
 the Mediterranean, which it enters a few miles north of Tyre 
 under the name of Nahr el-Kasimiyeh. 
 
 The stupendous chasm of the Litany has been the admiration of all 
 travellers. The rocks near Burghuz rise not less than nine hundred feet 
 above the stream, and the high perpendicular cliffs approach so near 
 together in some spots that the branches of trees from opposite sides are 
 said to meet and interlock. "At the bottom, like a silvery ribbon, the 
 current rushes from rapid to rapid, foaming among the rocks, and decked 
 with the gay blossoms of the oleander along its margin." At one spot 
 there is a natural bridge formed by the falling of masses of rock from 
 above, leaving a channel for the stream a hundred feet below them. See 
 farther in Robinson, Bib. Res., 3, pp. 385-387. 
 
 At the great bend of the Litany, where it turns westward towards the 
 Mediterranean, perched on the summit of a naked ridge, which rises almost 
 perpendicularly from the right bank of the river to a height of more than 
 fifteen hundred feet, stands the celebrated fortress esh-SJiuklf (the Belfort 
 of the crusaders), overtopping the neighboring hills, and commanding an 
 extensive view of the surrounding country. See in Porter s Handbook, 
 pp. 538, 539 ; Robinson, 3, pp. 49-53. 
 
 12. Between the northern termination of Lebanon and the 
 range Jebel en-Nusairiyeli (the Bargylus of the ancients), which 
 may be regarded as the continuation of Lebanon, lies a valley 
 of some extent, constituting the natural entrance from the sea- 
 coast to Hamath (see below "No. 15), and which is justly regard 
 ed by Kobinson (3, pp. 568, 569), Stanley (Sinai and Palestine, 
 p. 399), Porter (Syria and Damascus, 2, pp. 354-359), and oth 
 ers as the Scriptural " entering in of Hamqjli" The range Jebel 
 en-Nusairiyeh, beginning north of this entrance, extends north 
 along the valley of the Orontes to the point where this river 
 bends to the southwest to enter the Mediterranean. From its 
 northern extremity it throws off a coast-range towards Laodicea, 
 the highest peak of which is the Mount Casius of the ancients, 
 having an elevation of more than five thousand feet. 
 
282 SACRED GEOGRAPHY. 
 
 On the eastern side of the Orontes there is, north of Anti- 
 Lebanon, a wide interruption, constituting the rich plain of Hums 
 (Emesa), not less than thirty miles in width, and stretching off 
 towards the east in a boundless tract of level country, which 
 gradually loses itself in the eastern desert. North of this plain 
 begins an irregular range of mountains running parallel to the 
 western range en-Nusairiyeh, quite to the bend of the Oron 
 tes, the two enclosing a magnificent valley called el-GJial). Its 
 width is given by Robinson at about five miles in the southern 
 part, but less towards the north; and its length from Antioch 
 to the plain north of Lebanon at about eighty-five miles. 
 
 13. There is a singular correspondence between the course of 
 the Leontes already described and that of the Orontes (the mod 
 ern Naln* el-Asy), which drains the northern part of the Buka a 
 and its continuation northward in the Ghfib. Like the Leontes, 
 as it approaches the end of its course it suddenly turns west 
 ward and then southwestward, and passing through a narrow 
 gorge below Antioch, "roars over a succession of rapids and 
 shallows, which render it unnavigable even for steam-vessels" 
 (Robinson, Phys. Geog., p. 353), till it reaches the plain towards 
 the sea. 
 
 14. North of the Orontes the single range of Amanus con 
 stitutes a true continuation of Lebanon and Bargylus. East of 
 it is a hilly elevated tract extending quite to the Euphrates. 
 
 The plain along the shore between Amanus and the sea is quite narrow, 
 and here is a celebrated pass called the Gates of Syria-Cilicia. It was in 
 the narrow plain of Issus, at the head of the gulf of Issus, that Alexander 
 the Great gained his celebrated victory over Darius, B. c. 333. 
 
 15. Looking now at the great Syrian valley from the south 
 ern extremity of Lebanon to Antioch as a whole, we notice the 
 places of chief interest along its course. 
 
 Belli- Rehob overlooked a valley near to Laish (Judg. 18 : 28, 29), and 
 was apparently the capital of a Syrian territory (2 Sam. 10 : G). Robinson 
 (Bib. Res., 3, pp. 371, 372) and Porter (Handbook, p. 421) suggest that the 
 site of this place is to be found in the ruins of a strong fortress at Huiwt, 
 
NORTHEAST AND NORTH. 283 
 
 on the western border of the plain of Huleh. The same authors would 
 identify Abel (2 Sam. 20 : 14, 15, 18), called also Abel-beth-Mtaclmh (1 Kings 
 15 : 20 ; 2 Kings 15 : 29) and Abel-maim (2 Chrou. 16 : 4), with the modern 
 Abil, & little northeast of Hunln. The name Abel-beth-maachali, that is 
 Abel of Beth-maachah, would designate it as a town of the region of Betli- 
 maochak, or Syria of Maacliali (1 Chron. 19 :6), which Porter supposes to 
 have extended on the northern border of Palestine from the fountains of 
 the Jordan northeast to the plain of Damascus. See in Alexander s Kitto, 
 art., Maachah. The above-named authors would further identify the site 
 of the scriptural Ijon (1 Kings 15 : 20 ; 2 Chron. 16 : 4) with Tell Dibbln, 
 on the margin of a romantic little plain called Jferj Ayun, Avhich lies be 
 tween Wady et-Teim and the fortress esh-Shukif. Robinson is inclined 
 to identify " Baal-gad in the valley of Lebanon under Mount Hermou" 
 (Josh. 11 : 17 ; 12 : 7) with Banias. Bib. Res., 3, pp. 409, 410. 
 
 Passing up Wady et-Teim, we come, at the distance of six hours from 
 Banias, to the modern town of H&sbeiya, situated on both sides of a deep 
 glen which falls down from a side-ridge of Hernion westward into Wady 
 et-Teim, well known as a Protestant missionary station, and as the scene 
 of a terrible massacre in 1860, when about one thousand unarmed victims 
 were murdered in cold blood. The population of the place before this 
 massacre was estimated at five thousand, four thousand of whom were 
 Christians. Proceeding still farther up the wady, and .turning eastward, 
 we come to the smaller village of Rdslieiya, lying high up on a ridge of 
 Herman. 
 
 The most remarkable ruins in the valley of Coele-Syria are those of 
 Baalbec, in about latitude thirty-four degrees north, a few miles south of 
 the water-shed which separates the head-streams of the Leontes and the 
 Orontes* Here are the magnificent remains of two temples, one of them 
 of colossal proportions. The diameter of its columns is at base seven feet 
 six inches ; their height, including base and capital, seventy-five feet, with an 
 entablature above of fourteen feet. Of the stones in the western wall, one is 
 sixty-four feet long, another sixty- three feet eight inches, and a third sixty- 
 three feet. These stupendous ruins have been described at length by 
 various travellers. For a concise account of them the reader may consult 
 Porter s Handbook, pp. 526-534 ; Robinson, 3, pp. 506-518. The histor 
 ical notices appended by Robinson (pp. 518-527) are particularly valuable. 
 The Greek name of Baalbec is Heliopolis, that is, city of the sun; and it 
 implies that the place, like its namesake in Egypt, was consecrated to the 
 sun as its chief divinity. 
 
 Relics of many other heathen temples are found in this valley ; as at 
 Mejdel and Zekweh a little south of the fountains of Anjar, at Deir el- 
 
284 SACRED GEOGRAPHY. 
 
 Glmzal, north of An jar, etc. Robinson suggests (3, p. .519) that the prophet 
 Amos alludes to this valley with its heathen temples under the name of the 
 valley of Avert (English version, plain of Averi), that is, valley of vanity. 
 Compare Amos 5:5: " Beth-el" (that is, the house of God] " shall become 
 vanity" (Heb. Aven}. 
 
 Passing on north beyond Baalbec, we begin to descend along the course 
 of the Orontes. At about latitude thirty-four degrees thirty-one minutes 
 north we come to Ribleh, the Riblah of the Old Testament, lying on the 
 right bank of the river. At present it is a poor mud village of some forty 
 or fifty houses. The biblical student must regard this place with sad inter 
 est ; for here Pharaoh-necho put Jehoahaz in bands, "that he might not 
 reign in Jerusalem" (2 Kings 23 :33), and here afterwards Nebuchadnez 
 zar gave judgment upon Zedekiah, slew his sons before his eyes, put out 
 his eyes, bound him with fetters of brass, and carried him to Babylon 
 (2 Kings 25 : 6, 7). 
 
 Passing on northward across the great and fertile plain at the north of 
 Anti-Lebanon (No. 12 above), we come to Hums (the ancient Emesa], lying 
 in the centre of the plain. It is a clean and compact town of about twenty 
 thousand inhabitants. The houses are built of basalt-stone, and most of 
 the streets are paved with the same materials. The Orontes flows past the 
 city at the distance of about a mile to the west. No notice of it occurs in 
 the Bible. 
 
 Proceeding still down the valley of the Orontes, after a ride of between 
 seven and eight hours we reach Hamah, the Hamatli of Scripture, and the 
 Epipliania of the Greeks. It is built on both sides of the river, and con 
 tains about thirty thousand inhabitants. Four bridges span the stream, 
 and a number of huge wheels turned by the current one of them seventy 
 feet in diameter raise the water into aqueducts, whence it is distributed 
 through the city. " They have," says Porter (Handbook, p. 588), " an odd 
 look and an odder sound, turning lazily, emptying their shallow buckets, 
 and groaning all the while as if in agony." Hamath and "the entering in 
 of Hamath " were the tvell-known northern limits assigned to the Israelitish 
 territory (Numb. 34:8; Josh. 13:5; Judg. 3:3), although the actual 
 northern boundary fell far short of them (Chap. 1, Nos. 3-5). 
 
 Aniiocli, once a renowned and wealthy city, holding the third place in 
 the Roman empire, lies in the plain on the left bank of the Orontes, after 
 it has made its great bend to the southwest. It has now dwindled down 
 to an Arab town of some six thousand inhabitants. We learn from the 
 Acts of the Apostles that Antioch was the centre of Gentile Christianity. 
 For this it was admirably adapted by its situation, having ready access 
 down the narrow valley of the Orontes to the Mediterranean, up the valley 
 
NORTHEAST AND NORTH. 
 
 of the- same river to Southern Syria and Palestine, across the plain east 
 ward to the Euphrates, and through the passes of the Amanus to Asia^ 
 Minor. At Antioch the disciples were first called Christians (Acts 11 : 26); 
 to this place Barnabas brougnt^Saul (Acts 11 : 25, 26) and thence the great 
 apostle of the Gentiles departed on each of his missionary tours (Acts 13 : 1, 
 2 ; 15 : 35, 36 ; 18 : 22, 23). Next to Jerusalem, therefore, Antioch was the 
 most important centre of primitive Christianity. " The name CHRISTIAN, 
 invented here eighteen centuries ago, is still borne by a few hundreds of its 
 people, though the spirit of apostolical Christianity has long since deserted 
 it. Nothing in fact seems to remain of the Antioch of olden times but 
 that wanton licentiousness for which it was celebrated ; and the name, in 
 its Arabic form, Antakieh. " Porter, Handbook, pp. 568, 569. 
 
 Sdeucia, the port from which Paul and Barnabas sailed on the apostle s 
 first tour (Acts 13 : 4), stood on the seacoast about one hour north of the 
 mouth of the Orontes. Its ruins cover an area about four miles in circuit, 
 the path to them winding through shrubberies of myrtle and oleander. 
 See in Porter s Handbook, pp. 565, 566. 
 
 16. Passing to the eastern side of Anti-Lebanon, we have at 
 its base the celebrated pla i n and city of Damascus. We have 
 already seen (No. 9 above) how from Hermon as a central point 
 a number of ridges radiate like the ribs of a half-open fan. 
 The last and lowest of these, reckoning around from west to 
 east, is of chalky limestone, almost pure white, and entirely 
 naked. It runs in the direction of east-northeast onward to 
 Palmyra, forming the northwestern boundary of the plain of 
 Damascus, above which it rises some seven hundred feet. On 
 the south side of the plain are two low ridges of hills between 
 which flows the Aicaj, supposed to be the Pharpar of Scripture. 
 " Far away to the east may be seen a little group of conical 
 hills, called the Tellul. If a line be drawn through these north 
 and south, till it meets the other sides, forming with them a 
 triangle, the plain ofDamascus will be circumscribed. That por 
 tion of it, however, which alone is inhabited and in part culti 
 vated, is bounded on the east by the three lakes into which the 
 rivers of Damascus empty themselves. In form it is a rectan 
 gular triangle, its base on the south side being about twenty- 
 eight miles long ; its perpendicular on the east seventeen ; and 
 its hypothenuse, along the foot of Anti-Lebanon, thirty-three. 
 
286 SACKED GEOGRAPHY. 
 
 Its area is thus about two hundred and thirty-six square geo 
 graphical miles." Porter, Five Years in Damascus, 1, pp. 26, 27. 
 
 17. The fertility of this magnificent plain, depends wholly 
 upon the two rivers which come down from the eastern slope of 
 Anti-Lebanon. The largest and most northerly of these is the 
 Bamda, the Chrysorrlwas of the ancients. It rises high up on 
 the mountain where its two ridges, Jebel esh-Sheikh and Jebel 
 esh-Shurky meet (No. 9 above), rushes down its side in a south 
 easterly course, and, after breaking by a wild ravine through the 
 lowest ridge described above, enters the plain and flows due 
 east across it at the distance of eight miles from its southern 
 boundary. The city lies on its southern bank, and its waters 
 are distributed by numerous canals through it and the plain 
 lying around it. "Without the Barada," says Porter (Five 
 Years in Damascus, 1, p. 27), " the city could not exist, and the 
 plain would be a parched desert, but now aqueducts intersect 
 every quarter, and fountains sparkle in almost every dwelling, 
 while innumerable canals extend their ramifications over the vast 
 plain, clothing it with verdure and beauty." What remains of 
 the waters of the Barada passes on and is lost in the middle and 
 northernmost of the three lakes east of Damascus, 
 
 The second and most southerly stream is the Awaj. It is 
 formed by the junction of several small streams that rise in the 
 ravines of Jebel esh-Sheikh, and flowing eastward in a serpen 
 tine course it winds through a deep glen filled with thickets of 
 poplars and willows, and bordered by green meadows and corn 
 fields. The stream is deep and rapid, and about one-third the 
 size of the Barada. It contributes by the canals taken from it 
 to the irrigation of the region, and what remains of it finds its 
 way to the southern lake east of the city. Porter s Handbook, 
 ,p. 505. It is said that in dry seasons its waters do not reach 
 the lake. 
 
 There can be no reasonable doubt that these two streams are the Aba- 
 na and Pharpar of Scripture (2 Kings 5:12); for they are, as Robinson 
 remarks (Bib. Res., 3, p. 447), the only independent streams of any size 
 within the territory of Damascus. The Abana (or, as the Hebrew text 
 reads the Amana) as being " the largest and most important stream would 
 
NORTHEAST AND NORTH. 287 
 
 naturally be named first (Robinson, ubi supra), and would thus answer to 
 the modern Barada, the Pharpar being the Awoj. This latter stream 
 flows, it is true, some seven miles south of the city ; but it contributes its 
 share to the irrigation of the plain, and may well be called a river of Da 
 mascus. Naamau s scornful comparison: "Are not Abana and. Pharpar, 
 rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel ?" was perhaps 
 simply an expression of national pride. Yet, looking at these rivers, as 
 he did, only on the human side, he might well prefer them to the Jordan; 
 for they cover a vast plain with verdure and f ruitf ulness, while the Jordan 
 pursues its solitary course down a desert valley only to lose itself in the 
 Dead sea, the image of desolation and death. 
 
 18. As one approaches Damascus from tlie west, the road 
 winds through the denies of Anti-Lebanon, and then passes over 
 a series of broad ten-aces supported by long continuous walls of 
 whitish limestone, bare, barren, and stony, presenting a scene 
 of frightful desolation. On passing the crest of the last ridge, 
 the whole plain and city of Damascus burst at once on the 
 traveller s view presenting a scene of surpassing beauty and 
 grandeur, the impression of which is deepened by contrast with 
 the desolation left behind. On the south bank of the Barada, 
 about two miles distant and five hundred feet below, appears 
 the city in the bosom of a luxuriant plain filled with immense 
 groves of every species of fruit-trees. " The glory of Damascus 
 are its gardens and forests of fruit-trees, which surround the 
 city for miles, and almost hide it from view. Vegetables of all 
 kinds are abundant and cheap. The profusion of water is favor 
 able to their cultivation ; and also especially to the growth of 
 fruit-trees. Almost every species of fruit is produced around 
 Damascus, either in the plain or in the valley of the Barada. 
 Besides the olive, we either saw or heard expressly named the 
 f oh 1 owing, viz., oranges, lemons, citrons (in the courts of the 
 houses), apples, pears, quinces, peaches, apricots, almonds, 
 plums, prunes, grapes, figs, pomegranates, mulberries, walnuts, 
 hazel-nuts, pistachios, etc." Robinson, Bib. Kes., 3, p. 45 2. 
 The same author describes at length the arrangements for the 
 artificial irrigation of the plain. 
 
 " The buildings of Damascus are almost all of snowy white- 
 
288 SACKED GEOGRAPHY. 
 
 ness, and this contrasts well with the surrounding foliage. The 
 gardens and orchards, which have been so long and so justly 
 celebrated, encompass the city, and extend on both sides of the 
 Barada some miles eastward. They cover an area of at least 
 twenty-five miles in circuit, and make the environs an earthly 
 paradise." " But the moment the traveller leaves the environs 
 and enters the gate of Damascus the illusion is gone." To an 
 American or European " this city must appear filthy, irregular, 
 and even half ruinous. The streets are narrow and tortuous; 
 the houses on each side like piles of mud, stone, and timber, 
 heaped together ii ithout order The bazars are among the curi 
 osities of Damascus. They are thronged with a medley of per 
 sons representing every eastern nation, in every variety of cos 
 tume, " talking, bargaining, disputing, and sometimes swearing 
 at the top of their lungs." Porter s Five Years in Damascus, 1, 
 p. 28, seq. ; Robinson s Bib. Res., 3, p. 453, seq. To the pages 
 of these writers, and of other travellers who have visited this 
 ancient city, the reader must be referred for a more detailed 
 account of this city. 
 
 The present population is estimated as high as one hundred 
 and fifty thousand souls. By far the largest part of the inhab 
 itants are of the Mohammedan faith. Damascus is, indeed, one 
 of the great centres of Mohammedan bigotry, as was painfully 
 manifested by the bloody massacre of July, 1860, when between 
 two and three thousand of the resident Christians perished. 
 See in Porter s Giant Cities of Bashan, Appendix. 
 
 19. The plain of Damascus slopes gently towards the east- 
 southeast for about twenty miles. Here in its deepest depression 
 is a broad basin containing the three lakes which receive what 
 remains of the waters of the Barada and Awaj. They lie, with 
 relation to each other, in the direction of north-northeast and 
 south-southwest. The northernmost, which is also the most 
 easterly and is called East lake, is estimated by Porter to be 
 eight and a half miles long, with an extreme breadth of four 
 miles; the middle lake, six and a half miles long, with a breadth of 
 five and a half miles ; the southern lake, upwards of five miles long, 
 
NORTHEAST AND NORTH. 289 
 
 by about four and a half in breadth. They are all of a marshy 
 character, their surface being covered partly by tracts of clear 
 water, and partly by thickets of tall reeds twenty feet in height, 
 which make it difficult to determine their outlines with precis 
 ion. In dry seasons the water of the southern lake entirely 
 fails. The marshes of these lakes are the favorite haunts of 
 wild swine and water-fowl. " The numbers of wild fowl," says 
 Porter, " were beyond conception. They rose up in clouds be 
 fore me as I advanced, and sweeping round for a few minutes, 
 settled down again at a little distance. Geese, ducks, storks, 
 herons, and water-fowl of endless variety, appeared on every 
 side." See a fuh 1 description of these lakes in his Five Years in 
 Damascus, vol. 1, chap. 9. 
 
 20. Of all existing cities Damascus is first mentioned in 
 Scripture. It is named in Abraham s day (Gen. 14 : 15 ; 15 : 2), 
 and seems to have reached the zenith of its power as an inde 
 pendent state in the time of the Israelitish kings. At a later 
 period it fell, like all the surrounding kingdoms, under the power 
 of the Assyrians; and, subsequently, of the Babylonian, Per 
 sian, Grecian, and Roman empires. In A. D. 635 Damascus 
 came into the hands of the Mohammedans, in whose power, 
 though with many changes of masters, it has remained to the 
 present day. 
 
 The Syrians of Damascus are named among those who made war upon 
 David and were defeated by him with great slaughter (2 Sam. 8:5, 6 ; 
 1 Chron. 18 : 5, 6) ; and they subsequently appear, now in league with 
 Judah against Israel (1 Kings 15: 18-20; 2 Chron. 16 :2-4), now at war 
 with Israel alone (1 Kings, chap. 20 ; 2 Kings, chaps. 6 and 7 ; 10 : 32, 33; 
 13 : 24, 25; 1-4:27, 28), now withstanding the combined armies of Judah 
 and Israel (1 Kings, chap. 22 ; 2 Kings 8 :28, 29); and finally in league 
 with Israel against Judah (2 Kings 15 : 37 ; 16 : 5, 6 ; Isa. 7 : 1-9). It was 
 upon the occasion of this last alliance that Ahaz called to his aid the Assy 
 rian monarch (2 Kings, 16 : 7-9 ; 2 Chron. 28 : 16-21), a fatal step which 
 involved him and his successors in calamity, as foretold by the prophet 
 Isaiah (chap. 8 : 7, 8); for " Tiglath-pilueser king of Assyria came unto him 
 and distressed him, but strengthened him not." The Assyrians became 
 more formidable oppressors of Judah than the Syrians against whom their 
 help was invoked. 
 
 Sac. Oeog. 13 
 
290 SACRED GEOGRAPHY. 
 
 In New Testament times Damascus became celebrated as the scene of 
 the apostle Paul s conversion and baptism. It was as "he came near Da 
 mascus" that the Saviour appeared to him in glory ; into that city he was 
 led by the hand, there he was baptized, there he began his work as an 
 apostle of Christ ; and from its walls he was let down in a basket. Acts, 
 chap. 9. A street still runs in a straight direction through the city from 
 west to east, and concerning its identity with "the street which is called 
 Straight," there cannot be a reasonable doubt. 
 
 21. "We learn from Ezekiel (chap. 27:18) that Damascus 
 traded with Tyre "in the wine of Helbon and white wool." It 
 has been customary to identify Helbon with Haleb, that is, Aleppo, 
 in the northeastern part of Syria. But, as Robinson remarks, 
 (Bib. Res., 3, p. 472), "Aleppo produces no wine of any reputa 
 tion, nor is Damascus the natural channel of commerce between 
 Aleppo and Tyre." There is a Helbon near Damascus, de 
 scribed at some length by Porter (Five Years in Damascus, 1, 
 pp. 323-336), which fulfils the conditions of the scriptural Hel 
 bon. It lies 011 the eastern slope of Anti-Lebanon about ten 
 miles north of Damascus, in a deep and wild glen, the sides of 
 which are covered with vineyards ; and the vintners of Damas 
 cus regard the grapes of Helbon as the best in this part of 
 Syria. We may reasonably regard this, and not Aleppo, as the 
 Helbon of Ezekiel. 
 
 22. Among the different divisions of Aram mentioned in the 
 Old Testament is one called Aram-Zobali (Psa. 60, title), but 
 elsewhere simply Zolmli. It was on the way to the Euphrates 
 (2 Sam. 8:3; 1 Chron. 18 : 3) ; in the vicinity of Damascus 
 (1 Kings 11 : 23, 24; 2 Sam. 8 : 5 ; 1 Chron. 18 : 5) ; and near to 
 Hamath (2 Sam. 8 : 10 ; 1 Chron. 18 : 10). It must, then, have 
 been north of Damascus and east of Hamath, extending from 
 the latter place northeast and east towards, if not quite to, the 
 Euphrates. " It would thus have included the eastern flank of 
 the mountain-chain which shuts in Coele-Syria on that side, the 
 high land about Aleppo, and the more northern portion of the 
 Syrian desert." Rawlinson, in Smith s Bible Dictionary. 
 
 23. Abilene (Luke 3 : 1) was a district so called from Abila 
 (the Abila of Lysanias) eighteen Roman miles northwest of 
 
NORTHEAST AND NOKTH. 291 
 
 Damascus towards Baalbec, where the river Barada issues from 
 a wild chasm. The district lay accordingly on the eastern slope 
 of Anti-Lebanon, extending apparently as far south as Itunea. 
 See farther in Robinson s Greek Lexicon. 
 
 24. The sacred record informs us (1 Kings 9 : 18 ; 2 Chron. 
 8 : 4) that among other cities built by Solomon was " Tadmor in 
 the wilderness." This is the place known to the Greeks and 
 Romans as Palmyra, both names signifying city of palms. Its 
 magnificent ruins are in the Syrian desert about one hundred 
 and twenty miles northeast of Damascus, in a fruitful and well 
 watered oasis. Its situation about midway between the Euphra 
 tes and the Orontes gave it great importance as a commercial 
 depot and resting-place for the carrying trade between the coast 
 and the interior of Asia. 
 
 The ruins of Palmyra produce a very striking effect when seen at a dis 
 tance across the sandy plain. Thousands of Corinthian columns of white 
 marble, some erect and others fallen, cover an extent of about a mile and 
 a half, and present the appearance of a forest. "It is," says Porter (Hand 
 book, p. 512), "a strange scene. Syria has nothing to compare with it. 
 Ruins so extensive, so desolate, so bare, exist nowhere else. Long lines of 
 columns, irregular clumps, and single pillars, rising up out of huge piles 
 of white stones ; fragments of gateways, and arches, and walls, and porti 
 cos ; aud the vast pile of the Temple of the Sun away beyond them all." 
 No traces of the city built by Solomon can be detected ; for the splendid 
 ruins that now strew the plain, bear the impress of the later Roman age. 
 For a detailed account of these ruins, with an accompanying plan and 
 historical sketch, see Porter s Five Years in Damascus, 1, pp. 149-248. 
 
 III. PHCENICIA. 
 
 25. The boundaries of Phoenicia east and west are definitely 
 fixed by nature. It is a narrow strip of territory lying between 
 the western base of Lebanon and the Mediterranean. It is 
 necessary to distinguish between Phoenicia Proper and Phoe 
 nicia in the wider sense of the term. Phoenicia Proper was, ac 
 cording to Kobinson (Bib. Kes., 2, p. 473), a narrow undulating 
 plain extending from Eas el-Abyad, the most northern point of 
 Palestine three hours south of Tyre, to the Nahr el-Auwaly, the 
 Bostrenus of the ancients, an hour north of Sidon. The plain 
 
292 SACRED GEOGRAPHY. 
 
 thus defined is about twenty-eight miles in length, with an aver 
 age breadth of about a mile ; except that near Sidon the breadtli 
 is two miles, and about Tyre the mountains retire to the dis 
 tance of five miles. 
 
 26. Writers of the Eoman age use the term Phoenicia in a 
 wider sense. They place its northern limit at or near the river 
 Eleutherus about latitude thirty-four degrees forty-one minutes 
 north ; and extend its southern limit so as to include the town 
 of Dor south of Carmel, and Strabo even the whole coast to 
 Pelusium in Egypt. The whole of Phoenicia Proper is well 
 watered and has a fertile, though poorly cultivated soil. The 
 region north of the Bostrenus is said to be bleak and barren. 
 
 27. From the necessity of their position the Phoenicians 
 were a commercial rather than an agricultural people. On the 
 one hand the narrow strip of arable land between Lebanon and 
 the sea was utterly insufficient to furnish grain for the teeming 
 myriads of their population, so that they were dependent on 
 Palestine for this indispensable article. Ezek. 27 : 17. On the 
 other, the Mediterranean opened to them a boundless field of 
 commerce along the coasts of Western Asia, of Europe, of North 
 Africa, and through the straits of Gibraltar of Western Africa 
 also. In Solomon s day Tyrian sailors went in company with 
 his servants in the fleet which he built at Eloth on the Red sea 
 (1 Kings 9 : 26-28), and thus the riches of Arabia, India, and 
 Eastern Africa were opened to them. Whether the Phoenicians 
 had made use of this or any other part of the Red sea at an 
 earlier date we have no means of knowing. The Phoenicians 
 became thus the navigators and merchants, and Tyre the empo 
 rium of commerce, for all the neighboring countries. Caravans 
 came from all quarters bringing the products of the different 
 regions, and receiving in exchange the wares that Tyre had 
 gathered from many distant lands. 
 
 According to Herodotus (4. 42) it was Phoenician sailors in a fleet fitted 
 out by the Egyptian king Necos, who first circumnavigated Africa. Ne- 
 cos, he tells us, sent Phoenician sailors with vessels, commanding them to 
 sail down behind Libya, to enter the northern sea by the pillars of Hercu- 
 
NORTHEAST AND NOETH. 293 
 
 les, i. e., the Mediterranean by the straits of Gibraltar), and so reach Egypt. 
 This he informs ns they accomplished in the space of three years, bringing 
 back the report, which Herodotus thinks incredible, that they had the sun to 
 their right; that is, on their north side. There does not seem to be any 
 good reason for discrediting this account, as is done by some, who assume 
 that the report of the Phoenician sailors respecting the sun s position as 
 they went around Africa was a matter of shrewd inference, not of expe 
 rience. We are, perhaps, too ready to limit the power of the ancients in 
 this, as in several other respects. 
 
 28. In the arts and sciences the Phoenicians manifestly ex 
 celled the Hebrews. In all that pertained to the building and 
 navigation of vessels this will be at once conceded. Their supe 
 rior skill in hewing timber and in working in brass was acknowl 
 edged by Solomon; for he had Tyrian workmen in both these 
 departments. 1 Kings 5:6; 7 : 13, 14. Tyrian purple was cel 
 ebrated throughout the ancient world ; and it was the testimony 
 of the Greeks themselves that they received the sixteen letters 
 of their original alphabet from the Phoenicians through Cadmus. 
 The Phoenicians, says Herodotus. (5. 58), introduced into Greece, 
 upon their arrival, a great variety of arts, and among the rest, 
 that of writing. It does not follow from this that the Phoeni 
 cians themselves invented letters. They may have received 
 them from Assyria. But a comparison of the ancient Greek 
 and Phoenician alphabets shows at once their common origin, 
 and makes the report of Herodotus altogether credible. A like 
 comparison of the ancient Hebrew alphabet as exhibited on 
 coins with the alphabet of the Phoenicians reveals also the sub 
 stantial identity of the two. At this we need not be surprised, 
 when we consider that the Phoenician and Hebrew are so closely 
 related to each that they may be properly considered as only 
 two dialects of the same common tongue. 
 
 The substantial identity of the Hebrew and Phoenician is shown by the 
 testimony of ancient scholars, as Jerome and Augustine ; by the relics of 
 Phoenician literature that have come down to us a passage of Carthaginian, 
 for example, preserved to us in one of the comedies of Plautus ; by the 
 fact that Phoenician and Carthaginian proper names may be explained 
 from the Hebrew ; and, lastly, by the Phoenician inscriptions which can 
 be explain ed from the Hebrew. 
 
294 SACRED GEOGRAPHY. 
 
 29. In David s and Solomon s time the most friendly rela 
 tions existed between the Phoenicians and the Hebrew people. 
 Hirani king of Tyre was ever a lover of David (2 Sam. 5:11; 
 1 Kings 5:1), and we have seen the friendly alliance between 
 him and Solomon. After the division of the kingdom the Tyri- 
 ans appear in an unfriendly character. Their merchants are 
 accused of selling the children of Judah and Jerusalem to the 
 Grecians, and delivering them up as captives to the Edomites. 
 Joel 3 : 4-6 ; Amos 1 : 9. Ezekiel names (chap. 27 : 13) among 
 the articles of traffic between Tyre and Javan, Tubal, and Me- 
 shech, " the persons of men ;" and doubtless the Tyrian mer 
 chants were willing to enrich themselves by the trade in slaves 
 as they had opportunity. 
 
 30. We add a brief notice of the Phoenician cities. 
 
 The site of Tyre, the renowned emporium of Phoenicia, was originally 
 a rocky island between six and seven miles north of Ras el-Abyad, lying 
 parallel to the shore, and distant from it about half a mile, with a length of 
 less than one mile and a. breadth of half a mile. But in the famous siege 
 of Alexander the Great, he carried wit a causeway from the main land to 
 the island, thus converting it into a peninsula. On the north side of this 
 causeway, and protected by the northern end of the island, was formed 
 after Alexander s day the harbor of Tyre, enclosed by a wall running from 
 the north end of the island in a curve towards the main land. But the 
 sands of ages drifting into it have filled it so that at present only boats can 
 enter it, while by the same drifting sands the original narrow causeway 
 has attained a breadth of about half a mile. 
 
 The origin of Tyre is lost in hoary antiquity. It is mentioned in the 
 book of Joshua (chap. 19 : 29) as a "strong city" (Heb., "city of the fort 
 ress of Tyre"), an appellation which its subsequent history shows to have 
 been well deserved. The Hebrew and Phoenician name of Tyre is Sdr, 
 that is, rock, a name perpetuated in the modern Arabic Sur. There^ was a 
 city on the main land, thirty stadia south of the island, called according 
 to the ancients Old Tyre (Palcetyrus), which is commonly assumed to have 
 been the original Tyre. But the relation of the continental to the insular 
 city is very uncertain. According to Josephus (Antiq., 8. 2. 7), in Hiram s 
 day Tyre was on the island. Every vestige of old Tyre was destroyed by 
 Alexander, who used its materials in the construction of his causeway. 
 
 Tyre seems to have reached the zenith of its prosperity before the Bab 
 ylonish captivity, perhaps in the time of David and Solomon, when it must 
 K&ve been greatly strengthened by the alliance of the Hebrew people. 
 
NORTHEAST AND NORTH. 295 
 
 According to Josephus (Antiq., 9. 14. 2), the Assyrian king Shalinanezer 
 besieged the island city five years in vain. The same author records the 
 fact (Antiq., 10. 11. 1 ; against Apion, 1. 21) that Nebuchadnezzar besieged 
 Tyre- thirteen years, but without stating the issue. According to the 
 prophecy of Ezekiel (chap. 26), he must have been successful, and his fail 
 ure to receive wages for this service (Ezek. 29 : 18) must be understood as 
 meaning that when the city fell into his hands he found it empty of valu 
 able booty. See further, Fairbairn on Ezekiel, in loco. Alexander the 
 Great captured Tyre B. c. 332, after a siege of seven months in the manner 
 above described. Yet Tyre continued to be a flourishing city down to the 
 time of the Crusaders, who held possession of it for more than a century 
 and a half. After the disastrous battle of Hattin, in A. D. 1187, this city 
 was almost the only place of importance that maintained itself against the 
 Saracens ; but it was finally abandoned to their power A. D. 1291. Since 
 that day its decline and ruin have been so complete as to satisfy in a literal 
 way the terrible predictions of the Hebrew prophets: "The Lord hath 
 given a commandment against the merchant city to destroy the strong 
 holds thereof" (Isa. 23 : 11) ; " They shall destroy the walls of Tyrus, and 
 break down her towers ; I will also scrape her dust from her, and make 
 her like the top of a rock ;" " Thou shalt be a place to spread nets upon ; 
 thou shalt be built no more." Ezek. 26:4, 5, 14. The modern town 
 stands upon the junction of the island and isthmus. It contains from three 
 to four thousand inhabitants. There is but one gate ; the houses are 
 mostly hovels, with narrow, crooked, filthy streets ; and all their navy 
 consists of a few crazy fishing-boats. A walk around the ruins of Tyre is 
 indescribably mournful. "Ruins on the top of ruins cover the peninsula, 
 and are strown among the waves round it. There was a Phoenician Tyre 
 and a Roman Tyre and a mediaeval Tyre, each built on the ruins of its 
 predecessor ; and now there is a modern Tyre such as we have described 
 it, standing over them all." "Passing around the southern point, we are 
 struck with the aspect of desolation broken columns half-buried in the 
 sand, huge fragments of sea-beaten ruins, and confused heaps of rubbish, 
 with a solitary fisherman spreading his net over them, or a few workmen 
 digging up building-stones." Porter s Handbook, p. 371. The city lies 
 only upon the eastern part of the island. Its western shore is a ledge of 
 ragged rocks, strown "from one end to the other along the edge of the 
 water and in the water, with columns of red and gray granite of various 
 sizes, the only remaining monuments of the splendor of ancient Tyre." 
 Robinson, Bib. Res., 2, p. 464. 
 
 In the twenty-seventh chapter of Ezekiel we have a wonderfully graphic 
 description of the commerce of ancient Tyre and the wealth that flowed 
 into her from all quarters. Of the different countries named as furnishing 
 her with their peculiar commodities, Bashau, Egypt, Aram (ver. 16, in 
 
296 SACRED GEOGRAPHY. 
 
 some manuscripts, Edom), Judah, and in connection with this country 
 Minnith, Damascus and Helbon, Arabia and Kedar, Sheba, Raamah, and 
 Haran have been already sufficiently described ; while the isles of Chittim, 
 Zidon, Arvad, Gebal, Persia, Can n eh, and the places named in verse 23 
 will come up for consideration hereafter. We add a few words respecting 
 the other places. 
 
 Senir (ver. 5), called also Shenir (Deut. 3:9; Cant. 4 : 8 of our version), 
 is, according to Deut. 3 : 9, the name given by the Amorites to Mount 
 Herman; yet not the whole range of Anti-Lebanon, but rather a particular 
 part of it, as appears from the fact that Senir is mentioned along with 
 Hermon in 1 Chron. 5:23 and Cant. 4: 8. According to Abulfeda, as 
 quoted by Gesenius, it was the part of Anti-Lebanon north of Damascus. 
 
 The second clause of verse 6 may be rendered, "They have made thy 
 benches of ivory inlaid in [wood of] ashurim ;" that is, ashurim-trees, these 
 being some species of pine or box. 
 
 The isles of Elishah (ver. 7), or, as the Hebrew phrase may be trans 
 lated, the coasts of Elishah, are by some identified with Elis in the Pelopon 
 nesus, by others with jEolia on the western coast of Asa Minor, and by 
 others still with Hellas generally, that is, Greece, which is the more proba 
 ble opinion. 
 
 In verse 10, Lud and Phut are named among the countries that furnish 
 Tyre with mercenary soldiers. PJnd (rendered Put Nahum 3 : 9 ; 1 Chron. 
 1:8; elsewhere Libyans or Libya, Jer. 46 : 9 ; Ezek. 30 : 5 ; 38 : 5) was the 
 son of Ham (Gen. 10 : 6), and his descendants may well be the Libyans or 
 Mauritanians of North Africa. Lud, when coupled as here with Phut, is 
 not to be understood of the Lydians in Asia Minor, but of the Ludim, 
 an African people descended from Ham (Gen. 10 : 13), and neighbors to 
 Phut. 
 
 Of the Gammadim (ver 11) nothing is known. 
 
 Tarshish (ver 12) may be assumed with much certainty to have been the 
 Tartessus of the Greeks and Romans, situated on an island at the mouth of 
 the Bcetis, the modern Guadalquivir, in the southwest of Spain. The 
 articles of commerce named as coming from that place "silver, iron, tin, 
 and lead " are in harmony with this view. Of those brought by the " navy 
 of Tarshish" in Solomon s day "gold, silver, ivory, and apes, and pea 
 cocks " (I Kings 10 : 22 ; 2 Chron. 9 : 21) all except the last could certainly 
 be obtained in Spain or on the adjacent coasts of Europe and Africa ; and 
 as to the Hebrew word translated peacocks, it occurs nowhere else in Scrip 
 ture, and its true meaning is very doubtful. In 1 Kings 22 : 48, the 
 "ships of Tarshish" made at Ezion-geber on the Bed sea to go to Ophir 
 may be well enough understood to mean ships of a particular model, such 
 as were used in the navigation to Tarshish. When the author of the books 
 of Chronicles speaks of the same ships as made "to go to Tarshish" 
 
PALESTINE. 297 
 
 (2 Chron. 20 : 36), he seems to have assumed the identity of the voyages to 
 Ophir (1 Kings 9 : 26-28 ; 10 : 11 ; 2 Clirou. 8 : 17, 18 ; 9 : 10) and to Tar 
 shish. 1 Kings 10: 22 ; 2 Chron. 9 : 21. But a fleet sailing from Ezion-geber 
 could not take the true Tarshish of Spain on its route except by the cir 
 cumnavigation of Africa ; a feat which we cannot well suppose to have 
 been accomplished regularly once in three years in Solomon s time. More 
 over, of the products brought home in the fleet that went to Ophir and in 
 the navy of Tarshish, gold is the only common article. Gold was the 
 peculiar product of Ophir, as silver was of Tarshish. Jer. 10 : 9. We 
 seem, then, shut up to the conclusion that Tarshish was approached by 
 the Mediterranean and Ophir by the Red sea. For harmonizing all the 
 passages that speak of these two places, we must patiently wait for more 
 light than we have at present. The question is discussed very fully by 
 Keil, in his work "On the Hiram-Solomon Voyages to Ophir and Tar 
 shish." t 
 
 In verses 13 and 14, Javan, Fiibal, and Meshech are named as trading 
 with Tyre in "the persons of men and vessels of brass;" and Togarmahin 
 "horses, horsemen, and mules." It is generally agreed that Javan repre 
 sents first the lonians on the western coast of Asia Minor, and then the 
 Greeks generally. Tubal and Meshech are almost always coupled in Scrip 
 ture, as in the present passage. See Gen. 10 : 2 ; Ezek. 32 : 26 ; 38 : 2, 3. 
 Herodotus in like manner couples the Moschiiind Tibareni (3, 94 ; 7. 78), and 
 there can be no reasonable doubt of the identity of the two couplets. The 
 Moschi occupied the southeastern shores of the Black sea north of Arme 
 nia, and the Tibareni the region immediately west of them. Togarmah is 
 in all probability the Hebrew name of Armenia, or a region of Armenia, a 
 country abounding in horses and mules. Strabo, 11. 529. 
 
 Dedan is mentioned (ver. 15) as bringing horns of ivory and ebony ; 
 and again (ver. 20) Dedan appears as the merchant of Tyre in precious 
 clothes for chariots. The character of the products indicates that in the 
 first passage the Cushite Dedan is meant (Gen. 10 : 7), whose settlements are 
 thought to have been on the Persian gulf towards India ; and in the second 
 the Jokshanite Dedan (Gen. 25 : 3), whose country bordered on the north 
 of Edorn. See Chap. 9, No. 4. 
 
 Pannag (ver. 17) is the name not of a country, but of a product, the 
 nature of which is uncertain. Among the proposed renderings that of 
 sweet pastry is as probable as any other. 
 
 The rendering of ver. 19 should probably be : "Vedan and Javan," 
 etc., both these being, as their products indicate, Arabian places not men 
 tioned elsewhere. 
 
 The other chief city of ancient Phoenicia was Zidon or Sidon a name 
 which signifies Fishing-town, and which is perpetuated in the modern 
 Saida. Zidon is situated about twenty miles north of Tyre, on a small 
 
 13* 
 
298 SACRED GEOGRAPHY. 
 
 promontory which juts out obliquely into the sea in a southwesterly direc 
 tion. " Sidon," says Robinson (Bib. Res., 2, p. 480), "was the most ancient 
 of all the Phoenician cities : and is mentioned in the Pentateuch, and in 
 the poems of Homer, which Tyre is not." This may explain the fact that 
 in ancient times the Tyrians were included under the name Zidonian, but 
 not the Zidonians under the name Tyrian. From the manner in which the 
 book of Judges speaks of Laish as " far from the Zidonians " (chap. 18 : 7), 
 it would seem that Zidon was reckoned at that time as the capital of the 
 land. But Tyre very early took the precedence of it. In its history 
 Zidon underwent the same vicissitudes as Tyre, falling into the hands of 
 the great powers that successively ruled the region. The present popula 
 tion of the place is estimated at about seven thousand souls. Its environs 
 are very beautiful. Gardens and orchards fill the plain to the foot of Leb 
 anon, a distance of nearly two miles. 
 
 Between Tyre and Sidon stood the ancient town of Zarepliath (1 Kings 
 17 : 8-24), the Sarepta of the New Testament (Luke 4 :26), celebrated as 
 the place where the prophet Elijah was fed by the widow woman during 
 the great famine in Ahab s day. The ancient town lay on the shore, but 
 Svrqfend, its modern representative, stands high up on the side of a pro 
 jecting hill half an hour inland. 
 
 Two other places on the coast north of Phoenicia T?roper are named by 
 Ezekiel in the chapter above referred to. These are Gebal (ver. 9) and 
 Arvad (ver. 8, 11). Gebal, the Byblus of the Greeks and Romans and 
 the Jebeil of the modern Arabs, was situated on the coast about eight hours 
 north of Beirut. The inhabitants called Gibliies (in our version, stone- 
 squarers, 1 Kings 5 : 18) were celebrated for their skill in architecture and 
 ship-building (1 Kings 5 : 18 ; Ezek. 27 : 9). The ruins of this place, says 
 Porter (Handbook, p. 552), " far exceed in extent and grandeur the mod 
 ern buildings." Arvad, the Aradus of the ancients, was situated on a 
 rocky island now called Rudd, eleven hours north of Tripoli, and about two 
 and a half miles from the shore. The ruins here indicate a place of great 
 strength. See in Porter s Handbook, p. 560. 
 
 The above sketch is restricted to places mentioned in the Bible. Beirut 
 the Beryius of the ancients, beautifully situated on a promontory that runs 
 out into the Mediterranean, though not the largest is the most thriving 
 town in Syria, the most important in its commercial relations, and the 
 centre of modern missionary operations for the region. But neither this 
 place, nor Tarabulus, the Tripoli* of the Greeks and Romans, about seven 
 teen hours farther north, properly comes within the scope of biblical 
 geography. 
 
ASIA MINOR AND GREECE. 299 
 
 CHAPTEE XI. 
 
 M.INOR AND GREECE. 
 
 OUR notice of the regions not immediately bordering on 
 Palestine must be necessarily very cursory. Their geography 
 will be considered only so far as it is illustrative of the sacred 
 record. We begin with Asia Minor and Greece. 
 
 1. The comparatively modern term Asia Minor is applied to 
 the large oblong peninsula bounded on the north by the Black 
 sea, the sea of Marmora and the Dardanelles, on the west by 
 the Grecian Archipelago, the (2Egean sea of the ancients), on 
 the south by the Mediterranean and Syria, and on the east by 
 the courses of the Euphrates and Choruk. But in the New 
 Testament the term Asia is used in a more restricted sense of 
 the Roman province of Asia bordering on the JEgean sea, includ 
 ing according to the ancient geographers Caria, Lydia, Mysia, 
 and Phrygia, although in New Testament usage Phrygia is 
 expressly distinguished from it (Acts 2:9; 16 : 6). Asia Minor 
 is a very beautiful region, presenting a wonderful diversity of 
 climate, soil, and productions. It has a girdle of mountains 
 running parallel to the coast on three of its sides, and including 
 in the interior an elevated plateau whose waters are cut off from 
 access to the sea and lose themselves in salt lakes and marshes. 
 
 In the Apocryphal books of Maccabees the term Asia is used in a loose 
 and indefinite way. Thus in 1 Mac. 8 : 6 it denotes tlie kingdom of Anti- 
 ochus the Great ; and in 1 Mac. 12 : 39 ; 13 : 32 ; 2 Mac. 3 : 3 that of the 
 kings of Autioch who possessed only Cilicia. In no passage of the New 
 Testament can it be shown to include more than the Roman province 
 above named. 
 
 2. The term Greece (Hellas).is used but once in the New 
 Testament (Acts 20 : 2), where it excludes Macedonia ; but we 
 here employ the term Greece in its widest extent as including 
 
300 SACRED GEOGRAPHY. 
 
 the above named province. The general geography of this 
 magnificent region we leave to the department of classical liter 
 ature ; simply remarking that, as Syria constitutes the connect 
 ing link between Palestine and Asia Minor, so does Asia Minor 
 between Syria and Greece. Indeed, in the JEgean sea, sprin 
 kled all over with beautiful islands, the two regions of Asia 
 Minor and Greece meet and are blended in one. 
 
 Asia Minor comes into notice not at all, or only very 
 obscurely, in the Old Testament, while Greece, often with the 
 regions of Europe lying west of it, is loosely designated under 
 the terms the isles of the Gentiles (Gen. 10 : 5), the isles of Chittim 
 (Jer. 2:10; Ezek. 27 : 6), the land of Chittim -(Iso,. 23:1), Chit 
 tim (Numb. 24:24; Isa. 23:12; Dan. 11:30), Javan (Dan. 
 8 : 21 ; Isa. 66 : 19 ; Ezek. 27:13; Zech. 9 : 13), the isles of Elishah 
 (Ezek. 27 : 7), the isles of the sea (Isa. 24 : 15), or more commonly 
 the simple term the isles (Psa. 72 : 10 ; 97 : 1 ; Isa. 41 : 5, etc.), 
 to which are made so many glorious promises pertaining to the 
 latter day. 
 
 The Hebrew term rendered isles (lyim) signifies not only islands, but 
 maritime coasts, and by a farther extent of application the regions west of 
 them of which the Hebrews had but an imperfect knowledge. Javan and 
 Elishah represent in the above passages the Greek people generally. See 
 above, Chap. 10, No. 30. Chittim is thought to have originally denoted the 
 Phoenician colonists of Cyprus, and then, by a wider application, the 
 islands and coasts of Greece and even Italy. See in Gesenius Hebrew 
 Lexicon the article Chittim. 
 
 But while the notices of Asia Minor and Greece in the 
 Old Testament are so few and indefinite, in the New Testa 
 ment these two regions appear among the chief seats of mission 
 ary activity, and as such they possess great interest for the 
 biblical student. The Roman provinces into which they were 
 divided may be best learned from the map accompanying this 
 volume. The notices of the cities referred to in the New Tes 
 tament may be conveniently, arranged under the following 
 heads: The seven churches in Asia addressed in the Apoca 
 lypse, the three missionary tours of the apostle Paul and his 
 
ASIA MINOR AND GREECE. 301 
 
 companions, and certain additional incidental notices gathered 
 from the epistles and the Apocalypse. 
 
 3. The seven t-lnn-rhes in Asia first claim our attention. Their 
 general position and relation to each other may be thus stated. 
 For the three extreme points we take Ephesus, Laodicea, and 
 Pergamos. Ephesus lay on the coast of the 2Egean sea at the 
 mouth of the Cayster, a trifle south of the thirty-eighth parallel 
 of north latitude. Nearly east of Ephesus at the distance of 
 about ninety miles (as laid down on the maps) was Laodicea on 
 a small river in the valley of the Maeander. North of Ephesus, 
 at a somewhat smaller distance, was Pergamos, about three 
 miles north of the rivfcr Caicus and twenty miles from its mouth. 
 If now we start from Ephesus and pass north to Pergamos we 
 take Smyrna on the way, situated near the head of the gulf 
 which bears its name, and furnished with one of the finest har 
 bors in the world. Passing, again, from Pergamos to Laodicea 
 in a general southeasterly direction we come first to Thyatira, 
 then to Sardis, then to Philadelphia. Thus we take all the 
 seven cities in the same order in which they are named in the 
 Apocalypse, which is the natural order of enumeration. 
 
 Epliesus was in the time of the apostles the metropolis of the province 
 of Asia and the great emporium of trade for all the adjacent region. The 
 city was renowned for the great temple of Diana, which stood in a conspic 
 uous place at the head of the harbor. The old temple was burnt in the 
 night when Alexander the Great was born, and another structure was 
 raised by the cooperation of all the inhabitants of Asia. The length of 
 this temple was four hundred and twenty-five feet, its breadth two hun 
 dred and twenty, and its columns were one hundred and twenty-seven in 
 number. The "silver shrines" made by Demetrius and his associates 
 (Acts 19 : 24=) seem to have been small models of the temple of Diana with 
 her statue. But Ephesus has a deeper interest for the Christian scholar 
 as being, according to the uniform tradition of the ancients, the place 
 where the apostle John spent the last years of his life, and where he prob 
 ably wrote his gospel and epistles. See in Companion to the Bible, chap. 
 29, No. 33. With the exception of a small Turkish village the whole 
 site presents only a mass of ruins, the vastuess of which attests the for 
 mer magnificence of the place. The solemn threatening that the candle 
 stick of Ephesus should be removed out of its place (Rev. 2 : 5) was long 
 ago fulfilled. 
 
302 SACRED GEOGRAPHY. 
 
 South of Epliesus at the distance of about thirty-six miles was the sea 
 port of Miletus, whither Paul summoned the elders of the Church of Eplie 
 sus that they might receive his final charge, having "determined to sail 
 byEphesus," that is, to sail past the place without visiting it (Acts 20: 16, 17). 
 After the conquest of this city by the Saracens it fell into decay and is now 
 in ruins. 
 
 While Epliesus has become only a mass of ruins, Smyrna, though it 
 has often suffered from earthquakes and conflagrations, still remains a 
 great city and the centre of commerce for the Levant. The present pop 
 ulation of the city is estimated at one hundred and fifty thousand, forty 
 thousand of whom are Greeks, and five thousand Franks. 
 
 Pergamos was the most northern of the seven churches. It is called 
 "the place where Satan s seat is," and "where Satan dwelleth" (Rev. 
 2 :13), on account of the preeminent hostility todCkrist there manifested ; 
 but whether this was connected, as some have supposed, with the worship 
 of ./Esculapius the tutelary god of the place, cannot be determined. Per 
 gamos was celebrated in ancient times for its library amounting to two 
 hundred thousand volumes. The ancients inform us that skins prepared 
 for manuscripts received from this place the name pergamenai, whence our 
 word parchments. Under the modern name Bergamo this city contains a 
 population of some fourteen thousand souls, of whom about three thou 
 sand are Greeks. 
 
 Passing southeast from Pergamos we come to Thyatira, on the con 
 fines of Lydia andMysia, celebrated in ancient times for the art of dyeing 
 (Acts 16 : 14), which still prevails there, large quantities of scarlet cloth 
 being, it is said, still sent weekly to Smyrna. Tliyatira lies to the left 
 of the direct road from Pergamos to Sardis, but may be easily taken on the 
 way. The road between Pergamos and Thyatira is said to be exceedingly 
 beautiful, passing over a mountainous, but fertile and well- watered region 
 abounding in oaks and acacias. (Imperial Bible Diet. ) Its present pop 
 ulation is reckoned at about seventeen thousand. 
 
 Sardis, the next place in order, lay on the banks of the Pactolus, a 
 branch of the Hernius, east of Smyrna, and about twenty-seven miles 
 south-southeast of Thyatira. Sardis was anciently the capital of Lydia, 
 and was celebrated alike for its wealth and the debauchery of its inhabit 
 ants. The treasures of Croesus, its last king, were so immense that his 
 name has become the synonym of riches. But under him the Lydian em 
 pire was overthrown by Cyrus king of Persia. Sardis is now only a mass 
 of ruins, in which appear many vestiges of its former splendor. There is 
 a sad harmony between its present condition and the spiritual state of the 
 Sardian church eighteen centuries ago, which had a name that it lived, but 
 was dead. Rev. 3 : 1. 
 
 Philadelphia stood about twenty -five miles southeast of Sardis on an 
 
ASIA MINOR AND GREECE. 303 
 
 extensive and beautiful plain, but exceedingly subject to earthquakes by 
 which the place has been several times destroyed. Some have supposed 
 tiiat there is an allusion to the instability of every material thing in Phila 
 delphia in the promise made to that church : Him that overcometh 
 will I make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more 
 out." Rev. 3 : 12. The modem town is ill-built and dirty, containing a 
 population of about fifteen thousand, of whom three thousand are Greek 
 Christians. 
 
 The last place in order is Laodicea, of which nothing now remains but 
 a desolate area covered with the relics of the former city. The Turks call 
 these ruins Eski-hissar, old castle. 
 
 In the near vicinity of Laodicea stood Colosse and Hierapolis, the former 
 in an easterly, the latter in a northeasterly direction. Hence all three 
 cities are grouped together by the apostle in Col. 4 : 13, and hence also he 
 directs (Col. 4 : 16) that his epistles to Colosse and Laodicea be interchang 
 ed. The three cities are said to have been destroyed by an earthquake not 
 long after the date of these epistles. 
 
 4. PauTs first missionary tour. Of this we Lave the record 
 in Acts, chaps. 13 and 14. 
 
 He sailed with Barnabas and John Mark from Seleucia on the Syrian 
 coast (Chap. 10, No. 15) to the beautiful island of Cyprus lying near 
 tlie northeastern angle of the Mediterranean. Salamis on the eastern end 
 of the island (chap. 13 : 5) would be the natural place of landing for a 
 vessel coming from Seleucia. Thence the apostles proceeded westward 
 through the whole length of the island to Paplios in its southwestern ex 
 tremity, a distance of perhaps one hundred miles. Paphoswas celebrated 
 for the worship of Venus, to whose honor a magnificent temple was here 
 erected. Paplios was the scene of Paul s encounter with Elyrnas the sor 
 cerer (chap. 13 : 8-11), which resulted in the conversion of the proconsul 
 Sergius Paulus." 
 
 From Paplios Paul and Barnabas sailed northwest to Aticdia in the bay 
 of Pamphilia (compare chap. 14 : 25), whence they proceeded north about 
 seven miles to Pe)-ga, the metropolis of the province. It was here that 
 John Mark left them and returned to Jerusalem, an act for which he was 
 severely censured by Paul, chap. 15 : 38. Hence the course of the apostles 
 was northward to Antioch in Pisidia, as Luke designates the place (chap. 
 13 : 14), though it stood on the southern border of Phrygia. Here they 
 had great success, but were driven by the persecution of the Je^ to Ico- 
 niwm about forty -five miles southeast of Antioch in the province of Lyca- 
 onia, and thence to Lystra and Derbe in the southern part of Lycaonia. 
 At Lystra one of those strange vicissitudes befell Paul that are not uncom 
 mon in the lives of eminent preachers. The people who were just now 
 
304 SACKED GEOGRAPHY. 
 
 ready to worship him and Barnabas as gods, because of the miraculous 
 healing of a cripple (chap. 14 : 8-18) were persuaded by the Jews from 
 Antioch and Iconinm to allow the apostle to be stoned and dragged out of 
 the city as dead, ver. 19. But he was resuscitated, apparently in a mirac 
 ulous way, and with Barnabas retraced his course through Derbe, Icouium, 
 Antioch, and Perga, to Attalia (chap. 14 : 20-25) completing the mission 
 ary work which had been begun; for this backward journey was no hasty 
 flight. They preached the gospel all along the path of their return, con 
 firming the souls of the disciples and ordaining elders in every city. After 
 an eminently fruitful journey, they sailed from Attalia to Antioch in Syria, 
 the place whence they had been sent. Among the other important results 
 of this missionary tour was the assembly of the apostles and elders at Je 
 rusalem to determine the relation of the Gentile Christians to the Mosaic 
 law. See Acts, chap. 15. 
 
 5. Paul s second missionary tour (Acts 15 : 36 18 : 22), in 
 which he rejected Mark and chose Silas for his companion in 
 travel, is invested with special interest from the fact that he now 
 for the first time passed out of Asia into Greece. 
 
 This time he entered Asia Minor by land around the gulf of Issus at 
 the northeastern angle of the Mediterranean. Of course the first province 
 that he entered beyond the limits of Syria was Cilicia. Thence he pro 
 ceeded to Derbe and Lystra, where he found Timothy, whom he caused 
 to be circumcised and took with him (chap. 1G : 1-3). . After preaching the 
 gospel in Phrygia and Galatia, central provinces of Asia Minor, they pur 
 posed to turn westward into Asia proper, that is, the province of Asia, but 
 were forbidden by the Holy Ghost to do so. Chap. 16 : 6. Having reach 
 ed the border of Mysia, which belonged to the province of Asia, they at 
 tempted to pass northeast into the province of Bithynia, "but the Spirit 
 suffered them not" (ver. 7). "And they passing by Mysia came down to 
 Troas" (ver. 8). They passed by Mysia in the sense of not stopping to 
 preach in Mysia ; for they could not reach Tfoas, on the seacoast of Mysia 
 over against the island of Tenedos, except by journeying through Mysia. 
 
 Arrived at Troas, the mystery of their having been forbidden by the 
 Holy Ghost to preach in Asia and Bithynia was explained. It was God s 
 plan that they should carry the gospel into Macedonia, and thither they 
 were summoned by a vision (ver. 9). So sailing from Troas they passed 
 by the ^sland of Samothrace, and thence to Neapolis, the port of Philippi 
 in the province of Macedonia. The ancient name of Philippi was Crenides 
 (Fountains) ; but Philip of Macedon fortified it and called it after his own 
 name. It lay along the bank of a river about twelve Roman miles north 
 west of Neapolis. Philippi is called " a chief city [not the chief city as iu 
 
ASIA MINOR AND GREECE. 305 
 
 our version] of that part of Macedonia, and a colony." It received the. 
 latter name on account of the colony sent thither by Augustus. See -in 
 Conybeare and Howsou, chap. 9. After the tumult at Pliilippi which led 
 to the abuse and imprisonment of Paul and Silas (ver. 19-40) , they pro 
 ceeded south westward to Amphipolis, near the mouth of the river Strymon, 
 and thence by Apollonia to TJiessalonicq. The latter place, now called Salo- 
 niki, lay at the head of the Thermaic gulf, now called the gulf of Saloniki, 
 somewhat less than one hundred miles from Philippi. The great success of 
 the apostle at Thessalonica, and the deep sincerity of the converts there 
 made, appear throughout his two epistles to the Thessaloniaus. But his 
 old enemies the Jews, who followed him every where, raised a persecution 
 against him, so that the disciples thought it prudent to send him off by 
 night to Berea about forty-five miles southwest of Thessalonica. After a 
 short but fruitful ministry here, the Jews from Thessalonica raised a tumult, 
 and the brethren sent away Paul. 
 
 We next find the great apostle of the Gentiles at Athens, the centre of 
 ancient literature, philosophy and the fine arts. The city is described as 
 full of idols (Eng. vers., wholly given to idolatry, chap. 17 : 16), and, as Hacket 
 remarks (Commentary on Acts), "A person could hardly take his position 
 at any point in ancient Athens, where the eye did not range over temples, 
 altars, and statues of the gods, almost without number." Mars-Hill or 
 Areopagus, whither the apostle was conducted that he might address the 
 assembly, was a rocky eminence near to the Acropolis, on the top of which 
 is still to be seen the seat of the judges and parties hewn in the rock. 
 See in Robinson s Bib. Res., 1, pp. 7, 8. It was here, with the Acropolis 
 and the numberless temples and altars of the city in full view, that the 
 apostle delivered his celebrated address to the philosophers of Athens. 
 
 "We next find the apostle at the rich and dissolute city of Corinth, the 
 capital of Achaia proper, situated on the isthmus that connects the Pelo 
 ponnesus with the main land, and thus having the benefit of two harbors ; 
 that of Cenchrea on the east, and that of Lechseum on the west. Here he 
 labored a year and six months, gathering a flourishing church, distinguish 
 ed for its Christian gifts (1 Cor. 1 : 5-7), but not free from the contamina 
 tion of the vices for which Corinth was so notorious (1 Cor. chaps. 5, 6 ; 
 10 : 7, 8 ; 11 : 21 ; 2 Cor. 12 : 21). At the close of his labors in this his first 
 visit to Corinth the apostle sailed for Syria, making a short visit to Ephe- 
 sus on the way (chap. 18 : 19-21), and proceeding thence to Crcsarea and 
 so to Antioch. 
 
 6. Paul s third missionary tour. Of this we have a record in 
 Acts 18 : 23 21 : 15. He seems to have passed, as on his second 
 tour, from Antioch into Cilicia ; thence northwest into Galatia, 
 and thence westward into Phrygia. Chap. 18:23. From the 
 
306 SACRED GEOGRAPHY. 
 
 high inland regions of Galatia and Phrygia he descended to 
 Epliesus on the seacoast, and made this city the centre of his mis 
 sionary labors for the space of three years (chap. 20 : 31), teach 
 ing first in the Jewish synagogue, according to his usual custom, 
 and afterwards " disputing daily in the school of one Tyrannus" 
 (chap. 19:9). The extraordinary success that attended his 
 labors gave occasion to the great uproar of which Demetrius the 
 silversmith was the leader. After this the apostle made a second 
 visit to Macedonia, and passed thence south into Greece, that 
 is, Achaia, where he wrote from Corinth the epistle to the Ro 
 mans. See Companion to the Bible, Chap. 30, No. 7. It was 
 his purpose to sail from Achaia to Syria; but to avoid the 
 machinations of his enemies he returned into Macedonia, and 
 sailed from Philippi (that is, from Neapolis its port) to Troas. 
 Acts 20: 3-6. 
 
 We have only a very general notice of this second visit to Greece. 
 From a reference to it in Roin. 15 : 19, it appeal s that he extended his 
 labors to lllyricum, a Roman province on the eastern shore of the Adriatic, 
 north of Epirus, and west of Macedonia. Dalmatia, whither Titus was 
 sent at a subsequent time (2 Tim. 4 : 10) constituted a part of this prov 
 ince, lying midway between- the northern and southern extremities of the 
 gulf. 
 
 The course of the apostle from Troas to Patara, whence he sailed to 
 Tyre, is minutely traced by Luke (chap. 20 : 13 21 : 1). After the meeting 
 by night at Troas, when Eutychus fell from the third loft, but was mirac 
 ulously restored by Paul (chap. 20": 9, 10), the apostle proceeded on foot 
 to Assos on the ^Egean sea, a place about nine miles south of Troas, and 
 separated on the south from the island of Lesbos by a narrow strait. Here 
 lie embarked with his company, and they proceeded to Miti/lene, the capital 
 of the island of Lesbos ; thence to the island of Chios off the coast oppo 
 site to Smyrna ; thence to the island of Samos southwest of Epliesus ; and 
 thence, by the promontory of Trogytiium opposite to Samos, to Miletus 
 (see above, No. 3), where he delivered his final charge to the elders of 
 Epliesus. His course thence was by Coos or Cos, a small island off the 
 coast of Caria, and Rhodes, another island near the southwestern angle of 
 Asia Minor, to Patara, a city of Lycia on the southwest coast. Hence 
 they sailed for Tyre on the Syrian coast, and proceeded south by Ptole- 
 mais and Czmsarea to Jerusalem. 
 
ASIA MINOR AND GREECE. 307 
 
 7. The remaining scriptural notices of the regions now un 
 der consideration may be conveniently given in connection with 
 PauTs voyage, from Ccesarea to Home (Acts, chaps. 27, 28). 
 
 They embarked in a ship of Adramyttium (chap. 27 : 2) a maritime town 
 on the gulf of Adramyttium opposite Lesbos ; proceeded northward along 
 the Syrian coast by Sidon (ver. 3) ; and then sailed "under Cyprus," that 
 is, under the lee of the island, probably leaving it on the left hand as they 
 proceeded westward. Passing along the southern coast of Asia Minor by 
 Cilicia and Pamphylia they came to Myra, a city of Lycia east of Patara, 
 where Paul and his companions were transferred to a ship of Alexandria 
 bound for Italy. Passing by the promontory of Cnidos in the southwest 
 ern angle of Asia Minor between Rhodes and Cos, they proceeded in a 
 southwesterly direction till they sailed under Crete, that is in the lee of 
 Crete over against Salmone a promontory on its eastern extremity. "And 
 hardly passing it" (more literally, sailing along it with difficulty), "we 
 came," says Luke, "to a place which is called The Fair Havens, nigh 
 whereunto was the city of Lasea." Fair Havens was a roadstead on the 
 southern coast of Crete. Crete is a large island of the Mediterranean lying 
 south of the .2Egean sea. Its length is one hundred and sixty miles, with 
 a breadth varying from six to thirty-six miles. The visit of the apostle to 
 this island, when he left Titus in charge of the churches there planted 
 (Titus 1:5), certainly did not take place in connection with the present 
 voyage. Probably it was between his first and second imprisonment at 
 Rome. See Companion to the Bible, chap. 30, No. 40. 
 
 According to Smith (Voyage and Shipwreck of St. Paul) a northwest 
 erly wind prevented the ship from passing directly westward north of 
 Crete, and compelled her to run south to Salmone, and then along the 
 southern shore of the island under its lee. She could thus proceed as far 
 as Fair Havens, a short distance east of Cape Matala, where the shore 
 trends suddenly to the north, and the advantage of a lee shore ceases. 
 Paul advised that the ship should winter in Fair Havens, because it was 
 too late for safe navigation. The fast was already past. This was the 
 great day of atonement on the tenth day of the month Tisri, and about 
 the time of the autumnal equinox, after which time sailing was regarded 
 as dangerous. But the centurion followed the advice of the master and 
 owner of the ship, and attempted to reach Phenice, a harbor on the south 
 of Crete farther west, but the exact site of which is a matter of dispute. 
 The result is well known to the reader. Caught in a violent northeasterly 
 gale she was carried past the island Clauda into the open sea, and after 
 fourteen days wrecked on the island of Melita, the modern Malta, a small 
 island south of Sicily. The quicksands (Syrtis) lay on the coast of Africa 
 southwest from Crete, towards which a northeasterly wind would drive 
 
308 SACRED GEOGRAPHY. 
 
 the ship. To avoid this "they lowered the gear," as Smith translates, 
 "and so were driven " (ver. 17). It does not appear that they absolutely 
 took in all sail. We must rather suppose that they "lay to" under a 
 very low sail, turning the bow of the vessel towards the direction of the 
 wind, so that the w r aves might strike her obliquely. 
 
 After a delay of three months the apostle and his companions sailed 
 from Melita, and passing by Syracuse on the eastern coast of Sicily, and 
 Rhegium on the strait between Sicily and Italy, landed at Puteoli, a mari 
 time town of Italy on the northern shore of the bay of Naples. Thence 
 they proceeded northwest, on the great Roman road through Appii Forum 
 and the Three Taverns to Rome. For a full and able account of this voy 
 age the reader may consult "The Voyage and Shipwreck of St. Paul, by 
 James Smith, Esq., of Jordanhill." 
 
THE EASTERN EMPIRES. 309 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 THE ^ASTERN 
 
 THE geography of each of the three great empires of Assyria, 
 Chaldcea, and the Medes and Persians might well fill a volume 
 by itself. As in the case of Asia Minor and Greece, we restrict 
 ourselves to those geographical relations between these empires 
 and Palestine which come up for consideration in the scriptural 
 
 record. 
 
 I. ASSYRIA. 
 
 1. Chaldoea was older than Assyria. But the Assyrian em 
 pire comes before the Chaldaean in its relations to the Hebrew 
 people, and for this reason the first place belongs to it in the 
 present brief sketch. The Hebrew name for Assyria is Asshur. 
 We must distinguish between Assyria Proper and the Assyrian 
 empire. Originally Assyria seems to have been a country of 
 moderate size lying chiefly on the eastern bank of the Tigris 
 below the mountains of Armenia. Its limits were gradually ex 
 tended till it embraced the whole region between the mountains 
 of Armenia on the north and the country about Bagdad on the 
 south from north latitude thirty- seven and a half degrees to 
 thirty-three and a half degrees. On the northeast it had the 
 high range of Zagros, or the mountains of Kurdistan, and on 
 the west the Mesopotamia!! desert, or, according to some, the 
 Euphrates. On the north was Armenia ; on the east beyond 
 the Zagros mountains Media, and south of Media, Elani or 
 Persia, and on the south between the Euphrates and Tigris was 
 Babylonia. The extent of the Assyrian empire is thus given by 
 Rawlinson (in Smith s Bible Diet.) : " On the west the Mediter 
 ranean and the river Halys appear to have been the boundaries ; 
 on the north a fluctuating line, never reaching the Euxine 
 
310 SACKED GEOGRAPHY. 
 
 nor extending beyond the northern frontier of Armenia ; on the 
 east, the Caspian sea and the Great Salt desert; on* the south, 
 the Persian gulf and the desert of Arabia." 
 
 2. Six Assyrian monarchs are named in the Old Testament, 
 Pul, Tiglath-pileser, Shalmaneser, Sargon, Sennacherib, and 
 Esar-haddon; after whom Assyria gives place to Chalda3a in 
 the sacred record. 
 
 Menahem king of Israel who reigned from about B. c. 772 to 762, had 
 smitten Tiphsah, that is, Thapsacus on the Euphrates the eastern limit of 
 Solomon s dominion (2 Kings 15 : 16), "because they opened not to him." 
 This was apparently the occasion of Pul s marching against him ; when 
 Menahem, finding himself unable to resist, gave to Pul a thousand talents 
 of silver, thus acknowledging himself as tributary to the Assyrian empire. 
 This is the first time that Assyria appears in the sacred record, although it is 
 said that, according to the monuments, Jehu had paid tribute a century 
 before. The name of Pul has not been identified on the Assyrian inscrip 
 tions. It is said to be Babylonian rather than Assyrian in form ; and some 
 think that he was a Babylonian monarch holding rule for the time being 
 in Assyria. Tiglath-pileser or Tiglath-pilneser next appears in sacred his 
 tory. The monuments give him no pedigree. Hence it is inferred that he 
 was a usurper and the founder of a. new dynasty. Under him the captiv 
 ity of the ten tribes was begun (2 Kings 15 : 29). Ahaz king of Judah 
 hired the same monarch to deliver him from the Syrians, by which false 
 step he brought himself and his kingdom into a state of vassalage to 
 Assyria (2 Kings 16 : 7-9 ; 2 Chron. 28 : 20, 21) ; and this was the beginning 
 of great calamities as foretold by Isaiah (chap. 7 : 17 8 : 8). Shalmaneser, 
 the successor of Tiglath-pileser, completed the captivity of the ten tribes 
 (2 Kings, chap. 17 ; 18 :9-12). The next monarch, as the monuments in 
 form us, was Sargon, the father of Sennacherib, who is mentioned only in 
 Isa. 20 : 1. Then come the two invasions of Judah by Sennacherib in 
 Hezekiah s day (2 Kings 18 : 13, seq.). Of the former of these the Assyrian 
 monuments give a full account. See in Herzog s Encyclopaedic, 20, pp. 
 224, 225. But respecting his second expedition, which ended so disas 
 trously to Sennacherib, they are silent. Of Esar-haddon his son nothing is 
 recorded except that he sent colonists to Samaria (Ezra 4 : 2), and after him 
 the Assyrian monarchy disappears from Scripture. From the beginning 
 of Tiglath-pileser s reign, B. c. 753 to the death of Sennacherib, B. c. 696, 
 is a period of fifty-seven years. 
 
 3. We have abundant evidence that this whole region, now 
 in great part desolate, once teemed with a dense population. 
 
THE EASTERN EMPIIIES. 311 
 
 " Mounds of earth," says Layard (Nineveh and Babylon, p. 636), 
 " covering the ruins of buildings or the sites of fenced stations 
 and forts, are scattered far and wide over the plains. When 
 the winter rains furrow the face of the land, inscribed stones, 
 graven pottery, and masses of brickwork, the certain signs of 
 former habitations, are everywhere found by the wandering 
 Arab. All these settlements depended almost exclusively on 
 artificial irrigation. Hence the dry beds of enormous canals 
 and countless water-courses which are spread like a network 
 over the face of the country. Even the traveller accustomed to 
 the triumphs of modern science and civilization gazes with won 
 der and awe upon their gigantic works, and reflects with admi 
 ration upon the industry, the skill, and the power of those who 
 made them." The Assyrians were of Shemitic origin, and are 
 supposed to have come originally from Babylonia, whence their 
 religion and worship were in great measure derived. In mate 
 rial civilization they had made good progress, as the remains of 
 their ancient cities show. " They are found to have understood 
 and applied the arch; to have made tunnels, aqueducts, and 
 drains ; to have used the lever and the roller ; to have engraved 
 gems ; to have understood the arts of inlaying, enamelling, and 
 overlaying with metals; to have manufactured glass, and been 
 acquainted with the lens; to have possessed vases, jars, bronze 
 and ivory ornaments, dishes, bells, ear-rings mostly of good 
 workmanship and elegant forms in a word, to have attained 
 to a very high pitch of material comfort and prosperity." Eaw- 
 linson, in Smith s Bible Dictionary. Yet, as the same writer 
 remarks, their government was rude, their religion coarse and 
 sensual, and their conduct in war cruel, as is abundantly 
 shown by the revolting scenes depicted on their monuments 
 some of them being described in the Bible. 
 
 4. The ruins of the Assyrian cities exist in the form of huge 
 mounds of rubbish. The excavation of these in modern times 
 has made surprising disclosures of their ancient magnificence, 
 for the details of which the reader must be referred to the works 
 of Layard, the Eawlinsons, Oppert, etc. 
 
SACKED GEOGRAPHY. 
 
 We read in Gen. 10 : 11, 12 (according to our version): "Out of that 
 land [the land of Shiuar] went forth Asslnir, and builded Nineveh, and 
 the city Eehoboth, and Calah, and Eesen between Nineveh and Calah : 
 the same is a great city." Another proposed rendering is : " Out of that 
 land he [Nimrod] went to Asshur, and builded Nineveh," etc. Which of 
 these two renderings should be preferred fs a question which we cannot 
 stop to discuss, our inquiry being concerning the identification of the 
 places here named. About sixty miles below Mosul, on the right bank of 
 the Tigris, are the ruins called Kalah-Sherghat, or Kileh-Sherghat, on the 
 bricks and pottery of which are, according to Porter (in Alexander s Kitto, 
 art., Calah) t the names and titles of the earliest known Assyrian kings. 
 The mound is one of the largest in Assyria, measuring a quarter of a mile 
 in circuit and sixty feet in height. The ruins called Nimrud (Nimrod) are 
 about twenty miles below Mosul, on the left bank of the river. Opposite 
 to Mosul, on the left bank of the same river, are the two mounds of 
 Koynujik and Neby Yunus (Prophet Jonas). Northeast of Koyunjik, at 
 the distance of about eleven miles, are the ruins called Kharsabad; and 
 northeast of Nimrud, at the distance of about fifteen miles, those that 
 bear the name Kcramles. Thus it appears that the four mounds of Koy- 
 iiDJik, Khorsabad, Keramles, and Nimrud constitute the four corners of a 
 sort of quadrangle, or rather trapezium, enclosing a space of two hundred 
 and sixteen square miles. Layard suggests that this is the quadrangle of 
 ancient Nineveh described by Diodorus as one hundred and fifty stadia in 
 length, ninety in breadth, and four hundred and eighty in circumference. 
 If so, it was probably a later extension of the term Nineveh. The Nine 
 veh of Moses day we may reasonably regard as having occupied the site of 
 Koyunjik and Neby Yunus ; Calah that of Kalah-Sherghat, sixty miles 
 below ; and Eesen that of Nimrud. In the book of Jonah Nineveh is 
 described as "an exceeding great city of three days journey " (chap. 3 : 3). 
 If we are at liberty to understand these words of the circuit of the quadran 
 gle above described, they correspond well to its dimensions. But no deci 
 sive evidence appears that this quadrangle was ever enclosed by walls, and 
 in other respects the explanation is not very satisfactory. Diodorus (2. 3) 
 describes the walls of Nineveh as one hundred feet high, and so broad that 
 three chariots might be driven on them abreast. Upon the walls stood 
 fifteen hundred towers, each two hundred feet in height. 
 
 5. The prophets foretell the utter and perpetual desolation of 
 the Assyrian empire and Nineveh: "He will stretch out his 
 hand against the north, and destroy Assyria; and will make 
 Nineveh a desolation and dry like a wilderness. And flocks 
 shall lie down in the midst of her, all the beasts of the nations: 
 
THE EASTERN EMPIRES. 313 
 
 both the cormorant and the bittern shall lodge in the upper 
 lintels of it ; their voice shall sing in the windows ; desolation 
 shall be in the thresholds; for he shall uncover the cedar-work. 
 This is the rejoicing city, that dwelt carelessly, that said in her 
 heart, I am, and there is none beside me ! how is she become a 
 desolation, a place for beasts to lie down in! every one that 
 passeth by her shall hiss and wag his hand." Zeph. 2 : 13-15. 
 Compare also Isa., chap. 10, and the book of Nahum through 
 out. That the desolation of Assyria had been begun in Eze- 
 kiel s day we learn from the magnificent description of its fall 
 in the thirty-first chapter of his prophecies. " I made the na 
 tions," says Jehovah (ver. 16), " to shake at the sound of his 
 fall, when I cast him down to hell with them that descend into 
 the pit." The completeness of this desolation through many 
 successive centuries is a solemn pledge to the world that ah 1 
 God s threatenings, as well as his promises, shall be fulfilled in 
 their season. 
 
 6. We notice very briefly some other places mentioned by 
 the sacred writers in connection with Assyria. 
 
 In 2 Kings 17 :6, " Halah and Habor, the river of Gozan" are named 
 as places to which the king of Assyria transported a part of the captive 
 Israelites. In 1 Chron. 5 : 26, Hara is added. All these places are proba 
 bly to be sought on the upper waters of the Chaboras in Mesopotamia. 
 See above, Chap. 10, No. 5. In 2 Kings 17 : 24, we read that the king of 
 Assyria brought colonists from Babylon, Cuthah, Ava, Hamath, and Seph- 
 arvaim, and placed them in Samaria instead of the Israelites i and in 
 2 Kings 19 : 12, 13, Rabshakeh names among the places destroyed by the 
 same king, Gozan, Haran, Rezeph, the children of Eden which were in 
 Thelasar, Hamath, Arpad, Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivah. Of Gozan and 
 Haran in Mesopotamia and Hamath in Syria on the Orontes we have 
 already spoken ; and Babylon, Sepharvaim, and. Cuthah will come up for 
 consideration hereafter. Ava and Ivah are probably identical, and their 
 site to be sought in Syria or Mesopotamia. Rezeph is thought to be iden 
 tical with Resepha of Ptolemy, a city in the region of Palmyra west of the 
 Euphrates. Of Cuthah and the children of Eden in Thelasar we know noth 
 ing definite. From its connection in the context, the region would seem to 
 have been in Upper Mesopotamia. Arpad is always mentioned in con 
 nection with Hamath. Hence we infer that it was one of the lost cities of 
 Syria. Of Hena nothing definite is known. 
 
314 SACKED GEOGRAPHY. 
 
 II. CHALD^EA AND BABYLONIA. 
 
 7. As in the case of Assyria, we must here also distinguish 
 carefully between the ancient countries of Chaldaea and Baby 
 lonia and the Chaldaean or Babylonian empire. Chaldcea proper 
 Avas, according to Strabo (16. 1. 6) and Ptolemy (5. 20) a coun 
 try at the head of the Persian gulf and bordering on Arabia. It 
 was, therefore, the southern part of Babylonia (as the whole region 
 was called south of Assyria and Mesopotamia), and lay between 
 the Arabian desert on the west and Susiana beyond the Tigris 
 and Shat-el-Arab on the east. But the term Chaldaea came 
 afterwards to be used in a wider sense of the Babylonian king 
 dom generally. The term Chaldaeans (Heb. Chasdim) is also em 
 ployed in a special sense (Dan. 2 : 2, 4) for learned men, particu 
 larly astrologers, a usage which prevails among profane writers 
 also, and had its origin in the fact that the Babylonians were 
 especially devoted to the study of astronomy and astrology. 
 See in Alexander s Kitto the article on Chaldaean Philosophy. 
 
 The region now under consideration must be regarded with deep inter 
 est by the biblical student. There is, as lias been already shown (Chap. 
 10, No. 4), an increasing inclination among biblical scholars to find here 
 Ur of the Chakkes. Here also, as we learn from Gen. 10 : 10, was the land 
 of Shinar, embracing the level plain between the lower Tigris and the 
 Euphrates, the site of Babylon, Erech, Accad, and Calneh, where we find 
 the human family not long after the deluge, occupied in building the tower 
 of Babel^ where the confusion of tongues took place, and whence the human 
 race was scattered abroad upon the face of all the earth. Gen. , chap. 11. 
 
 Somewhere on the Euphrates we must look also for the Garden of Eden. 
 It is manifest from the narrative in Gen. 2 : 8-14 that Moses means to give 
 an intelligible account of Eden and its garden, and that two of the rivers 
 of Eden were the Hiddekel (that is, according to constant scriptural usage, 
 the Tigris) and the Euphrates. The choice for the site of Eden lies be 
 tween the upper waters of the Euphrates and Tigris in Armenia, and the 
 lower waters of the Euphrates in ancient Chaldrea below the junction of the 
 Tigris, the united stream being now called Shat-el-Arab. If we reckon 
 downward, namely, from the garden, we have four streams, all proceeding 
 from Eden, which must then be sought in Armenia. But if we reckon 
 upward, we have the river that waters the garden parted thence -fork m y, 
 as we say in English into four head-streams, and Chaldroa will then be 
 
THE EASTERN EMPIRES. 315 
 
 the site of the garden. We cannot enter upon the discussion of this diffi 
 cult question farther than simply to remark that no valid argument can be 
 drawn against the lower site from its present unhealthiness, since it is a 
 fact that the human family after the deluge selected this region as their 
 home, and that it was once exceedingly populous, and abounds throughout 
 with the ruins of ancient cities, some of them of great extent. In the 
 primitive ages and to the primitive race of man its climate was manifestly 
 salubrious, and its extreme fertility is admitted by all writers. 
 
 8. We have indications of a Babylonian kingdom in the 
 days of Abraham ; for among the confederate kings who attacked 
 the cities of the plain was Amraphel king of Shinar (Gen. 14 : 1, 
 9). The Chaldrean inscriptions also determine the fact that an 
 empire existed here from very early times. But the Chaldrean 
 empire of the books of Kings and Chronicles first comes into 
 notice in the reign of Hezekiah, to whom Merodach-baladan 
 king of Babylon sent letters and a present upon the occasion 
 of his recovery from sickness. 2 Kings 20 : 12. 
 
 Babylon was not yet, however, the paramount power of the 
 East, but rather only a secondary kingdom, seeking to strengthen 
 itself by an alliance with the Jewish people. About a century 
 later the Chaldaean monarchy suddenly appears under Nebu 
 chadnezzar as an all-powerful empire, extending its conquests 
 over Syria, Palestine, Egypt, and the adjacent regions. By 
 Nebuchadnezzar Jerusalem was destroyed with its temple B. c. 
 588. Several deportations of the Jews to Babylon are men 
 tioned by Jeremiah, the most important of which were that of 
 Jehoiachin with the princes, chief men, and artificers of Judaea 
 (2 Kings 24 : 14) ; and that of the final destruction of the city 
 (2 Kings 25 : 11). 
 
 Respecting the date from which the seventy years of the Babylonish 
 captivity should be reckoned there are various opinions. One method is 
 to reckon from the destruction of the te nple B. c. 588 to the rebuilding 
 of the same, a work that was completed in the sixth year of Darius (Ezra 
 6 : 15) about B. c. 515. Another mode of reckoning is from the captivity 
 of certain selected persons of whom Daniel was one, about B. c. 606, to 
 the decree of Cyrus for liberating the Jews B. c. 436. 
 
 9. Of the renowned city of Babylon, "the glory of kingdoms, 
 the beauty of the Chaldees excellency," the ancient profane 
 
316 SACKED GEOGKAPHY. 
 
 writers speak in glowing terms. They describe the city as a 
 vast square lying on both sides of the Euphrates, enclosed by a 
 double line of high walls, the outer wall being surrounded by a 
 broad and deep inoat full of water. In the circuit of the wall 
 were a hundred brazen gates, twenty-five on each side, with 
 streets running from gate to gate and crossing each other at 
 right angles. The city was divided into two parts by the 
 Euphrates, and along each bank was carried a waU of burnt 
 brick with quays and low gates at the cross-streets which led 
 down on each side to the river. There was but a single bridge in 
 the middle of the square connecting the two parts of the city. 
 
 According to Herodotus the circuit of Babylon was four hundred and 
 eighty stadia, or about fifty-six miles. Other writers state it variously at 
 from three hundred and eighty-five to three hundred and sixty stadia. It 
 has been suggested that possibly Herodotus gives the circuit of the outer, 
 the other writers that of the inner wall. Herodotus makes the outer wall 
 fifty royal cubits in width and two hundred in height, informing us at the 
 same time that the royal cubit is longer by three fingers breadth than the 
 common cubit. But Pliny gives two hundred feet, and Strabo fifty cubits 
 for the height of the wall. Even assuming the lowest dimensions those 
 of Strabo it is very surprising that no relics of this wall, or only those of 
 a doubtful character remain. Rev. George Rawlinson (in Smith s Bible 
 Diet.) accounts for its disappearance "by the constant quarrying, which 
 would naturally have commenced with it (Rich, First Me?n., p. 44), or by 
 the subsidence of the bulwark into the moat from which it was raised." 
 
 The manner in which Cyrus, at the head of the united armies of Media 
 and Persia, took the city of Babylon is well known. During a night of 
 feasting and revelry he diverted the waters of the Euphrates into an old 
 canal and reservoir, and entering by the channel of the river gained access 
 to the city by the river gates which had been carelessly left open. " On 
 account of the great size of the city," says Herodotus (1. 191), "after its 
 extremities had been taken, the inhabitants of the central part (as the res 
 idents of Babylon declare), knew not that they were captives, but, as they 
 happened to be engaged in a festival, continued in the meantime to dance 
 and revel until they learned for a certainty what had taken place." Thus 
 was fulfilled the striking prediction of Jeremiah (chap. 51:31): " One post 
 shall run to meet another, and one messenger to meet another, to show 
 the king of Babylon that his city is taken at the extremity. " Belshazzar, the 
 son of the reigning monarch, was then in command of the city and was 
 slain by the conquerors. The actual conquest was by Cyrus, but Darius 
 the Mede" became for a time the titular ruler of Babylon. 
 
THE EASTERN EMPIRES. 317 
 
 10. Of other Babylonian cities a brief notice must suffice. 
 
 In Gen. 10 : 10, " Erech, and Accad, and Calneh" are named with Baby 
 lon as cities in the land of Shinar. Erech is regarded as identical with 
 Orchoe of the Greeks, on the Euphrates eighty-two miles south and forty- 
 three east from Babylon, celebrated for its immense mounds. It is now in 
 the midst of the marshes of the lofver Euphrates. Calneh (called also Col- 
 no, Isa, 10 : 9, with which the Canneh of Ezekiel (chap. 27 : 23) is probably 
 identical) is probably the site of the modern Niffer about sixty miles east- 
 southeast of Babylon in the marshes on the left bank of the Euphrates. 
 Of the site of Accad nothing certain is known. 
 
 To Babylonia belonged also Sepharvaim, probably Sipphara on the east 
 bank of the Euphrates above Babylon. 
 
 III. THE MEDES AND PERSIANS. 
 
 11. Ancient Media consisted of two provinces, Upper and 
 Lower Media. Upper Media, afterwards called Atropatene, was 
 a mountainous region bounded on the north by the river Cyrus 
 (the modern Kur), east by the Caspian sea, west by Armenia, 
 and south by Lower Media. It thus embraced the lake now 
 called Oroomiah with the fertile plain adjacent to it. Lower 
 Media was separated on the west from Assyria and Babylonia 
 by the Zagros mountains. It had Susiana and Persia on the 
 south, and on the east the great salt desert, beyond which to 
 the northeast lay Parthia. Towards the west this region is 
 mountainous, well watered, richly wooded and fertile. Towards 
 the east and southeast it is arid, rocky and sandy, supporting 
 with difficulty a sparse population. It thus appears that Upper 
 Media corresponded nearly to the modern Persian province of 
 Azerbijan ; while Lower Media contained all Irak Ajemi and 
 Ardelan, with part of Kurdistan and Luristan. 
 
 12. The result of modern investigation is thought to show 
 that two cities of the name of Ecbatana existed in ancient times, 
 one the capital of Upper, the other of Lower Media. If so, the 
 explanation undoubtedly is that the word Ecbatana was origi 
 nally an appellative noun. According to Sir H. Eawlinson, as 
 quoted in Kitto, it was a title "applied exclusively to cities 
 having a fortress for the protection of the royal treasures." 
 However this may be, there is no good ground for doubting that 
 
318 SACRED GEOGRAPHY. 
 
 the Aclinicllid of Ezra 6:2 in the province of the Medes was the 
 Ecbatana of Lower Media, the site of the modern Haw H Inn. 
 
 The site of Ecbatana of Upper Media is thought to have been the re 
 markable ruins called Takht-i- Suleiman in latitude thirty-six degrees twen 
 ty-eight minutes north, longitude forty-seven degrees nine minutes east 
 from Greenwich. Hamadan, the Achmefha of Scripture, lies in a plain at 
 the base of the Elwend mountains a little south of the thirty-fifth parallel 
 of north latitude, and about longitude forty-eight and a half degrees east. 
 The true ancient name, as appears from the cuneiform inscriptions, was 
 Hagmatan, and from this the form Agbaiana, as Herodotus writes it (1. 98) 
 is easily derived by a single interchange between the cognate letters m 
 and b. 
 
 13. Persia, in the more limited sense of the word, was a 
 region lying on the Persian gulf between Caramania on the east 
 and Susiana on the west, and of which Persepolis was the cap 
 ital in latitude thirty degrees north and longitude fifty-three 
 degrees east. But the term is frequently used in a more extend 
 ed sense for the empire of the Persians, which at one time ex 
 tended from India to Ethiopia. Esther 1 : 1. Elam was the 
 Cissia of Herodotus (3. 91 ; 5. 49, etc.), Sitsa being its capital. 
 The Greek and Roman writers call the same region Susiana. 
 It lay on the Persian gulf between the Tigris and Shat-el-Arab 
 on the west and Persia proper on the east, and was in Old Tes 
 tament times a part of the Persian empire. 
 
 Susa was undoubtedly the Shuslian of Dan. 8:2; Neh. 1:1; Esther 
 1:2, 5. It was the winter residence of the Persian monarchs and lay upon 
 the banks of the river called by Herodotus, Strabo and Curtius Choaspes, 
 but by Pliny and Arrian Eulceus, which is believed with good reason to be 
 the Ulai of Dan. 8 : 2. The probable explanation of this confusion in 
 respect to the name of the river is that the Choaspes (the modern Kerkhah) 
 anciently sent off a branch to the Pasitigris (Karuji) which flowed a little 
 to the east of Susa. This branch sometimes bore the name of the original 
 stream Choaspes, but was properly called Ulai. See in Smith s Bible Diet., 
 art., Susa. 
 
 The modern name of this district is Khusistan. Upon the supposition 
 that the garden of Eden lay in this region the part encompassed by the 
 Choaspes may be regarded as the Gush of Gen. 2 : 13. 
 
 14. Media and Persia appear in Scripture in close connec 
 tion with each other. So far as fas empires which they founded 
 
THE EASTERN KMPIJIES. 31 ( J 
 
 are concerned, their mutual relation is well given in Daniel s 
 vision of the ram "which had two horns; and the two horns 
 were high ; but one was higher than the other, and the higher 
 came up last." Chap. 8: 3. The earlier and lower horn represents 
 Media; the later and higher, Persia. Respecting the time when 
 the petty princes of Media united their forces to form a proper 
 Median monarchy there is some uncertainty. But we know 
 that the Median king Cyaxares in alliance with the Babylonians 
 invaded Assyria and captured Nineveh B. c. 625, while Persia 
 held as yet a very subordinate place. With the elder Cyrus, 
 B. c. 588, began the supremacy of the Persian power, and the 
 Persian empire attained to a greatness far beyond that of the 
 Median. 
 
 The book of Esther gives a most vivid and truthful picture of the mag 
 nitude and splendor of the Persian monarchy, extending from India to 
 Ethiopia over a hundred and twenty-seven provinces. Every thing about 
 the empire is thoroughly oriental the magnificent display of the mon 
 arch s wealth during a feast of one hundred and eighty days : the numer 
 ous harem to fill which the whole empire was searched ; the removal of 
 one queen and the elevation of another to her dignity at the royal pleas 
 ure ; the administration of the government by favorite servants, subject to 
 sudden elevation and equally sudden overthrow ; the hasty issuing of edicts 
 involving the lives and fortunes of many thousands ; the seclusion of the 
 king s person, and the rigid etiquette to be observed by those who would 
 approach him ; the seclusion also of his wives and concubines ; the most 
 life-like account of Haman s vanity, insolence, and malice, and the provi 
 dence which overthrew him and advanced Mordecai to his place all these 
 strokes of the narrative give us an interior view of life at a Persian court, 
 such as no other history furnishes. Such was this rani of Persia, till the 
 Macedonian he-goat from the west smote him, brake his two horns, and 
 trampled him in the dust. Dan. 8 : 5-7. 
 
 Upon his accession to the throne Cyrus liberated the captive Jews 
 (Ezra, chap. 1), and permitted them to return to their own land. The 
 Persian monarch seem always to have cherished a friendly spirit towards 
 the Jews. But in consequence of their great distance from the seat of the 
 empire, they suffered much from the intrigues and misrepresentations of 
 their enemies, who succeeded, by means of false statements skilfully made, 
 in hindering the rebuilding the temple for the space of several years, and 
 also continually annoyed Neheiniah in his work as governor of Judaea. 
 
320 SACKED GEOUKAPHY. 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 OTHER DEMOTE REGIONS. 
 
 1. IN the apostolic age all the countries that have been de 
 scribed constituted provinces of the great Roman empire. But 
 Italy itself, the weat of this empire, is rarely mentioned, and then 
 only in general terms. Spain is named only in a single chap 
 ter, and Gaul and Britain not at all. The few Italian towns to 
 which reference is made in the New Testament have been al 
 ready noticed. Rome itself, at that time the capital and mis 
 tress of the world, lay on the western side of Italy, on the Tiber, 
 about fifteen miles from its mouth. It is not necessary for the 
 purposes of biblical illustration to enter at large upon the 
 geography of this mighty city, farther than to say that, although 
 it was the seat and centre of the Latin tongue, the Greek lan 
 guage and literature had pervaded it in the days of the apos 
 tles to a wonderful extent, and had become the language not 
 only of educated men but of commerce also, and was extensive 
 ly used by the masses. This may explain why, in writing to 
 the church in Rome, the apostle did not hesitate to employ the 
 Greek language, as he did also in his other epistles. See Com 
 panion to the Bible, chap. 24, No. 4. 
 
 2. Passing eastward we have the ancient Armenia lying be 
 tween the range of Caucasus on the north and a branch of the 
 Taurus on the south, and having Asia Minor on the west, and 
 on the south Mesopotamia and Assyria. This magnificent 
 region, which gives rise to the great rivers Euphrates and Tigris 
 that flow southeast into the Persian gulf; the Araxes and Kur 
 that run eastward into the Caspian sea; and several smaller 
 streams that empty into the Black sea, is in general an elevated 
 plateau with mountainous chains having a general direction 
 from east to west, and connected with each other by transverse 
 ridges. The word Armenia does not occur in the Hebrew. This 
 
OTHER REMOTE REGIONS. 321 
 
 speaks of the mountains of Ararat (Gen. 8:4), of tltt lan<l <>f 
 Ararat (Eng. ver. land of Armenia, 2 Kings 19 : 37); and of the 
 kingdoms of Ararat, Minni, and Aslikenaz (Jer. 51 : 27) ; in all 
 which passages Ararat is not a particular mountain, but a 
 mountainous region, undoubtedly that of Armenia or a part of 
 Armenia. 
 
 In modern usage Ararat is the name of a stupendous mountain of vol 
 canic origin that "rises immediately out of tho plain of the Araxes, and 
 terminates in two conical peaks, named the Great and Less Ararat, about 
 seven miles distant from each other, the former of which attains an eleva 
 tion of seventeen thousand two hundred and sixty feet above the level of 
 the sea, and about fourteen thousand feet above the plain .of the Araxes, 
 while the latter is lower by four thousand feet. The summit of the higher 
 is covered with eternal snow for about three thousand feet of perpendicu 
 lar height," Smith s Bible Diet., art., Ararat. The view of the mountain 
 rising majestically into the blue sky, and glittering beneath the beams of 
 an unclouded sun, is described as exceedingly imposing and majestic. 
 There is, however, no valid ground for supposing that the ark of Noah 
 rested on one of these two peaks. "The mountains of Armenia" describe, 
 in Scripture language, the mountainous region of Armenia, not these two 
 prominent peaks. With this general information we must be content. 
 
 Togarmali, as already stated (Chap. 10, No. 30), was probably either 
 Armenia or a district of that country.. Minni and Ashkenaz, if not prov 
 inces of Armenia, must have been situated in its near vicinity. Of their 
 exact position we have no certain knowledge. 
 
 3. In Ezekiel (chap. 38 : 2) th e prophet is commanded to 
 prophecy " against Gog, the land of Magog, the chief prince of 
 Meshech and Tubal," as our version reads. But a better ren 
 dering is : " against Gog, the land of Magog, the prince of Kosh, 
 Meshech, and Tubal;" and so also in ver. 3. Magog will then 
 be the land over which Gog rules, and Bosh, Mesliech, and Tubal 
 kingdoms subordinate to him. Mesliech and Tubal, as already 
 shown (Chap. 10, No. 30), were the Mosclri and Tibareni occupy 
 ing the southeastern shore of the Black sea. Eosh will then be, 
 in all probability a more northern tribe beyond the Caucasus ; 
 and may be, as has been suggested by several writers, identical 
 with the Russians, whose original home seems to have been 
 upon the Volga. Gomer and all his band? (ver. 6) is thought to 
 
 14* 
 
322 SACRED GEOGRAPHY. 
 
 be the Cimmerians living north of the Black sea. The land of 
 Magog in the recesses of the north (ver. 15) would seem to be a 
 general designation for the vast northern region beyond the 
 Caucasus known to the Greeks and Romans as Scythia, of which 
 the boundaries were very indefinite. 
 
 The prophecies of Ezekiel concerning the great invasion of the cove 
 nant people by Gog and his allies relate to "the latter years" (chap. 38 : 8), 
 and their fulfilment can alone furnish an adequate interpretation of thorn. 
 
 4. India (Heb. Hoddu for Hondu) is mentioned only in the 
 book of Esther (chaps. 1:1; 8:9), and is not to be understood 
 as including the peninsula of modern India, which Avas certainly 
 never under Persian rule. The India described by Herodotus 
 (3. 98) includes apparently the Punjaub on the upper Indus, 
 perhaps also Scinde in part on the lower Indus; for he tells us 
 that eastward of India lies a tract that is all sand. 
 
 On the Eastern monarchies generally the reader is referred 
 to Rawlinson s Ancient Monarchies. In this work the author 
 treats at length of the early Chaldean, the Assyrian, the Me 
 dian, the Babylonian, and the Persian monarchies. 
 
 
 
 5. In Isa. 49 : 12 the prophet, speaking of the flow of the 
 nations to Zion in the latter day says : " Behold, these shall 
 come from far; and lo, these from the north and west; and 
 these from the land of Sinim," where the context implies a 
 people living in the remote east or south. Many biblical schol 
 ars believe that the Sinim are the Chinese, whose country was 
 anciently called by the Arabians Sin. This is, at all events, 
 the most probable view ; and the providence of God seems to be 
 preparing the way, in a most remarkable manner, for the ful 
 filment of the prophecy. 
 
APPENDIX I. 
 
 ON THE PRONUNCIATION OF ARABIC NAMES, AND THE MEANING 
 OF CERTAIN COMMON ARABIC TERMS. 
 
 1. THE long vowels are indicated in the English representations of them, by 
 the circumflex accent. Their powers are as follows : 
 
 a is pronounced, according to the consonants with which it is connected, 
 like the English a in hare, in father, or in call. No attempt has been made to 
 indicate these distinctions. Examples are : bob, gate; ras, head, cape; sahib, lord, 
 sir. 
 
 i represents the English ee in feel, or the French i in machine; as in bir, well. 
 
 d represents in English o in note; as in ghor, a long valley between mountainous 
 ridges. 
 
 u represents in English oo in fool; as in tur, mountain. 
 
 Of the diphthongal combinations, au is pronounced like ow in now; and ai 
 nearly like long i in pine. Examples are : gJiaul, a demon, evil spirit; ain, fountain. 
 The combination ei represents, in imitation* of the Arabic, the simple long sound 
 of the English a in hate, or ei in vein. Thus belt, house, place, is sounded to 
 rhyme with hate. 
 
 The short vowels are pronounced nearly like the corresponding English 
 vowels ; but o is the German o, as in Dorfer. Examples are : ramleh, sand; wely 
 (rhyming with jetty), saints tomb; dibs, honey, syrup of grapes; burr (like u in 
 but), land; khubz (like u in pull), bread. Short u has also frequently the sound 
 of the French u, as in um, mother. 
 
 2. In respect to the Arabic consojiants, we need only notice the following 
 particulars. 
 
 dh represents the sound of the English th in this. 
 
 th represents the sharp sound of tk in thick. 
 
 kh represents a sound not existing in English. It is a breathing made rough 
 by the tremulous motion of the epiglottis. 
 
 gh represents a deep guttural, having no corresponding sound in English. 
 The reader may, if he choose, pronounce kh and gh as k and hard g in go. 
 
 No attempt has been made to represent the Arabic letter ain, or the different 
 modifications which several consonants (h, d, k, t, s) have in Arabic. 
 
 3. The Arabic definite article is el; as el-Gh6r, the Oh&r. Before certain 
 
324 APPENDIX I. 
 
 letters the so-called solar it is assimilated : as, d-Tur, the mountain; esh-Shenf. 
 the noble. 
 
 4. The following is a list of Arabic names frequently occurring in books that 
 treat of Palestine and the adjacent regions. 
 
 Abu (in construction), father of, as Abu Zeitun, father of olives. 
 
 Am, fountain ; plural, Ayun. 
 
 Bab, gate. 
 
 Bahr, sea. 
 
 Bedawy, plural Bedawln, the name applied to the nomadic Arabs. It prop 
 erly signifies men of the desert or camp. 
 
 Beit, house, place. 
 
 Belad, district. 
 
 Mr, well. 
 
 Birkeh, in construction Birket, pool ; as, birket es-Sultun, pool of the Sultan. 
 Burj, castle. 
 
 Deir, convent. 
 
 Emir, prince, chief. 
 
 Qhor, a long valley between mountainous ridges. El-Ghdr is the Jordan 
 valley. 
 
 Haram, forbidden, that is, to common use or access ; and thence, sacred. 
 M-Saram is the sacred enclosure at Jerusalem and Hebron. 
 
 Ibn, son ; plural (in construction), Beni, sons of ; as, Beni Sukhr, name of 
 an Arabian tribe. 
 
 Jebel, mountain; plural, Jebal. 
 
 Jisr, bridge. 
 
 Keb\r, great; el-Kebir, the river Meutherus. 
 
 Kefr, village. . 
 
 Khan, caravansary. 
 
 JKurn, horn ; plural, Kur&n. 
 
 Kusr, castle. 
 
 Merj, meadow. 
 
 Nahr, river. 
 
 Neby, prophet. 
 
 Nukb, pass. 
 
 Has, head, cape. 
 
 Sheikh, elder, chief. 
 
 Shertah, watering-place ; esh-Sheriah is the Jordan. 
 Shertf, noble. 
 
 Tell, hill. 
 
 Um, mother. 
 
 Wady, torrent-bed, valley between hills. 
 
 Wely, saint s tomb. . 
 
APPENDIX II. 
 
 ON THE CANAANITISH TRIBES DESTEOYED BY THE ISRAELITES. 
 
 1. OF these, the Hittites, Jebusites, Amorites, Girgashites, and Hivites are 
 expressly referred to Canaan the fourth son of Ham as their ancestor (Gen. 
 10:15-17). The Canaanites in the restricted sense of the term, as one of the 
 tribes descended from Canaan and retaining the name of their progenitor, must 
 of course be included. Of the seven tribes, then, enumerated in Deut. 7:1 
 and Joshua 3:10; 24:11, or the six elsewhere named with the omission of the 
 Girgashites (Exod. 3:8, 17; 33:2; 34:11; Josh. 9:1; 11:3), all but the Perizzites 
 are descendants of Canaan. "We read (Gen. 13:7) that in Abraham s day "the 
 Canaanite and the Perizzite were then dwelling in the land ;" where the term 
 4 Canaanite " is best taken in its general sense of the descendants of Canaan, 
 and the "Perizzite" as distinguished from them. See also Judges 1:4, 5. 
 
 2. The Cauaanites are generally regarded as the aboriginal inhabitants of the 
 land. But the words of Moses, "The Canaanite was then in the land" (Gen. 
 12:6), and a^so those above quoted, "The Canaanite and the Perizzite were then 
 dwelling in the land," seem to intimate the comparatively recent arrival of the 
 Canaanites and Perizzites, and to furnish ground for the hypothesis that before 
 them were other tribes, of whom the Rephaim and Anakim may have been rem 
 nants. We know that the Avim in the southwestern border of Palestine were 
 dispossessed by the Philistines (Deut. 2:23), the Horim in Mount Seir by the 
 Edomites (ver. 22), and the Emiui and Zamzummin on the east of the Jordan by 
 the Moabites and Ammonites (verses 12, 20). 
 
 3. For the explanation of the term Canaan it is not necessary that we resort 
 to any etymological derivation Canaan, lowland, from a Hebrew root signifying 
 to be low. It is called the land of Canaan because there the descendants of Canaan 
 settled (Gen. 10:19). In like manner the term Canaanite is sometimes applied, 
 in a general sense, to all the descendants of Canaan dwelling west of the Jordan, 
 as in the passages already referred to (Gen. 10:18, 19 ; 12:6 ; 13:7); and perhaps 
 also to all the tribes without exception of the Perizzites. Examples are, Gen. 
 24:3, 37, compared with 28:6, 8 ; also Num. 14:45 ; Judg. 1: 10, where the inhab 
 itants of the mountainous regions around and south of Hebron, which was the 
 proper home of the Amorites and other mountain tribes (Num. 13:29; Josh. 
 11:3), are called Canaanites. 
 
326 AL I KN IH X II. 
 
 4. The particular tribes of the land of Canaan are often enumerated in tin- 
 Pentateuch and the book of Joshua. The first list is found in Gen. 15:19-21. 
 It comprises the Kenite, Kenizzite, Kadmonite, Hittite, Perizzite, Rephairn, 
 Amorite, Canaanite, Girgashite, and Jebusite ten tribes in all. Of these the 
 Kenite, Kenizzite, Kadmonite, and Rephaim do not appear in any of the later 
 lists ; either because they had been absorbed in the other tribes, or because they 
 lived without the limits of the region actually conquered by the Israelites, or 
 because, like the Rephaim, they possessed no independent power as tribes. 
 Setting these aside, and adding the Hivites, who are not named in the primitive 
 list, perhaps because they had not then extended themselves beyond their proper 
 home at the foot of Lebanon and Hermon (Josh. 11:3 ; Judg. 3:3), we have the 
 seven well-known Canaanitish tribes the Canaanite, Hittite, Hivite, Perizzite, 
 Girshashite, Amorite, and Jebusite (Deut. 7:1 ; Josh. 3:10; 24:11); or omitting 
 the Girgashite, the six tribes so often enumerated (Exod. 3:8, 17 ; 33:2 ; 34:11; 
 Deut. 20:17 ; Josh. 9:1 ; 11:3 ; 12:8 ; Judg. 3:1. In Exod. 13:5 the Perizzite is 
 omitted, and in Exod. 23:23 three tribes are named as representatives of the 
 whole. 
 
 An examination of the above lists shows very strikingly the absence of all 
 attempts to arrange these tribes in any fixed order, and yet a tendency towards 
 the following : Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, Jebusites. The 
 Jebusites, as being the most local and limited, stand last, except in Josh. 11:3, 
 where the enumeration is closed with the Hivites, apparently because of the 
 explanatory addition, "under Hermon in the laud of Mizpeh." Leaving out of 
 account the four tribes named only in the primitive list, and also the Girgashites 
 who are named but four times, and reckoning the normal place of the Perizzites 
 and Hivites in the lists from which they are omitted as the fourth and fifth, we 
 have in the ten different forms of enumeration above referred to, tVo of which 
 occur each three times (that of Exod. 3:8 in Exod. 3:17 and Judges 3:5 ; that of 
 Deut. 20: 17 in Josh. 9:1 and 12:8), the following order for each of the six tribes: 
 
 Canaanites 4, 1, 1, 1, 2, 3, 3, 1, 1, 3 = 20 
 
 Hittites --1, 2, 2, 3, 3, 1, 1, 2, 3, 4 == 22 
 
 Amorites --3, 3, 3, 2, 1, 2, 2, 5, 2, 1 = 24 
 
 Perizzites-- --2, 4, [4,] 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 2 == 36 
 
 Hivites [5,] 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 3, 4, 5 = 47 
 
 Jebusites -G, 6, 6, 6, 6, 6, 6, 6, 5, 6 = 59 
 
 The sum of the numbers gives the average order, placing the Hittites along 
 with the Canaanites and Amorites in the first class of tribes ; not certainly on 
 account of their military strength, but rather in consideration of their antiquity 
 and dignity. 
 
 This habit of designating the inhabitants of the land of Canaan by an enume 
 ration of the various tribes, shows conclusively that they were not organized 
 under any central government, but acted for the most part independently of each 
 other, as do the Arab tribes of the present day, forming confederacies only in 
 
APPENDIX II. :J J7 
 
 grave emergencies. This want of organic union greatly facilitated the conquest 
 of the land. 
 
 We add a brief notice of the individual tribes. 
 
 5. The Canaanites. Of these, the most important notice is contained in the 
 following report of the spies (Num. 13:29): "The Amalekites dwell in the land 
 of the south ; and the Hittites, and the Jebusites, and the Amorites, dwell in the 
 mountains ; and the Canaanites dwell by the sea and by the coast of Jordan." 
 The great Mediterranean plain that stretches from the southern border of the 
 Philistines to Phoenicia (including, as we may naturally suppose, the plain of 
 Esdraelon), and the long and deep valley of the Jordan, are thus assigned to the 
 Canaanites. They possessed, then, the richest and most important part of the 
 country, where their chariots of iron gave them great military strength (Judg. 
 1:19). Some assume that the fourth son of Ham received the name Canaan, 
 lowland, from the circumstance of his settlement on the Mediterranean coast ; 
 and that the tribe of his descendants that chose the lowlands for their home 
 were called Canaaniies. But this is uncertain. 
 
 6. The Hittites, so named from Heth the second son of Canaan, occupied 
 Hebron and the mountainous region around it in Abraham s time, and from 
 them the patriarch bought the cave of Machpelah (Gen., ch. 23). We find them, 
 with the Jebusites and Amorites, occupying the same mountainous region at the 
 time of the exodus (Num. 13:29); and they are frequently mentioned in close 
 connection with the Amorites. "The kings of the Hittites" whom Solomon 
 furnished with horses and chariots from Egypt (1 Kings 10:29), and whom the 
 Syrians supposed to have been hired against themselves by the king of Israel 
 (2 Kings 7:6) were manifestly another and perhaps the main branch of the tribe 
 living out of Palestine. The Egyptian and Assyrian inscriptions are said to 
 indicate that the valley of the Orontes was inhabited by Hittites, who may have 
 been those referred to in the above passages. In Josh. 1:4 "all the land of the 
 Hittites " seems to be equivalent to all the land of the Canaauitish tribes. 
 
 7. The Amorites were the most powerful of all the tribes that occupied the 
 land of Canaan at the time of the conquest. This is manifest from the fact that 
 they had taken possession of the whole region east of the Jordan from Hermon 
 to the Arnon ; forcing the Ammonites out of the western half of their territory 
 (Josh. 13:25 compared with Deut. 2:19 and Judg. 11:12-27), driving the Moab- 
 ites south of the Arnon (Numb. 21:26), and establishing two powerful kingdoms, 
 of which the northern embracing the whole region of Bashan was governed by 
 Og, and the southern by Sihon (Num. 21:21-35); for Og and Sihon are called 
 "the two kings of the Amorites (Deut. 3:8 ; 9:10). On the west of the Jordan 
 they occupied the highlands along with the other mountain tribes the Hittites, 
 Hivites, Perizzites, and Jebusites. On account of their preeminence they seem 
 to represent in some passages all the tribes of mountaineers, or even the inhabi 
 tants of the land generally. See Gen. 15:16 ; 48:22 compared with Chap. 34:2 ; 
 Josh. 9:7; 11:19 compared, with 2 Sam. 21:2; Josh. 10:5, 6, etc. The word 
 Amorite is thought to signify Highlander; but this must not be understood as if 
 
3 28 APPENDIX II. 
 
 it were only "a local term, and not the name of a distinct tribe" (Smith s Bibk 
 Dictionary). In Deut. 7:1 they are expressly described as one of the "seven 
 nations " whom God would drive out before the Israelites. 
 
 8. The Perizzites, as already noticed (No. 1 above), do not appear to have 
 belonged to the descendants of Canaan. In Josh. 11:3 they are named with the 
 Amorites, Hittites, and Jebusites, as dwelling in the mountain. From Josh. 
 17:15 it would seem that they occupied the hill country west of the Jordan 
 assigned to Ephraim and Manasseh. We know nothing more definite concerning 
 them. Inferences from the etymology of the name persons spread abroad, living 
 in the open country are uncertain. 
 
 9. The Hiviles appear in Gen. 34:2 as inhabitants of Shechem and the adja 
 cent region; for "Shechem the son of Harnor the Hivite" was "prince of the 
 country." They appear again in Josh. 9:7, 17; 11:19, as the inhabitants of 
 Gibeon and the adjacent cities Kephirah, Beeroth, and Kiijath-jearim. It would 
 seem, however, from Josh. 11:3, Judg. 3:3, that the main seat of the tribe was 
 at the foot of Lebanon and Hermon. Their position in the enumeration of the 
 tribes is generally last but one, as if they were regarded as only subordinate in 
 rank and power. 
 
 10. The Jebusites always appear in connection with the mountainous region 
 around Jerusalem. In this city on Mount Zion they had their stronghold, from 
 which.they were not expelled till the time of David (Josh. 15:63 ; 1 Chr. 11:4-7). 
 
 11. The Girgaskiles appear in the Pentateuch and book of Joshua only in 
 the four lists: Gen. 15:19-21 ; Deut. 7:1 ; Josh. 3:10 ; 24:11, and in the genea 
 logical table, Gen. 10:16. We know nothing of their position. 
 
PART II. 
 
 BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES. 
 
PREFATORY REMARKS. 
 
 THE terms Arcliceology from the Greek, and Antiquities from 
 the Latin, are applied to that department of history which treats 
 of the customs, institutions, occupations, and modes of thought 
 of ancient nations. It is customary to limit the term according 
 to the particular people described, as Jewish Antiquities, Grecian 
 Antiquities, Roman Antiquities, etc. The department of Biblical 
 Antiquities has for its office to present as perfect a picture as 
 possible of the daily life, manners, and employments of the He 
 brew people and the surrounding nations with which they were 
 successively brought into contact. Its endeavor is to bring the 
 reader, as far as may be, to look upon them as if he were pres 
 ent among them ; to understand their ways of liying, acting, and 
 thinking ; to catch their spirit, and reproduce in thought the feel 
 ings by which they were actuated. The immense importance of 
 this science to the full understanding of the sacred record is too 
 obvious to need extended illustration. Many declarations of 
 Holy "Writ, whiclrwere plain to the apprehension of those for 
 whom they were written, appear to us obscure, perhaps incom 
 prehensible, because they refer to some usage of which we are 
 ignorant, or some mode of thinking or reasoning which is foreign 
 to our ideas. How, for example, without a knowledge of the 
 sacrificial feasts of the Hebrews in connection with the presenta 
 tion of their thank-offerings, shall the reader understand that 
 beautiful passage at the close of the twenty-second Psalm (vers. 
 
332 PREFATORY REMARKS. 
 
 25-31), where the illustrious sufferer promises to pay his thanks 
 giving offerings in the presence of the great congregation, and 
 thus to spread a feast of which all nations shall eat and turn 
 unto the Lord ? Or, how shall one who has never known of any 
 bottles except those made of glass understand why new wine 
 must be put into new bottles ? See on this point Companion to 
 the Bible, Chap. 33, No. 6; Chap. 34, No. 6. 
 
 The Scriptures themselves are the main source of knowledge 
 in respect to Biblical Antiquities. . This is but saying that the 
 several parts of the Bible shed upon each other a mutual light 
 clearer and fuller that any that comes from without. Extrane 
 ous sources of information must not, however, be neglected. 
 They He scattered through the whole compass of ancient litera 
 ture. A formal enumeration of them is unnecessary. Suffice it 
 to say that from historians like Herodotus, who describe the 
 manners and institutions of the nations surrounding Palestine; 
 from the pages of Homer, who delineates with such freshness 
 and minuteness the customs of ancient society, and the modes 
 and usages of ancient warfare ; from the treatises on natural his 
 tory that have come down to us from such writers as Aristotle 
 and Pliny ; from geographical writings like those of Strabo ; in a 
 word, from every ancient writing that gives us an insight into 
 the constitution of society as it then existed, we may glean val 
 uable information in the department of knowledge now under 
 consideration ; for while each particular nation of antiquity had 
 its special customs and institutions, a general tone and spirit 
 pervaded ancient society, out of which grew a large mass of com 
 mon usages and modes of thought. Josephus has left us a work 
 in twenty books on Jewish Archaeology, including in his usage of 
 the term the whole of ancient Jewish history ; also a history of 
 the Jewish War in seven books, with several other smaller trea 
 tises : next to the Scriptures themselves his writings throw the 
 
PREFATORY REMARKS. 333 
 
 most light on Hebrew Antiquities. From the writings of Philo 
 the Jew, who, as well as Josephus, was contemporary with the 
 apostles, and from the rabbinical writings generally, though these 
 latter abound in puerilities, the discriminating scholar may gain 
 much insight into later Jewish ideas and modes of thought, 
 which reflect in a measure the life of the ancient Hebrews. The 
 remaining monuments of antiquity, also, are to be taken into 
 account ; such, for example, as the triumphal arch of Titus, an 
 cient ruins, ancient coins, etc. Finally, modern oriental society 
 is to a wonderful extent the representative of that which existed 
 in biblical times ; for nothing is more characteristic of the eastern 
 nations than the remarkable tenacity with which they cling to 
 the customs and institutions of their fathers. It is astonishing 
 how much light an accurate account of life as it now exists in 
 Palestine throws upon the scriptural record of ancient life in the 
 same region. "The Land" of to-day and "the Book" of past 
 ages are, in very many important respects, the counterparts of 
 each other. 
 
 In the classification of the topics belonging to Biblical Anti 
 quities we follow the common division, which arranges them 
 under the three primary heads of Domestic, Civil, and Sacred 
 Antiquities, each of them having, again, its own subdivisions. 
 
BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 FIRST DIVISION. 
 
 DOMESTIC ANTIQUITIES 
 
 CHAPTER XIY. 
 
 AGRICULTURE. 
 
 1. THE wisdom of God assigned to the covenant people their 
 possessions on the west side of the Jordan, in a region adapted 
 to agriculture rather than to pastoral life; for an agricultural 
 people has more stability and is capable of higher culture than a 
 race of wandering nomads. At their own request the tribes of 
 Reuben and Gad and half the tribe of Manasseh received their 
 inheritance on the east of the Jordan, in a region preeminently 
 adapted to cattle. Numb. chap. 32. But the great body "of the 
 nation passed over the river to the hills, valleys and plains of Pal 
 estine, where they were settled in permanent homes and devoted 
 themselves to the culture of the soil ; and their history is mainly 
 that of the theocracy. The two and a half tribes gained what 
 they sought, "a land for cattle;" but they cut themselves off 
 from any considerable influence in the national history. See on 
 this subject Stanley, Sinai and Talestine, p. 318, seq. 
 
 2. In accordance with the divine purpose just indicated, the 
 laws of Moses were specially favorable to agricultural pursuits. 
 Those which relate to the sabbatical year and the year of jubi 
 lee deserve especial notice. 
 
336 BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 (1.) The Sabbatical Year. Exod. 23:10, 11; Lev. 25:2-7; 
 Deut. 15 : 1-11. Every seventh year the land was to be left un- 
 tilled, that it might "keep a sabbath unto the Lord." The spon 
 taneous products of the fields, vineyards, and oliveyards were 
 given as common property to the poor. A comparison of Exod. 
 23 : 11 with Lev. 25 : 5-7 leads to the conclusion that the owners 
 were not prohibited from enjoying these products in common 
 with the poor, the bond-servants, the hired servants, and the 
 strangers ; but they might not appropriate them to themselves, as 
 in other years, by a regular harvest or vintage. " Everything is 
 to be left? common, and every man has a right to everything in 
 every place, as it is written : * That the poor of thy people may 
 eat. Exod. 23 : 11. One may only bring into his house a little 
 at a time, according to the manner of taking things that are in 
 common." Maimonides quoted in Kitto. The sabbatical year 
 had, first of all, a religious significance, as is manifest from the 
 words : " The land shall keep a sabbath unto the Lord." Lev. 
 25 : 1. As in the institution of the Sabbath God claimed to be 
 the proprietor of all men s time, and as such assigned to them 
 their days of labor and of rest, so in the ordinance of the sab 
 batical year he claimed the proprietorship of the soil and its prod 
 ucts. Six years they might cultivate the Lord s inheritance and 
 appropriate to themselves its fruits, but the seventh year he 
 reserved its spontaneous products for the poor of his people and 
 the strangers sojourning among them. The hearts of the wealthy 
 were thus expanded in liberality, and a benevolent provision was 
 made for their poorer neighbors. The claiming of debts from a 
 Hebrew was also forbidden during the sabbatical year. Deut. 
 15 : 1-11. Whether this was a final release, or only a delay for 
 that year alone, is a question that has been differently answered. 
 No special hardship was imposed by this ordinance on the own 
 ers of the land. In a fertile soil, like that of Palestine, in a good 
 state of cultivation, no small amount of corn would be produced 
 from the seed scattered (Heb. saphiah, poured out, spilled) in gath 
 ering the harvest of the preceding year, while the vines, olive- 
 trees, and fig-trees would yield their fruit without culture. It 
 
AGRICULTUKE. 337 
 
 has been further remarked that, hi an age when the principle of 
 the rotation of crops was unknown, much benefit must have 
 accrued to the soil itself from lying fallow during the sabbatical 
 year. This material advantage, however, was only incidental. 
 
 (2.) The Year of Jubilee. Lev. 25 : 8-16, 23, seq. ; 27 : 16-25 ; 
 Nuinb. 36 : 4. Upon the expiration of seven sabbaths of years, 
 the year of jubilee was inaugurated on the tenth day of the sev 
 enth month (Tishri reckoned from the new moon of October, 
 see below, Chap. 20, No. 4), on the- great day of atonement, by 
 the blowing of trumpets throughout all the land. Then, f. rst, in 
 regard to the rest of the soil during this year the law of the sab 
 batical year prevailed, and on the same ground. It was a year 
 holy unto them, and all its spontaneous products were claimed 
 by the Lord for the common use of his people. Lev. 25 : 11, 12. 
 Secondly, every man who by reason of poverty had sold his 
 paternal inheritance returned to the possession of it, so that the 
 land of no Hebrew family could be permanently alienated. Be 
 fore the year of jubilee any kinsman might redeem it for his 
 brother; or, if he should find the" means, he might redeem it 
 himself. Otherwise it remained in the hands of the purchaser 
 only to the year of jubilee, when it reverted to the original owner 
 or his heirs. An equitable provision was made that the price of 
 the estate in question should vary according to the number of 
 years that remained before the jubilee. Further regulations pre 
 scribed the kinds of property that were to be excepted from this 
 law of reversion. See Lev. 25:29-34. Thirdly, all Hebrews 
 who were held to servitude went out free at the year of jubilee. 
 This law, in its relation to other enactments, presents some pecu 
 liar difficulties, the discussion of which belongs to another place. 
 See below, Chap. 19, No. 15. 
 
 The question lias been much discussed whether the jubilee coincided 
 with i\& forty-ninth year, which was the seventh sabbatical year, or was the 
 fiftieth year following. But according to Lev. 8-11 it is plain that the 
 jubilee began at the end of forty-nine years ; consequently that it was the 
 fiftieth year, or that immediately following the seventh sabbatical year, so 
 that once in every half century the tillage of the land was intermitted for 
 
 15 
 
338 BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 two consecutive years. The owners of the soil were forbidden to reap that 
 which grew of itself, or to gather the vintage. But they might " eat the 
 increase thereof out of the field ;" that is, as explained above, they might 
 take out of the field from time to time what they needed for present use. 
 God, moreover, expressly promised (Lev. 25 : 20-22) to command his bless 
 ing upon the sixth year that immediately preceding the forty-ninth or 
 seventh sabbatical year that it should bring forth fruit for three years. 
 Lev. 25 : 20-22. 
 
 By the provisions of the year of jubilee the inheritance of each Hebrew 
 family was secured to it by an inalienable title. This cannot but liavo 
 operated in a powerful manner to attach the people to the soil which it was 
 their high privilege to call their own for themselves and their children, and 
 thus to encourage both permanence of residence and the spirit of agricul 
 ture. 
 
 3. In many parts of the East irrigation is essential to agricul 
 ture and gardening. In Egypt the valley of the Nile is watered 
 by its annual overflow, the extent of which is greatly increased 
 by means of artificial channels. Ancient Assyria and Babylonia 
 were intersected by canals for the distribution of the waters of 
 the Euphrates and Tigris, the remains of which exist to the pres 
 ent day. With the exception of certain, parts, as for example, 
 the region around Jericho, Palestine is not so entirely dependent 
 on artificial irrigation as are some of the neighboring regions. 
 Moses names as a prerogative of the promised land that " it is a 
 land of hills and valleys, and drinketh water of the rain of heav 
 en." Deut. 11 : 11. Since, however, the entire supply of rain 
 falls in the six months following the^ middle of October (see above, 
 Chap. 7, No. 3), some crops must ol necessity require a supply 
 of water by artificial means. Thomson says (The Land and the 
 Book, vol. 2, p. 276, seq.) of the extensive gardens and orchards 
 of Jaffa, that their very existence depends on the inexhaustible 
 supply of water that can be procured in every garden at mod 
 erate depth, and which is raised from wells sunk in them by 
 means of Persian wheels turned by mules. The wheel is put 
 directly above the mouth of the well. " Over this revolve two 
 rough hawsers, or thick ropes, made of twigs and branches twist 
 ed together, and upon them are fastened small jars or wooden 
 buckets. One side descends while the other rises, carrying the 
 
AGRICULTURE. 339 
 
 . 
 
 small buckets with them those descending empty, those ascend 
 ing full and as they pass over the top, they discharge into a 
 trough which conveys the water to the cistern." For shallow 
 wells and rivers a wheel alone is used, the rim divided into com 
 partments answering to buckets, which bring up the water and 
 discharge it into the cistern, when the bucket begins to descend, 
 by a constant succession of streams. The wheel, called nauraJi, 
 is turned by oxen or mules ; or, as may be seen on a grand scale 
 along the Orontes, by the river itself. The diameter of some of 
 these wheels is eighty or ninety feet. They slowly revolve day 
 and night with creakings and groanings of every imaginable tone. 
 Another apparatus for raising water is the shaduf, which is sub 
 stantially the old-fashioned well-sweep of New England. An 
 other still consists of " a large buffalo skin so attached to cords 
 that when let down into the well it opens and is instantly filled, 
 and, being drawn up, it closes so as to retain the water." The 
 water, being drawn up, is distributed, at the husbandman s will, 
 through larger and smaller channels as it is needed. In allusion 
 to this the wise man says : " The king s heart is in the hand of 
 the Lord, as the rivers of water" (that is, as the original means, 
 artificial divisions- of water): "he turneth it whithersoever he 
 will." Prov. 21 : 1. On level ground square beds are formed 
 surrounded by a border of earth, and the stream of water is 
 turned by the gardener from one to another of these by opening 
 or closing passages in the border with the foot. Some think that 
 Moses refers to this custom when he says : " The land whither 
 thou goest ^in to possess it, is not as the land of Egypt, from 
 whence ye came out, where thou sowedst thy seed, and water- 
 edst it with thy foot, as a garden of herbs." Deut. 11 : 10. Oth 
 ers suppose the reference to be to a water-wheel turned by the 
 foot, such as Niebuhr saw in Cairo, and of which he has given a 
 view. " I have seen," says Thomson, " small water-wheels, on 
 the plain of Acre and elsewhere, which were thus worked." The 
 Land and the Book, vol. 2, p. 280. The comparison of the right 
 eous man to a tree planted by the streams of waters (Psa. 1:3; 
 Jer. 17 : 8), and flourishing all the year round, has much more 
 
340 BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 force and pertinence to the oriental mind than it can possibly 
 have to us, who enjoy through all the twelve months of the year 
 an abundant supply of rain. 
 
 4. The mountainous parts of Palestine and Syria have seldom 
 much depth of soil, and here the mode of cultivation by terraces 
 prevails now as in ancient times. " A series of low stone walls, 
 one above another, across the face of the hill, arrest the soil 
 brought down by the rains, and afford a series of levels for the 
 operations of the husbandmen. This mode of cultivation is usual 
 in Lebanon, and is not unfrequent in Palestine, where the re 
 mains of terraces across the hills in various parts of the country, 
 attest the extent to which it was anciently carried on." Art. 
 Agriculture, in Kitto. Looking down from the summit of Leba 
 non upon its western slope, the tops of the stair-like terraces are 
 seen rising one above another, " all green with corn or straggling 
 vines or the dark foliage of the mulberry." Porter in Kitto. By 
 this means Lebanon teems with villages nestling in its precipi 
 tous sides, and is cultivated more or less to the very top. 
 
 5. The implements of agriculture were anciently, as they are 
 now, of the simplest character. We find representations of 
 these in all their variety on the Egyptian monuments, and there 
 is no ground for supposing that those employed in Palestine by 
 a people that came out of Egypt differed in any material respect. 
 The ancient Egyptian plough was very light. It was held some 
 times by both hands, sometimes by the left hand alone, the right 
 hand carrying a stick oi 1 goad. It could only scratch a shallow 
 furrow in the soft mud deposited by the overflow of the Nile. 
 The Hebrew ploughs were doubtless of a similar light character, 
 as they are at the present day. Those represented by Thomson 
 (The Land and the Book, vol. 1, p. 207) have but a single han 
 dle, and they follow each other in a line. " I have seen," says 
 Thomson, " more than a dozen of them thus at work." We read 
 (1 Kings 19 : 19) that Elijah "found Elisha the son of Shaphat, 
 who was plougliing with twelve yoke of oxen before him, and he 
 with the twelfth ;" that is, twelve ploughs following each other 
 very closely, drawn each by its own yoke of oxen. In Fellows 
 

 PLOUGHING AND SOWING ; FROM AN ANCIENT EGYPTIAN PAINTING. 
 
 THRESHING. 
 
 ANCIENT PLOUGH, YOKES, SHARES, AND GOAD. 
 
 "WINNOWING. 
 
AGKICULTURE. 
 
 Asia Minor, p. 71, a plough is figured and described which is held 
 by one hand only, and which appears to have been made from a 
 section of the trunk of a young tree which had two branches 
 "mining in opposite directions. The Syrian ploughman with his 
 frail plough must wait tih 1 the autumnal rains have saturated and 
 softened the ground before he can make any impression on the 
 soil. His ploughing must be done in the rainy and cold season, 
 from the last part of October and onward through the month of 
 January. To this fact there are allusions in Scripture. " The 
 sluggard will not plough," says Solomon (Prov. 20 : 4), "by rea 
 son of the*cold ; therefore shall he beg in harvest, and have noth 
 ing." " Our farmers," says Thomson with reference to those of 
 Palestine, " do actually plough in the severest weather. I have 
 often seen them shivering with cold, and contending with wind 
 and ram, quite enough to discourage those who are not slug-* 
 gards. But time has become precious and critical, and he who 
 expects to reap must sow, no matter how tempestuous the weath 
 er." The Land and the Book, vol. 1, p. 207. 
 
 " He that observetk the wind shall not sow ; and he that regardeth the 
 clouds shall not reap." Eccl. 11 :4. That one should observe the wind 
 in seed-time, which comes in Palestine during the rainy season, is alto 
 gether natural. But how can he be supposed to regard the clouds in har 
 vest, since this occurs after the rainy season is over, when thunder and 
 rain are looked upon in the light of a prodigy ? 1 Sam. 12 : 17. Taking 
 the wind and the clouds as the symbols of stormy weather, we may best 
 interpret the two clauses of the verse as supplementary to each other, thus : 
 " He that observeth the wind will not sow, and therefore he shall have no 
 harvest : he that regardeth the clouds, namely in seed-time, shall not reap, 
 because he failed to sow." 
 
 The Egyptian monuments represent a species of mattock or 
 hoe, with a short handle and disproportionately long blade, which 
 probably corresponds substantially to the Hebrew mattock used 
 for working the soil. Isa. 5:6; 7 : 25. The harrow is not named 
 in the Hebrew Scriptures. The verb rendered harrow in Jot 
 39 : 10 signifies to break the clods, as it is elsewhere rendered. 
 Isa. 28 : 24 ; Hosea 10 : 11. This may have been by cross-plough 
 ing or by tho use of some species of harrow for heavier opera- 
 
342 BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 tions a log or sledge dragged over the furrows; for lighter, a 
 bush, as is done at the present day. 
 
 It would seem that the Hebrews must, from the necessity of the case, 
 have had not only winno wing-shovels (Isa. 30 : 24), but also shovel* or spades 
 for handling the soil. Yet no such implement is mentioned in the Old 
 Testament, unless we adopt, with Furst, the opinion that the Hebrew word 
 rendered in our version share (1 Sam. 13 : 20) signifies a shovel or spade. 
 Other implements employed in particular parts of husbandly will be no 
 ticed in their place. 
 
 6. The animals used in ploughing were oxen. Hence conies 
 the expression a yoke, that is, yoke of oxen, as a measure of land, 
 meaning as much as a yoke of oxen can plough in a day. 1 Sam. 
 14 : 14 ; Isa, 5 : 10. The ploughman carried anciently, as at the 
 present day, a goad. This was a wooden rod about eight feet 
 
 Jong, having at the smaller end a sharp point, and at the larger 
 an iron paddle for cleaning the ploughshare. "We can readily 
 understand how in an emergency such an instrument might have 
 been used as a spear in war. Judg. 3 : 31. The prohibition 
 (Deut. 22 : 10) which forbids ploughing with an ox and an ass 
 together, seems to imply that asses were sometimes employed in 
 ploughing. Horses were never used in ancient agriculture. 
 
 Oxen, in the Hebrew use of the term, include cows, both sexes being 
 employed for draught. Hence the repeated specification for certain pur 
 poses of a heifer "upon which never came yoke," Numb. 19 : 2 ; "which 
 hath not been wrought with, and which hath not drawn in the yoke," 
 Deut. 21 : 3 ; "on which there hath come no yoke," 1 Sam. 6 : 7 a speci 
 fication which would not be needed where cows were, by common usage, 
 exempted from employment as beasts of draught. 
 
 "We notice in order the principal departments of agriculture. 
 
 I. THE CEREAL AND LEGUMINOUS PLANTS. 
 
 7. The cereal plants are those which furnish bread-corn, as 
 wheat, barley, millet, etc. The leguminous plants are those of 
 the pod-family, as beans, lentiles, and the like. 
 
 Wheat and barley are now, as anciently, the chief cereal grains. In 
 Egypt the many -headed wheat (Triticum composiliim) is cultivated. To 
 this there is a reference in Pharaoh s dream. Gen. 41 : 22, 23. Eye and 
 
AGRICULTURE. 343 
 
 oats do not grow hi Palestine. The Hebrew word (kussemetlt) iviKlrivd /// 
 in Exod. 9 : 32 ; Isa. 28 : 25 ; and Jitclies in Ezek. 4 : 9, is thought by some 
 to denote the species of wheat called spelt, by others retcJies (English v. rs. 
 fitches), a bean-like climbing plant much cultivated in some countries as 
 food for beasts. Millet is once mentioned. Ezek. 4:9. In modem cul 
 ture rice and maize are added to the list of cereal grains. 
 
 To the class of pulse belong beans (2 Sam. 17 : 28 ; Ezek. 9:4), and len- 
 tiles (Gen. 25 : 34, and elsewhere), of which latter Robinson says (Bib. Res., 
 Tol, 1, p. 167) : "We found them very palatable, and could readily conceive 
 that to a weary hunter, faint with hunger, they might be quite a dainty 
 dish." Pottage made of lentiles is a favorite dish in the East ; and when 
 the lentiles are of the red kind, it becomes the "red pottage " which Jacob 
 gave to Esau (Gen. 25 : 30, 34), of which Thomson says (vol. 2, p. 397) 
 that when cooking it diffuses far and wide an odor extremely grateful to 
 a hungry man. " Vetches are now a common crop in Palestine, and as above 
 remarked, are thought by some to be the plant named in Hebrew kusse- 
 meth. But in Isa. 28 : 25, 27, the word rendered fitches, that is, vetches, 
 probably denotes fennel or dill. The tares of our Lord s parable (Matt. 
 13 : 24, seq.) are not the plant known by this name in the United States, 
 which is a species of vetch, but darnel (Lolium temulenlum), a plant having 
 in the blade a strong resemblance to wiieat, and producing a poisonous 
 seed, that imparts a noxious quality to the flour when ground with the 
 wheat. " Even the farmers, who in this country generally weed their fields, 
 do not attempt to separate one from the other." . . . "Both, therefore, 
 must be left to grow together until the time of the harvest." The Land 
 and the Book, vol. 2, p. 111. 
 
 8. Seed-time, as already remarked, necessarily comes in Pal 
 estine in the rainy season. According to the most approved 
 rendering of Isa. 28:25: "And set the wheat in rows," wheat 
 was not always SOWTI broadcast, but sometimes in rows. But in 
 the parable of the sower (Matt. 13 : 3, seq.) the seed is mani 
 festly sown broadcast ; for some of it falls by the wayside (on 
 the path leading through the unfenced field), some on stony 
 places, and some among the thorns. The seed is covered by 
 cross-ploughing. In the soft mud of Egypt the seed is trampled 
 in by the feet of goats or pigs ; and we know from the monu 
 ments that this usage prevailed in ancient times. 
 
 Some have thought that in Isa. 32 : 20, there is an allusion to the 
 custom of trampling the soft moist soil in the process of agriculture. But 
 this is very doubtful. The words of the prophet are more naturally under- 
 
344 BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 stood of sowing and pasturing in well-watered places. In Eccles. 11 : 1 
 occurs the precept : "Cast thy bread upon the waters : for thou shalt find 
 it after many days." This may possibly refer to the custom of sowing 
 upon ground yet covered with water, or at least upon the soft mud of ground 
 recently overflowed, as in Egypt. But the context favors the idea that the 
 writer refers to bread given in alms, which is, to the eye of sense, thrown 
 away ; but from which the eye of faith foresees a rich return in the future. 
 
 9. The barley harvest usually precedes the wheat harvest a 
 fortnight or three weeks. The times of harvest vary in Pales 
 tine with the varying localities. The wheat harvest at Jericho, 
 may be reckoned from the 7th to the 14th of May ; at Jerusa 
 lem it takes place about four weeks later, though the two places 
 are hardly more than 20 miles apart. The harvest of the Med 
 iterranean plain lies between. Hobinson, Phys. Geog., pp. 301, 
 302. The only instrument employed in reaping is the sickle. 
 In modern times the practice also prevails of plucking up the 
 grain by the roots in order to save the straw for fodder. The 
 grain when harvested is bound in bundles and conveyed to the 
 threshing-floor. That carts were anciently employed in the 
 collection of sheaves is plain from Amos 2:13: " Behold I am 
 pressed under you, as a cart is pressed that is full of sheaves." 
 This, however, can have been only in comparatively level regions. 
 The modern usage is to convey the bundles to the threshing- 
 floor on camels and donkeys. "The grain is not bound in 
 bheaves, as in America, but gathered into large bundles. Two 
 of these, secured in a large network of rope, are placed a few 
 feet apart. The camel is made to kneel down between them, 
 the large bundles are fastened to his pack-saddle, and at a 
 signal from the driver up rises the peaceful beast and marches 
 off towards the threshing-floor near the village." The Land 
 and the Book, vol. 2, p. 323. " Long lines of camels, bearing on 
 their backs burdens many times larger than themselves, were 
 slowly converging to a point here at Yebna from every part of 
 the plain, and the grain lay in heaps almost mountain high." 
 Ibid., p. 314. 
 
 10. The threshing-floors now, as anciently, are in the open 
 air. The rainy season being over, no inconvenience is experi- 
 
AGRICULTURE. 345 
 
 enced from this. A level spot is selected for the floor, which is of 
 a circular shape, varying from fifty to eighty or even a hundred 
 feet in diameter. When the ground has been made smooth and 
 hard by pounding, the sheaves are spread out in a thick layer, 
 and the grain is trodden out by the feet of animals. At Jericho, 
 Robinson saw " oxen, cows, and younger cattle, arranged in each 
 case five abreast, and driven round in a circle, or rather in all 
 directions over the floor. During the process the straw is occa 
 sionally turned with a large wooden fork having two prongs." 
 Bib. Res., chap. 1, p. 550. To this mode of threshing the scrip 
 tural precept refers : " Thou shalt not muzzle the ox when he 
 treadeth out the corn" (Deut. 25:4), a precept containing in 
 itself the equitable principle that "the laborer is worthy of his 
 hire" (1 Cor. 9:9, 10; 1 Tim. 5:17, 18), of which Robinson 
 says (ibid.) : " It was not very well regarded by our Christian 
 friends, many of their animals having their mouths tied -up; 
 while among the Mohammedans I do not remember ever to 
 have seen an animal muzzled." Besides this process of tread 
 ing, the threshing-sledge is used in the north of Palestine. " It 
 consists," says Robinson (Bib. Res., 2, p. 307), "simply of two 
 planks, fastened together side by side, and bent upwards in 
 front ; precisely like the common stone sledge of New England, 
 though less heavy. Many holes are bored in the bottom under 
 neath, and into these are fixed sharp fragments of hard stone. 
 The machine is dragged by oxen as they are driven round upon 
 the gram; sometimes a man or boy sits upon it; but we did not 
 see it otherwise loaded." The Egyptian threshing instrument, 
 called wore/, has several wooden rollers fixed in a frame, and 
 armed with iron ridges. It is driven over the threshing-floor by 
 oxen, the driver sitting on a chair above it to give the benefit of 
 his weight. In Asia Minor we are told that a simple roller, 
 formed of the trunk of a tree, with a pole for the attachment of 
 the animals, is sometimes employed. It is only the smaller 
 grains, as fennel and cummin, that are beaten out with a rod. 
 Isa. 28:27. 
 
 By each of the above modes of threshing, not only is the 
 
 15* 
 
346 BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 grain beaten out, but the straw is cut in pieces, and thus pre 
 pared to be used as provender. These oriental modes of thresh 
 ing furnish vivid images of divine judgment upon the persecutors 
 of God s people. " Thou didst march through the land in indig 
 nation, thou didst thresh the heathen in anger " (Hab. 3 : 12) ; 
 " The daughter of Babylon is like a threshing-floor, it is time 
 to thresh her" (Jer. 51 : 33). The exhortation to Zion is : "Arise 
 and thresh, O daughter of Zion ; for I will make thy horn iron, 
 and I will make thy hoofs brass : and thou shalt beat in pieces 
 many people" (Micah 4:13); and the promise to Zion is: "Be 
 hold I will make thee " (not, make for thee, but, make thee to 
 be) " a new sharp threshing instrument having teeth : thou shalt 
 thresh the mountains, and beat them small, and shalt make the 
 hills as chaff." Isa. 41:15. The same figure of threshing rep 
 resents also the oppression of a conquering warrior. 2 Kings 13 : 7. 
 
 The Hebrew hdruts, threshing instrument (Isa. 28 : 27), which was some 
 times armed with iron (Amos 1:3), answers apparently to the threshing- 
 sledge above described ; and the agalah, threshing-wagon (Isa. 28 : 27), to 
 the Egyptian norej with rollers. 
 
 11. After threshing comes the process of ivinnoiving. When 
 the grain has been sufficiently threshed, it " is heaped up in the 
 centre of the floor, until it frequently becomes a little mound 
 much higher than the workmen. This is particularly the case 
 when there is no wind for several days, for the only way adopted 
 to separate the chaff from the wheat is to toss it up into the air, 
 when the grain falls in one place, and the chaff is carried to 
 another." The Land and the Book, vol. 2, p. 316. The grain, 
 after this first rude process of separation, is further purified by 
 sifting and repeated tossings against the wind. The/a?i of the 
 ancients was a winnowing-shovel, with which the grain was 
 thrown up against the wind to purify it. The Egyptian monu 
 ments represent this process carried on by means of wooden 
 scoops or short-handled shovels. 
 
 In Isa. 30 : 24, the mizreh (Eng. vers. shovel) is distinguished from the 
 rahath (Eng. vers. fan). The former was perhaps the winnowing fork, the 
 latter, the winnowing shovel, or possibly a winnowing basket. 
 
A&BICULTUBE ^17 
 
 As threshing represents in the Script ores the c/WJw/ power 
 of the divine judgments, so does the process of winnowing and 
 sifting their separating and purifying efficacy. When the Messiah 
 comes, his fan is in his hand, and with it he purges his threshing- 
 floor, gathering the wheat into his garner, and burning up the 
 chaff with unquenchable fire. Matt. 3 : 12, and the parallel 
 passages. "Lo, I will command, and I will sift the house of 
 Israel among all nations, like as corn is sifted in a sieve, yet 
 shall not the least grain fall upon the earth. And the sinners 
 of my people shall die by the sword, which say, The evil shall 
 not overtake nor prevent us." Amos 9 : 9, 10. Chaff and stubble 
 driven away by the whirlwind or burned up by the fire furnish 
 also, as we see in the above passages, an awful image of the final 
 doom of the ungodly. Job 21 : 18 ; Psa. 1:4; 35 : 5 ; Isa. 40 : 24 ; 
 Hosea 13:3; Isa. 5:24; 47:14; Obad. ver. 18; Nah. 1:10. 
 
 12. The grain having been winnowed was stored up for 
 future use in granaries. Storehouses (sometimes rendered barns 
 in our version) are mentioned in the Old Testament, but in 
 such indefinite terms, that nothing certain is known of their 
 form or situation. At the present day they are often under 
 ground, and this custom probably prevailed in ancient times 
 also. Of these "wells or cisterns for grain," Thomson says 
 (The Land and the Book, vol. 2, p. 262, seq.), that they " are 
 cool, perfectly dry, and tight. The top is hermetically sealed 
 with, plaster, and covered with a deep bed of earth, and thus 
 they keep out rats, mice, and even ants, the latter by no means 
 a comtemptible enemy." . . . "They must always be dug in dry 
 places; generally, as here, on the side of a sloping hill. Miey 
 would not answer in a wet country, but in these dry climates 
 stores have been found quite fresh and sound many years after 
 they were thus buried." Vaulted granaries are represented on 
 the Egyptian monuments. 
 
 13. We must not fail to notice the gracious provision for the 
 poor made in the Mosaic law. The husbandman was forbidden 
 to reap wholly the corners of his field, or to gather the glean 
 ings of his harvest, or to go again for a sheaf that had been 
 
348 BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 forgotten. These the Israelites were to leave for the poor and 
 the stranger, for the fatherless and the widow, remembering 
 their own oppressed condition in Egypt ; and the same law was 
 enacted in respect to the vintage and the olive-harvest. Lev. 
 19:9, 10; 23:22; Deut. 24:19-22. The passer-by might eat 
 grapes of his neighbor s vineyard, but not put any in his vessel. 
 So also he might pluck the ears of the wheat with his hand and 
 eat, but not apply the sickle. Deut. 23:24, 25. Hence the 
 charge brought by the Pharisees against our Lord s disciples 
 was not that of theft, but of Sabbath-breaking according to 
 their frivolous distinctions. Matt. 12 : 1, seq., and the parallel 
 passages. 
 
 In the above, as in many other provisions of the Mosaic 
 code, the true spirit of the gospel, the essence of which is love, 
 appears with crystalline clearness. Even its sterner enactments 
 had for their basis the same spirit ; for they were intended to 
 preserve the covenant people from the corruptions of the hea 
 thenism which encompassed them on every side. 
 
 The harvest scenes Described with such vividness and beauty in the 
 book of Ruth reproduce themselves at the present day in Palestine with 
 but few variations. The salutations between the proprietor and his reapers 
 (chap. 2:4), the presence of gleaning women who "gather after the reapers 
 and among the sheaves" (chap. 2:7), the parched corn and vinegar of the 
 workmen (chap. 2 : 14) all these things are in strict harmony with modern 
 usage. Parched corn is a favorite article of food. "It is made thus: a 
 quantity of the best ears, not too ripe, are plucked with the stalks attached. 
 These are tied in small parcels, a blazing fire is kindled with dry grass 
 and thorn bushes, and the corn-heads are held in it until the chaff is 
 mostly burned off. The grain is thus sufficiently roasted to be eaten." 
 The Land and the Book, vol. 2, p. 510. Boaz slept at night on his own 
 threshing-floor "at the end of a heap of corn." Chap. 3:7. So do the 
 owners now, to prevent stealing; and "it is not unusual for husband, 
 wife, and all the family to encamp at the baiders (threshing-floors), and 
 remain until the harvest is over." Ibid., p. 511. 
 
 II. THE CULTURE OF THE VINE. 
 
 14. Palestine is not less* celebrated for its vineyards than for 
 its cornfields. The excellent quality of its grapes is attested by 
 
AGRICULTURE. . Ml) 
 
 all modem travellers; and how prominent the culture of the 
 vine is in the Hebrew Scriptures every reader of the Bible 
 knows. The region around Hebron is particularly celebrated 
 for its vineyards, and the grapes produced here are the largest 
 and the finest in Palestine. Robinson, *Bib. Res., vol. 1, p. 214; 
 Thomson, vol. 2> p. 411. Here, in the southern part of Pales 
 tine, was "the valley of Eshcol," whence the spies brought "one 
 cluster of grapes," which "they bare between two on a staff." 
 Numb. 13 : 23. Modern travellers testify that they have seen 
 clusters in Palestine weighing ten or twelve pounds, and the 
 berries of which may be compared with small plums. See the 
 authorities in Smith s Bible Diet., Kitto, etc. " The vines are 
 planted singly in rows, eight or ten feet apart in each direction. 
 The stock is suffered to grow up large to the height of six or 
 eight feet, and is then fastened in a sloping position to a strong 
 stake, and the shoots suffered to grow and extend from one 
 plant to another, forming a line of festoons. Sometimes two 
 rows are made to slant towards each other, and thus form by 
 their shoots a sort of arch. These shoots are pruned away in 
 autumn." Robinson, Bib. Res., vol. 2, pp. 80, 81. 
 
 When the Scriptures mention the vines of Sibmah, En-gedi, etc. (Isa. 
 16 : 8, 9 ; Jer. 48 : 32 ; Cant. 1 : 14), it is simply on account of their excel 
 lence and celebrity. But the vine of Sorek (rendered in our version choice 
 vine, Gen. 49 : 11 ; choicest vine, Isa. 5:2; noble vine, Jer. 2 : 21), was a 
 choice stock, perhaps the modern Serki of Morocco, with small round dark 
 berries and soft seeds. The wild grapes (Heb. beushim, bad grapes] men 
 tioned by Isaiah (chap. 5 : 2, 4) are not some species of poisonous berries, as 
 those of nightshade, but simply sour grapes unfit for use, such as were not 
 to have been expected from a noble vine under good culture. 
 
 15. The appointments of a vineyard are briefly described by 
 the prophet (Isa. 5:1, 2): "My beloved had a vineyard on a 
 very fruitful hill. And he digged it, and gathered out the stones 
 from it, and planted it with the vine of the Sorek, and built a 
 tower in the midst of it, and also hewed a wine-vat in it ;" and 
 by our Lord (Matt. 21 : 33) : " There was a certain householder 
 which planted a vineyard, and hedged it round about [after the 
 
350 BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 Septuagint of Isa. 5:2], and digged a winepress in it, and built a 
 tower." These are substantially the appointments of a modern 
 vineyard. The wall or hedge is for protection. Robinson speaks 
 of "enclosed vineyards," and of the path passing "between the 
 walls of vineyards and olive-yards." It was in precisely such 
 " a path of the vineyards, a wall being on this side, and a wall 
 on that side," that the angel met the rebellious prophet, and the 
 ass "crushed Balaam s foot against the wall." Numb. 22 : 24-26. 
 "Each vineyard has a small house or tower of stone, which 
 serves for a keeper s lodge ; and, during the vintage, we were 
 told that the inhabitants of Hebron go out and dwell in these 
 houses, and the town is almost deserted." Bib. Res., vol. 1, 
 pp. 213, 214. Of the wine-press and wine-vat we shall speak 
 presently. 
 
 16. The main vintage is in September and October ; though 
 we are told that some grapes are gathered in July and August. 
 The vintage is now, as anciently, a season of great hilarity, the 
 towns being deserted, and the people living among the vineyards 
 in the lodges above mentioned, and in tents. Judg. 9 : 27 ; Isa. 
 16 : 10 ; Jer. 25 : 30 ; 48 : 33. The grapes were gathered in baskets 
 (Jer. 6 : 9), and conveyed in baskets to their destined place. Of 
 the vineyards belonging to the Mohammedans, Thomson says 
 (vol. 2, p. 411) : " A large part of the crop is eaten or sold at 
 the time ; the remainder is dried into raisins, or pressed, and 
 the juice boiled down to a thick molasses, called dibs; for the 
 Moslems, as you are aware, make no wine." See also Robinson, 
 Bib. Res., vol. 2, p. 81. This honey of grapes (Arabic dibs, honey, 
 answering to the Hebrew debhash) was in use in ancient times, 
 as it is now throughout the East ; but it is never called wine, and 
 should be carefully distinguished from it. See farther below. 
 
 17. Wine, that is, the fermented juice of the grape, was a 
 common article of manufacture and use among the ancient 
 Hebrews, as is attested by numerous passages of Scripture. 
 Two receptacles were prepared, an upper (Heb., gath, commonly 
 rendered winepress in our version), for the reception and tread 
 ing of the grapes; and a lower (Heb., yekebh, vat), for receiving 
 
GOAT-SKIN WATER BOTTLES. 
 
 AN ARAB TENT. 
 
 INTERIOR OF AN ANCIENT HOUSE. 
 
 = 
 === 
 
 \\1NE-PRESS. 
 
 LODGE IN A GARDEN. 
 
AGKICULTUliK. :tfl 
 
 the expressed juice. These receptacles were built of stone and 
 covered with plaster, or they were hewn out of the solid rock. 
 Kobiiison (Bib. Res., vol. 3, p. 137), gives the following descrip 
 tion of an ancient press and vat at Hableh : " Advantage had 
 been taken of a ledge of rock ; on the upper side towards the 
 south a shallow vat had been dug out, eight feet square and 
 fifteen inches deep, its bottom declining slightly towards the 
 north. The thickness of rocfc left on the north was one foot ; 
 and two feet lower down on that side, another smaller vat was 
 excavated, four feet square by three feet deep. The grapes 
 were trodden in the shallow upper vat ; and the juice drawn off 
 by a hole at the bottom (still remaining), "into the lower vat." 
 The dimensions of the upper vat eight feet square are those 
 given by Jahn (Archaeology, 69), for the present winepress of 
 Persia, its depth, however, being four feet. According to the 
 Egyptian monuments two vats for the reception of the juice 
 were sometimes connected with a single press. The grapes were 
 trodden by the feet of men, assisted, according to the same 
 monuments, by ropes fixed to a support over their heads. This 
 laborious work was accompanied with songs and shouts of mirth. 
 Isa. 16:10; Jer. 25:30; 48:33. The treading of grapes in the 
 winepress is an expressive symbol of great slaughter, the red 
 juice of the grapes representing the blood of the slain. " Who 
 is this," asked the prophet (Isa. 63:1, seq.), "that cometh from 
 Edom, with dyed garments from Bozrah? . . . Wherefore art 
 thou red in thine apparel, and thy garments like him that tread- 
 eth in the winefat?" The answer is: "I have trodden the 
 winepress alone; and of the people there was none with me: 
 for I will tread them in my anger, and trample them in my fury, 
 and their blood shall be sprinkled upon my garments, and I will 
 stain all my raiment." See also Lam. 1 : 15 ; Rev. 14 : 19, 20 ; 
 19 : 15. 
 
 In the above passages of Isaiah and Revelation treading the wine 
 press represents wrath inflicted, not wrath suffered, as both the figure and 
 the context show. The Messiah appears here not in his character of an 
 expiatory victim, as he does elsewhere (Isa. 53 : 7 ; John 1 : 29 ; 1 Peter 
 
352 BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 2 :24 ; Rev. 1:5), but in his office as "King of kings and Lord of lords," 
 breaking in pieces the enemies of his church with a rod of iron. 
 
 18. The must, as the Latins call the newly expressed juice, 
 was either boiled into syrup in its unfermented state (the honey 
 of grapes mentioned above), or was subjected to a process of 
 fermentation more or less complete, and then stored in firkins 
 or leathern bottles. According to Jahn, the wine when preserved 
 in firkins, was sometimes buried in the ground. Archaeology, 
 69. For new wine new bottles of skin were required, because 
 the process of fermentation was not yet completed. It cannot 
 have been simply to, preserve the wine from air, since it is added 
 that, if old bottles be used, the new wine will burst the bottles; 
 but when new bottles are employed for new wine, they have 
 sufficient strength to resist the pressure, and thus both are pre 
 served. Matt. 9 : 17 ; Mark 2 : 22. 
 
 The Psalmist says (Psa. 119 : 83): -"I am become like a bottle in the 
 smoke." It is clear that a bottle blackened and soiled by exposure to 
 smoke represents here the result of continuous affliction. But for what 
 purpose were bottles thus exposed ? This question has been answered in 
 different ways. According to Eosenmuller, Hupfield, and others, the 
 reference is to an ancient custom of suspending leathern bottles filled with 
 wine in the upper part of the house, where the ascending current of smoke 
 (the ancient houses had no chimneys) would come in contact with them, 
 that the wine might be thus ripened. See the references in Rosenmuller s 
 Commentary. We add a single one from Horace (Odes, 3. 8): "This 
 festive anniversary day shall remove the pitch-covered cork from a jar 
 accustomed to imbibe the smoke." 
 
 19. Strong drink (Heb., shekhar; Greek of the Sept., sikera, 
 whence the Latin sicera} is repeatedly distinguished from wine, 
 in such passages as speak of "wine or strong drink." Lev. 
 10 : 9 ; Numb. 6:3; Judg. 13 : 4 ; etc. In a single passage of the 
 Pentateuch (Numb. 28 : 7), the term is applied to wine ; proba 
 bly strong old wine of the best quality. Jerome resided long 
 in Palestine, and we may accept his definition of strong drink 
 (sicera) as accurate for his day, and substantially for preceding 
 ages. "Sicera, in the Hebrew language, signifies every drink 
 
AGRICULTURE. 353 
 
 that can inebriate ; whether that which is made from grain, or 
 from the juice of apples ; or when a sweet and barbaric drink 
 is prepared by boiling down honey [that is, in water] ; or a 
 liquor is formed from the pressure of dates ; or a thick and high 
 colored infusion is made of boiled fruits in water." Epistle to 
 Nepotianus. There are some allusions in Scripture to drugged 
 wine, that is, wine mixed with spices to increase its strength and 
 flavor. Psa. 75 : 9 ; Prov. 23 : 30. We have no certain evidence 
 that the term shekhar, strong drink, was applied to these also, 
 though the opinion is not improbable, and is sustained by the 
 common interpretation of Isa. 5 : 22, where, however, some under 
 stand the mingling of strong drink with water as a necessary 
 preparation for its use. Compare Prov. 9:2; Rev. 14 : 10, where 
 the mingling is evidently a dilution with water. 
 
 An intoxicating cup, whether of wine or strong drink, that produces 
 staggering and vomiting, is a common Scriptural figure to represent the 
 effect of God s wrath. "For a cup is in the hands of the Lord, and it 
 foams with wine : it is full of mixture [wine mixed with spices] , and he 
 pours out the same : the very dregs thereof shall all the wicked of the 
 earth suck out and drink" (Psa. 75 : 9); "Behold I have taken out of thy 
 hand the cup of reelings, the bowl of the cup of my wrath : thou shalt not 
 drink it any more. But I will put it into the hand of them that afflict 
 thee," etc. (Isa. 51 : 22, 23) ; "The cup of the Lord s right hand shall come 
 round unto thee, and shameful spewing shall be on thy glory" (Habak. 
 2 :16); "Thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, Drink ye, and 
 be drunken, and spew, and fall, and rise no more, because of the sword 
 which I will send among you" (Jer. 25 : 27). See also Ezek. 23 : 32, seq. ; 
 Obad. ver. 1G ; Rev. U : 10. 
 
 20. In regard to the various terms employed by the Hebrews 
 to denote the juice of the grape or preparations from it, the fol 
 lowing things are to be noted. 
 
 (1.) For the three most important harvests of Palestine 
 corn, wine, and oil the Hebrew language has three terms 
 specially applied to them as products of agriculture, coming in 
 annually each in its season. These are the following : 
 
 Dagan, corn, which includes all the different kinds of bread- 
 corn as products of agriculture coming in from the threshing- 
 sac. Oeog. 
 
354 BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 floor; while for each particular species, wheat, barley, etc., it has 
 names applied to both the plant and its grain. 
 
 Yitshar, oil; that is, the fresh harvest of oil coming in from 
 the oil-press. Zaith is the olive-tree (Judg. 9:9), and its fruits 
 (Micah 6 : 15) ; while shemen is simply its oil as an article of use. 
 
 Tirbsh, must (occasionally asis, juice, which term is also 
 applied to the juice of the pomegranate, Cant. 8:2), is the new 
 wine coming in from the vintage ; while yayin is simply wine as 
 an article of use, and answering exactly to the Greek oinos and 
 the Latin vinum. 
 
 The above named three terms are properly agricultural. When em 
 ployed with reference to the use of the articles which they denote, it is 
 always in connection with God s bounty in giving them. Thus the prophet 
 says (Zech. 9:17): "How great is his goodness, and how great is his 
 beauty ! corn (dag an) shall make the young men flourish, and new wine 
 (tirosh} the maidens;" and so also the manna is called "the corn of 
 heaven " (Psa. 78 : 24), as being the product of heaven. 
 
 (2.) It follows naturally that these three terms, or two of 
 them, are customarily mentioned together, often in connection 
 with children and flocks and herds; all as the gifts of divine 
 Providence. A striking example is the following: "Wherefore 
 it shall come to pass, if ye hearken to these judgments, and keep, 
 and do them, that the Lord thy God shall keep unto thee the 
 covenant and the mercy which he sware unto thy fathers : and 
 he will love thee, and bless thee, and multiply thee : he will also 
 bless the fruit of thy w r omb, and the fruit of thy land, thy corn, 
 and thy wine, and thine oil, the increase of thy kine, and the 
 flocks of thy sheep, in the land which he sware unto thy fathers 
 to give thee." Deut. 7 : 12, 13. So corn and wine are mentioned 
 as the gifts of Jehovah : " Israel then shall dwell in safety ; the 
 fountain of Jacob shall be upon a land of corn and wine, also 
 his heavens shall drop down dew." Deut. 33 : 28. 
 
 (3.) Since tirosh, mmt, does not denote unfermented wine as 
 such, in distinction from that which is fermented, but simply 
 the new wine, coming in from tl\ vintage, we are not warranted in 
 affirming that it was never in any degree fermented. Doubt- 
 
AGRICULTURE. 355 
 
 less some of it was drank in its unferinented state, and in this 
 state also more or less of it was boiled down to honey of grapes, 
 when it was no longer called must (tirdsJt) but Jumey (debhash). 
 Doubtless it was also drunk after the process of fermentation 
 had begun, as new cider is with us, when it had an exhilarating 
 effect. The must which took away the heart (Hosea 4 : 11) must 
 have been to some extent fermented, at least if we can judge 
 from the bad company in which the prophet places it: "Whore 
 dom and wine and new wine (tirbsh) take away the heart." 
 The same remarks hold good of the other term asis, generally 
 rendered sweet wine in our version. See Joel 1:5; 3 : 18 ; Amos 
 9:13; Isa. 49:26. 
 
 The position taken in the original edition of Kitto s Cyclopaedia (Art. 
 Wine) that ttrosh denotes a solid substance, "vintage fruits," is satisfac 
 torily refuted under the same article in Alexander s Kitto. See also 
 Smith s Bible Diet., Art., Wine. 
 
 (4.) In Acts 2 : 13 mention is made of sweet wine (not neiv 
 wine, for the feast of the Pentecost occurred in June, some two 
 months before the first vintage). The ancients had various 
 ways of preparing this beverage. One was by arresting fer 
 mentation by means of vessels corked so as to exclude all air. 
 See the process described in Hackett s Commentary on Acts. 
 Another was, according to Jahn (Archaeology, 69), by soaking 
 dried grapes in old wine, and then pressing them a second time. 
 Tliis species of wine, which was very intoxicating, seems to be 
 that here intended. The "liquor of grapes" (Numb. 6:3) seems 
 to have been something of a similar character. 
 
 There are various poetic terms occasionally applied to wine which it is 
 not necessary here to notice. "Wine on the lees "is wine which, after 
 the first fermentation, has been left to stand a long time on its lees, 
 whereby its quality and flavor are improved. To this custom the prophet 
 Jeremiah alludes (chap. 48 : 11) : "Moab hath been at ease from his youth, 
 and he hath settled on his lees, and hath not been emptied from vessel 
 to vessel, neither hath he gone into captivity : therefore his taste " (the 
 figure of a wine-vessel continued) "remained in him, and his scent is not 
 changed." 
 
356 BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 (5.) Vinegar of wine (Numb. 6 : 3), called also simply vinegar 
 (Ruth 2 : 14), diluted with water was anciently, as it is now, a 
 refreshing drink. 
 
 III. THE CULTURE OF THE OLIVE. 
 
 21. The olive-tree is common almost everywhere on the shores 
 of the Mediterranean, but is peculiarly abundant in Palestine. 
 Rocky hills and plains with a calcareous soil, such as prevail in 
 this country, are its favorite abode. " It delights," says Thom 
 son (vol. 1, p. 70), "to insinuate its roots into the clefts of the 
 rocks and crevices of this flinty marl, and from thence it draws 
 its richest stores of 011." To this fact there is apparently an 
 allusion in the song of Moses (Deut. 32 : 13) : " He made him to 
 suck honey out of the rock, and oil out of the flinty rock." 
 The olive is a tree of moderate size, with a gnarled trunk and 
 branches twisted and interlaced in fantastic forms. Sometimes 
 two or three trees from one root form a complicated trunk, 
 which is to all intents and purposes a single tree. It is of slow 
 growth. "Except under circumstances peculiarly favorable, it 
 bears no berries until the seventh year, nor is the crop worth 
 much until the tree is ten or fifteen years old." Thomson as 
 above, p. 71. But then its longevity is remarkable. It endures 
 through several centuries. The aged tree may often be seen 
 surrounded tjy several young and thrifty shoots which have 
 sprung from its roots. It is also easily propagated from cuttings 
 and from little swellings or knobs upon the bark containing 
 embryo buds. Its smooth lanceolate evergreen leaves grow in 
 pairs, and are of a dull green on the upper surface, and silvery 
 pale underneath. Robinson says (Phys. Geog., p. 294) that 
 "the foliage of the olive, with its dull grayish hue, scarcely 
 deserves the name of verdure." But if the beauty of the olive 
 be of a sober kind, it is one that improves upon acquaintance, 
 and to the eye of an orientalist it has peculiar charms : " His 
 branches shall spread," says the prophet (Hosea 14 : 6), " and 
 his beauty shall be as the olive-tree, and his smell as Lebanon ;" 
 and Jeremiah says (chap. 11:16): " The Lord called thy name, 
 
AGRICULTURE. 357 
 
 a green olive tree, fair and of goodly fruit." The vigorous 
 healthful growth of an olive-tree is a most appropriate symbol 
 of the righteous man flourishing under God s protection, and in 
 the enjoyment of his ordinances. " I," says the Psalmist (Psa. 
 52:8), "am like a green olive-tree in the house of God;" where 
 we are to understand not an olive-tree planted in God s house, 
 but the Psalmist himself flourishing in God s house like an olive- 
 tree. The olive-tree produces a profusion of small white flow 
 ers, which fairly cover the ground at their fall. " Not one in a 
 hundred comes to maturity. The tree casts them off by millions, 
 as if they were of no more value than flakes of snow, which 
 they closely resemble. So it will be with those who put 
 their trust in vanity." Thomson, vol. 1, p. 72, with reference to 
 the words of Eliphaz, " He shall cast off his flower as the olive," 
 Job 15 : 33. The flower is followed by a smooth oval plum-like 
 fruit, of a violet color when ripe, and enclosing a hard rough 
 stone inside of an oily pulp. The wood of the olive is close- 
 grained, approaching box in compactness, with a pleasing yel 
 lowing tint, and is much used in cabinet work. The cherubim 
 of Solomon s temple, and the doors and posts of the inner and 
 outer sanctuary were made of olive-wood. 1 Kings 6 : 23, 31, 33. 
 Homer describes the polished helve of a battle axe as made of 
 the same material. Iliad, 13. 612. 
 
 22. The pickled berry of the olive forms a general relish 
 throughout the East ; but by far the greatest part of the fruit is 
 bruised or ground and pressed for oil, which is now, as anciently, 
 one of the most precious treasures of Palestine. How great a 
 source of wealth it was to the Hebrews appears from the fact 
 that Solomon gave to Hiram annually, in return for the services of 
 his people, along with twenty thousand measures of wheat, twen 
 ty thousand measures of barley and twenty thousand baths of 
 wine, twenty thousand baths of oil also, a bath being about 
 seven and a half gallons. See 2 Chron. 2 : 10 ; 1 Kings 5 : 11. 
 Ezekiel and Hosea also mention oil as one of the articles of 
 export from the land of Israel. Ezek. 27:17; Hosea 12:1. 
 And then vast quantities were consumed at home. Where the 
 
358 BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 olive-tree is cultivated its oil takes the place of butter, and is 
 extensively used in cooking. It lias always been in general use 
 for lamps, and for the manufacture of soap. The custom of 
 anointing the head and body with oil prevailed among the 
 Hebrews, as among all the neighboring nations. It is often 
 alluded to in the Scriptures, and the omission of this article was 
 a sign of mourning. Ruth 3:3; 2 Sam. 12:20; 14:2; Dan. 
 10 : 3 ; Matt. 6 : 17 ; Luke 7 : 46 ; etc. . It was also a customary 
 honor bestowed on the bodies of the dead. Mark 14:8. So 
 Achilles commands the body of his friend Patroclus to be 
 washed and anointed with oil, and afterwards the body of his 
 enemy Hector, before he delivers it to Priam. Iliad, 18. 350 ; 
 24. 587. Anointing with oil had also a religious use. It was a 
 solemn rite of consecration and inauguration, as will be shown 
 in another place.- 
 
 23. According to the Hebrew interpreters, beaten oil was that 
 which flowed from olive-berries bruised in a mortar but not sub 
 jected to the oil-press ; and this, as being the purest and best, 
 was employed in the service of the sanctuary. Exod. 27 : 20 ; 
 29:40; Lev. 24:2; Numb. 28:5; 1 Kings 5:11. The great 
 mass of the olive-berries, however, was first crushed in a mill 
 and then pressed. According to Thomson (vol. 1, p. 523), the 
 modern oil-mills of the East are of two kinds. The first, which 
 is worked by hand, consists of a circular stone basin, in which 
 the olives are ground to a pulp by rolling over them a large stone 
 wheel. The second is driven by water power. This has^an 
 upright cylinder with iron cross-bars at the lower end, turning 
 rapidly in a hollow tube of stone-work into which the olives are 
 thrown from above, and beaten to a pulp by the revolving cross 
 bars. The interior of the tube is kept hot, so that the mass is 
 taken out below sufficiently heated to cause the oil to run freely. 
 The pulp is put into small baskets of straw-work, which are 
 placed one above another, between two upright posts, and pressed 
 by a screw, or by a beam lever. After the first pressure the 
 pulp is put into large copper pans, sprinkled with water, heated, 
 and subjected to a second pressure. 
 
AGRICULTURE. 359 
 
 The ancient oil-mill was the circular stone basin with its 
 stone wheel. The ancient oil-press was also the same as that 
 just described, but worked with a lever only. Many such may 
 now be seen by the traveller. See Thomson, voL l, p. 307, who 
 speaks of " another basin smaller and more concave. It may 
 have served to tread the olives with the feet a process not now 
 used, but to which there is an allusion in Micah 6 : 15 : Thou 
 shalt tread the olives, but thou shalt not anoint thee with 
 oil. " 
 
 24. The oil is treasured up in jars or cisterns, where it soon 
 clarifies itself. " The port of Gallipoli, from which so much of 
 the best oil is obtained, owes much of its celebrity to its being 
 built on a rocky island, where fine reservoirs are easily excava 
 ted, in which the oil soon clarifies, and remains for years without 
 becoming rancid." New Amer. Cyclopaedia, Art., Olive. 
 
 IV. FRUIT-TREES. 
 
 25. The date-palm (Phoenix dactylifera) was once very com 
 mon in Palestine, especially in the Jordan valley wherever there 
 was water for its nourishment, and along the Mediterranean 
 coast. Jericho was called "the city of palm-trees" (Deut. 34 : 3 ; 
 Judg. 1 : 16 ; 3 : 13 ; 2 Chron. 28 : 15), and there is a well-known 
 coin of Vespasian which represents Judaea as a mourning female 
 sitting under a palm-tree and guarded by a Roman soldier, with 
 the inscription: Judcea capta, that is, captive Judcca. But the 
 palm groves have now disappeared from the Jordan valley, and 
 
 .are found mainly along the Mediterranean coast of Palestine and 
 Syria farther north. The palm-tree is a singularly beautiful and 
 stately object, with its tall, round and perfectly upright trunk 
 rising to the height of forty or even seventy feet, and scarred 
 with the bases of the fallen leaves, its magnificent tuft of long 
 feathery evergreen leaves at the summit nodding gracefully, like 
 the plumes of an ancient helmet, and its enormous clusters of 
 golden fruit depending beneath. The tree is of slow growth, but 
 endures for several generations. 
 
360 BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 The palm is what botanists call a dioecious plant ; that is, it bears the 
 fertilizing flowers on one tree, and the fruit-bearing flowers on another. 
 To make its harvest abundant and profitable, it is necessary that the former 
 kind of flowers be brought by human labor in contact with the latter. The 
 Arabs climb up the fruit-bearing trees and hang upon them clusters of 
 flowers from the other kind. In other respects, also, the date-palm re 
 quires more culture than the olive, and perishes sooner by neglect. 
 
 26. Besides its harvest of fruit the palm-tree has other uses. 
 "On the abortive fruit and the date-stones ground down the 
 camels are fed. From the leaves they make couches, baskets, 
 bags, mats, brushes, and fly-flaps; from the trunk, cages for 
 their poultry, and fences for their gardens ; and other parts of 
 the tree furnish fuel. From the fibrous webs at the bases of the 
 leaves thread is procured, which is twisted into ropes and rig 
 ging; and from the sap, which is collected by cutting off the 
 head of the palm, and scooping out a hollow in its stem, a spirit 
 uous liquor is prepared. Burnett s Outlines of Botany quoted in 
 Fairbairn s Bible Dictionary. 
 
 27. The scriptural allusions to the palm-tree, though not very 
 numerous, are strikingly appropriate. With reference to its per 
 fect uprightness, Jeremiah says of the idols of the heathen (chap. 
 10 : 5) : " They are upright as the palm-tree, but speak not : they 
 must needs be borne, because they cannot go." The royal 
 Psalmist joins it with the cedar of Lebanon as an emblem of the 
 righteous man s prosperity (Psa. 92 : 12) : " The righteous shall 
 flourish like the palm-tree ; he shall grow like a cedar in Leba 
 non." There is a vivid passage in the Canticles (chap. 7 : 7, 8), 
 in which the bride is compared to a palm-tree, the fruit of which 
 is obtained by climbing up to the summit : "I said, I will go up 
 upon the palm-tree [not " to the palm-tree," as in our version] ; I 
 will take hold of the boughs thereof." The "boughs" are the 
 stems of the enormous leaves underneath which the clusters of 
 fruit grow. Palm-branches, that is, palm-leaves with their stems 
 were, as early as the days of the Maccabees, the symbol of vic 
 tory and triumph. 1 Mace. 13 : 51. Hence, upon our Lord s 
 triumphal entry into Jerusalem, the people " took branches of 
 
AGRICULTURE. 361 
 
 palm-trees and went forth to meet him" (John 12 : 13) ; and the 
 redeemed whom John sees in vision before the throne clothed 
 with white robes have palms in their hands (Rev. 7 : 9). 
 
 Solomon s temple was adorned with carvings of palm-trees (1 Kings 
 6 : 29, 32, 35 ; 7 : 36 ; 2 Chron. 3:5), and so also was Ezekiel s ideal temple. 
 Ezek. 40 : 16. 
 
 28. The jig-tree was anciently, as it is now, very abundant in 
 Palestine. Its broad green leaves afford a grateful shade, and 
 its fruit is, along with that of the vine, an important article of 
 food. Hence the expression, To sit under one s own vine and fig- 
 tree, for the peaceable possession and enjoyment of one s pater 
 nal inheritance. 1 Kings 4 : 25 ; Micah 4:4. It is a vigorous 
 bearer, and in warm climates yields three crops a year ; the early 
 Jigs (Isa. 28 : 4 ; Hos. 9 : 10 ; Micah 7 : 1), which ripen towards the 
 end of June ; the summer Jigs, that yield a harvest in autumn ; 
 and the winter Jig, which remains on the tree into winter. 
 
 Much difficulty has been found with the transaction recorded by Mark 
 (chap. 11 : 12-14), where our Lord cursed the fig-tree on which "he found 
 nothing but leaves ; for the time of figs was not yet." It is to be assumed 
 that our Lord, in this matter, acted according to a reasonable probability. 
 He judged from the forward state of the leaves "seeing a fig-tree afar oft 
 having leaves " that haply he might find fruit. It was not, then, winter 
 figs remaining over till the passover which he expected to find (if such a 
 thing were possible at Jerusalem), for of these the leaves would be no sign. 
 It must have been the early figs which he sought. " There is," says Thom 
 son (vol. 1, p. 538), "a kind of tree whicl bears a large green-colored fig 
 that ripens very early. I have plucked them in May from trees on Leba 
 non, a hundred and fifty miles north of Jerusalem, and where the trees are 
 nearly a month later than in the south of Palestine ; it does not, therefore, 
 seem impossible but that the same kind miglit have had ripe figs at Easter, 
 in the warm sheltered ravines of Olivet. The meaning of the phrase, The 
 time of figs had not yet come, may be that the ordinary season for them 
 had not yet arrived, which would be true enough at any rate. The reason 
 why he might legitimately (so to speak) seek fruit from this particular tree 
 at that early day, was the ostentatious show of leaves. The fig often comes 
 with, or even before the leaves, and especially on the early kind." The 
 sum of the whole matter, according to this reasonable interpretation, is 
 that while this tree gave promise of a harvest of fruit before the ordinary 
 "time of figs," it disappointed the expectation it had awakened. It was, 
 
 16 
 
362 BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 therefore, cursed with eternal barrenness a symbolical act. shadowing 
 forth the doom of pretentious professors of godliness who bear leaves 
 only. 
 
 29. The sycamore is a species of fig-tree which flourishes in 
 the warm lowlands of Palestine, and abundantly in Egypt. 
 1 Kings 10:27; 2 Chron. 1:15; 9:27; 1 Chron. 27:28; Psa. 
 78 : 47. It grows to a great size with widespread boughs and a 
 deep strong root. Hence the pertinence of our Lord s illustra 
 tion (Luke-17 : 6) : "If ye had faith as a grain of mustard-seed, 
 ye might say unto this sycamine-tree, Be thou plucked up by the 
 root, and be thou planted in the sea ; and it should obey you." 
 It bears several crops of figs annually, which grow on short 
 stems along the trunk and branches. The fruit is of an inferior 
 quality, but the poorer classes consume it in great quantities. 
 The wood is soft and of little value in comparison with the cedar 
 of Lebanon. Isa. 9 : 10. Yet it is very durable, if we may judge 
 from the mummy-cases made of it thousands of years ago. The 
 ancients noticed the fact that in order to ripen the fruit it was 
 necessary to puncture or nip each fig with an iron instrument a 
 few days before the time of harvest ; a practice which, according 
 to Hasselquist, exists in modern times. 
 
 The word sycamore (from the Greek snkomoros) signifies Jig-mulberry, 
 because the fruit resembles that of the true fig, while the leaves are like 
 those of the mulberry, a nearly related species. The true sycamore must 
 be carefully distinguished from the American tree which commonly goes 
 by that name, and which is also*called button-wood. This latter is the occi 
 dental plane ( Platanus occidentalis), and -has no relation to the fig family. 
 
 The sycamine-tree (Luke 17 : 6) is confounded with the sycamore by the 
 Septuagint in 1 Kings 10 : 27 ; 1 Chron. 27 : 28 ; Isa. 9 : 10 ; and according 
 to Dioscorides (p. 80) by some of the ancients. This name, however, be 
 longs properly to the black mulberry. Dioscorides, ubi supra. 
 
 30. The pomegranate hardly merits the appellation of a tree. 
 It is rather a stout thorny shrub with dense foliage, said to be 
 the favorite haunt of the nightingale. Its beautiful crimson 
 flowers and its large smooth fruit, surmounted by a conspicuous 
 calyx and often tinged with a blush of red, make it a very pleas 
 ing object to the eye. It was natural, therefore, that artificial 
 
AGKICULTURE. 363 
 
 pomegranates should be selected as ornaments for the high 
 priest s robe (Exod. 28 : 33, 34), and for the pillars of Solomon s 
 temple (1 Kings 7 : 18 ; 2 Chron. 3 : 16), and that the bride s 
 cheeks should be compared to a piece of pomegranate (Cant. 
 4:3; 6:7). The fruit is about as large as an orange, divided 
 into two portions by a horizontal diaphragm, the upper consist 
 ing of five to nine cells, and the lower of three cells. The nu 
 merous seeds are surrounded by a juicy pulp of a pleasant acid 
 taste, and very refreshing. Allusion is made in Cant. 8 : 2 to a 
 sort of sherbet or wine made from its juice. The tough astrin 
 gent rind abounds in tannin, and is used in the preparation of 
 morocco. According to Thomson (vol. 2, p. 392), "the bitter 
 juice of it stains everything it touches with an undefined but 
 indelible blue." 
 
 31. Of the tappuah. of the Old Testament, rendered apple in 
 bur version, we have already spoken. See above Chap. 7, No. 
 18. The almond-tree thrives throughout Syria and Palestine. 
 Almonds are mentioned among the presents sent by Jacob to 
 Egypt to propitiate "the man, the lord of the country" (Gen. 
 43 : 11) ; and the rods of the princes of Israel were from the 
 almond-tree. Numb. chap. 17. The fruit is too well known to 
 need description. The branches of the golden lamp of the sanc 
 tuary were ornamented each with " three bowls made like unto 
 almonds, with a knop and a flower." Hxod. 25 : 33. 
 
 The Hebrew name of the almond-tree signifies the waker, or the wake 
 ful; and it is the first to awake from the torpor of winter. It puts forth 
 in January a profusion of blossoms before a single leaf has yet appeared. 
 Hence it is made a symbol of God s wakeful vigilance in the execution of 
 his threatenings : " Jeremiah, what seest thou ? And I said, I see a rod of 
 an almond-tree. Then said the Lord unto me, Thou hast well seen : for I 
 will awake over my word to perform it." Jer. 1 : 11, 12. 
 
 In the description of old age (Eccl. 12 : 5) we read that "they shall be 
 afraid of that which is high, and fears shall be in the way, and the almond- 
 tree shall flourish, and the grasshopper shall be a burden, and desire shall 
 fail." The blossoming of the almond-tree (according to the rendering of 
 the Seventy, the Syriac, and the Latin) has been commonly understood as 
 a poetical description of the hoary head. The objection raised by modern 
 scholars, that the flowers of the almond-tree are not white but rose-colored, 
 
364 BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 can hardly be considered as valid. The flowers of the almond are indeed 
 rose colored when fresh ; but they fade with age into white, as do those of 
 other related species. They are not more roseate than those of the apple- 
 tree ; yet these latter, when old, fall and cover the ground like flakes of 
 snow. If the rendering of the Seventy be rejected, that proposed by Ge- 
 senius, "The almond is rejected," namely, by the old man, notwithstand 
 ing its delicious fruit, deserves perhaps the preference among modern 
 interpretations. 
 
 V. VARIOUS OTHER DEPARTMENTS OF AGRICUL 
 TURAL LABOR. 
 
 32. Gardens and orchards have ever been the delight of the 
 orientalists. The Hebrew term rendered garden includes or 
 chards planted with choice trees of all kinds, and watered with 
 fountains, according to the ability of their owners. In the hands 
 of princes, like Solomon, the garden swelled to the dimensions of 
 a park (pardes, that is, paradise, a term including in itself the 
 garden, the orchard, and the pleasure-ground), where all things 
 were collected that could delight the eye or regale the senses. 
 Solomon had such parks in various choice places, as at En-gedi 
 on the Dead sea, at Etam by the pools south of Jerusalem, and 
 on the borders of Lebanon, where were spicery and trees of all 
 kinds of fruit. Eccles. 2:4-6; Cant. 1 : 14 ; 4 : 12-16 ; 6:2, 11. 
 From these princely "paradises" there was a descent through 
 all gradations to the quiet enclosure planted with a few trees 
 and shrubs, and containing, perhaps, a family sepulchre ; for the 
 Jews had sometimes their sepulchres in gardens. 2 Kings 21 : 18 ; 
 John 19 : 41. 
 
 The gardens and orchards surrounding Damascus, and watered every 
 where by streams brought from the ancient Abana and Pharpar, have been 
 celebrated in all ages for the abundance and excellence of their fruits. 
 Similar gardens surround Joppa, Ramleh, and other places of the Medi 
 terranean plain where water can be commanded ; and the moderns have 
 added many fruits unknown to the ancients. See above Chap. 3, Nos. 8 
 and 9 ; Chap. 10, No. 16, seq. In view of these well-watered gardens and 
 orchards, presenting a scene of perpetual verdure and fruitfulness, how 
 beautiful and forcible are the scriptural descriptions of the righteous man 
 who puts his trust in God : " He shall be like a tree planted by the rivers 
 of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season ; his leaf also shall not 
 
AGEICULTUKE. 365 
 
 wither ; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper " (Psa. 1:3; Jer. 17:8); 
 " The Lord shall guide thee - continually, and satisfy thy soul in drought, 
 and make fat thy bones : and thou shalt be like a watered garden, and like 
 a spring of water, whose waters fail not. " Isa. 58 : 11. The heavenly 
 Jerusalem ^itself is a paradise watered by the river of water of life that 
 flows out from the throne of God and the Lamb, on whose banks grows 
 the tree of life with its perpetual harvest of fruit. The river, having its 
 source in the throne of God, is eternal, and so are the trees of life which 
 line its borders: Ezek. chap. 47 ; Kev. chap. 22. 
 
 33. The balsam of the Old Testament (Tsori, rendered balm 
 in our version) was manifestly a product of Gilead (Jer. 8 : 22 ; 
 46 : 11), and apparently of Palestine proper also ; though this is 
 not certain, since the balm mentioned in Gen. 43 : 11 ; Ezek. 
 27 : 17, may have been obtained from Gilead. If now we are to 
 understand by the word balm a single, definite product, it seems 
 impossible to identify the balm of Gilead with the true opobalsa- 
 mum of the ancients. The shrub that produced this was a native 
 of Arabia, and capable of flourishing only in hot climates, like 
 those about Jericho and En-gedi, to which places it seems to 
 have been transplanted. We cannot suppose that it could grow 
 on the mountains of Gilead. The opobalsamum flowed in small 
 drops from incisions made with a sharp stone in the bark of the 
 shrub. It was esteemed as a very precious substance by the 
 ancients, but was not the balm that came from Gilead. This lat 
 ter was probably the myrobalanum, which is obtained from the 
 nuts of a tree yet common in Gilead, and highly valued for its 
 healing qualities. The tree is known to the Arabs as the zuk- 
 kum (Balanites cegyptica], and should not be confounded with the 
 wild olive (Eleagnus angustifolius). It is a thorny tree of small 
 size, bearing green nuts, having a small kernel and thick shell, 
 covered with a thin flesh outside. These kernels the Arabs 
 pound in a mortar, and then putting the pulp into scalding water 
 skim off the oil ; or they grind them and press out the oil, as 
 they do out of olives. See the authorities and opinions in Wi 
 ner s Realworterbuch, Art. Balsam ; Bosenmiiller on Gen. 37 : 25 ; 
 Kobinson, Bib. Res., vol. 1, pp. 559, 560 ; Tristram s Land of 
 Israel, pp. 202, 203, 559. 
 
366 BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 Kosenmiiller and others object to the identification of the Hebrew bal 
 sam with the myrobalanum on the ground that the Hebrew name ( Tsorl) 
 denotes, according to its etymology, something that distils, not that which is 
 obtained by pressure. But we have here only a choice of difficulties, and 
 those on the other side are the greatest. It may be, however, that the old 
 Hebrew name was generic, in which case it might include the true opobal- 
 Bamum obtained by the Ishmaeli tish merchants from Arabia, as well as the 
 native myrobalanum of Gilead. 
 
 34. We have already spoken of the honey of grapes. No. 18 
 above. But Palestine is emphatically the land of bees also, and 
 true honey is often mentioned in the Scriptures. Judg. 14 : 8 ; 
 1 Sam. 14:27; Psa. 19:10; Prov. 5:3; etc. The haunts of 
 bees in their wild state were then, as now, the cavities of trees, 
 the holes of rocks, and even the dried carcasses of animals. 
 1 Sam. 14 : 27 ; Isa. 7 : 19 ; Judg. 14 : 8. That the care of bees 
 was a part of the Hebrew husbandman s occupation we cannot 
 doubt. Honey is mentioned as an article of traffic (Ezek. 21 17), 
 where it may include the honey of grapes also. 
 
 The food of John the Baptist in the wilderness was locusts and wild 
 honey." Matt. 3:4; Mark 1 : 6. Both these terms are to be taken lit 
 erally. Wild honey abounded in the wilderness of Judea as weh 1 as locusts, 
 and both were to the Hebrew lawful articles of diet. See for the latter 
 Lev. 11 : 22. 
 
CARE OF FLOCKS AND HERDS. 367 
 
 CHAPTEE XV. 
 
 THE CARE OF FLOCKS AND HERDS AND OTHER 
 ANIMALS. 
 
 1. THE patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, were nomads 
 men whose chief possessions consisted in flocks and herds, who 
 lived in tents, and who moved from place to place as the con 
 venience of pasturage required. Upon the descent of the Israel 
 ites into Egypt, in obedience to Joseph s instructions, they 
 answered Pharaoh s question : " What is your occupation ?" 
 " Thy servants are shepherds, both we, and also our fathers." 
 Gen. 47 : 3. They used the word shepherds in the wide sense, 
 of those whose business is to tend flocks and herds; and on 
 this ground their dwelling was assigned to them in the land of 
 Goshen. Upon their return to Canaan, the tribes of Eeuben 
 and Gad and half the tribe of Manasseh received their inherit 
 ance in Gilead and Bashan east of the Jordan, because they 
 saw that " the place was a place for cattle." Numb. chap. 32. 
 
 2. But it was not God s purpose that the covenant people 
 should be a race of nomads, who must always stand, other 
 things being equal, upon a lower plane of civilization and nation 
 ality than an agricultural people with fixed abodes and the 
 stable institutions connected with them. Nomadic tribes are 
 essentially roving, for their pasture-grounds change with the 
 changing seasons of the year. This we see illustrated in the 
 case of the Hebrew patriarchs. We find Abraham at She- 
 chern, then at Hai, then "going on still toward the south." 
 From the south country he descends to Egypt : from Egypt he 
 returns to the south country : thence he goes to Beth-el and Hai, 
 and thence to Hebron. Afterwards we find him in Gerar and 
 Beer-sheba. Gen. 12 : 6-10 ; 13 : \-A, 18 ; 20 : 1 ; 21 : 31. Jacob, 
 again, upon his return from Mesopotamia, comes to Shalem in 
 
368 BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 front of Shechem: thence he journeys to Beth-el, and after 
 wards to Hebron. Gen. 33 : 18 ; 35 : 1, 27. From Hebron, as a 
 centre, his sons go with their father s flocks to Shechem, and 
 thence to Dothan. Gen. 37:12-17. The roving character of 
 nomads is illustrated on a magnificent scale in the case of the 
 Arab tribes. Take, for an illustration, the powerful Anazeh 
 Arabs, -with their numerous divisions and sub-divisions, whose 
 range is from Mesopotamia to the Jordan. They arrive from 
 the east about the beginning of May, spreading themselves over 
 the land like locusts, and their camels are now, as in olden 
 times, "without number, as the sand by the seaside for multi 
 tude." Judg. 7 : 12. " At that season the whole country from 
 the Jordan to the plains of Damascus is covered with them 
 their black tents pitched in circles near the fountains, and their 
 flocks and herds roaming over lull and dale." . . . "When their 
 flocks have either eaten up or trampled down the pastures of 
 the Jaulan, the sheikh mounts his mare, waves his spear, and 
 his children follow him to the lakes of Damascus, round which 
 they encamp for the rest of the summer." Handbook for Syria 
 and Palestine, pp. 437, 438. 
 
 The roving life of the nomads makes it necessary that they 
 dwell in tents, instead of houses. Some tents are of a circular 
 form, resting on a single pole, but more commonly they are 
 square, resting on several poles; those of the better class on 
 nine, arranged in three rows. The covering consists of black 
 cloth made of goat s hair, about a yard broad, laid parallel with 
 the tent s length and impervious to rain. It is secured in its 
 place by tent-ropes fastened to tent-pins of hard wood driven 
 firmly into the ground. It is only the ernir or sheikh who can 
 afford to have separate tents for his women. Usually a single 
 tent divided by curtains into two or more apartments accom 
 modates the whole family, and so^netimes the lambs of the flock 
 also. Grant (Nestorians, part 1, chap. 9) describes a Koordish 
 tent about forty feet long by eighteen wide, of which about one 
 fourth part was fenced off with a wicker trellis as a shelter for 
 the lambs of the flock during the night. The furniture of a 
 
CARE OF FLOCKS AND HERDS. 369 
 
 tent, even though it be of the better quality, must be simple 
 and light compared with the appointments of a fixed abode; 
 for both it and everything in it is subjected to perpetual remov 
 als. "Mine age," said Hezekiah, "is departed, and is removed 
 from me as a shepherd s tent." Isa. 38 : 12. 
 
 It is customary for the chief to occupy a place in the centre of his peo 
 ple who pitch their tents around him in a circle or oval, or sometimes in 
 the form of a square. In a large encampment many such groups may be 
 seen, arranged according to the various divisions of the tribe ; and they 
 present, with their black hair coverings, a very pleasing spectacle. "I am 
 black, but comely," says the bride (Cant. 1 : 5), " O ye daughters of Jerusa 
 lem, as the tents of Kedar, as the curtains of Solomon. " 
 
 The wandering tent life of nomad tribes is incompatible with 
 the existence of that stable character and those stable institu 
 tions which are essential to true nationality and civilization. 
 Let one consider, for example, how impossible it would be to 
 develop among them the institutions and character of ancient 
 Home or modern England. The life of a nomad impresses 
 itself upon the very substance of his character. He is essen 
 tially a wanderer, to whom a fixed abode, with its ever recurring 
 round of duties, is intolerably irksome. And it will be well if 
 he -is not a plunderer also; for everything in the nomadic sys 
 tem favors predatory expeditions, and they have ever been a 
 part of the history of nomadic tribes. 
 
 The modern plundering incursions of the Arabs, which have reduced 
 to a state of desolation so many fertile regions in and around Palestine, 
 are but repetitions of what took place in olden times, when the Midianites, 
 and the Anialekites, and the children of the east "came up with their 
 cattle and then* tents, and they caine as grasshoppers for multitude ; for 
 both they and their camels were without number : and they entered into 
 the land to destroy it" (Judg. 6:5); and when, at a later period, the 
 Amalekites from the south captured and burned Ziklag, and carried off 
 everything in it (1 Sam. chap. 30). Nor were such incursions confined to 
 the side of the heathen. We have a notice (1 Chron. 5 : 18-22) of an 
 invasion made by the two and a half tribes east of the Jordan upon "the 
 Hagarites, with Jetur, and Jsaphish, and Nadab," in which they brought 
 back as spoil "of their camels fifty thousand, and of sheep two hundred 
 and fifty thousand, and of asses two thousand, and of men a hundred 
 thousand." 
 
 16* 
 
370 BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 The wisdom of God, accordingly, appointed to his people 
 a residence in an agricultural region, where with fixed abodes 
 and hereditary possessions descending from father to son, the 
 iustitutions of the theocracy might have their proper develop 
 ment; for though established in the Arabian desert, they went 
 into full operation only upon the settlement of the nation in 
 Palestine. Nevertheless, the care of flocks and herds was an 
 important branch of Hebrew industry, and the Scriptural refer 
 ences to pastoral life are very numerous. 
 
 3. "We begin with the camel. This is emphatically the beast 
 of the desert. It appears frequently in connection with the 
 nomad tribes east and south of Palestine, but not prominently 
 in the history of the Israelites, because after their settlement 
 in Canaan they had but little occasion for its services. On 
 his arrival at Hebron from the southern desert the traveller 
 may, if he choose, exchange his camels for horses. Robinson, 
 Bib. Res., vol. 2, p. 208. The camel is not less obviously fitted 
 by divine Providence for the arid deserts of Arabia and Africa, 
 than is the polar bear for the arctic seas; and, unlike the 
 latter animal, it renders to man the most important services, 
 enabling the caravans to traverse regions that would be other 
 wise impassable. It is well known that the camel s paunch 
 is furnished with membranous cells, which enable the animal 
 to receive and retain an extra supply of water sufficient for 
 four or more days; while the fatty matter accumulated in the 
 hump not only adapts the back to the reception of burdens, 
 but contains also an extra store of nourishment which is taken 
 into the system by absorption as occasion may require. " So 
 well is the use of the hump understood in the East, that the 
 condition of the animal is judged of, and its improvement after 
 a long journey measured by it. It is not uncommon to see 
 camels come in after long painful journeys, with backs almost 
 straight, exhibiting but little if any hump." Major Wayne in 
 the New Am. Cyclopaedia. The coarse and prickly shrubs of 
 the desert are its favorite food, which it prefers to the tenderest 
 herbage. "Hardly less wonderful," says Robinson (Bib. Res., 
 
CARE OF FLOCKS AND HERDS. 371 
 
 vol. 2, p. 209), "is the adaptation of their broad cushioned foot 
 to the arid sands and gravelly soil, which it is their lot chiefly 
 to travel." Many travellers have noticed tke silence in which 
 a train of these animals passes over rocky steeps, their feet 
 being as soft as sponge or leather. "Admirably adapted to 
 the desert regions which are their home, they yet constitute 
 one of the evils which travelling in the desert brings with it. 
 Their long, slow, rolling or rocking gait, although not at first 
 very unpleasant, becomes exceedingly fatiguing ; so that I have 
 often been more exhausted in riding five-and-twenty miles upon 
 a camel, than in travelling fifty on horseback. Yet without 
 them, how could such journeys be performed at all ?" . . . " Then- 
 well-known habit of lying down upon the breast to receive their 
 burdens, is not, as is often supposed, merely the result of train 
 ing ; it is an admirable adaptation of their nature to their des 
 tiny as earners. This is their natural position of repose ; as is 
 shown too by the Callosities upon the joints of the legs, and 
 especially by that upon the breast, w^hich serves as a pedestal 
 beneath the huge body." Robinson, ubi supra. 
 
 There are two species of camels, the Badrian -with two humps, and 
 the common Arabian or one-humped. The word dromedary, that is, 
 courser, is frequently applied to the Arabian camel in distinction from the 
 Bactrian ; but, properly speaking, dromedaries are a variety of the Ara 
 bian camel distinguished for speed and used for travel, while those of 
 stronger frame and slower pace are employed to carry burdens. The 
 dromedary unites the speed of the thoroughbred horse with more endu 
 rance. Seven or eight miles an hour for nine or ten hours a day is said 
 to be a common performance for the swiftest breed of dromedaries, and 
 they sometimes attain the speed of ninety miles or more in twenty-four 
 hours, but only for a day or two over level ground. The camel s flesh is 
 said to be wholesome and palatable, and its milk is not inferior to that of 
 the cow in either color or flavor. 
 
 4. Flocks of sheep and goats constitute a large part of the 
 wealth of the nomadic tribes. These, however, are a treasure 
 not so peculiar to them as the camel, but one that is shared also 
 by those who live in fixed abodes. Yet it is true that the more 
 desert and uncultivated parts of Palestine are those in which 
 
372 BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 this species of wealth most predominates. Bethlehem, for ex 
 ample, borders on the desert of Judaea, and here in this desert 
 we find David tending his father s flocks. "With whom," asks 
 Eliab scornfully, "hast thou left those few sheep in the wilder 
 ness?" 1 Sam. 17:28. So Nabal, who had three thousand 
 sheep, and a thousand goats, had his possessions in Carniel 
 (the Carmel of Judsea south of Hebron), on the very edge of the 
 same wilderness. 1 Sam., chap. 25. The slopes of Lebanon 
 and of the Galilean hills, with their wild wadies covered with 
 dense forests of oak and underwood, are also a favorite range 
 for sheep and goats. Thomson, vol. 1, p. 299, seq. Large 
 parts of Carmel, Bashan, and Gilead are now, as of old, covered 
 with forests, and these " at the proper seasons are alive with 
 countless flocks, which live upon the green leaves and tender 
 branches." Ibid., p. 304. With allusion to these well-known 
 haunts of flocks the Lord promises that in the latter day his 
 flocks "shall dwell safely in the wilderness, and sleep in the 
 woods" (Ezek. 34:25); and Micah says (chap. 7:14): "Feed 
 thy people with thy rod, the flock of thy heritage, wliich 
 dwell solitarily in the wood, in the midst of Carmel : let them 
 feed in Bashan and Gilead, as in the days of old." 
 
 5. Besides the common sheep of Europe and America the 
 so-called Syrian sheep is abundant in Palestine. This variety 
 is remarkable for the extraordinary size of its tail, which is a 
 broad flattish appendage "composed of a substance between 
 marrow and fat, serving very often in the kitchen the place of 
 butter, and cut into small pieces, makes an ingredient in various 
 dishes." " The carcase of one of these sheep, without including 
 the head, feet, entrails, and skin, generally weighs from fifty to 
 sixty pounds, of which the tail makes up fifteen pounds; but 
 some of the largest breed, that have been fattened with care, 
 will sometimes weigh one hundred and fifty pounds, the tail 
 alone composing a third of the whole weight." Kitto quoted in 
 Fairbairn s Bible Diet. The ordinary fold or cote is simply a 
 yard under the open sky to protect the flocks against wild 
 animals. It is only when the nights are cold that they are put 
 
CARE OF FLOCKS AND HEEDS. 373 
 
 under cover in low flat buildings erected in sheltered positions. 
 The modern yards described by Thomson (vol.,1, p. 299) con 
 sist of wide stone walls, crowned ah 1 around with sharp thorns, 
 or simply of a stout palisade of tangled thorn-bushes. Sheep- 
 shearings were occasions of great festivity, answering to the 
 harvest and vintage of the husbandman. David rightly inferred 
 from the fact that Nabal was shearing his flocks that he had 
 on hand abundant stores of provisions, and was holding a feast 
 in his house (1 Sam. chap. 25) ; and it was at a feast made by 
 Absalom on a like occasion that Amnon was slain when his 
 heart was merry with wine (2 Sain. 13 : 23, seq.). In Cant. 
 4:2; 6:6, icashincj is noticed as preceding shearing. According 
 to Jahn (Antiq., 46), the sheep before shearing w r ere collected 
 into an uncovered inclosure (the slieep-cote of the Old Testa 
 ment), in order that the wool might be rendered finer by the 
 sweating and evaporation, which necessarily result from the 
 flock s being thus crowded together. 
 
 6. Goats have ever been a valuable constituent of oriental 
 flocks. The flesh of the adult is rank, and to the European 
 unpalatable; but that of the kid is excellent. It was of two 
 kids of the goats that Rebekah made the "savory meat" with 
 which Jacob deceived his father. Gen. 27 : 9, 14. Goat s milk, 
 as all know, is preeminently rich and excellent ; and it is men 
 tioned in the Book of Proverbs (chap. 27 : 27) as an important 
 article of food, as it is at the present day : " Thou shalt have 
 goats milk enough for thy food, for the food of thy household, 
 and for the maintenance of thy maidens." Among the nomads 
 butter and cheese are made of goats and sheep s milk. The 
 favorite Arab dish called kben, made of sour curdled milk, is 
 largely prepared from the milk of the goat. From the hair of 
 goats curtains were made in ancient times as they are now 
 (Exod. 25:4; 26:7; 1 Sam. 19:13; etc.); and it is well-known 
 that from the hair of certain kinds of goats a very fine and 
 durable fabric the true Cashmere shawl is prepared. Finally, 
 from the skins of goats not only is leather made, but also fytfth s 
 are formed in which the orientals keep their water, milk, wine, 
 
374 BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 and other liquids. When the animal is killed they cut off the 
 head and feet and then draw off the skin entire, using the neck 
 for the mouth of the bottle, and sewing up the other apertures, 
 or leaving one leg to serve as a nozzle. The great leathern 
 bottles are made of the skin of full-grown he-goats ; the smaller 
 of kids skins. 
 
 To these leathern bottles there are many allusions in Scripture, some 
 of which would be unintelligible to one acquainted only with our modern 
 glass bottles. Abraham gave Hagar a bottle of water, "putting it on her 
 shoulder," a common way of carrying such bottles at the present time 
 (Gen. 21 : 14) ; Jael opened a bottle of milk for Sisera, which was done by 
 untying the mouth (Judg. 4:19); the Gibeonites took wine-bottles "old, 
 and rent, and bound up" (Josh. 9:4); new wine must be put into new 
 boitles, "else the new wine doth burst the bottles, and the wine is spilled" 
 (Mark 2 : 22). Earthen bottles were also in common use, which might be 
 broken in pieces by a blow. Isa. 30 : 14, margin ; Jer. 19 : 1, 10, 11. 
 
 Ring-streaked, spotted, and speckled goats are common enough at the 
 present day ; but Jacob s artifice for multiplying animals of these colors 
 (Gen. 30 : 37-42) does not appear to have possessed, in and of itself, a 
 natural efficiency. We must rather regard it as a means through which 
 God was pleased to exert his divine efficiency. 
 
 7. Flocks of sheep and goats always imply the presence of 
 the shepherd. The shepherd and his flock are related to each 
 other as the ruler and his people. Without the shepherd the 
 flock is helpless, wandering on lonely mountains and in wild 
 ravines and thickets a prey to robbers and wild beasts, or per 
 ishing in deserts for want of water and pasturage. The faithful 
 shepherd remains in the fold at night armed for the defence of 
 his charge. " Though there are no lions here [in Palestine and 
 the slopes of Lebanon] there^ are wolves in abundance ; and 
 leopards and panthers, exceeding fierce, prowl about these wild 
 wadies." . . . "And when the thief and the robber come (and 
 come they do), the faithful shepherd has. often to put his life 
 in his hand to defend his flock." Thomson, vol. 1, p. 302. In 
 the morning he leads forth his flocks, going before them and 
 guiding them with his rod (Psa. 23:4; Micah 7:14), calling 
 them to himself with his well-known voice, conducting them to 
 
CAKE OF FLOCKS AND HERDS. 375 
 
 
 
 green pastures and still waters, going in search of wanderers, 
 and often carrying the lambs in his bosom. In the estimation 
 of the orientals the shepherd s employment is one of dignity. 
 We need not be surprised, therefore, when we find in ancient 
 times, the daughters of princes and men of wealth tending their 
 fathers flocks. Gen. 29 : 6 ; Exod. 2 : 16. 
 
 The shepherd s rod is a long wand with a crook at the end, by placing 
 which around the shoulders of an animal he can check and guide it at his 
 will. The sheep are "so trained that they follow their leader with the 
 utmost docility. He leads them, forth from the fold, or from the houses 
 in the villages just where he pleases. As there are many flocks in such a 
 place as this, each one takes a different path, and it is his business to find 
 pasture for them." . . . "The shepherd calls sharply from time to time to 
 remind them of his presence. They know his voice, and follow on ; but* 
 if a stranger call, they stop short, lift up their heads in alarm, and if it is 
 repeated, they turn and flee, because they know not the voice of a stranger. 
 This is not the fanciful costume of a parable ; it is a simple fact. I have 
 made the experiment repeatedly." Thomson, vol. 1, p. 301. The oriental 
 shepherds, moreover, have names for the individuals of their flock, at 
 least for ah 1 that have been long in their possession, and to these they 
 promptly answer by running up to the shepherd. See in Smith s Bible 
 Diet., Art. Sheep ; also Thomson, ubi supra. 
 
 8. The figurative use of the term shepherd to denote the ruler 
 of a people, is so natural that we need not be surprised at its 
 early use in Grecian poetry. In Homer the kings are commonly 
 designated as the shepherds of the people. So David, in pleading 
 with the Lord to spare his people, says : " Lo, I have sinned, 
 and I have done wickedly: but these sheep, what have they 
 done?" 2 Sam. 24:17. Jacob, himself a shepherd by birth, 
 under the inspiration of the Holy Ghost, first applied the term 
 shepherd to Jehovah, calling him "the Shepherd, the Eock of 
 Israel." Gen. 49 : 24. For more than six centuries afterwards, 
 we find no echo of that noble figure, till another shepherd, " the 
 sweet psalmist of Israel," arose, who sang : " The Lord is my 
 Shepherd; I shall not want. He maketh me to He down in 
 green pastures : he leadeth me beside the still waters." Psa. 
 23 : 1, 2. From that day to the present the terms shepherd and 
 
376 BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 sheep have been consecrated to express the relation of Jehovah 
 under the old covenant, and the Saviour under the new, to his 
 people. Our Lord Jesus is "that great Shepherd of the sheep" 
 which he "purchased with his own blood." He is the good 
 Shepherd who "calleth his own sheep by name, and leadeth 
 them out. And when he putteth forth his own sheep, he goeth 
 before them, and the sheep follow him : for they know his voice. 
 And a stranger will they not follow, but will flee from him : for 
 they know not the voice of strangers." Psa. 80 : 1 ; 95 : 7 ; 
 100:3; Isa. 40:11; Ezek., chap. 34; Zech. 13:7; Heb. 13:20; 
 Acts 20 : 28 ; John 10 : 1, seq. In like manner his servants whom 
 he has set over the flock of God are tinder-shepherds, and the 
 Jjatin word pastor, that is, shepherd,- has become the current 
 designation of them. It is their business, in humble imitation 
 of "the chief shepherd," not to feed themselves but the flocks; 
 to strengthen the diseased, to heal the sick, to bind up the 
 broken, to bring back the driven away, and to seek out the lost. 
 Ezek. 34:2-4. 
 
 9. Neat-cattle, though not excluded from, the possessions of 
 the nomads, belong rather to agricultural regions. Sheep and 
 goats, if supplied with green herbage, can dispense with water, 
 but not so oxen and cows. Then, again, these latter are sub 
 jected to the yoke and employed in ploughing and also for 
 draught. Their flesh furnishes food, their skins leather, and 
 their milk is an important article of diet. On the domestication 
 and use of the buffalo throughout the East see above, Chap. 7, 
 No. 24. The bulls of Bashan may have been these very ani 
 mals. 
 
 The Hebrews have a term (Jialabk) for milk, by which is more com 
 monly, but not always, meant fresh sweet milk. Another term (Item-all) is 
 rendered in our version butter (Gen. 18:8; Deut. 32:14; Judg. 5:25; 
 2 Sam. 17 : 29 ; Job 20 : 17 ; Isa. 7 : 15, 22 ; Prov. 30 : 33) ; but it includes, 
 apparently, curdled milk in its yet fluid or semi-fluid state (Judg. 5 : 25), 
 curd and butter. The common butter of the orientals, which is ordina 
 rily made by suspending a goat-skin partly filled with milk, and swinging 
 it regularly to and fro with a jerking motion, is a semi-fluid substance, of 
 which Thomson says (vol. 1, p. 393): "When the butter has come/ they 
 
CARE OF FLOCKS AND HEEDS. 377 
 
 . 
 
 take it out, boil or melt it, and then put it in bottles made of goats skins. 
 In winter it resembles candied honey, in summer it is mere oil." "Some 
 of the farmers," he adds, "have learned to make our kind of butter, but 
 it soon becomes rancid, and, indeed, is never good." Yet Robinson, on 
 one occasion, speaks of butter of excellent quality obtained at Beitin (the 
 ancient Beth-el), "which might have done honor to the days when the 
 flocks of Abraham and Jacob were pastured on these hills. It was indeed 
 the finest we found anywhere in Palestine." Bib. Res., vol. 1, p. 449. 
 Cheese is simply compressed curd, wliich may be in a softer or a harder 
 state. The ten slices of milk which Jesse directed David to carry to the 
 camp (1 Sam. 17 : 18), are plainly slices of coagulated mi Ik, that is, cheese, 
 probably cut into due shape and size at the time of making. In Proverbs 
 30 : 33 the pressing or wringing of milk (as the Hebrew reads) is probably 
 another mode of churning by the repeated pressing and wringing of the 
 goat-skin containing the milk. See Thomson, vol. 1, p. 393. 
 
 10. Fountains of running water, and where these are wanting, 
 ivells and cisterns are indispensable to all who have the care of 
 flocks and herds. We who live in this western world so abun 
 dantly watered all the year round by the hand of nature, and 
 which is, more emphatically than Palestine, " a land of brooks 
 of water, of fountains, and depths that spring out of valleys and 
 hills," can form but a feeble idea of the preciousness of water 
 in eastern countries, particularly in the desert tracts of Palestine 
 and the adjacent regions, where the few perennial streams and 
 fountains are aU named and their position carefully noted, since 
 the life of the traveller often depends on his ability to reach 
 them within a given period of time. When Job would express 
 (chap. 6:15-20) the bitterness of his disappointment in not 
 receiving from his Mends that consolation which they ought 
 to have administered, he compares them to brooks of water 
 which dry up and vanish in the hot season, thus deceiving the 
 thirsty traveller to his destruction. "The troops of Tema 
 looked, the companies of Sheba waited for them. They were 
 confounded because they had hoped , they came thither and 
 were ashamed." The life of Hagar and Ishniael in the wilder 
 ness of Beer-sheba hung upon the discovery of a well of watt r 
 as has that of many an eastern wanderer since her day. Gen. 
 21 : 19. In the history of ancient pastoral life we find the flocks 
 
378 BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 and- herds gathered, as they are at. the present day, around the 
 wells, which are provided with troughs of stone for .watering 
 them. Gen. 24:20; 29:2, seq.; Exod. 2:15, 16. The patri 
 archs Abraham and Isaac digged wells for their flocks and 
 herds, and the high value attached to them is manifest from the 
 strifes of which they were the occasion. Gen. 21 : 30 ; 26 : 15-22. 
 At Beer-sheba are two very ancient wells. Chap. 2, No. 50. 
 The explanation is that when the Philistines, through envy, had 
 stopped the well digged there by Abraham (Gen. 21 : 30, 31 ; 
 26 : 14, 15), Isaac digged another (Gen. 26 : 32, 33), while after 
 wards the earlier well was reopened. Another common mode 
 of providing water for the use of man and beast was the digging 
 of cisterns. The pit into which Joseph was cast in Dothan was 
 manifestly an empty cistern. "It could not have been difficult," 
 says Robinson (Bib. Kes., vol. 3, p. 122), "for Joseph s brethren 
 to find an empty cistern, in which to secure him. Ancient 
 cisterns are very common, even now, along the roads and else 
 where ; and many villages are supplied only with rain water." 
 " There are," says Thomson (vol. 1, p. 442), " thousands of these 
 ancient cisterns in Upper Galilee, where Josephus says there 
 were two hundred and forty cities in his day, and the site of 
 every one was pierced like a honey-comb with them. One 
 should always be on his guard while exploring these old sites, 
 especially if they are overgrown with grass and weeds." Such 
 empty cisterns were also used for prisons (Jer. 38:6, seq.; Lam. 
 3 : 53 ; Psa. 69 : 14, 15) ; but the dungeon in which Joseph was 
 confined in Egypt was an underground prison. Gen. 39:20; 
 40 : 15. 
 
 In Palestine cisterns are commonly hewn in tlie soft limestone rock. 
 "Yet even those in solid rock, are strangely liable to crack," by earth 
 quakes and other casualties, and are a most unreliable source of supply 
 of that indispensable article, water. Thomson, vol. 1, p. 443. "On the 
 long forgotten way from Jericho to Bethel broken cisterns of high 
 antiqiuty are found at regular intervals." Robinson, Bib. Res., vol. 1, 
 p. 325. Such "broken cisterns" aptly represent the folly of those who 
 forsake the living God for earthly confidences : "My people," says Jeho 
 vah, have committed two evils ; they have forsaken me, the fountain of 
 
CAKE OF FLOCKS AND HERDS. 379 
 
 living waters, and hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns that can hold 
 no water." Jer. 2 : 13. 
 
 11. Asses male and female are mentioned among the posses 
 sions of Abraham and Jacob (Gen. 12:16; 30:43), and often 
 afterwards in the history of the Hebrew people. In the East 
 the ass is a most serviceable animal, being used both for the 
 saddle and as a beast of burden. He is especially adapted to 
 rough mountainous regions, being hard-hoofed, sure-footed, pa 
 tient and enduring, capable of Irving on much less food than 
 the horse, and carrying heavier loads without breaking down 
 under them. "Issachar," says the dying patriarch in prophetic 
 vision (Gen. 49:14), "is a strong ass bowing down between 
 two burdens" two panniers suspended from his back one on 
 each side. In no more striking language could the patient 
 drudging of Issachar s descendants have been described; for 
 the ass has been from time immemorial the drudge of man. An 
 ass "lying under his burden" crushed to the earth (Exod. 23 : 5) 
 is as common a sight now as anciently,, and the poor brute is 
 oftener met with blows, than with a helping hand. Asses were 
 also used for the saddle. Abraham the father of the faithful, 
 Balaam the prophet of Mesopotamia, and Ahithophel David s 
 counselor rode on this animal. Gen. 22:3; Numb. 22:21, seq.; 
 2 Sam. 17 : 23. Jair and Abdon, judges of Israel, had sons and 
 daughters who rode on ass-colts. Judg. 10 : 3, 4 ; 12 : 13, 14. 
 There was anciently in the East, as there is now, a breed of 
 white asses (not necessarily pure white but rather light red 
 dish white) which was highly esteemed for riding and used 
 by persons of distinction. Judg. 5 : 10. In the days of David 
 mules appeared for the first time (in Gen. 36:24 the "mules" 
 of our .version are probably hot springs) as saddle beasts for 
 himself and Iris sons (2 Sam. 13 : 29 ; 18 : 9 ; 1 Kings 1 : 33), and 
 we find them from this time onward among the regular appoint 
 ments of a king s household. 1 Kings 10:25; 18:5. Our 
 Saviour entered Jerusalem riding not on a horse, the symbol 
 of outward pomp and war, but on the ancestral beast of the 
 Hebrew people. Matt. 21 : 1-9 ; Mark 11 : 1-10 ; Luke 19 : 29-38 ; 
 
380 BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 John 12 : 14-1 G. This was not a mark of degradation ; but it 
 did set him forth as the promised king of Israel, himself meek 
 and lowly, and coming in a lowly outward condition, in shai-p 
 contrast with the Jewish idea of the Messiah. According to 
 this view only was the transaction a fulfilment of the ancient 
 prophecy concerning him (Zech. 9:9): " Eejoice greatly, O 
 daughter of Zion: shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy 
 King cometh unto thee : he is just, and having salvation ; lowly 
 [or "afflicted"], and riding upon * an ass, and upon a colt the 
 foal of an ass." 
 
 The wild ass mentioned by Job and other sacred writers as an inhab 
 itants of the wilderness (Job 24 : 5 ; 39 : 5-8 ; Psa. 104 : 11 ; Isa. 32 : 14 ; 
 Jer. 2 : 24 ; Jer. 14 : (5 ; Dan. 5 : 21 ; Hosea 8 : 9), and described by Xen- 
 ophon (Anabasis 1. 5), is common in the deserts of Assyria and the neigh 
 boring regions. "In fleetness they equal the gazelle, and to overtake 
 them is a feat which only one or two of the most celebrated inares have 
 been able to accomplish." Layard quoted in Smith s Bible Diet. AVhether 
 this wild ass is or is not the original of the domestic animal is a question 
 not yet settled. 
 
 12. Horses are first mentioned in the history of Joseph. He 
 gave the Egyptians bread in exchange for horses and other 
 animals. Gen. 47 : 17. The horse was very early used in war, 
 wherever the nature of the country permitted, especially in 
 chariot warfare ; but never for agricultural purposes. As the 
 horses of the ancients were not shod, jirrnness of hoof was a 
 quality of prime importance. Of the Assyrian invaders Isaiah 
 says: "Their horses hoofs shall be counted like flint." From 
 the mountainous nature of their country the Hebrews could not 
 make much use of horses in war. Moses forbade the future 
 kings of Israel to multiply horses, lest a desire of returning to 
 that country should thus be awakened, for the horses of the 
 Israelites came from Egypt (Deut. 17 : 1C ; 1 Kings 10 : 28 ; etc.) ; 
 probably also as a precaution against regal luxury and ostenta 
 tion, since there follows immediately a caution against the mul 
 tiplication of wives and silver and gold in the royal establish 
 ment. Deut. 17 : 17. 
 
 13. We add, as a sort of appendix to this chapter, a few words 
 
CARE OF FLOCKS ^D HERDS. 381 
 
 respecting hunting and fishing. The chase was a favorite pas 
 time of the oriental monarchs. To this the Assyrian tablets, as 
 well as the ancient historians, be*ir abundant testimony. But 
 hunting as a simple sport did not suit the grave and earnest 
 spirit of the Hebrews. Of hunting and fowling for food we 
 have frequent notices (Gen. 27:3, seq.; 1 Sam. 26:20; Prov. 
 6:5; 12:27; Jer. 5:26, 27; Hosea9:8); but the chief encoun 
 ters of the Hebrews with wild beasts were in defence of their 
 flocks, and to these we find many allusions in the Old Testa 
 ment. David recounts before Saul his adventures with a lion 
 and a bear (1 Sam. 17 : 34^36), and the prophets describe with 
 Homeric vividness the assault of the lion upon the sheep-fold : 
 " Like as the lion and the young lion roaring on his prey, when 
 a multitude of shepherds is called forth against him, he will not 
 be afraid of their voice, nor abase himself for the noise of them : 
 so shall the Lord of hosts come down to fight for Mount Zion, 
 and for the hill thereof " (Isa. 31 : 4) ; " The remnant of Jacob 
 shall be among the Gentiles in the midst of many people as a 
 lion among the beasts of the forest, as a young lion among the 
 flocks of the sheep : who, if -he go through, both treadeth down, 
 and teareth in pieces, and none can deliver" (Micah 5:8). The 
 flocks were also exposed to the ravages of leopards and wolves, 
 as they are now, in some parts of Syria and Palestine. 
 
 The mode of hunting, where the use of fire-arms is unknown, is essen 
 tially the same in all ages and countries. The larger animals were ancient 
 ly hunted down in the chase, and despatched with arrows and spears, or 
 they were taken in pits over which a thin covering had been spread, and 
 sometimes in nets, or in the two combined. Isa. 51 : $0 ; Ezek. 19 : 4, 8 ; 
 Psa. 35 : 7. The lion slain in a snowy day by Benaiah in a well, or cistern 
 as the Hebrew reads (2 Sam. 23 : 20 ; 1 Chron. 11 : 22), appears to have 
 fallen into the cistern when its mouth was concealed by the snow. The 
 less powerful animals, and especially birds, were taken in traps, nets, and 
 snares ; and to these there are numerous allusions in Scripture. Job 
 18 : 8-10 ; 19 : 6 ; Psa. 9 : 15 ; 10 : 9 ; 91 : 3 ; 124 : 7 ; 140 : 5 ; 142 : 3 ; Prov. 
 7 : 23 ; Eccles. 9 : 12 ; etc. 
 
 The modes of fishing are so much alike in all places and 
 ages that this department of Hebrew industry needs no particu- 
 
382 BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 lar illustration. Fish were taken as now, with hooks (Job 41 : 1 ; 
 Isa. 19 : 8 ; Hab. 1 : 15 ; Matt. 17 : 27), fish-spears (Job 41 : 7), and 
 in nets (Eccles. 9 : 12 ; Isa. 19,: 8 ; Hab. 1 : 15 ; Matt. 4 : 18 ; etc.). 
 The Nile was famous for its fisheries, to which there are frequent 
 allusions in the Old Testament. Exod. 7 : 18, 21 ; Numb. 11 : 5 ; 
 Psa. 105:29; Tsa. 19:8; Ezek. 29:4, 5. The sea of Galilee, 
 abounding as it did in fish of a fine quality, afforded employ 
 ment to a race of hardy fishermen, several of whom were called 
 by our Lord to be his apostles, and thus made fishers of men. 
 Mark 1 : 17. The fish of this sea remain, but the fishing-boats 
 that anciently covered its surface have disappeared; and now 
 the fishermen cast their nets from the shore, or they wade out 
 into the water. 
 
 Of domestic birds no mention is made in the Old Testament. But in 
 the Saviour s day hens were common in Palestine. 
 
 - 
 
HOUSES AND THEIR APPOINTMENTS. 383 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 HOUSES AND THEIR APPOINTMENTS. 
 
 1. CAVES abound in the limestone formation of Palestine. 
 The region about En-gedi is full of caverns, which serve as a ref 
 uge for robbers and outlaws. Underground rooms also furnish 
 to the inhabitants of some regions, as those about Bagdad and 
 Mosul, a retreat from the heat of summer. Robinson describes 
 a system of subterranean apartments in the vicinity of Eleuthe- 
 ropolis which were evidently designed as residences. We must 
 not suppose, however, that the Hebrews ever made caves their 
 dwelling-places, except temporarily in times of necessity. Judg. 
 6 : 2 ; 1 Sam. 13 : 6 ; Isa, 2 : 19-21 ; Heb. 11 : 38. The Horites 
 (that is, cave-dicetters, called by the Greeks troglodytes) were an 
 earlier race dwelling in Mount Seir, and dispossessed by the 
 Edomites. Gen. 14:6; Deut. 2:22. Their excavated dwell 
 ings still remain in the sandstone cliffs and mountains of Edom. 
 The cave-dwellings in the south of Palestine may have belonged 
 to them, or more probably to the Avim, who were one of the 
 early, if not aboriginal tribes, of this region before the arrival of 
 the Philistines. Deut. 2 : 23. 
 
 2. A sharp distinction should be made between the humble 
 huts in which so many thousands of the poor reside, and regular 
 oriental houses. The dwellings of the poor are mere huts of 
 mud or unbumt bricks, of one story only, and often containing 
 but a single apartment ; the whole covered with a roof formed of a 
 plaster of mud and straw laid upon boughs or rafters, or perhaps 
 simply of dry cornstalks and straw. " Sometimes a small court 
 for the cattle is attached ; and in some cases the cattle are housed 
 in the same building, or the people live on a raised platform, and 
 the cattle round them on the ground." .... "In Lower Egypt 
 the oxen occupy the width of the chamber farthest from the 
 
384 BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 entrance; it is built of brick or mud, about four feet high, and 
 the top is often used as a sleeping place in winter." See Smith s 
 Bible Diet, and the authorities there quoted. These mud-huts 
 need constant repair ; otherwise they soon crumble to a shape 
 less mass under the power of the weather. 
 
 3. The general plan of an ancient oriental house may be gath 
 ered with much certainty from the Egyptian and Assyrian mon 
 uments, from the notices of ancient writers, sacred and profane, 
 and especially from the modern houses of Palestine and the ad 
 jacent regions; for in this respect, as well as others, the eastern 
 nations are very tenacious of their ancestral usages. " When a 
 traveller in Palestine describes a house of the present day, he 
 describes very much what existed in the age of our Lord, or in 
 still more ancient times. The climate, which is one great cause 
 of the architectural arrangements of different countries, is the 
 same, and the unchanging habits of the East have always been 
 proverbial." Fairb aim s Bible Diet., Art. House. The primary 
 idea of an oriental home is comfortable seclusion. Hence its plan 
 differs essentially from that of our western houses. It is a build 
 ing or series of buildings around an open court or range of courts 
 communicating with each other; so that we may say, in an im 
 portant sense, that it fronts imcardly. The exterior of a dwell- 
 iiig-house, even of the better kind, presents a blank and mean 
 appearance, being relieved only by the door and a few latticed 
 and projecting windows set high up in the wall. It is a parallel 
 ogram of dull gray walls, with only a single entrance. Hence a 
 street of such houses, itself narrow, crooked, and filthy, presents 
 a gloomy and forbidding appearance. The doorway or yate is in 
 the middle of the front side of the house. It is sometimes richly 
 ornamented, but is generally mean in appearance, even when 
 leading to a sumptuous dwelling. The Hebrews regarded orna 
 mental display here as a mark of vanity displeasing to God. 
 " He that exalteth his gate," says the wise man (Prov. 17 : 19), 
 "seeketh destruction." What men do in these western regions 
 by the general style of the house, the ostentatious orientalist 
 accomplished by exalting his gate. " The passage from the door- 
 
HOUSES 
 
 AND THEIR APPOINTMENTS. 385 
 
 way into the court is usually so contrived that no view can be 
 had from the street into it ; this is sometimes done by the erec 
 tion of a wall, or by giving a turn to the passage that leads into 
 the court." Fairbairn s Diet, as above. The passage from the 
 gateway into the court is usually furnished with seats for the 
 porter and other servants. 
 
 This gateway (Greek pulon) is called in our version the porch. Matt. 
 26 : 71 ; Mark 14 : 68. The porch through which Ehud passed after slaying 
 Eglon (Judg. 3 : 23) was an internal gallery or balcony fronting on the court, 
 from the rear of which there was access to the summer parlor. See below 
 No. 10. Elsewhere the porch (Greek stoa) is an external portico. John 
 10 : 23 ; Acts 3 : 11 ; 5 : 12. But the true porch was an anteroom or vesti 
 bule to the building proper, as in the case of Solomon s temple. Such 
 porches supported by pillars were not uncommon in Egyptian houses, but 
 they did not belong to the ordinary houses of Palestine. 
 
 4. The gateway conducts to the court or courts around which 
 the different apartments of the house are built and into which 
 they open. The number of these courts varies from one to three, 
 and in some of the best houses of Damascus there are said to be 
 seven. Large buildings, such as convents, follow the same gen 
 eral plan. Robinson says of the convent of Mount Sinai (vol 1, 
 p. 92) : " The space enclosed within the walls is cut up into a 
 number of small courts, by various ranges of buildings running 
 in all directions, forming quite a labyrinth of narrow winding 
 passages ascending and descending." The court is open to the 
 air above, with the exception that an awning is sometimes drawn 
 over it. In houses of the better quality the courts are paved 
 with marble, adorned with fountains, often with trees, shrubs, 
 and flowers, particularly the interior courts where there is more 
 than one, and compassed round with divans and splendid apart 
 ments. Robinson (ubi supra) describes little courts of the Sinai 
 convent as ornamented with a cypress or other small trees, and 
 beds of flowers and vegetables ; and in the inner court of a house 
 at Damascus were "two immense tanks of flowing water, and 
 also two smaller ones. In the court was a profusion of trees 
 and flowering shrubs, the orange, citron, and the like." Bib. 
 Res., vol. 3, pp. 455, 456. In the court wells were also dug, 
 
 Oeo S . * Antiq. 17 
 
386 BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 when occasion required, and cisterns excavated. 2 Sam. 17 : 18 ; 
 Jer. 38 : 6. 
 
 The courts of private dwellings, palaces, etc. , which were, as we have 
 seen, within the enclosure of the building, must be distinguished from the 
 court of the tabernacle and those of the temple, which were without the 
 temple proper. The Psahnjst says (Psa. 52 : 8) : " I am like a green olive- 
 tree in the house of God ;" and (Psa. 92 : 13) : " Those that be planted in 
 the house of the Lord shall flourish in the courts of our God." There can 
 not be in these words any allusion to trees literally planted in the courts of 
 the tabernacle or temple ; for such a custom never prevailed. The house 
 of God here is not his outward material sanctuary, but that which this 
 sanctuary shadows forth, his spiritual presence and favor. Within this 
 spiritual house, not made with hands, the righteous man flourishes, like an 
 olive-tree or a palm-tree planted in the court of an oriental monarch, and 
 watered from its ever-flowing fountains. 
 
 5. Let us now examine one of the better class of houses fur 
 nished with a single court or with two courts. Taking our stand 
 in the outer court, we see around part of it, if not the whole, a 
 verandah, often nine or ten feet deep, with apartments opening 
 into it. If there be more than one story, we see over this veran 
 dah a gallery of like depth protected in front by a balustrade, 
 the apartments of the second floor opening into this gallery, as 
 those of the first do into the verandah. Shaw s Travels in Bar- 
 bary, chap. 3, sect. 5. According to the various uses assigned to 
 the rooms around the court, they are open in front, or are en 
 tered by doors. The rooms around the court differ in number 
 and quality according to the character of the house. When there 
 is more than one story, the best rooms are above, the ground 
 floor being appropriated to storerooms and the daily uses of 
 the family. When the house has an inner court, it is generally 
 of a larger size and more elaborately finished. Here the mas 
 ter of the house has his private apartments, and here are the 
 rooms for the women and children carefully guarded from all 
 intrusion. In general the orientals prefer a single ground floor, 
 to which in the country sheds for cattle and stables for horses 
 are not unfrequently attached ; but in cities houses of three or 
 more stories are common. When Tristram entered Hebron, he 
 
HOUSES AND THEIR APPOINTMENTS. 387 
 
 was conducted through dark ruined passages and up broken 
 staircases, till up the fourth flight of stone steps he found the 
 sheikh of whom he was in search in bed in a vaulted chamber. 
 Land of Israel, p. 389. Cellars for storage are also found under 
 the better class of houses. 
 
 6. In the rear of the court or on one side of it is the re^f ion- 
 room, where visitors are received by the master of the house. 
 " It is often open in front, and supported in the centre by a pil 
 lar. It is generally on the ground floor, but raised above the 
 level." Fail-bairn s Bible Diet. All the circumstances of the 
 evangelic narrative agree with the supposition that this was the 
 room in the high priest s palace where Jesus was arraigned. It 
 was open in front, and not much raised above the pavement of 
 the court where Peter was "without in the palace" warming 
 himself by the fire ; so that Peter could see the Saviour, and the 
 Saviour could turn and look upon Peter. Luke 22 : 61. The 
 whole situation is well described by Kobinson (Harmony of the 
 Gospels, 144) : " An oriental house is usually built around a 
 quadrangular interior court ; into which there is a passage (some 
 times arched) through the front part of the house, closed next 
 the street by a heavy folding gate, with a small wicket for single 
 persons, kept by a porter. In the text" (Matt. 26 : 57, 58, 69-75 
 and the parallel passages) "the interior court, often paved or 
 flagged, and open to the sky is the hcdl (aide, Luke 22 : 55) where 
 the attendants made a fire ; and the passage beneath the front 
 of the house, from the street to this court, is \heporch" (proau- 
 lion or pul on, Matt. 26 : 71 ; Mark 14 : 68). " The place where 
 Jesus stood before the high priest, may have been an open room 
 or place of audience on the ground-floor, in the rear or on one 
 side of the court ; such rooms, open in front, being customary. 
 It was close upon the court ; for Jesus heard all that was going 
 on around the fire, and turned and looked upon Peter. Luke 
 22 : 61." That it was in such a room that our Lord ate his last 
 passover with his disciples is more doubtful. It is called simply 
 a large chamber (Greek anagaion, a term used only in the present 
 connection, Mark 14 : 15 ; Luke 22 : 12), which is not necessarily 
 
388 BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 identical with either the room just described or the upper cham 
 ber on the roof (huperdorij see below). Oriental houses are also 
 furnished with guest chambers fitted up in the best style which 
 the means of their owners will allow ; often paved with marble 
 or colored tiles, with a fountain in the centre, and a raised plat 
 form (divan] on each of three sides, with mattresses and cush 
 ions at the back. In addition to this the ceilings are often richly 
 panelled and ornamented. There are usually no special bed 
 rooms in eastern houses. A low divan raised round the sides of 
 the room serves for seats by day and for sleeping by night. It 
 should be noticed that the corner of the divan is the place of 
 honor, which the master never quits in receiving strangers. 
 
 7. From the court to the roof or upper stories there are 
 sometimes two flights of stairs ; but from the galleries upward 
 a single flight generally suffices. Jehu was proclaimed king on 
 the top of the stairs, where those assembled in the court below 
 could witness the transaction. 2 Kings 9 : 13. It is only in the 
 humblest class of dwellings that the roof is reached by a ladder 
 from the outside. The window* are without glass, but have a 
 lattice which can be opened or shut at pleasure. This furnishes 
 fresh air, while it shelters those within from the sun. Most of 
 the windows look into the court within the house ; but one or 
 more open outwardly, projecting considerably beyond the lower 
 part of the building, so as to overhang the street. When the 
 lattice is closed those within can look out without being them 
 selves visible. Judg. 5 : 28 ; 2 Sam. 6 : 16. When Jezebel 
 " painted her face, and tired her head, and looked out at a win 
 dow " (2 Kings 9 : 30), the window was manifestly open. Through 
 this the eunuchs within looked out to Jehu, and at his command 
 threw down their mistress. The chamber in Daniel s palace at 
 Babylon had several windows, which he left open when he 
 prayed, that his acts of worship might not be concealed. Dan. 
 f> : 10. " The projecting nature of the window, and the fact tlmt 
 a divan or raised seat encircles the interior of each, so that usu 
 ally persons sitting in the window are seated close to the aper 
 ture, explains how Ahaziah may have fallen through the lattice 
 
HOUSES AND THEIll APPOINTMENTS. 389 
 
 of his "upper chamber (2 Kings 1:2), and Eutychus from his 
 window-seat (Acts 20 : 9), especially if the lattices wore open at 
 the time." Fairbairn s Bible Diet. 
 
 8. The roofs of oriental houses are flat and made of various 
 materials. " The flat roofs of the houses in this region [Leba 
 non] are constructed," says Robinson (Bib. Res. 3, p. 39), " by 
 laying, first, large beams at intervals of several feet ; then rude 
 joists ; on which again are arranged small poles close together, 
 or brushwood; and upon this is spread earth or gravel rolled 
 hard. This rolling is often repeated, especially after rain ; for 
 these roofs are apt to leak. For this purpose a roller of stone, is 
 kept ready for use on the roof of every house. Grass is often 
 seen growing on these roofs ;" and again (p. 44) : " The roof was 
 of the usual kind, supported by rude props. It rained heavily 
 during the night; and the water found its way through upon 
 us. Quite early in the morning we heard our host at work roll 
 ing the roof; and saw the same process going on with other 
 houses. Goats, also, were cropping the grass growing on sev 
 eral roofs." Similar is Thomson s description (vol. 2, p. 7) : " The 
 materials now employed are beams about three feet apart, across 
 which short sticks are arranged close together, and covered with 
 the thickly matted thorn-bush, called bettan. Over this is spread 
 a coat of stiff mortar, and then comes the marl or earth which 
 makes the roof." Eoofs of an inferior kind are formed of palm- 
 leaves, cornstalks, reeds, etc., covered with a layer of earth. These 
 flat earthen roofs furnish, as the above accounts show, but a 
 poor protection against a heavy rain-storin. They soon become 
 thoroughly soaked through, and begin to drip upon those under 
 neath. "This continual dropping tuk, tuk all day and all 
 night, is the most annoying thing in the world, unless it be the 
 ceaseless clatter of a contentious woman." Thomson, vol. 1, 
 p. 453. It is to this " continual dropping " of water through the 
 roof to which Solomon, has reference when he says (Prov. 27 : 15) : 
 "A continual dropping in a very rainy day and a contentious 
 woman are alike ;" and again (Prov. 19 : 13) : " The contentions 
 of a wife are a continual dropping." 
 
390 BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 It is easy to understand how grass can spring up on an oriental house 
 top during the rainy season, and how certainly it must wither and die us 
 soon as the*dry season sets in. Psa. 129 : 6, 7. 
 
 The account given by the evangelists of the healing of the paralytic 
 (Mark 2 : 3, seq. ; Luke 5 : 18, seq. ) naturally raises in the reader s mind two 
 questions: (1.) How did those who bore the sick man get access to the 
 roof ? Not apparently by the stairs within the court, for that was filled 
 by the throng. They could, however, easily reach it from a neighboring 
 roof ; and this supposition is more probable than that the stairs were on 
 the outside of the house, where they are rarely placed "except in moun 
 tain villages, and where roofs are but little used." Thomson, vol. 1, p. 53. 
 (2.) How could they safely uncover the roof above such a crowd ? That 
 they did this is plain from the narrative. Mark says that they uncov 
 ered the roof where he was, and having dug through " (so the original 
 reads), "they let down the bed wherein the paralytic lay." According to 
 Luke they "let him down through the tiles with his couch." The couch 
 was merely a quilt well padded ; and the roof a covering of tiles, over which 
 we may suppose that a layer of earth was spread. It was no difficult work 
 to scrape away the earth and remove the tiles and cross-pieces on which 
 they rested over a space sufficient to admit the descent of the couch, with 
 out danger to those who stood below. See Thomson, vol. 2, pp. 6-8. 
 
 8. The mm made of the roof by the orientals are almost 
 innumerable. " During a large part .of the year the roof is 
 the most agreeable place about the establishment, especially in 
 the morning and evening. There multitudes sleep during the 
 summer, in all places where malaria does not render it danger 
 ous. This custom is very ancient." Thomson, vol. 1, pp. 49, 50. 
 It is also a place for social intercourse and for meditation and 
 prayer. When Samuel and Saul had come down from the high 
 place into the city, they communed together on the roof of the 
 house. " And they arose early : and it came to pass as the morn 
 ing dawned that Samuel called to Saul upon the roof" (that is, 
 called from below to Saul, who was upon the roof, and had slept 
 there, perhaps in the "upper chamber" erected upon it), "say 
 ing, Up, that I may send thee away." David walked on the roof 
 of his house for refreshment at eventide (2 Sam. 11 : 2) ; Peter 
 went upon the house-top to pray (Acts 10 : 9) ; and the people in 
 Nehemiah s day made booths upon the roofs of their houses at 
 the feast of tabernacles (Neh. 8 : 16). Idolaters also celebrated 
 
HOUSES AND THEIR APPOINTMENTS. 391 
 
 their rites on the roofs of houses and upper chambers. Zeph. 1:5; 
 Jer. 19 : 13 ; 2 Kings 23 : 12. The roof also serves a variety of 
 domestic purposes. Rahab hid the two spies on her roof " with 
 the stalks of flax which she had laid in order upon the roof." 
 Josh. 2 : G. Here in modern times " the farmer suns his wheat 
 for the mill, and the flour when brought home, and dries his figs, 
 raisins, etc., etc., in safety both from animals and from thieves." 
 Thomson, vol. 1, p. 49. It is a matter of course that in times of 
 public excitement, the people should throng to the roofs of their 
 houses to watch the progress of events. Isa. 22 : 1. 
 
 The roof of the temple of Dagon at Gaza was capable of holding three 
 thousand persons, and it was so constructed that they who were upon it 
 could see what was going on in the area of the temple below. It Is mani 
 fest, therefore, that it did not cover the whole temple. It was probably a 
 wide gallery or tier of galleries one above another, projecting far into the 
 temple, and supported in front by a row of pillars, the two middle pillars, 
 on which the greatest weight rested, being near together. When these 
 were pulled down, the central part fell, and earned down with itself the 
 whole gallery, loaded as it was with the weight of three thousand persons. 
 
 9. A place of such constant resort as the oriental roof needs 
 battlements for the protection of those upon it. The law of Moses 
 made the building of these an imperative duty : " When thou 
 buildest a new house, then thou shalt make a battlement for thy 
 roof, that thou bring not blood upon thy house, if any man fall 
 from thence." Deut. 22 : 8. " Upper chambers" (Heb. aliybth) 
 are also erected upon the roof. Robinson says : " "We were ad 
 mitted to the top of a sheikh s house [at Tulluzah] to take bear 
 ings. The house was built around a small court, in which cattle 
 and horses were stabled. Thence a stone-staircase led up to the 
 roof of the house proper ; on w r hich, at the northwest and south 
 east corners, were high single rooms like towers, with a staircase 
 inside leading to the top." Bib. Ees., vol. 3, p. 302. Such an 
 upper chamber on the roof is peculiarly cool and comfortable. 
 Samuel would naturally assign it to Saul as his lodging-place 
 during the night. Besides these upper chambers, Kobinson 
 mentions (Rib. Res., vol. 1, p. 213), as a mode of building appa- 
 
392 BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 rently peculiar to Judea, small domes on the roofs, sometimes two 
 or three to each house. He did not notice this north of NAlmlus. 
 
 In our Saviour s prediction of the overthrow of Jerusalem, when the 
 time for escape has come, he admonishes him that is upon the housetop 
 not to come down to take anything out of his house. Matt. 24 : 17. This 
 may mean either that in descending within the court from the roof to the 
 street he shall not stop to enter any apartment for the purpose of carrying 
 away his effects, or that he shall pass from his own roof to the next, and 
 so on by the most speedy route to the city gate. 
 
 The housetop is in the East the place for public proclamations. "At 
 the present day, local governors in county districts cause their commands 
 thus to be published." Thomson, vol. 1, p. 51. It is with allusion to this 
 practice that our Lord says (Matt. 10 : 27) : "What I tell you in darkness, 
 that speak ye in light ; and what ye hear in the ear " whispered into the 
 ear "that preach ye upon the housetops;" and (Luke 12:3): "That 
 which ye have spoken in the ear in closets, shall be proclaimed upon the 
 housetops;" where proclaiming from the housetops means simply pro 
 claiming in the most public manner. , 
 
 10. Oriental houses have no chimneys. When the fire is made 
 in the court, as on the occasion of our Lord s trial (Luke 22 : 55), 
 the smoke escapes into the open air. Within the house the fire 
 place (which is a mere indentation in the floor, like a pan or 
 basin, to hold the ashes) may be in any part of the room, with 
 a small hole in the roof as a vent for the smoke; or it may 
 escape by the doors and windows. Eobinson, Bib. Kes., vol. 3, 
 pp. 40, 44. The nearest approach to a chimney which Hobinson 
 noticed was " a hearth in one corner, with a funnel over it for 
 the smoke." Bib. Res., vol. 3, p. 60. The monarchs and nobles 
 of Judah and Israel had summer-houses and winter-houses (Jer. 
 36 : 22 ; Amos 3 : 15), wliich were not necessarily distinct struc 
 tures, like the summer and winter residences of the Persian 
 kings; but may have been different sections of the same palace. 
 The summer loft of Eglon (Judg. 3 : 20), called also the summer 
 chamber (ver. 24) was an upper room, probably the upper cham 
 ber on the roof already described. 
 
 The houses of Egypt have a hollow frame on the roof open to the north 
 to receive the cool breeze from that quarter, whence it is conducted by 
 pipes to the different apartments of the house. 
 
HOUSES AND THEIK APPOINTMENTS. 393 
 
 11. The materials of eastern houses vary with their quality. 
 Where stone is abundant, as in the larger part of Palestine, 
 houses of the better class, are constructed of it. In the absence 
 of stone, bricks, more commonly unbumed, are employed; but 
 thousands of dwellings in Palestine have only mud walls, which, 
 when neglected, speedily crumble intaan undistinguishable mass 
 of ruins. Such houses were as common in ancient times as they 
 are now, especially on the Mediterranean plain where stone is 
 wanting. Owing to the scarcity of timber, wood is not now em 
 ployed in Palestine for the framework and covering of houses, 
 nor was it in ancient times, the use of it in Ordinary buildings 
 being dispensed with as far as possible. Ceilings of cedar were 
 a part of the ostentation for which Jeremiah reproached the 
 king of Judah. Chap. 22 : 14, 15. We have seen, in the case of 
 Solomon s temple (Chap. 2, No. 32), what an immense amount 
 of labor was bestowed upon the foundation. At the present day, 
 all who are able to do so dig deep and lay the foundation of their 
 houses on the rock. Our Saviour s figure, drawn from the two 
 houses built one upon the rock and the other on the sand (Matt. 
 7 : 24-27 ; Luke 6 : 47-49), was doubtless suggested by examples 
 in actual life. It might easily happen that an improvident man, 
 constructing in the dry season his frail tenement of unburnt 
 bricks or mud, would build upon the sand, only to be swept 
 away with it by the winds and torrents of winter. * 
 
 In Egypt siin-dried bricks were the common material for private edifi 
 ces. Those made of pure clay needed no straw ; but those formed of the 
 Nile mud had not sufficient tenacity without the addition of straw. Exod. 
 5 : 7, seq. The Israelites, as a nation of slaves, were extensively employed 
 in brick-making. The monuments contain representations of the whole 
 process, superintended by task-masters with rods. Bricks were also em 
 ployed to some extent among the ancient Israelites in Palestine (Isa. 9 : 10), 
 but their use does not seem to have been common except on the Mediter 
 ranean plain, most of which was in possession of the Philistines. The 
 Assyrians and Babylonians also used bricks for building purposes. In 
 Babylonia burned and sun-dried bricks were both employed ; the former 
 especially for the paving of floors and courts, the casing of massive walls, 
 and wherever strength and durability were required. The burned bricks 
 were cemented with hot bitumen. Herodotus thus describes the manner 
 
 17* 
 
394 BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 in which the walls of Babylon were built : "As fast as they dug the moat 
 [the great moat around the walls] the soil which they got from the cutting 
 was made into bricks, and when a sufficient number were completed they 
 baked the bricks in kilns. Then they set to building, and began with 
 bricking the borders of the moat, after Avhich they proceeded to construct 
 the wall itself, using throughout for their cement hot bitumen, and inter 
 posing a layer of wattled reecjs at every thirtieth course of the bricks." 
 Book 1, chap. 179. All this illustrates the scriptural account of the mate 
 rials used in building the tower of Babel. Gen. 11 : 3. In Assyria they 
 had no bitumen, and there baked bricks were less used. The ancient 
 bricks were much larger than those employed in modern times, as the sam 
 ples in all our museums show. The burned bricks, as well as the stone 
 slabs employed in building, are covered with cuneiform inscriptions, and 
 vast numbers of them bear the name of Nebuchadnezzar. 
 
 12. Among the appointments of an oriental house, the divan 
 or raised seat around the borders of the room occupies a con 
 spicuous place. In the houses of the wealthy, the divans are 
 floored and adorned with marbles inlaid in patterns. These 
 serve for seats by day, and on them they place their beds by 
 night. Among the ancients bedsteads of iron and other materi 
 als were not unknown. Og s bedstead was of iron (Deut. 3 : 11), 
 Amos speaks of beds of ivory (chap. 6 : 4), and bedsteads of vari 
 ous patterns are represented on the Egyptian monuments. But 
 the bed in common use was simply a mattress with a pillow, that 
 could be spread anywhere as convenience required. Carpets and 
 mats, curtains and awnings, abound in the better class of orien 
 tal houses. The monuments of ancient Egypt exhibit stools, 
 chairs, and tables, as well as couches ; but such articles are not 
 common at the present day, and perhaps never were except 
 among the rich and luxurious. In describing a house at Tibnin, 
 Eobinson says (Bib. Res., vol. 3, p. 60) : " In our room was a 
 single wooden chair, of the rudest and most ordinary kind; a 
 wonder in this region, and probably procured with a view to the 
 entertainment of Franks." The oriental fashion is to sit on the 
 divan with the lower limbs crossed. 
 
 13. The forbidding aspect of the streets in oriental cities, 
 owing partly to their narrowness and filth and partly to the 
 absence of windows opening into them from the houses, has 
 
HOUSES AND THEIR APPOINTMENTS. 395 
 
 already been noticed. Where the ground is level and the houses 
 are of the same height, one may easily pass over the roofs from 
 one house to another. Before the invention of gunpowder, walls 
 with gates and bars, and towers upon them at intervals, were 
 indispensable. Although of little value in modern warfare, they 
 remain in multitudes of cases as monuments of the past. The 
 references to these walls and gates are very numerous in Scrip 
 ture; but their use will best be considered under another divis 
 ion of this work. 
 
396 BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 CHAPTEE XVII. 
 
 DRESS AND PERSONAL ORNAMENTS. 
 
 1. WE here confine ourselves to an account of the ordinary 
 garments of the Hebrews. Those belonging to priestly and mil 
 itary attire will be considered elsewhere. Of the dress of the 
 ancient Israelites we have only incidental notices in Scripture. 
 Omitting minute details, we give a brief description of those in 
 daily use. ulhe general form of these may be gathered, as in the 
 case of oriental houses, from the Egyptian and Assyrian monu 
 ments, from the notices of ancient writers, and especially from 
 the articles of modern apparel now in use in these regions. 
 "With the exception of the foreign Turkish costume, and the 
 modifications thereof, and with certain local exceptions, chiefly 
 in mountainous regions, it may be said that there is one prevail 
 ing costume in all the coimtries of Asia between the Tigris and 
 Mediterranean, and throughout Northern Africa, from the Nile 
 to Morocco and the banks of the Senegal." Alexander s Kitto. 
 The substantial icfentity of this costume with that of the ancient 
 Israelites and their neighbors cannot be reasonably doubted. 
 In its loose and flowing character it differs strikingly from our 
 western style of dress. Many articles of apparel or ornament 
 
 are mentioned by the sacred writers, particularly in reference to 
 female attire ; but there are three garments that deserve especial 
 notice, which, for want of more exact terms, we may call the tunic 
 ox frock, the robe, and the mantle or outer garment. Of these 
 three, two only, the first and the last, with the girdle and san 
 dals, appear to have been customarily worn by the masses of the 
 people. 
 
 2. The tunic or frock (kdlioneth, generally but inappropriately 
 rendered coat in our version) was a shirt or frock worn next to 
 the skin. It might be of any material leather, haircloth, wool, 
 
DRESS AND PERSONAL ORNAMENTS. 397 
 
 cotton, linen and was of various lengths. In its simplest form, 
 as represented on the monuments, it was without sleeves, reach 
 ing about to the knees, but sometimes to the ankles. A more 
 costly kind, worn by the better classes, extended to the ankles, 
 and also had sleeves. The tunic was common to men and wom 
 en (2 Sam. 13 : 18 ; Cant. 5 : 3), probably with some distinction 
 of style and pattern for the different sexes. 
 
 In warm weather the tunic often forms the sole dress of the 
 lower classes. Persons of higher rank may wear this garment 
 alone within doors, but no respectable person appears out of 
 doors or receives calls without an outer garment. The term 
 naked seems to be occasionally applied to those who are clad 
 with the tunic alone. Isa; 20 : 2-4 ; Micah 1:8; perhaps also 
 
 John 21 : 7. 
 
 
 
 The tunic which Jacob gave to Joseph (Gen. 37 : 3) is rendered in our 
 version, after the Septuagint and Vulgate, a coat of many colors. But in 
 2 Sam. 13 : 18, where the Hebrew expression is the same, the Greek and 
 Latin give a sleeved tunic; and this is the rendering generally preferred by 
 biblical scholars. It is not certain, however, that this was the proper tunic 
 worn next to the skin. That of Taniar seems to have been the robe to be 
 presently described. It is remarkable that Herodotus (book 7, chap. 61) 
 describes the Persians who took part in Xerxes expedition against Greece 
 as having about their bodies sleeved tunics of divers colors. 
 
 3. An essential accompaniment of the tunic was the girdle, 
 worn alike by men and women, and made of very different mate 
 rials. Girdles of the plainest kind were made of leather. 2 Kings 
 1:8; Matt. 3:4; Mark 1 : 6. Those of a finer quality were made 
 of linen (Jer. 13 : 1 ; Ezek. 16 : 10), and frequently adorned with 
 gold and gems. Dan. 10:5; Eev. 1:13; 15:6. In a word, 
 the girdle was anciently, as it is now, an article of apparel on 
 which much ornament could be lavished. The high priest s gir 
 dle was " of gold, of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine linen." 
 Exod. 28 : 8. Costly girdles, especially military girdles, were 
 sometimes given as presents. 1 Sam. 18 : 4 ; 2 Sam. 18 : 11. 
 Girding up the loins everywhere in Scripture represents prepara 
 tion for activity. "The orientals dress," says Robinson (Lex. 
 
398 BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 New Test.), " in long loose robes flowing clown around the feet ; 
 so that when they wish to run, or fight, or apply themselves to 
 any business, they are accustomed to bind their garments close 
 around them." Hence the direction to the Israelites that they 
 should eat their first passover in Egypt with their loins girded, 
 their shoes on their feet, and their staff in their hand, ready to 
 commence their journey at any moment. Exod. 12 : 11. So also 
 Elijah girded up his loins to run before Ahab s chariot (1 Kings 
 18 : 46) ; Gehazi to go in haste from Mount Carmel to Shunem 
 (2 Kings 4 : 29) ; and the young prophet to go at Elisha s bidding 
 to anoint Jehu (2 Kings 9:1). But it was not simply conveni 
 ence of labor and travel that was accomplished by the girdle. It 
 added strength also and capacity of endurance, especially the 
 military girdle. Hence we can readily understand how the act 
 of girding up the loins was employed metaphorically to repre 
 sent vigor, physical and mental, as well as preparation for active 
 service, especially spiritual preparation and watchfulness. Job 
 12:18; 38:3; Isa. 22:21; Luke 12:35; 1 Pet. 1:13. In Isa. 
 11 : 5, righteousness is, by a beautiful figure, represented as the 
 girdle of the Messiah s loins; and in Ephes. 6:14, the apostle 
 makes truth the Christian soldier s girdle. 
 
 In 2 Sam. 20 : 8, Joab s sword girdle is apparently distinct from the 
 girdle of his garment ; that is, it is a sword belt. The girdle seems to have 
 served for carrying various articles, as a writer s inkhorn (Ezek. 9 : 2, where 
 the Hebrew reads a writer s inkhorn upon his loins, apparently attached to 
 his girdle), and probably pouches and other necessaiy things. See Jahn s 
 Archaeology, 121. 
 
 4. The robe (mett, sometimes rendered mantle in our version) 
 was a sort of second tunic, fuller and more flowing, worn over 
 the first and reaching to the feet. It was made of linen, and 
 was ordinarily destitute of sleeves. Josephus describes the high 
 priest s robe as consisting not of two pieces sewed together, but 
 of a single piece woven quite around its whole length, with a slit 
 for the head in he direction from the breast to the back between 
 the shoulders, and with slits also for the armholes. Antiq. 3. 
 7. 4. The seamless coat of our Saviour (called tunic by John, 
 
DRESS AND PERSONAL ORNAMENTS. 399 
 
 chap. 19 : 23, a term applied also by Josephus to the high priest s 
 robe) was evidently woven in the same way. The robe does not 
 appear to have been worn by the masses, but only by persons in 
 the higher walks of life. Besides the notices of the high priest s 
 robe (Exod. 28 : 31, etc.), it is mentioned as worn by Job and his 
 three Mends (Job 1:20; 2:12); by Samuel (1 Sam. 2:19; 
 28 : 14) ; by Saul and Jonathan (1 Sam. 15 : 27 ; 18 : 4 ; 24 : 4) ; 
 by David when he danced before the ark (1 Chron. 15 : 27) ; by 
 Ezra (Ezra 9:3, 5); by the princes of the sea (Ezek. 26:16); 
 and by kings daughters when it was furnished with sleeves 
 (2 Sam. 13 : 18). With these notices agree also the figura 
 tive uses of the word. Job 29 : 14; Psa. 109 : 29; Isa. 59 : 17; 
 61:10. 
 
 5. The outer garment or mantle (simlah or salmah, frequently 
 rendered cloak in our version) was, like the tunic, an indispensa 
 ble article for all classes. It was simply a square piece of cloth, 
 varying in size and quality, worn on the body by day, and used 
 as a covering by night. Hence the law forbidding the creditor 
 to keep the debtor s outer garment over night when taken as a 
 pledge : " If thou at all take thy neighbor s mantle to pledge, 
 thou shalt deliver it unto him by that the sun goeth down ; for 
 that is his only covering ; it is his mantle for his skin : wherein 
 shaU he sleep?" Exod. 22:26, 27; Deut. 24:13. The wide 
 mantle (adderetli) is mentioned as a rich outer robe of Babylonian 
 origin (Josh. 7 : 21, 24), and as worn by the king of Nineveh 
 (Jonah 3 : 6). It might be also a rough garment of hair (Gen. 
 25 : 25), and worn by prophets (1 Kings 19 : 19; 2 Kings 2 : 8, 13, 
 14 ; Zech. 13 : 4). The precise difference between this and the 
 common outer garment (simlah) cannot be determined. 
 
 The corresponding female garment (or at least a variety of it) seems to 
 be that named milpahath, wide mqntle. In Ruth 3 : 15 it is rendered veil, 
 but in the margin sheet, or apron. In Isa. 3 : 22 it is rendered wimple, an 
 old English term for a sort of veil or hood, "formerly worn as an out-door 
 covering, and still retained in the dress of nuns in conventual costume." 
 Webster. But the use to which Boaz put it indicates more naturally a 
 wide outer garment, which was so far forth a veil as that the whole body, 
 the face included, might be wrapped in it. 
 
400 BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 A writer in Alexander s Kitto (Art. Dress) describes three kinds of outer 
 garments worn by the Arab tribes: (1.) The abba, a cloak made of wool 
 and hair, of various degrees of fineness, "altogether shapeless, being like 
 a square sack, with an opening in front, and with slits at the sides to let 
 out the arms. The Arab who wears it by day sleeps in it by night, as does 
 also the peasant by whom it has been adopted;" (2.) The burnus (more 
 generally worn by the Arabs of North Africa), a wooUen cloak not unlike 
 the abba, but furnished with a hood ; (3.) The Jtaik, a large woollen blanket, 
 either white or brown, and in summer a cotton sheet (usually blue or 
 white, or both colors together). Putting one corner before over the left 
 shoulder, the wearer brings it behind, and then under the right arm, and 
 so over the body, throwing it behind over the left shoulder, and leaving 
 the right arm free for action. " 
 
 Linen breeches or drawers were worn by the priests in their ministra 
 tions (Exod. 28: 42 ; Lev. 6 : 10 ; 16 : 4 ; Ezek. 44 : 18); but they are not 
 mentioned elsewhere, and seem to have been unknown in daily usage. 
 
 6. The oriental shoe (of our version) is a sandal made of leath 
 er, skin, felt, wood, etc. ; protecting simply the sole of the foot, 
 and bound to it by thongs. On the Egyptian monuments the 
 sandals are usually represented as turned up at the toe ; but 
 some forms are rounded and pointed. Assyrian sandals some 
 times encased simply the heel and sides of the foot. Modem 
 oriental ladies bestow much attention upon their slippers, em 
 broidering them with flowers and other figures wrought in silk, 
 silver, and gold. The same care seems to have been given by 
 Hebrew women of rank and wealth to their sandals. Cant. 7:1; 
 Ezek. 16 : 10. Compare Judith 10 : 4 ; 16 : 9. The stranger, upon 
 entering an oriental house, was met by a servant who unloosed 
 the.latchet of his sandals, removed them, and brought water to 
 wash his feet. Gen. 18 : 4 ; 19 : 2 ; 43 : 24 ; 1 Sam. 25 : 41. As 
 the offices belonged to the lowest among the servants, the per 
 formance o them naturally became the symbol of humility. So 
 John the Baptist said of the Saviour: "He that cometh after 
 me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear ;" 
 "There cometh one mightier than I after me, the latchet of 
 whose shoes I am not worthy to stoop down and unloose " (Matt 
 3 : 11 ; Mark 1:7; Luke 3 : 16) ; and so afterwards the Saviour 
 washed the feet of his disciples, as an example that they should 
 
DRESS AND PERSONAL ORNAMENTS. 401 
 
 do likewise (Jolm 13 : 4, seq.). Among the qualifications which 
 entitled a widow to be "taken into the number" (enrolled for 
 special service in the church, and probably also for maintenance 
 in part), it is required that she shall have washed the feet of 
 strangers. 1 Tim. 5 : 10. Upon entering a room, the orientals 
 always remove then* sandals. No one can pass the threshold of 
 a sanctuary till he has first laid aside his shoes. Eobinson, Bib. 
 Hes., vol. 2, p. 36. In general the eastern people remove their 
 shoes where we uncover the head, as a mark of reverence. So 
 Moses before the burning bush, and Joshua before the captain 
 of the Lord s host, receive the command : " Put off thy shoes 
 from off thy feet ; for the place whereon thou standest is holy 
 ground." Exod. 3:5; Josh. 5 : 15. In accordance with the 
 spirit of this command, the priests in the temple are said to have 
 officiated barefoot. 
 
 We learn from Ruth 4 : 7 that it was anciently a custom among the 
 Israelites that the seller should give his sandal to the buyer as a ratifica 
 tion of the bargain. So Elimelech s kinsman, when he transferred to Boaz 
 his hereditary field and the rights connected with it, drew off his shoe and 
 gave it to Boaz, as a sign of the transfer. The same custom is said to have 
 prevailed among the Indians and ancient Germans. Keil, Archreologie, vol. 
 2, p. 66, and the authorities there quoted. The same symbolic act, in a 
 somewhat modified form, appears elsewhere. When a man refused to 
 marry the widow of his deceased brother, she -was to draw off his .shoe in 
 the presence of the magistrates, and spit in his face. Deut. 25 : 5, seq. By 
 this act of unloosing the shoe "she divested him of the place which he 
 held towards her and the deceased brother, or towards the ancestral house." 
 Keil, ubi supra. 
 
 The Psalmist says (Psa. 60 : 8 ; 108 : 9) : " Over Edom [or, upon Edom] 
 will I cast my shoe." This cannot have been as a symbol of possession, in 
 accordance with the custom just referred to ; for that custom would make 
 it rather a symbol of demitting his right over Edom. The modern com 
 mentators render: "Upon Edom [into Edom s hands, considered as a 
 menial servant] will I cast my shoe J" namely, that it may be borne by 
 him ; and this agrees well with the context, which may be thus rendered : 
 "Gilead is mine, and Mauasseh is mine ; Ephraim is also the defence of 
 my head [that is, my helmet] ; Judah is my sceptre ; Moab is my wash 
 basin ; upon Edom will I cast my shoe," etc. While Epliraim and Judah 
 have honorable stations under him, menial offices are assigned to Moab and 
 Edom. 
 
402 BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 7. The Egyptian men shaved the hair of the head and the 
 beard, as we learn from the monuments and the testimony of 
 ancient writers. To let the hair and beard grow was with them 
 a sign of mourning. Herodotus, 2. 36. In accordance with 
 this usage Joseph, when called to stand before Pharaoh, " shaved 
 himself and changed his raiment." Gen. 41 : 14. The Egyptian 
 women wore their natural hair long and plaited, reaching down 
 over their shoulders. Many female mummies have been found 
 with the hair thus plaited, and in a good state of preservation. 
 Wilkinson, Ancient Egyptians, chap. 10. The Hebrews, in com 
 mon with the Assyrians and orientals generally, wore their beard 
 long, and trimmed it with care, neglecting it or plucking it out 
 only in times of deep affliction. 2 Sam. 19 : 24; Ezra 9:3. To 
 shave or mar the beard was a great indignity (2 Sam. 10 : 4-10 ; 
 1 Chron. 19 : 3-5) ; and no one was permitted to touch the beard 
 except intimate friends in the act of kissing (2 Sam. 20 : 9). 
 
 The head-dress of the Assyrian men and of the Egyptians of 
 both sexes is familiar to us from the monuments. Respecting 
 the form of the various coverings and ornaments of the head 
 worn by the ancient Hebrews, we have almost no definite infor 
 mation. We only know that the noble and rich bestowed much 
 care and lavished much wealth upon them ; and that hence the 
 crown and the diadem are in the Old Testament standing sym 
 bols of dignity and honor. Job 29:14; 31:36; Prov. 4:9; 
 12:4; 16:31; Isa. 28:5; 62:3; Jer. 13:18; Ezek. 21:26. In 
 the New Testament the crown represents the royal dignity of 
 the redeemed in heaven. 1 Cor. 9 : 25 ; 2 Tim. 4:8; Jas. 1 : 12 ; 
 IPet. 5:4; Rev. 2:10; 3:11. 
 
 8. As appendages to the apparel of men, we may notice : 
 (1.) The staff 9 so frequently mentioned in Scripture as the trav 
 eller s companion. Gen. 32 : 10 ; 38 : 18, 25 ; Exod. 12 : 11 ; 1 Sam. 
 17 : 40 ; 2 Kings 4 : 29 ; Zech. 8:4; Mark 6:8; etc. (2.) The 
 signet or seal. This was suspended by a cord from the neck over 
 the breast (Gen. 38 : 18, 25 where we should translate : " Thy 
 signet, and thy cord, and thy staff;" Cant. 8:6); or it was at 
 tached to the ring, as in the case of the signet rings of monarchs 
 
DRESS AND PERSONAL ORNAMENTS. 403 
 
 (Gen. 41 : 42 ; Estli. 3 : 10, 12 ; 8 : 2 ; Jer. 22 : 24). The monarch s 
 seal attached to any ordinance was his signature giving it valid 
 ity. Hence the delivery of the king s seal to one of his subjects, 
 as that of Pharaoh to Joseph (Gen. 41 : 42) ; that of Ahasuerus 
 to Haman and afterwards to Mordecai (Esth. 3 : 10, 12 ; 8 : 2), 
 invested him with the right of acting authoritatively in his mon 
 arch s name. It was the custom also at the same time to clothe 
 the royal favorite with official robes, in token of his exaltation 
 (Gen. 41 : 42 ; Esth. 8 : 15 ; Dan. 5 : 29) ; and when he was removed 
 from office these were given to his successor (Isa. 22 : 21). (3.) The 
 necklace of gold or precious gems, worn only by men of high rank. 
 Gen. 41 : 42 ; Dan. 5 : 29. In allusion to tliis usage, the psalmist 
 says of rich and powerful sinners (Psa. 73 : 6) : " Pride compass- 
 eth them about as a chain; violence covereth them as a gar 
 ment;" that is, they glory in their pride and violence, as in a 
 golden necklace or a sumptuous garment; and Solomon com 
 mends to the young man his instructions as an ornament of 
 grace to his head, and chains about his neck (Prov. 1:9; 3 : 22). 
 9. The veil is peculiarly an article of female apparel, in use 
 from very ancient times. The concealment of the female face 
 was not enforced among the ancient Hebrews as rigidly as it is 
 now in Mohammedan regions; yet the etiquette in this respect 
 was stricter than among us. In their ordinary life, the women 
 seem to have had their faces uncovered. Gen. 12 : 14 ; 24 : 16 ; 
 26 : 7. Rebecca travelled with her face unveiled, but when she 
 saw Isaac approaching, " she took a veil and covered herself." 
 Gen. 24 : 65. The bride of Solomon s song goes forth into the 
 streets of the city veiled (Cant. 5:7); and though the whole 
 description be allegorical, it still represents the standing usage 
 for women of her rank and in her circumstances. 
 
 Tlie muslin veil, which conceals the whole face except the eyes, and 
 reaches nearly to the feet, is now a regular part of an Egyptian lady s 
 attire, whenever she appears on the street ; but the ancient Egyptian mon 
 uments represent the women without veils. It may be that Tamar veiled 
 herself for the purpose of concealment, while she indicated her assumed 
 character by sitting in an open place by the way. Gen. 38 : 14. Concern 
 ing the different forms of veils, see below. 
 
404 BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 10. The following passage from Ezekiel (chap. 16 : 10-13) 
 contains a gorgeous portraiture of the apparel of a noble Hebrew 
 woman: "I clothed thee also with broidered work" (garments 
 embroidered with needlework), " and shod thee with badgers 
 skin" (see above, Chap. 7, No. 28), "and I girded thee about 
 with fine linen, and I covered thee with silk. I decked thee also 
 with ornaments, and put bracelets upon thy hands, and a chain 
 on thy neck. And I put a jewel on thy nose " (marginal ren 
 dering), "and ear-rings in thine ears, and a beautiful crown 
 upon thy head. Thus wast thou decked with gold and sil 
 ver ; and thy raiment was of fine linen and silk, and broidered 
 work." 
 
 Isaiah gives also (chap. 3 : 18-24) a catalogue of th e articles of 
 female ornament employed in liis day by the luxurious daugh 
 ters of Zion. We notice in order each term, giving first the 
 word employed in our version, and adding a brief account of the 
 article so far as anything can be determined concerning it : 
 
 Tinkling oi*naments about their feet ankle bands, for the use of which see 
 below under ornaments of the legs. 
 
 Cauls caps of network. But many prefer the rendering sunlets, orna 
 ments resembling little suns worn upon the neck, and this, agrees well with 
 the next term. 
 
 Bound tires like the moon crescents, little moons worn as an ornament on 
 the neck ; worn also on the necks of men and of camels. Judg. 8 : 21, 2G. 
 
 Chains rather ear-drops. 
 
 Bracelets worn round the arms and wrists. 
 
 Mufflers veils. The corresponding Arabic word denotes, according to 
 Freytag, "a species of veil consisting of two parts, which is fastened over 
 the eyes by means of clasps ; one part being thrown back over the head, 
 and the other part hanging down over the breast, so as to cover the lower 
 part of the face." This is probably a near representation of the Hebrew 
 veil denoted by the corresponding word. 
 
 Bonnets head-dresses, probably of various forms. 
 
 Ornaments for the legs generally understood of the ankle-chains attached 
 to the ankle-bands mentioned above, which the oriental women employed 
 to give themselves a short mincing step. See ver. 16 of this chapter. 
 
 Head-bands rather girdles. 
 
 Tablets literally, houses of the soul or of breath; and rightly interpreted 
 to mean boxes of perfume. 
 
NTIQUE GARLANDS, DIADEMS, AND CROWNS. 
 
 TETLS. 
 
 ^^S^S^pa^f^M* - 
 
 ANCIENT HAND-MILL. 
 
DRESS AND PERSONAL ORNAMENTS. 405 
 
 Ear-rings a rendering supported by high Jewish authority ; but many 
 prefer the signification amulets, that is, gems or metallic plates inscribed 
 with magical forms of words, and superstitiously used as charms. 
 
 Rings signet-rings, as the Hebrew word denotes. 
 
 Nose-jewels a common oriental ornament. 
 
 Changeable suits of apparel holiday suits worn on special occasions. 
 
 Mantles wrappers, as the Hebrew word signifies; apparently a wide 
 outer garment that could be wrapped over the whole body. See Hart- 
 mann s Hebrew Bide, vol. 3, p. 310. 
 
 Wimples see above under No. 5. 
 
 Crisping pins rather purses. 
 
 Glasses small metallic mirrors earned in the hand. Some understand 
 the word of fine transparent vestments. 
 
 Fine linen probably female tunics or chemises of fine materials. 
 
 Hoods turbans wound round the head ; worn also by men of rank. Isa. 
 62 : 3 ; Zech. 3 : 5. 
 
 Veils probably a thin gauze-Like covering thrown over the other ap 
 parel. It may have contained, in part at least, the "broidered work" 
 referred to by Ezekiel. 
 
 Sweet smell that coming from perfumes and fragrant ointments. 
 
 Girdle the ornamental girdle worn around the dress. Instead of this 
 shall come the cord or rope (so the Hebrew should be rendered) with which 
 they are led away as captives. 
 
 Well-set hair probably braided locks and curls, in the place of which is 
 to come baldness. 
 
 Stomacher perhaps a wide flowing holiday mantle, in the place of 
 which was to come a girding of sackcloth. 
 
 The practice of painting the eyebroics has prevailed among 
 oriental women from very ancient times. Among the Hebrews, 
 however, if we may judge from the notices of it which we find in 
 the Old Testament, it seems to have been regarded as a meretri 
 cious art. When Jezebel prepared herself to defy Jehu, " she 
 put her eyes in painting" (marginal rendering), "and tired her 
 head, and looked out at a window" (2 Kings 9 : 30;) Jeremiah, 
 comparing Judah to an adulterous woman, says : " Though thou 
 clothest thyself with crimson, though thou deckest thee with 
 ornaments of gold, though thou rendest thine eyes with paint 
 ing, in vain shalt thou. make thyself fair : thy lovers will despise 
 thee, they will seek thy life " ( Jer. 4 : 30) ; and Ezekiel, employ 
 ing the same figure, says (chap. 23 : 40) : " For whom thou didst 
 
406 BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 wash thyself, paintedst thy eyes, and deckedst thyself with orna 
 ments." 
 
 The paint of the ancients (pule) is said to have been a black powder 
 consisting of a preparation of antimony. The modern Egyptian women 
 prepare a like black powder from various materials. They apply it with 
 a small probe of wood, ivory, or silver, first moistened and then dipped in 
 the powder, and drawn along the edges of the eyelids. The effect is said 
 to be an apparent enlargement of the eye and a heightening of its expres- 
 
 Horns made of gold or silver are used at the present day 
 among the Druses of Lebanon (Thomson, vol. 1, p. 101); but 
 there is no reason to suppose that such artificial horns constitu 
 ted a part of the Hebrew woman s apparel. With the sacred 
 writers the horn is simply a symbol of dignity and power. See 
 1 Sam. 2:1; Job 16 : 15 ; Psa. 75 : 4, 10 ; and especially 1 Kings 
 22 : 11. 
 
 11. The earliest material employed for clothing was the skins 
 of animals. Gen. 3 : 21. In process of time men added cloth 
 made of the hair of animals, of wool, of linen, and of cotton. 
 All these articles were well known to the Egyptians, and of 
 course to the Hebrews ; but not silk (mesJti) until the later days 
 of their history. Silk is mentioned only in Ezek. 16 : 10, 13 ; for 
 in Gen. 41 : 42, margin, and Prov. 31 : 22, the term employed 
 denotes linen. 
 
 The term cotton does not occur in our version ; yet the article was in use 
 in Egypt from an early date. The mummy- wrappings, however, are of 
 linen (Wilkinson on the Ancient Egyptians, chap. 9) ; and this, not cotton, 
 seems to have been the dress of both the Egyptian and the Hebrew priests. 
 
 The Hebrews were forbidden to wear garments of mixed 
 materials, woollen and linen. Lev. 19 : 19 ; Deut. 22 : 11. This 
 precept connects itself immediately with others of the same 
 kind that they should not sow their vineyard with divers seeds, 
 nor plough with an ox and an ass together. The object of these 
 precepts, as is suggested by certain commentators, was appa 
 rently to inculcate reverence for the order and distinctions of 
 nature. In the same spirit, and not merely to guard against 
 
DRESS AND PERSONAL ORNAMENTS. 407 
 
 impurity, the two sexes were forbidden to exchange apparel 
 (Deut 22 : 5), and all unnatural practices were prohibited (Lev. 
 
 18 : 22, 23). The fringes on the borders of their garments, which 
 became in later ages a matter of hypocritical ostentation (Matt. 
 23 : 5), were originally prescribed to the Israelites as a memorial 
 that they were a holy nation consecrated to God s service (Numb. 
 15 : 38, 39). The phylacteries worn by the later Jews are little 
 leathern cases containing texts from the law, written on strips of 
 parchment, and worn on the forehead and left arm. They had 
 their origin in the superstitious interpretation of Exod. 13 : 9, 16 ; 
 Deut. 6 : 8, 9, and do not appear to have been in use till after 
 the captivity. Here, as elsewhere, the Pharisees magnified the 
 letter of the law, but lost its spirit. 
 
 12. Among the Hebrews, as among other nations, white was 
 the symbol of purity, and also of prosperity and victory. 2 Chron. 
 5:12; Esth. 8:15; Eccl. 9:8; Kev. 3:4, 18; 7:9," 13; 15:6; 
 
 19 : 8, 14. Sackcloth, on the contrary, made of black hair, was 
 the sign of mourning and affliction. Gen. 37 : 34 ; 2 Sam. 3 : 31 ; 
 1 Kings 20 : 31 ; etc. Purple, often associated with blue and 
 scarlet, was the color appropriate to persons of rank. The Mid- 
 ianitish kings slain by Gideon were clad in purple raiment ( Judg. 
 8 : 26) ; Nehemiah and Daniel, upon their exaltation, were clothed 
 with garments of purple and scarlet (Esth. 8 : 15 ; Dan. 5 : 29) ; 
 and Jeremiah ascribes to the statues of the heathen gods clo 
 thing of blue and purple (chap. 10 : 9). The blue and purple and 
 scarlet colors employed about the curtains of the sanctuary and 
 the dress of the high priest (Exod. chaps. 26, 27, 28) represented 
 the dignity and excellence of God s service, as did also the pre- 
 ciousness of the materials. 
 
 Costly apparel contributed no inconsiderable part of the wealth of the 
 orientals, and the gift of "changes of raiment" was with them a common 
 token of honor. Gen. 45 : 22 ; Judg. 14 : 12, 13 ; 2 Kings 5 : 5. 
 
408 BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 CHAPTEE XVIII. 
 
 THE ^REPARATION OF FOOD AND MEALS. 
 
 1. FOR crushing the kernels of grain, or other substances 
 used for food, the simplest apparatus consists of the mortar and 
 pestle. Mortars are mentioned along with mills as used in the 
 preparation of manna (Numb. 11 : 8), and in the bruising of 
 wheat (Prov. 27 : 22) : " Though thou bray the fool in the mortar 
 among the bruised corn (compare 2 Sam. 17 : 19, where the same 
 Hebrew word is rendered in our version ground corn) with the 
 pestle, his folly will not depart from him." 
 
 The same mode of preparing grain for cooking prevails among the 
 modern Arabs. Niebithr (quoted in Smith s Bible Diet.) saw an Arab 
 sailor on board a vessel take every afternoon the durra or millet necessary 
 for a day s consumption and pound it upon a stone, of which the surface 
 was a little curved, with another stone which was long and rounded. So 
 also Thomson (Land and Book, vol. 1, pp. 134, 135) describes a man "brav 
 ing wheat with a pestle in a mortar to make kibby, the national dish of the 
 Arabs, and a very good one it is. Every family has one or more of these 
 large stone mortars, and you may hear the sound of the * braying at all 
 hours, as you walk the streets of the city." He adds the correct interpre 
 tation : " I suppose Solomon means that, if we pound a fool in a mortar, 
 among wheat, with a pestle, into a batch of kibby, yet will not his foolish 
 ness depart from him." There is no occasion for assuming an allusion to 
 a mode of putting criminals to death by pounding them in a mortar, a cus 
 tom which is said to have existed in some oriental nations ; but it certainly 
 did not among the Hebrews. 
 
 2. For the more perfect trituration of grain, the mill is neces 
 sary. The ancient Hebrew mill, like that of the modern Arabs, 
 was worked by hand. Oriental travellers describe it as consist 
 ing of two circular stones, from eighteen inches to two feet in 
 diameter, and about half a foot thick. The lower stone is fixed, 
 and rises by a slight convexity from the circumference to the 
 centre. The upper, which turns upon it, is fitted to it by a cor- 
 
PREPARATION OF FOOD AND MEALS. 409 
 
 responding concavity, has a hole in the centre through which the 
 corn to be ground is admitted, and a handle by which it ft turned 
 upon the lower stone, and the grain thus crushed. The work of 
 grinding is regarded as a menial employment, and is regularly 
 assigned to women, but sometimes to male prisoners. God s 
 threatening to the Egyptians was that he would slay all the first 
 born of Egypt " from the firstborn of Pharaoh that sitteth upon 
 his throne, even unto the firstborn of the maid-servant that is 
 behind the mill " that is, that sits behind it in the act of grind 
 ing. Exod. 11 : 5. The haughty daughter of Babylon is thus 
 addressed by the prophet : " Come down, sit in the dust ;".... 
 " take the millstones and grind meal." Isa. 47 : 1, seq. She is 
 to be carried captive, stripped of her royal apparel, and employed 
 as a captive in grinding at the mill. So Samson, when taken 
 captive by the Philistines, was deprived of his eyes, and made to 
 grind in the prisonhouse (Judg. 16 : 21) ; as were the young men 
 of Judah in a later age by the Babylonians (Lam. 5 : 13). These 
 hand-mills are worked sometimes by one woman, sometimes by 
 two. Where one is employed, she sits or squats before the mill, 
 " pouring in corn with one hand and holding on to a peg in the 
 stone with the other" (Osborn, Palestine Past and Present, chap. 
 22) ; or, according to Robinson (Bib. Res., vol. 1, p. 485), she 
 "turns the mill with both hands, feeding it occasionally with 
 one." When the mill is worked by two women, they sit facing 
 each other (Matt. 24:41); "both have hold of the handle by 
 which the upper is turned round on the nether millstone. The 
 one whose right hand is disengaged throws in the grain as occa 
 sion requires through the hole in the upper stone, which is called 
 the rekkab (rider) in Arabic, as it was long ago in Hebrew. It 
 is not correct to say that one pushes it half round, and then the 
 other seizes the handle. This would be slow work, and would 
 give a spasmodic motion to the stone. Both retain then: hold, 
 and pull to, or push from, as men do with the whip or cross-cut 
 saw." Thomson, vol. 2, p. 295. In the Saviour s day there were 
 larger mills, worked by an ass. Hence the expression ass-miU- 
 stone (mulos onikos, Matt. 18 : 6). The orientals grind every day. 
 
 Uog. AAntiq. 18 
 
410 BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 Hence the sound of the millstone is a sign of the activity of life, 
 as its absence is of the silence of desolation. " I will take from 
 them," says Jehovah (Jer. 25 : 10), " the voice of mirth, and the 
 voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom, and the voice of 
 the bride, the sound of the millstones, and the light of the can 
 dle." Compare Rev. 18 : 22. In the beautiful allegorical de 
 scription of old age (Eccl. 12 : 1-7), one of the marks of decay is 
 that "the grinding women cease because they are few," and 
 " the doors are shut in the street when the sound of the grinding 
 is low;" that is, dies away. The millstones being thus in daily 
 use, the Israelites were forbidden to take them in pledge : " No 
 man shall take the nether or the upper millstone to pledge : for 
 he taketh a man s life to pledge." Deut. 24 : 6. 
 
 Of Leviathan it is said (Job 41 : 24, ver. 16 of the Hebrew) : "His heart 
 is solid like a stone ; yea, solid like the nether millstone" (not, a piece of 
 the nether millstone) ; where the nether millstone seems to be chosen be 
 cause of its fixed position. 
 
 3. The Icneading-trougJis of the Hebrews (Exod. 8:3; 12 : 34) 
 appear to have been small wooden bowls, such as are represent 
 ed on the Egyptian monuments ; but some think that they con 
 sisted of pieces of leather, that could be drawn up into a bag by 
 means of a running cord along the border, such as those in winch 
 the Bedouin Arabs prepare and often carry their dough. 
 
 4. The bread of the Hebrews was of two kinds, leavened and 
 unleavened. On all occasions of haste unleavened cakes were 
 prepared, and baked in the ashes, as was done by Sarah. Gen. 
 18 : 6. These are called from their shape vggofJi, round cakes, 
 and unleavened round cakes. Exod. 12 : 39. Having considera 
 ble thickness they would require turning ; otherwise they would 
 be dough on the one side, and burned on the other, as the prophet 
 describes the Israelitish nation : " Epliraim is a cake not turned." 
 Hosea 7 : 8. 
 
 Robinson describes the modern process as follows : They " the Arabs 
 "had brought along some flour, or rather meal of wheat and barley filled 
 with chaff; of which they now kneaded a round flat cake of some thick- 
 
PREPARATION OF FOOD AND MEALS. 411 
 
 This they threw into the ashes and coals of a fire they had kindled ; 
 and after due time brought out a loaf of bread, as black on the outside as 
 the coals themselves, and not much whiter within. After breaking it up 
 small in a dish while still warm, they mixed it with some of the butter they 
 had stolen, and thus made their meal." Bib. Res., vol. 2, pp. 117, 118. 
 Again he says (ibid., p. 262): "The men were baking a large round flat 
 cake of bread, in the embers of a fire of camel s and cow dung. Taking it 
 out when done, they brushed off the ashes and divided it among the party, 
 offering us also a portion. I tasted it, and found it quite as gocJd as the 
 common bread of the country. They*had no other provisions. These 
 were men of Bethlehem ; and this is the common fare of persons travelling 
 in this manner." This last extract serves to illustrate a passage in Ezekiel 
 (chap. 4 : 9-17), where the prophet is commanded to bake his bread "with 
 dung that cometh out of man ;" that is, with this dung as a fuel. Upon 
 his remonstrance he is allowed cow s dung instead. Owing to the scarcity 
 of wood, dried ordure is a common article of fuel in Palestine and the 
 adjoining regions. 
 
 The unleavened bread used by the modern Jews at the pass- 
 over consists of " very thin sheets, almost like paper, very white, 
 and also veiy delicate and palatable " (Robinson, Bib. Res., vol. 
 1, p. 223); and it probably represents with tolerable accuracy 
 the paschal unleavened bread of ancient tunes. The question of 
 the religious significance of unleavened bread will be discussed 
 in another place. 
 
 The leavened bread of the orientals is also made in thin loaves, 
 which are broken, not cut. Hence the common expression " to 
 break bread." 
 
 5. Royal establishments had then- bakeries (Gen. 40 : 1, seq. ; 
 1 Sam. 8:13), and public ovens existed in cities. The street of the 
 bakers (Jer. 37 : 21) was evidently named from the public ovens 
 found there ; and such are also the ovens mentioned by Hosea 
 (chap. 7 : 4, 6) : " They are all adulterers, as an oven heated by 
 the baker, who ceaseth from raising after he hath kneaded the 
 dough until it be leavened ;" " their baker sleepeth all the 
 night " while the dough is in process of being leavened ; " in the 
 morning it burneth as of a flaming fire." Such large ovens are 
 now made of brick, and are not very dissimilar to our own. But, 
 as a rule, each family baked in its own private oven, which 
 
412 BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 might be either portable or fixed. The portable oven was a large 
 jar of stone, earthenware, or metal, about three feet high, heated 
 by kindling within a fire of brush-wood, dried grass, or the stalks 
 of thistles, weeds, flowers, etc. Matt. 6 : 30. When the fire had 
 burned down, the thin cakes were applied to it inwardly or out 
 wardly. Such ovens were in use anciently among the Egyp 
 tians, and are still common among the Bedouin Arabs. See in 
 Smith s Bible Diet., Art. Brea/L The fixed oven was a pit sunk 
 in the ground, the sides being coated with clay or cement, and 
 the bottom paved with stones. "When it was heated, the dough 
 might be plastered on its sides for a few moments in thin flaps, 
 and then removed and eaten hot ; or placed upon the stones at 
 the bottom, and the mouth of the oven closed. Such ovens are 
 common in Persia, and after the process of cooking is over, they 
 furnish a genial warmth to the members of the household. 
 
 6. Other simple modes of cooking are in use now among the 
 orientals, and doubtless were in ancient times. One of these is 
 " a sort of pan of earthenware or iron (usually the latter), flat or 
 slightly convex, which is put over a slow fire, and on which the 
 thin flaps of dough are laid and baked with considerable expedi 
 tion." Then, again, "there is a cavity in the fire-hearth, in 
 which, when required for baking, a fire is kindled and burned 
 down to hot embers. A plate of iron, or sometimes copper, is 
 placed over the hole, and on this the bread is baked." Alexan 
 der s Kitto, Art. Bread. As to the processes of boiling, stewing, 
 and roasting, they are in all ages and countries substantially the 
 same, and need no elucidation. 
 
 In the second chapter of Leviticus mention is made of an oblation baken 
 in the oven (ver. 4), of another cooked in a pan (ver. 5), and of a third 
 cooked in the so-called frying-pan (ver. 7). The pan (Heb. mahabhath] is 
 probably the flat plate described above ; but the so-called/rym^r-pem (Heb. 
 marlieshetfi) is probably a pot or kettle for boiling. 
 
 7. The orientals are, in general, sparing in the use of flesh. 
 Their diet consists mainly of bread, vegetables* of various kinds, 
 especially lentils made into pottage, and fruits, with milk, curd, 
 and honey. Owing to the difficulty of preserving flesh in a warm 
 
PKEPARATION OF FOOD AND MEALS. 413 
 
 climate, it is customary when an animal is slain to cook and eat 
 it without much delay. Locusts were allowed to the Hebrews 
 (Lev. 11 : 21, 22), and they are a common article of food in the 
 East, as also in Africa. They are boiled or roasted, stewed or 
 fried. Sometimes they are ground or powdered, mixed with 
 flour, arid made into cakes; or they are salted, dried, and pre 
 served for future use. Salt is an essential article of diet, and 
 the symbol of inviolable friendship. To eat bread and salt 
 together is the sign of a firm league of amity ; and " a covenant 
 of salt" (Numb. 18 : 19; 2 Chron. 13 : 5) means one that is indis 
 soluble. 
 
 For the distinctions of clean and undedn in respect to food, see the 
 eleventh chapter of Leviticus. The religious significance of these distinc 
 tions will be considered elsewhere. The Hebrews were forbidden to seethe 
 a kid in th(5 milk of its mother. Exod. 23 : 19 ; 34 : 26 ; Deut. 14 : 21. Of 
 the various conjectured reasons assigned for this prohibition, that which 
 places it on the broad ground of the inculcation of humanity is, perhaps, 
 the most probable. 
 
 8. In respect to the posture in which food was taken by 
 the ancient Hebrews, we have no very definite information. It 
 seems to have been thaj; of sitting, but not necessarily sitting 
 on raised seats. On ordinary occasions they probably sat or 
 squatted on the floor around a low table, while at meals of more 
 ceremony they sat on chairs or stools. Both customs prevailed 
 in Egypt. Wilkinson s Ancient Egypt, chap. 6. Joseph s breth 
 ren " sat before him, the firstborn according to his birthright, 
 and the youngest according to his youth " (Gen. 43 : 33), evi 
 dently on proper seats. So also at Saul s table, when David s 
 seat was empty ; each of his attendants had his place and seat 
 assigned to him. 1 Sam. 20 : 5, 18. Homer represents his heroes 
 as sitting around the wall, each with his own seat and table. 
 Odyss. 1. 145; 17. 179. 
 
 But in our Saviour s day the Jews had adopted from the 
 Romans the custom of reclining on couches at supper, which was 
 their principal meal. The Romans, again, had borrowed the 
 usage from the East. The couches of a triclinium (as the Ho- 
 
414 BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 mans called it) were three in number, arranged on the three sides 
 of a square, the fourth being left open for the convenience of 
 the servants. On each couch were commonly three, though 
 more might be admitted. " They lay with the upper part of the 
 body reclined on the left arm, the head a little raised, the back 
 supported by cushions, and the limbs stretched out at full length 
 or a little bent ; the feet of the first behind the back of the sec 
 ond, and his feet behind the back of the third, with a pillow be 
 tween each. - The head of the second was opposite to the breast 
 of the first, so that, if he wanted to speak to him, especially if 
 the thing was to be secret, he was obliged to lean upon his 
 bosom." Adams Roman Antiquities, under the title, Customs, 
 No. 2. The couches, as well as the places in each, were regu 
 larly numbered, and different grades of dignity belonged to them. 
 By the first place (Eng. version, uppermost rooms) at a feast, so 
 much coveted by the Pharisees (Matt. 23 : 6 ; Mark 12 : 39 ; Luke 
 14 : 7 ; 20 : 46) is to be understood the most honorable place. 
 
 From this usage of reclining at meals several passages of holy writ 
 receive a clear illustration. We see at once how the beloved disciple, in 
 whispering into the Saviour s ear the question suggested by Peter, must 
 have lain on Jesus breast (John 13 : 25) ; also what is the high meaning of 
 the fact that Lazarus "was carried by the angels into Abraham s bosom," 
 and was seen by the rich man in that position (Luke 16 :22, 23). He was 
 reclining at the heavenly feast, in Abraham s bosom, that is, admitted to 
 Bhare with him the bliss of Paradise. Compare our Saviour s words (Matt. 
 8 : 11) : " Many shall come from the east and west, and shall redine (not, sit 
 down) "with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven." 
 We see also how, as Jesus reclined, with his feet in the back part of the 
 couch, and his shoes left without (Chap. 17, No. 6), a woman could stand 
 behind at his feet and wash them (Luke 7 : 38) ; and, in general, how, 
 when the guests were seated and the door was shut, all applications for 
 admission must have been out of place (Matt. 25 : 10 ; Luke 13 : 25). 
 
 9. At an oriental supper, the old adage that " fingers were 
 made before forks " has its full illustration. Knives and forks 
 are not in use there. The guests reclining- upon their left side 
 (or, as in modern times, sitting around a common dish), take the 
 food and convey it to the mouth with their right hand. Hence 
 the significance of the expression : " He that dippeth his hand 
 
BEGINNING AT TABLE. 
 
 V**F r 
 
 Si . i 
 
 A FOOT-BACK. 
 
 ANCIENT BOOKS, PENS, AND INKSTAND. 
 
PREPARATION OF FOOD AND MEALS. 415 
 
 with ine in the dish " (Matt. 26 : 23), to indicate one reclining at 
 the same table. There is an allusion to the same way of taking 
 food when the wise man says of the sluggard that he " hideth his 
 hand in the dish" that is, buries it in the food of the dish before 
 him (not in his bosom, as in our version), " and will not so much 
 as bring it to his mouth again" (Prov. 19:24; 26:15). The 
 custom prevailed anciently, as now, of passing a morsel of bread 
 dipped in the gravy to a friend at the same table. John 13 : 26. 
 " The very polite d la mode oriental will tear up the best bits, and 
 either lay them next you, or insist on putting them into your 
 mouth. I have had this done for me by digits not particularly 
 fail*, or even clean." Thomson, vol. 1, pp. 181, 182. 
 
 Where this mode of taking food prevails, the hands will, in ordinary 
 circumstances, be washed before meals as a matter of cleanliness. But the 
 Pharisees had exalted this usage, so proper in itself, into a binding reli 
 gious rite, against which our Saviour thought proper to protest in a prac 
 tical way. Matt. 15 : 1, seq. ; Mark 7 : 1, seq. ; Luke 11 : 38. At the close 
 of the. meal a servant poured water on the hands over a basin, and fur 
 nished a towel to wipe them. 2 Kings 3 : 11. 
 
 Tristram (Land of Israel, pp. 262, 263) gives the following lively pic 
 ture of a feast among the Bedouin Arabs on the shores of the Dead Sea : 
 
 "Dinner was brought. This consisted of a single course, served in a 
 huge bowl about a yard in diameter. The bottom was filled with thin 
 flat cakes, thinner than oat-cakes, and which overhung the sides as grace 
 ful drapery. On them was heaped boiled rice, saturated with butter and 
 soup ; while the disjecta meiribra (dissected parts) of the sheep which had 
 been slain for the occasion were piled in a cone over ah*. 
 
 "The bowl having been placed in the corner, in front of us, the sheikh 
 and his brother sat down opposite to us, but without partaking ; and turn 
 ing up our sleeves, we prepared for action. Knives and forks are, of 
 course, unknown, and we were expected, using only one hand, to make 
 balls of the greasy mess, and devour, chucking the morsels into the mouth 
 by a dexterous movement of the thumb. This, after a little practice, we 
 contrived to do. An important piece of etiquette was for each one to 
 have his own digging in the dish, and to keep his ringers to it alone. To 
 have used the left hand would have been as great a solecism as putting 
 the knife into the mouth at home. The meat had to be rent in strips 
 from the bones, and eaten, too, with the fingers." 
 
 When Tristram and ^his party were satisfied, water and soap were 
 brought. The water was poured from a silver ewer on their hands over 
 
416 BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 a basin of silver covered with a perforated plate. Coffee, black and strong, 
 served in tiny cups, concluded the feast. 
 
 Meanwhile the huge dish above described had been removed a little 
 to the left, where the Arab retainers of the better class were sitting. 
 After these were sufficiently gorged, the bowl was passed outside the tent, 
 where all the rest of the rabble, about twenty-five in number, anxiously 
 awaited it. Here it " was cleared in the twinkling of an eye ; the monkey 
 paws of sundry urchins being inserted from behind their seniors, and 
 extracting large flaps of greasy cakes with marvellous dexterity. Finally, 
 the pack of poor hungry dogs had a scramble and a fight over the well- 
 picked bones." 
 
 For a good description of a modern Syrian meal, see in Thomson, 
 vol. 1, p. 181. 
 
 On more formal occasions, as, for example, weddings and 
 birthday celebrations, sumptuous preparations were made among 
 the Hebrews. The guests were invited beforehand, and sent 
 for at the appointed hour (Matt. 22:3, 4; Luke 14:16, 17); 
 flesh and wine were provided in abundance, with music and 
 dancers ; and a master of the feast presided at the table, who 
 had the general direction of the entertainment and arranged the 
 guests. John 2 : 9. Such feasts were always held in the even- 
 ning in halls brilliantly lighted, and were often the occasion 
 of riotous excesses, which the sacred writers condemn in severe 
 terms. Isa. 5 : 11 ; Amos 6 : 4r-6. Nevertheless, festive occa 
 sions, being in themselves innocent, furnish a favorite sym 
 bol of the heavenly feast under the reign of the Messiah (Isa. 
 25 : 6 ; Matt. 8^11; 22 : 1, seq.; Luke 14 : 16, seq.; Kev. 19 : 7-9) ; 
 and exclusion from this feast is represented under the similitude 
 of being cast out of the brilliantly lighted banqueting hall, where 
 joy and mirth abound, into " the outer darkness " where there 
 is " wailing and gnashing of teeth." Matt. 8 : 12 ; 22 : 13 ; 25 : 30. 
 
 It has been commonly assumed that the "wedding garment" men 
 tioned in the parable (Matt. 22 : 11-13) was provided by the king, and that 
 on this ground the guest who appeared without it was inexcusable. The 
 assumption is not improbable, when we consider how common was the 
 custom of making presents of changes of raiment (Gen. 45 : 22 ; Judg. 
 14 : 12 ; 2 Kings 5 : 22), and especially that at the festivities connected 
 with the worship of Baal the worshippers were regularly provided with 
 
PREPARATION OF FOOD AND MEALS. 417 
 
 vestments. 2 Kings 10 : 22. But it is not susceptible of direct proof. 
 This only is certiiiii, that the guest knew what was required of him, and 
 that he might in some way have met the requirement. 
 
 10. Hospitality is everywhere enjoined in the Holy Scrip 
 tures as a cardinal virtue; and the circumstances of men in 
 the primitive ages made it especially obligatory. In the history 
 of Abraham, who "entertained angels unawares," we have a 
 beautiful illustration of hospitality in both its spirit and its 
 form (Gen. 18 : 1-8) ; and many other like examples occur in holy 
 writ. Gen. 19:1-11; 24:31-33; Exod. 2:20; Judg. 19:16, 
 seq.; Acts 16 : 15, etc. The circumstances of the Bedouin Arabs 
 make the same virtue equally imperative, and the sacredness 
 of its obligation is everywhere acknowledged by them, at least 
 in the outward form. The stranger who is received by them 
 as a guest may count himself safe, though as a simple traveller 
 he might be liable to be robbed and maltreated. 
 
 Robinson (Bib. Res., vol. 1, p. 81) gives an amusing example of the 
 sternness of the Arab law of hospitality, and of the adroitness with which 
 it may be abused. He and his companion had bought a kid of some 
 Arabs whom they met on their journey, and presented it to their Arab 
 guides, intending thus to furnish them with a good supper. They received 
 it joyfully at the hand of the travellers, and at evening "the kid was killed 
 and dressed with great dexterity wnd despatch ; and its still quivering 
 members were laid upon the fire and began to emit savory odors, particu 
 larly gratifying to Arab nostrils. But now a change came over the fair 
 scene. The Arabs of whom we had bought the kid, had in some way 
 learned that we were to encamp near ; and naturally enough concluding 
 that the kid was bought in order to be eaten, they thought good to honor 
 our Arabs with a visit, to the number of five or six persons. Now the stern 
 law of Bedouin hospitality demands that whenever a guest is present at 
 a meal, whether there be much or little, the first and best portion must be 
 laid before the stranger. In this instance the five or six guests attained 
 their object, and had not only the selling of the kid, but also the eating of 
 it; while our poor Arabs, whose mouths had been long watering with 
 expectation, were forced to take up with the fragments. Besharah, who 
 played the host, fared worst of all ; and came afterwards to beg for a bis 
 cuit, saying he had lost the whole of his dinner." 
 
 In those parts of Syria which have not yet been corrupted 
 by the frequency of Frank travellers, the stranger is hospitably 
 
 18* 
 
418 BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 entertained by the inhabitants without the expectation of a 
 reward. In every village there is a public room, or more than 
 one, called a menzil or medafeli, devoted to the entertainment 
 of strangers. The guest lodges in the menzil, and his food is 
 supplied by the families to whose circle it belongs. He gives 
 nothing when he leaves. To offer money would be taken as an 
 insult; and to receive it would be a great disgrace. In such 
 places, lying off the ordinary track of travellers, one sees gen 
 uine samples of the ancient hospitality. But as soon as he 
 comes upon the more travelled roads, it no longer exists ; for the 
 Franks have taught the people to take pay for everything. See 
 Bobinson, Bib. Res., vol. 1, p. 445; vol. 2, pp. 18, 19, 71, 268. 
 
DOMESTIC RELATIONS AND USAGES. 419 
 
 CHAPTEE XIX. 
 
 DOMESTIC DELATIONS AND USAGES. 
 I. THE FAMILY. 
 
 1. THE abuse of polygamy had its origin partly in the desire 
 of offspring, but oftener in man s selfishness and sensuality. 
 It existed before the flood (Gen. 4 : 19), and we find it agaiu 
 prevalent in the early patriarchal age. To say that God sanc 
 tioned it among the covenant people would not be so correct 
 as to say that he tolerated it for the time being, and prescribed 
 various regulations for mitigating the evils connected with it. 
 Exod. 21 : 10, 11 ; Deut. 21 : 15-17. The Israelitish kings were 
 forbidden to multiply wives (Deut. 17:17), after the example 
 of the ancient oriental monarchs, among whom the splendor of 
 their kingdom was measured, to a great extent, by that of their 
 harem. This precept was, indeed, sadly disregarded by Solo 
 mon to his cost, and by other Jewish kings. 1 Kings 11 : 1, seq.; 
 2 Chron. 11:18-23; 13:21. But it is admitted that the ten 
 dency of the Mosaic institutions was to restore the primitive 
 idea of the marriage relation, that of the union of one man with 
 one woman. After the Babylonish captivity polygamy appears 
 to have been less prevalent than before, though it was still 
 practised; particularly in the case of princes, like Herod the 
 Great, who had nine wives at the same time, the names of w r hom 
 are given by Joseplms. Antiq. 17. 1. 3. Under the gospel the 
 practice was abolished, not so much by explicit command, as 
 by the general scope and spirit of our Lord s precepts and those 
 of his apostles. 
 
 2. Ancient oriental usage made a marked distinction be 
 tween wives and concubines. When a man had two or more 
 wives, they were of equal rank, like Leah and Eachel (Gen., 
 ohap. 29), the wives of Esau (Gen. 26:34; 28:6-9), Elkanah s 
 
420 BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 two wives (1 Sam. 1:2, seq.), and apparently Solomon s "seven 
 hundred wives, princesses" (1 Kings 11:3); or, if there was a 
 difference, it was that of simple precedence, not of legal relation. 
 But a concubine was a wife of lower rank and having lower 
 privileges. We must be careful not to regard her in the light 
 of a kept mistress. She was a true wife, but in a lower condi 
 tion. Her children, also, were legitimate, but apparently not 
 entitled to inherit with the children of the proper wife without 
 the special action of the father. The concubine was generally 
 a maid-servant bought of her father (Exod. 21 : 7-11) or coming 
 into the family as the servant of the proper wife (Gen. 29 : 24, 29), 
 and remaining in the servile condition; or she was a female 
 captive taken in Avar. Deut. 21:10, seq. The rights of both 
 these classes of inferior wives were protected, as we see in the 
 passages referred to. In the case of Hagar, Sarai s maid, and 
 of the maid-servants of Leah and Rachel, it was by the sugges 
 tion of the wives themselves, that they entered into the relation 
 of concubines, and the motive was the desire of offspring that 
 should be reckoned as theirs. Gen. 16 : 1-3 ; 30 : 3, 4, 9. 
 
 It may appear strange to some that the Mosaic law should have allowed 
 the practice of polygamy and concubinage, with all the evils attendant 
 upon this perversion of the marriage relation. But in the case of organic 
 evils that are inwrought into the texture of society it has ever been God s 
 way to proceed slowly and cautiously, providing only they do not, like 
 polytheism and idolatry, strike at the very substance of religion. So he 
 dealt with the abuses of slavery and divorce, as well as of polygamy ; 
 establishing principles and institutions which would prepare the way for 
 their final abolition. His holy soul had no delight in these abuses ; but 
 since his infinite wisdom saw fit to tolerate them for the time being, it 
 was a matter of course that he should prescribe rules for the mitigation 
 of the evils connected with them. The existence of such rules ought not 
 to be adduced as a proof that God sanctions the practices themselves as 
 normal institutions in his moral government, and valid for all time. 
 
 3. In regard to the choice of a wife, the young man enjoyed 
 a degree of freedom in the primitive ages, yet by no means 
 such as exists among us. Esau selected his wives (Gen. 26 : 34, 
 35; 28:6-9); so also Samson, through the intervention of his 
 
DOMESTIC RELATIONS AND USAGES. 421 
 
 father. Judg., cliap. 14; compare Gen. 34:4, seq. Men of rank 
 and influence enjoyed, of course, much liberty in this respect. 
 But the purely patriarchal method is that exhibited in Abra 
 ham s mission of his servant to Mesopotamia to select there a 
 wife for his son Isaac. . Gen., chap. 24. Whether Isaac was 
 consulted in the matter we are not informed ; but it is certain 
 that neither the father nor the son had seen the bride. It was 
 done as a matter of rightful paternal authority. In the same 
 spirit Isaac directs Jacob as to the choice of a wife (Gen. 28 : 1, 
 2), and Judah chooses a wife for Er (Gen. 38 : 6). *In the case 
 of Ishmael, who had been sent away with his mother from his 
 father s abode, she performed for him the same office, and "took 
 him a wife out of the land of Egypt." Gen. 21:21. When 
 there were brothers, they naturally had a voice in the question 
 of the espousal of their sister. Gen. 24 : 50 ; 34 : 8, seq. In 
 respect to the young women, it cannot be said that they had, 
 as a rule, any choice in the matter of their marriage/ In par 
 ticular cases, as that of Rebekah (Gen. 24:57, 58), their wishes 
 might be gratified on minor points; but even she does not 
 appear to have been consulted on the main question. It was 
 not to her, but to Bethuel her father and Laban her brother, 
 that Abraham s servant addressed himself, and they answered : 
 " Behold Rebekah is before thee ; take her, and go, and let her 
 be thy master s son s wife, as the Lord hath spoken " (ver. 51). 
 This was fully in accordance with the spirit and usage of anti 
 quity. Daughters were disposed of in marriage at the will of 
 their fathers and brothers, and the cases where they acted accord 
 ing to their own free inclination were exceptional. It is the 
 gospel of Christ that has raised woman to her present dignity 
 in this respect, and established the law that her wishes shall 
 be regarded. 
 
 In respect to the choice of concubines the young men appear 
 to have enjoyed a large degree of liberty, selecting very much 
 according to their inclination; for here were no questions of 
 family alliance to embarrass them. But the women themselves 
 had no voice in the matter. 
 
422 BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 4. The espoused or betrothal was a contract between the 
 father of the bridegroom, or his representative, and the father 
 and brothers of the bride, accompanied, in all ordinary cases, 
 by presents to the bride and her parents. A written contract 
 was not in use until after the Babylonish captivity. From the 
 time of this betrothal the parties were considered as husband 
 and wife, and infidelity was regarded and punished as adultery. 
 In a legal and religious point of view no further ceremony was 
 necessary. The bride might be at once taken to the home of 
 the bridegroom, as in the case of Rebekah. Gen. 24:61-67. 
 But in ordinary circumstances she remained for a considerable 
 period of time at her father s house, and all communication be 
 tween her and the bridegroom took place through the medium 
 of a friend, supposed to be the same as " the friend of the bride 
 groom" referred to by our Saviour in John 3 : 29. 
 
 5. In respect to the marriage-dowry the custom varied wide- 
 ly from tlfat which prevails among us. It was the bridegroom, 
 or his father on his behalf, that gave the dowry to the bride 
 accompanied with presents to her relatives. Thus, when Abra 
 ham s servant had obtained the consent of Rebekah s parents, 
 he at once " brought forth jewels of gold, and raiment, and gave 
 them to Rebekah : he gave also to her mother and her brother 
 precious things." Gen. 24:53. So Shechem, when he asks of 
 Jacob and his sons Dinah as his wife, says : " Ask me never so 
 much dowry and gift" (Gen. 34:12) the dowry for the bride, 
 the gift for her friends. The marriage-dowry and gift might 
 take the form of service rendered to the bride s father. So it 
 was in the case of Jacob (Gen., chap. 29), of Joseph (Gen. 41 : 45), 
 of Moses fExod. 2:21; 3:1), of Othniel (Judg. 1:12, seq.), and 
 of David. When Saul proposed to David that he should be 
 his son-in-law, the answer was: "Seerneth it to you a light 
 thing to be the king s son-in-law, seeing that I am a poor man, 
 and of low rank?" and Saul s answer was: "The king desireth 
 not any dowry, but a hundred foreskins of the Philistines, to be 
 avenged on the king s enemies." 1 Sam. 18 : 22-25. The only 
 customary dowry (if it may be so called) which fathers gave 
 
DOMESTIC RELATIONS AND USAGES. 423 
 
 with their daughters consisted of maid-servants. Gen. 24 : 61 ; 
 29 : 24, 29. There were, however, special cases where a father 
 gave a portion with his danghter. When Caleb gave to Othniel 
 Achsah his daughter with "a south land" he added, at her 
 suggestion, " the upper springs and the nether springs." Judg. 
 1 : 14, 15. But this was a case where very eminent service had 
 been already rendered by the bridegroom. 
 
 When female captives were taken as concubines, they were 
 regarded simply as prizes of war. When maid-servants bought 
 with money became concubines, the price paid for them took 
 the place of the customary marriage-gift In neither case did 
 they receive a dowry. 
 
 6. The marriage was ordinarily consummated by the removal 
 of the bride from her father s house to that of the bridegroom 
 or his father. Tliis ceremony took place in the evening, and 
 was followed by the marriage-feast. The bridegroom and bride 
 were both arrayed in festive robes redolent with sweet odors. 
 Psa. 45 : 8 ; Cant. 4 : 10, 11. He wore on his head a nuptial 
 turban (Heb., pe-er, Isa. 61 : 10 ; Cant. 3 : 11), and she a bridal 
 chaplet, adorning herself also with jewels. Psa. 45 : 13, 14 ; Isa. 
 49:18; 61:10; Kev. 19:8; 21:2. The bridegroom went forth 
 in the evening from his own house to that of the bride s father, 
 attended by a company of young men "the children of the 
 bride-chamber " (Matt. 9 : 15), and, as we may well suppose, by 
 musicians and singers also. After a delay, which was often 
 protracted till midnight, he with his companions conducted the 
 bride and her maidens to his own house with many demonstra 
 tions of joy. On then* way they were joined by a party of 
 maidens, friends of the bridegroom and bride, who fell into 
 the procession bearing in their hands lighted lamps; and at 
 the house a sumptuous feast was prepared. Matt. 22:1-10; 
 25 : 1-10 ; Luke 14 : 8 ; John 2 : 1-10 ; Eev. 19 : 9. In patriarchal 
 times the festivities of the occasion seem to have lasted seven 
 days. It is hardly necessary to add that on the occasion of 
 this procession the bride was closely veiled from view, as she 
 also was when conducted to the bridal chamber. Gen. 29 : 25. 
 
424 BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 The above-named festivities were not essential to the consummation of 
 the marriage relation, and might, in certain exigencies, be omitted, as they 
 always were in the case of concubines. 
 
 7. The so-called law of the kvirate (from the Latin levir, // >/*- 
 band s brother) was founded on a custom not established by 
 Moses, but existing prior to his time (Gen. 38 : 8), the object of 
 which was to perpetuate the name of a brother who had died 
 without leaving issue. The provisions of this law are thus sta 
 ted (Deut. 25 : 5, 6) : " If brethren dwell together, and one of 
 the^n die, and have no child, the wife of the dead shall not many 
 without unto a stranger : her husband s brother shall go in unto 
 her, and take her to him to wife, and perform the duty of a hus 
 band s brother unto her. And it shall be that the firstborn which 
 she beareth shall succeed in the name of his brother who is dead, 
 that his name be not put out of Israel." But this was not made 
 absolutely imperative. If he refused, his brother s wife was to 
 " loose his shoe from off his foot, and spit in his face," in the 
 presence of the elders of his city, and his name was to be called : 
 The house of the man of unloosed shoe. Deut. 25 : 7-10. " The 
 disgrace," says Jahn (Antiq., 157), "which would be the conse 
 quence of such treatment from the widow, was not so great, but 
 that a person who was determined not to marry would dare to 
 encounter it." We may add that this ignominious treatment was 
 not made imperative on the part of the widow, but was simply 
 permitted. 
 
 By plucking the shoe from the foot of the brothor-in-law, the widow 
 symbolically took from him the place which he held to her and to the 
 house of the deceased brother. The above-named signification of this 
 symbolic act is explained from the custom mentioned in the book of Ruth 
 (4:7), according to which the plucking off and delivering to another of 
 one s shoe was an ancient usage in Israel in matters of redemption and 
 exchange to confirm every bargain. Since we take possession of landed 
 estate, and assert our right to it by setting our feet upon the soil and stand 
 ing thereon in our shoes, the plucking off and delivering to another of the 
 shoe was the symbol of the renunciation of one s place on the estate and 
 his possession of it." ... "In the case before us, the symbol was some 
 what modified. The brother-in-law who declined the marriage did not 
 take off his own shoe and give it to the brother s widow, but she plucked 
 
DOMESTIC RELATIONS AND USAGES. 425 
 
 it off from him, and thus divested him of the position which he held to 
 her and the deceased brother, or to the ancestral house." Keil, Bib. 
 Archseol., $108. 
 
 8. For the degrees of consanguinity within which marriage was 
 forbidden by the Levitical law, the biblical student is referred to 
 the eighteenth and twentieth chapters of Leviticus. 
 
 The meaning of the prohibition (Lev. 18 : 18) : " Neither shalt thou take 
 a wife to her sister" (marginal rendering, " one wife to another"), "to vex 
 her, to uncover her nakedness, besides the other in her life-time," has been 
 a matter of much controversy. We give, in a somewhat abridged form, the 
 judicious note on this passage in Smith s Bible Diet. (Article, Marriage) : 
 It has been urged that the marginal translation, one wife to another, is 
 the correct one, and that the prohibition is really directed against polyg 
 amy. The following considerations, however, support the rendering of 
 the text : (1.) The writer would hardly use the terms .rendered wife and 
 1 sister in a different sense in ver. 18 from that which he assigned to them 
 in the previous verses. (2.) The usage of the Hebrew language, and indeed 
 of every language, requires that the expression one to another should be 
 preceded by a plural noun. The cases in which the expression woman to 
 her sister [as the Hebrew reads] is equivalent to one to another (Exod. 
 26 : 3, 5, 6, 17 ; Ezek. 1 : 9, 23 ; 3 : 13), instead of favoring, as has generally 
 been supposed, the marginal translation, exhibit the peculiarity above 
 noted. [It may be added that they are all cases of the figurative application 
 of the terms to inanimate objects.] (3.) The consent of the ancient ver 
 sions is unanimous. (4.) The Jews themselves, as shown in the Mishna, 
 and in the works of Philo, permitted the marriage. (5. ) Polygamy was 
 recognized by the Mosaic law, and cannot consequently be forbidden in 
 this passage." 
 
 The Israelites were further prohibited from intermarrying 
 with the Canaanites on the special ground that such connec 
 tions would lead them into idolatry (Exod. 34 : 16 ; Deut. 7:3,4; 
 Josh. 23 : 12, 13), a result which actually followed the violation of 
 the rule (Judg. 3 : 6, 7 ; 1 Kings 11 : 2, seq. ; 16 : 31). 
 
 Besides these prohibitions which had respect to the whole 
 body of the Hebrew nation, special restrictions were laid upon 
 the high priest : " He shall take a wife in her virginity. A widow, 
 or a divorced woman, or a profane woman [who is] a harlot 
 these shall he not take : but he shall take a virgin of his own 
 people to wife." Lev. 21 : 13, 14. The common priests were for- 
 
426 BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 bidden to marry a harlot or a divorced woman, but not a widow. 
 Lev. 21 : 7. 
 
 In accordance with the spirit of these special proliibitions, which re 
 quired of the priest more caution in respect to his outward relations than 
 was enjoined upon the people at large, we are probably to understand the 
 precepts of the apostle in respect to bishops and deacons (1 Tim. 3:2; 
 Titus 1 : 6) not of contemporaneous polygamy having two wives at the 
 same time, but rather of successive polygamy the marriage of a second 
 wife after the decease of the first. A disregard of the prevailing public 
 sentiment, which, though it did not disallow, yet disparaged second mar 
 riages, would have been, in this age, a hinderance to the bishops and dea 
 cons in their official work. On the same general ground, the widow who 
 was enrolled on the church -list (probably for special Cervices, and not mere 
 ly for maintenance) was required among other things to have been "the 
 wife of one man " (1 Tim. 5:9), while the apostle s counsel to the younger 
 widows (ver. 14) was that they should marry again. 
 
 9. With us divorce is an act of the civil judicature, made (at 
 least in the intention of the law) upon application and due proof 
 on the part of the injured party. But among the Jews the hus 
 band put away his wife by liis own act. The precept of the 
 Mosaic law, literally translated, reads as follows : " When a man 
 shah 1 take a woman and marry her, then it shah 1 be, if she do not 
 find favor in his eyes because he hath found in her the naked 
 ness of a thing, that he shall write for her a bill of divorce, and 
 give it into her hand, and send her away from his house." The 
 wife thus divorced might be married to another man, but she must 
 in no case return to her former husband. Deut. 24 : 1-4. In 
 regard to the true interpretation of the words, " the nakedness of 
 a thing," there were among the Jews two schools of interpreters ; 
 that of Shammai, who limited it to immoral conduct in the wom- 
 an, and that of Hillel, who understood it to mean anything offen 
 sive to the husband. This latter interpretation is given by Jose- 
 phus : " If a man wish to be separated from the wife who lives 
 ( with him for whatever reasons (but many such might occur to 
 men), let him affirm in writing his purpose no longer to cohabit 
 with her," etc. Antiq., 4. 8. 23. Our Saviour undoubtedly sanc 
 tioned the principle for which the school of Shammai contended : 
 
DOMESTIC RELATIONS AND USAGES. 427 
 
 " Whosoever shall put away his wife, except it be for fornication, 
 and shall marry another, committeth adultery " (Matt. 19 : 9) ; 
 and this, with the added clause, " Whosoever marrieth her that 
 is put away committeth adultery," contains the general rule for 
 the Christian church. But it does not follow that he sanctioned 
 Shaminai s interpretation of the Mosaic rule. On the contrary, his 
 words, " Moses because of the hardness of your hearts suffered 
 you to put away your wives ; but from the beginning it was not 
 so," imply that the Mosaic rule departed, for a special reason, 
 from the original idea of the marriage relation in allowing the 
 husband at his discretion to put away his wife. Adultery, more 
 over, was punished with death by the Mosaic law ; and we can 
 not suppose that it would embody two contradictory rules, the 
 one commanding that the adulteress should be put to death (Lev. 
 20 : 10 ; Deut. 22 : 22), the other allowing the husband to give her 
 a bill of divorce. No reciprocal right of divorce was allowed to 
 the Hebrew wife. This would have been foreign to the whole 
 spirit of the Mosaic institutions. In noticing Salome s act of 
 divorcing her husband Costobarus, Josephus expressly states that 
 it was not according to the Jewish laws, but in conformity with 
 prevailing usage the later Eoman usage. Antiq., 15. 7. 10. 
 
 10. In the view of the Mosaic law, adultery is unlawful inter 
 course with a married or betrothed woman. Where polygamy 
 prevails, no other conception of this crime can well be formed. 
 The prescribed penalty was the death of both the guilty parties. 
 Lev. 20 : 10 ; Deut. 22 : 22-24. From some notices of Scripture 
 we gather that the manner of the execution was stoning. Ezek. 
 16 : 38-40 ; John 8:5. In the case of a betrothed woman guilty 
 of unfaithfulness, usage allowed the husband (at least in New 
 Testament times) to put her away by a bill of divorce, if he did 
 not wish to proceed with her according to the extreme rigor of 
 the law. Matt. 1 : 19. A mitigation of the death penalty was 
 prescribed when the adulteress was a bondmaid betrothed to a 
 husband. In this case both parties were to be scourged, and 
 the man was to present a trespass-offering before the Lord. 
 Lev. 19 : 20-22. For the solemn ordeal prescribed in the case of 
 
428 BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 a woman suspected of adultery, the reader may consult the fifth 
 chapter of the book of Numbers. 
 
 11. The desire of offspring was strong in the bosom of the 
 Hebrew wife, and barrenness was considered as a reproach. 
 Gen. 16 : 1, seq. ; 25 : 21 ; 29 : 31, seq. ; 30 : 1, seq. ; Euth 4 : 13-15 ; 
 1 Sam., chap. 1 ; Luke 1 : 13 ; John 16 : 21. The birth of a son 
 was a joyous occasion, and its anniversary was celebrated with 
 festivities (Jer. 20 : 15 ; Job 1 : 4, where his day means his birth 
 day). The rite of circumcision took place on the eighth day 
 after his birth, on which occasion the child was named. Gen. 
 17 : 12 ; Lev. 12 : 3 ; Luke 1 : 59 ; 2 : 21 ; Phil. 3:5. The offer 
 ing for the purification of the mother took place, in the case of a 
 son, at the end of forty days from the time of the birth ; in the 
 case of a daughter, at the expiration of eighty days. Lev., 
 chap. 12. 
 
 Hebrew names were always significant. In some cases they referred to 
 pi^esenl or past character or circumstances. Adam called his wife s name 
 Eve (Heb., Havva, life) "because she was the mother of all living" (Gen. 
 3:20); Eve called her firstborn son Cain, acquisition, saying: "I have 
 acquired a man from the Lord" (Gen. 4:1). So also the names Isaac, 
 laughter (Gen. 18 : 12 ; 21 : 6), Jacob, supplanted , and Esau, hairy (Gen. 
 25 : 25, 26 ; 27 : 36), of Jacob s sons (Gen., chaps. 30, 31); of Moses, v/ter- 
 saved (Exod. 2 : 10) ; and of many others that might be mentioned. In 
 other cases they were clearly prophetic. Examples are David, beloved; 
 Solomon, pacific; and especially Jesus, salvation (Matt. 1 : 21). So also 
 Abel, vanity, unless, as some think, this appellation was applied to him 
 afterwards in allusion to his untimely end. Among some of the orientals 
 it was the custom, when a man was elevated to a post of dignity, to confer 
 upon him a new name. So Pharaoh called Joseph s name Zaphnath-paa- 
 neaJi (Septuagint, Psonthomphanech) , which is generally understood to 
 mean savior of the age. For other examples see 2 Kings 24 : 17 ; Dan. 
 1:6, 7. In like manner God himself changed the name of Abram, father 
 of height, to that of Abraham, father of a multitude; and the name of Sarai 
 (of uncertain meaning) to that of Sarah, princess; and gave to Jacob the 
 more honorable title Israel, prince with God, or contender icith God (Gen. 
 32 : 28). Isaiah, by divine direction, confers upon his children names pro 
 phetic of the future destiny of the covenant people or their enemies 
 Shear-jashifb, the remnant shall return; Mahar-shalal-hash-baz, hasten-booly, 
 hurry-prey (Isa. 7 : 3 ; 8 : 1, 3); BO also Hosea (chap. 1). Isaiah, moreover, 
 bestows upon Zion and her sons a multitude of new names, all expressive 
 
DOMESTIC RELATIONS AND USAGES. 429 
 
 of her prcciousness in God s sight, and the high honor that awaits her. 
 She is called TJie city of the Lord, TJie repairer of the breach, The restorer of 
 paths to dwell in, Hephzi-bah, My delight is in her, Sought out, A city not for 
 saken; her land is named Beulah, married p her walls Salvation, her gates 
 Praise; and her children are called, Trees of righteousness, Priests of the 
 Lord, Ministers of God, the Holy people, the Redeemed of the Lord (Isa., chaps. 
 60-62). See also the epithets bestowed upon the Messiah. Chaps. 7 : 14 ; 
 8 : 10 ; 9 : 6. 
 
 12. The poiver of the father over his children in ancient times 
 was well nigh absolute. It included the right of disinheriting his 
 children, and even of putting them to death. Gen. 38 : 24. By 
 the Mosaic law, however, it was limited in several respects. 
 
 (1.) The father could not put his son to death . by his own 
 arbitrary act. It must be done by due process of law before the 
 elders of his city, it being understood that they judged respecting 
 the validity of the charges on the ground of which the condem 
 nation of the son was demanded. If it could be shown that he 
 was stubborn and rebellious, a glutton and a drunkard ; or that 
 he had beaten or cursed his father or mother, the elders wre 
 bound to give sentence against him, and see it executed by the 
 customary process of stoning. Exod. 21 : 15, 17 ; Lev. 20 : 9 ; 
 Deut, 21:18-21. 
 
 The honor of father and mother required by the law did not lie in 
 words alone. It was to be manifested by deeds of love. Matt. 15 : 4-6 ; 
 Mark 7 : 10-13. The father s blessing, on the other hand, was highly val 
 ued, and in the case of the ancient patriarchs both this and his curse had 
 a prophetic efficacy. Gen. 9 : 20-27 ; chaps. 27, 49. 
 
 (2.) The father was bound to recognize the right of the first 
 born by giving him a double portion of the estate, without allow 
 ing himself to be governed by his .private inclinations. Deut. 
 21 : 15-17. Before the time of Moses we have examples of the 
 transfer of the right of primogeniture to a younger son, partly 
 in connection with the misconduct of the first-born, and partly 
 by the sovereign appointment of God. Gen. 25 : 31-34 ; chap. 
 27; 48 : 14, 18-20; 49 : 3, 4, compared with ver. 8. 
 
 Besides the right already mentioned of receiving a double portion of 
 the father s estate, the firstborn son enjoyed other prerogatives. He was 
 
430 BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 naturally, next after his father, the head of the family, and had authority 
 over the household. It was announced to Bebekah by the spirit of proph 
 ecy, as an inversion of the ordinary rule, that the elder should serve the 
 younger. Gen. 25 : 23. When Isaac unwittingly transferred to Jacob the 
 birthright, it was with the declaration : "Be lord over thy brethren, and 
 let thy mother s sons bow down to thee " (Gen. 27 : 29) ; and when after 
 wards Jacob gave the same privilege to Judah, he added: "Thy father s 
 children shall bow down before thee " (Gen. 49 : 8). In the same way the 
 firstborn son of a monarch was, as a rule, the heir to his father s kingdom, 
 though in special cases, like that of Solomon, it was given to a younger 
 brother. 1 Kings, chap. 1. 
 
 There is good ground for believing that, before the Mosaic law, the 
 functions of the priesthood belonged to the firstborn son, as the head of the 
 household. This much, at least, is certain, that when the Levites were 
 taken "instead of all the firstborn among the children of Israel" (Numb. 
 3 : 41), the priestly office, with all the service of the sanctuary pertaining to 
 it, was transferred to them. 
 
 We see, from the above facts, how naturally the term firstborn came into 
 use to denote dignity and privilege. God calls Israel his son, even his first 
 born (Exod. 4 : 22) ;.and promises to make the Messiah his firstborn, higher 
 tli^i tickings of the earth (Psa. 89 ; 27). Believers are called " the church 
 of the firstborn " (that is, consisting of the firstborn) " enrolled in heaven " 
 (Heb. 12 : 23), because they are all raised to the dignity of kings and 
 priests (Bey. 1:6). Christ is " the firstborn among many brethren " (Bom. 
 8 : 29), as having preeminence among his redeemed ; and " the firstborn of 
 the whole creation " (Col. 1 : 15), because he is its author and head. 
 
 II. MASTEBS AND SERVANTS. 
 
 13. In the Hebrew commonwealth, as in the ancient nations 
 generally, the distinction between employers and hired servants on 
 the one hand, and masters and bond-servants on the other, was 
 definite and well understood. The hired servant entered, of his 
 own choice, into a contract with his employer for a stipulated 
 amount of wages ; and when the service was performed and the 
 wages were received, the special relation between the two ceased. 
 But the master had a permanent claim to the services of the 
 bond-servant without wages, except so far as the maintenance 
 and protection received by the latter might be regarded in the 
 light of wages. In the view of the Mosaic law, however, the 
 servant was not a "personal chattel" divested of the rights of 
 
DOMESTIC RELATIONS AND USAGES. 431 
 
 humanity. In a certain sense his condition was that of slavery, 
 since he might be transferred by sale from one master to an 
 other, and owed service without compensation. But it was sla 
 very only in a very mitigated sense of the word. The absolute 
 surrender of servants to the arbitrary will of the master, his 
 right to chastise them without limit, and even to kill them with 
 impunity all these were set aside by the Mosaic code in the 
 case of foreign as well as Hebrew servants. This code recog 
 nized their rights as men. If, for example, the master smote out 
 the eye or the tooth of his servant, he was to let him go free for 
 his eye s or his tooth s sake. Exod. 21 : 26, 27. If the master 
 smote his servant or maid with a rod, so that he died under his 
 hand, he was to be punished; "but," adds the statute, "if he 
 continue a day or two, he shall not be punished ; for he is his 
 money." Exod. 21 : 20, 21. The master had such a moneyed 
 interest in the continued life of his servant, that it was to be pre 
 sumed, in this case, that he did not mean to kill him. The 
 reader will notice that the instrument of correction is " the rod." 
 If a man inflicted a mortal wound upon his servant with a deadly 
 instrument, he was undoubtedly dealt with as a murderer. 
 
 Then as to religious privileges, all that the free Israelite en 
 joyed were guaranteed to his servants the rest of the Sabbath 
 (Exod. 20 : 10 ; Deut. 5 : 14) ; attendance on the national festi 
 vals (Deut. 16 : 1-17 compared with chap. 12 : 17, 18) ; and the 
 pnblic reading of the law (Deut. 31 : 10-13). 
 
 In respect to the rite of circumcision, Saalschiitz maintains (Mosaic Law, 
 chap. 101, \ 7, note) that the circumcision of servants of adult age bought 
 with money was optional on their part ; that is, that they were permitted, 
 if they desired it, to become fully incorporated with the household by cir 
 cumcision, and thus to obtain naturalization, at least so far as was compat 
 ible with their relations. But Mielziner (Slavery among the Ancient He 
 brews, in the Am. Theol. Review, April and July, 1861) maintains with 
 much reason the common view, that the circumcision of such servants was 
 obligatory on the part of their Hebrew masters. The precept (Exod. 
 12:44) may be thus fairly rendered : "And as to every servant a man 
 bought with money, thou shalt circumcise him ; then shall he eat thereof. " 
 So the translators and interpreters generally. But in respect to the later 
 
432 BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 RdlMnic usage, it is agreed that coercion of conscience was not used with 
 a Gentile servant of adult age. See further in Bib. Sacra for 1862, pp. 
 
 14. The body of servants consisted of the following classes : 
 First, captives taken in war. Deut. 20 : 13, 14 ; 21 : 10-14, 
 
 where the female captive taken as a wife is already in the con 
 dition of servitude. This was in accordance with the general 
 usage of antiquity. 
 
 Secondly, debtors or their children. Exod. 21 : 7 ; Lev. 25 : 39 ; 
 2 Kings 4:1; Neh. 5 : 4, 5 ; Isa. 50 : 1. This also was the com 
 mon law among the ancients. Matt. 18 : 25. 
 
 Thirdly, persons sold for tJieft. Exod. 22 : 3. 
 
 Fourthly, the children of servants. Gen. 14:14; 17:23; 
 21 : 10. 
 
 Man-stealing was punished by the law of Moses with death. 
 Exod. 21:16; Deut. 24 : 7. But the Israelites might purchase 
 Hebrew servants, and also servants of foreigners. Exod. 21 : 2, 
 seq. ; Lev. 25 : 39, seq. 
 
 15. In respect to the limitation of the time of servitude, the 
 Mosaic law contains tivo classes of passages, the reconciliation of 
 which is a matter of some difficulty. In Exod. 21 : 2-6 the direc 
 tion is : "If thou buy a Hebrew servant, six years shall he serve 
 thee ; and in the seventh he shall go out free for nothing. If he 
 came in by himself, he shall go out by himself ; if he were mar 
 ried, then his wife shall go out with him. If his master have 
 given him a wife, and she hath borne him sons or daughters; 
 the wife and her children shall be her master s, and he shall go 
 out by himself." If he do not choose to part with his family, 
 then by submitting to the ceremony of having his ear bored 
 through with an awl, he becomes his master s servant for ever. 
 In Deut. 15 : 12-18 we have substantially the same precept, with 
 the addition: "And also unto thy maid-servant thou shalt do 
 .likewise." These passages belong to fhefrst class. 
 
 The law respecting a maid-servant sold by her father (Exod. 21 : 7-11), 
 does not come into account here ; for it is a case where the purchaser is 
 expected to take her as his wife, or at least betroth her to his son. He 
 
DOMESTIC RELATIONS AND USAGES. 433 
 
 must oitlier(l) take her to be his wife ; (2) give her as a wife to his son (her 
 rights being in either case protected if a second wife is taken) ; or (3) let 
 her go out free without money. 
 
 The second class of passages is found in Lev. 25 : 39-43, and 
 ver. 47-55 ; where the Hebrew servant goes out, not at the expi 
 ration of six years, but in the year of jubilee. 
 
 If, now, we assume, as is commonly done, that both classes 
 of passages refer to the same persons, we may adopt the expla 
 nation given long ago by Michaelis, wliich is th6 following : " Or 
 dinarily the man became free after six years of service, that is, 
 at the beginning of the seventh year ; but if he had been sold 
 into servitude a few years before the year of jubilee, he was not 
 to wait for the seventh year; but he regained his freedom in the 
 year of jubilee." Commentary on the Laws of Moses, 127. 
 But Saalschiitz. maintains that the two classes of passages refer 
 to different classes of servants. He would refer the second class 
 of passages, Lev. 25 : 39^3, and ver. 47-55, to impoverished 
 Israelites, wiiose hereditary possessions were to revert to them 
 at the year of jubilee; but the first class, Exod. 21 : 2-6, Deut. 
 15 : 12-18, to a peculiar class of servants, constituting a sort of 
 middle class between impoverished Israelites and Gentile slaves 
 purchased of the heathen: a class made up, in his view r , of per 
 sons born in the house of an Israelite from the marriage of ser 
 vants, and also of servants bought with money who had become 
 incorporated with the family by circumcision, and thus attained 
 to a kind of naturalization. According to this view the servant 
 had, upon every change of masters, the privilege of freedom after 
 six years of service. See the two views fully presented by Miel- 
 ziner (Am. Theol. Review for April, 1861), and Saalschtitz (Bib. 
 Sacra for January, 1862). 
 
 There has been a difference of opinion as to the meaning of the words : 
 " He shah 1 serve him for ever " (Exod. 21 : 6 ; Deut. 15 : 17), spoken of the 
 servant whose ear had been bored with an awl. The common Jewish opin 
 ion is that the period designated extended only to the year of jubilee. But 
 some maintain that the servant, by submitting himself to this rite, re 
 nounced absolutely all claim to liberty at any future time. 
 
 It is maintained, again, by many that the words of Moses in reference 
 
 Over,-. A Autiq. 19 
 
434 BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 to the year of jubilee, { And ye shall hallow the fiftieth year, and proclaim 
 liberty throughout all the land to all the inhabitants thereof " (Lev. 25 : 10), 
 apply, by fair interpretation, to servants of foreign origin also, as being a 
 part of " the inhabitants of the land." But others argue with much force 
 from the context that the provisions of this verse refer, like all the rest 
 contained in the chapter, to impoverished Israelites returning to their 
 hereditary possessions. Such has ever been the view of Jewish commen 
 tators. While they have held that Hebrew servants, whose ears had been 
 bored, were released at the year of jubilee, they have not extruded this 
 rule to Gentile servants. 
 
 16. Servitude among tJie Gentile nations, the Greeks and Bo- 
 mans included, differed widely from Hebrew servitude. It was 
 slavery in the full sens 3 of the term ; and it was a merciful pro 
 vision of the laAV of Moses that fugitive slaves fleeing to the 
 Hebrews should not be forcibly returned to their former mas 
 ters. Deut. 23 : 15, 16. 
 
 III. FOKMS OF SOCIAL INTERCOURSE. 
 
 17. The lively temperament of the orientals manifests itself 
 in their forms of salutation, which among us would carry an air of 
 extravagance, "when in truth," as Jahn remarks, "those ges 
 tures and expressions mean no more than very moderate ones 
 among us." Examples of the etiquette of primitive times occur 
 in the history of the patriarchs. Before the three strangers who 
 presented themselves at his tent-door Abraham " bowed himself 
 towards the ground." Gen. 18 : 2. So also, in negotiating with 
 the children of Heth for a burying-place, he twice " bowed down 
 himself before the people of the land." Geii. 23 : 7, 12. When 
 Laban heard of Jacob s arrival, " he ran to meet him, and em 
 braced him, and kissed him " (Gen. 29 : 13) ; and afterwards Jacob 
 " bowed himself to the ground seven times, until he came near 
 to his brother," whom he met not as an equal, but as a chieftain 
 at the head of an armed band, upon whose favor his life and all 
 his possessions depended. Then Esau "ran to meet him, and 
 embraced him, and fell on his neck, and kissed him ; and they 
 wept." "Then the handmaidens came near, they and their chil 
 dren, and they bowed themselves. And Leah also with her chil- 
 
DOMESTIC RELATIONS AND USAGES. 435 
 
 dren came near, and they bowed themselves: and after came 
 Joseph near and Rachel, and they bowed themselves." Gen. 
 33 : 1-7. In this narrative we have a true picture of an oriental 
 meeting of the more formal kind. Another example is that of 
 Jacob s sons, who, upon their presentation to Joseph, " bowed 
 down themselves before him with their faces to the earth." Gen. 
 42 : 6 ; 43 : 28. Prostration of the body before a man of rank 
 continued, to be the usual token of respect, as it is at the present 
 day in eastern lands. 1 Sam. 20:41; 24:8; 25:41; 2 Sam, 
 1:2; 9:6; 14 : 4, 22 ; etc. They who came to our Saviour with 
 petitions for themselves or their friends often fell down at his 
 feet and did him reverence. Though it was not necessarily as a 
 divine being that they thus honored him, it was certainly as a 
 messenger of God invested with superhuman dignity. 
 
 Various forms of greeting are given in the Old Testament, 
 such as: "The Lord be with you;" "the Lord bless you;" "-the 
 blessing of Jehovah be upon thee " (Ruth 2:4; Psa. 129 : 8) ; but 
 the current form, still retained in the East, was : " Peace be unto 
 thee ;" or more formally and fully : " Unto thee be peace, and 
 unto thy house be peace, and unto all that thou hast be peace" 
 (1 Sam. 25 : 6) ; " Peace, peace be unto thee, and peace be to 
 thine helpers" (1 Chron. 12:18). So also it was customary to 
 take leave with wishes of peace. Exod. 4 : 18 ; 1 Sam. 1 : 17 ; 
 20 : 42 ; Mark 5 : 34 ; etc. It is in allusion to both the salutation 
 and the parting that our Saviour says : " Peace I leave with you, 
 my peace I give unto you : not as the world giveth, give I unto 
 you." John 14 : 27. The peace which the world gives is too 
 often an empty form, and when sincere, not efficacious. But 
 when the blessed Saviour says : " Peace be unto you ;" " Go in 
 peace," there is both a divine fulness of meaning in his words, 
 and a divine efficacy accompanying them. 
 
 To the above-named inflections and salutations the modern orientals 
 add various other gestures and " actions. In pronouncing the form of 
 salutation just given, the orientals place the right hand upon the left 
 breast, and with much gravity incline the head. If two Arab friends of 
 equal rank in life meet together, they mutually extend to each other the 
 
436 BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 right Land, and having clasped, they elevate them, as if to kiss them. 
 Having advanced thus far in the ceremony, each one draws back his hand, 
 and kisses it instead of his friend s, and then places it upon his forehead. 
 If one of the Arabs be more exalted in point of rank than the other, he is 
 to give the other an opportunity of kissing, instead of his own, the hand 
 oJ his superior. The parties then continue the salutation by reciprocally 
 kits, ing each other s beards, having first placed the hand under it, in which 
 case alone it is lawful to touch the beard. 2 Sam. 20 : 9. It is sometimes 
 the c:ise that persons, instead of this ceremony, merely place their cheeks 
 together. It is the common practice among the Persians for" persons in 
 saluting to kiss each other s lips ; if one of the individuals be a person of 
 high rank, the salutation is given upon the cheeks instead of the lips. " 
 Jahii, Archaeol., $175. These modern oriental modes of salutation un 
 doubtedly represent, for substance, the usage of ancient scriptural times. 
 
 To the salutations succeeds an elaborate series of mutual inquiries and 
 expressions of joy, which are not only, for the most part, heartless, but 
 consume much time, often followed by protracted trivial conversation. 
 Hence we may illustrate Elisha s direction to Gehazi, when he sent him in 
 haste to Mount Carmel : "If thou meet any man, salute him not; and if 
 any salute thee, answer him not again" (2 Kings 4:29), and the similar 
 command of our Lord when he sent out the seventy disciples : Salute no 
 man by the way " (Luke 10 : 4). See Thomson, The Land and the Book, 
 vol. 1, p. 534 ; Lane, Modern Egyptians, vol. 1, pp. 253, 254. 
 
 " In the presence of the great and the noble, the orientals incline them 
 selves almost to the earth, kiss their knees or the hem of their garment, and 
 place it upon their forehead. When in the presence of kings and princes 
 more particularly, they go so far as to prostrate themselves at full length 
 upon the ground ; sometimes with their knees bent, they touch their fore 
 head to the earth, and before resuming an erect position either kiss the 
 earth, or, if they prefer it, the feet of the king or prince in whose presence 
 they are permitted to appear." Jahn, Archrcol., $175 ; Herodotus, 1. 134. 
 The Romans were not accustomed to render such servile honor to their 
 rulers. When Cornelius fell down at Peter s feet and did him reverence, 
 he regarded him as a messenger of God invested with superhuman dig 
 nity. But the apostle promptly lifted him up, with the words: "Stand 
 up ; I myself also am a man." Acts 10 : 25, 26. 
 
 18. On occasions of great national joy dancing, always with 
 the accompaniment of music, took jfche character among the 
 Hebrews, of a religions act. This was in accordance with the 
 general usage of antiquity. See in Smith s Diet, of Greek and 
 Roman Antiquities, Art., Chorus. So, upon the occasion of the 
 
DOMESTIC RELATIONS AND USAGES. 437 
 
 deliverance of the Israelites at the Ked sea, "Miriam the proph 
 etess, the sister of Aaron, took a timbrel in her hand ; and all 
 the women went out after her with timbrels and with dances ;" 
 and under her guidance they sung, with music and dancing, the 
 divine song composed by Moses on that occasion. Exod. 15 : 20, 
 21. In like manner, when Saul was returning with David from 
 the slaughter of the Philistines, " the women came out of all cit 
 ies, singing and dancing, to meet king Saul, with tabrets, with 
 joy, and with instruments of music. And the women answered 
 one another, as they played, and said, Saul hath slain his thou 
 sands, and David his ten thousands." 1 Sam. 18 : 6, 7. See also 
 Judg. 11 : 34 ; 21 : 21. When the ark was removed to Jerusalem, 
 " David danced before the Lord with ah 1 his might, girded with 
 a linen ephod ;" and when Michal reproached him for the act, 
 which was certainly unusual in the case of a monarch, he vindi 
 cated himself with the answer: "It was before the Lord." 
 2 Sam. 6 : 14, seq. 
 
 But the Hebrews delighted in social dancing also. Jer. 
 31 : 4, 13. In accordance with the general spirit and usage of 
 the East (see below), in all modest dances the sexes performed 
 separately. In idolatrous festivals, as at the worship of the 
 golden calf (Exod., chap. 32), men and women may perhaps have 
 danced together promiscuously in imitation of like heathen orgies, 
 but certainly not in any dances of the true Hebrew character. 
 
 19. The Mosaic law recognized the essential equality of the 
 sexes, describing them both as man, made in God s image, male 
 and female. Gen. 1 : 26, 27. The subordination of the woman 
 to the man is one of office, rather than of nature. Gen* 2 : 18, 23. 
 The ancient Hebrew women enjoyed a large degree of liberty, 
 though they had neither that unrestrained freedom, nor that high 
 position assigned to them hi modem Christian nations. In orient 
 al countries the social intercourse between the sexes has always 
 been marked by a degree of reserve unknown among the Chris 
 tians of the West ; Paganism and Mohammedanism are alike in 
 consigning them to their present condition of degradation and 
 seclusion. 
 
438 BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 "Oriental women," says Thomson (vol. 1, p. 187), "are never regarded 
 or treated as equals by the men." Of this fact he gives (ibid., and pp. 175, 
 176) various illustrations: they never eat with the men, but the husband 
 and brothers are first served, and the wife, mother, and sisters wait and 
 take what is left ; in a walk the women never go arm in arm with the men, 
 but follow at a respectful distance ; the woman is, as a rule, kept closely 
 confined, and watched with jealousy ; when she goes out she is closely 
 veiled from head to foot. Moslem women never join in the prayers at the 
 mosques ; and in churches the Christian women are accommodated with 
 a part railed off, and latticed to shield them from public gaze ; the guest, 
 as he enters a home, finds no ladies to entertain him, and he never sees 
 them in evening gatherings. All this, and much more of the same kind 
 that might be named, is, as Thomson remarks, "a necessary compensation 
 for true modesty in both sexes," and nothing but a pure and enlightened 
 Christianity can remove the evil. 
 
 Such being the degradation of woman, it is not surprising that the 
 birth of a son should be hailed as a joyful event, while that of a daughter 
 is often looked upon as a calamity ; and cases occur where the brutal hus 
 band divorces his wife for no other reason. " This accounts," says Thom 
 son, for the intense desire which many of these poor creatures manifest 
 to become mothers of sons.-" Compare Gen. 30 : 1 ; 1 Sani. 1 : 11. 
 
 20. Oriental visits are accompanied by no little ceremony. 
 "When one enters the room, all rise to their feet, and stand 
 steadfast and straight as a palm-tree to receive him. The 
 formal salam is given and taken all round the room, with the 
 dignity of a prince and the gravity of a court; and when the 
 new-comer reaches his seat, the ceremony is repeated in pre 
 cisely the same words. In one of your full divans, therefore, 
 a man gives and receives about fifty salams before he is fairly 
 settled and at his ease. Then comes the solemnity of coffee 
 and smoking, with a great variety of apparatus." Thomson, 
 vol. 1, p. 163. The coffee and smoking are of modern introduc 
 tion; but the ceremonial of oriental visits has come down in 
 great part from ancient times. Jalm (Archseol., 176) mentions 
 a custom of regaling a visitor with incense or burnt perfume, 
 as a polite intimation that it is time to bring the interview to a 
 close. 
 
 There was an open space near the gate of the ancient city where jus 
 tice was administered, public deliberations were held, and all kinds of 
 
DOMESTIC RELATIONS AND USAGES. 439 
 
 business were transacted. Deut. 21 : 19 ; Ruth 4 : 1; 11 ; 1 Kings 22 : 10 ; 
 Job 5:4; Prov. 22 : 22. This was of course a common resort for those 
 who wished to learn the news of the day, and hold conversations with 
 those assembled there. Gen. 19 : 1 ; Psa. 69 : 12 ; Prov. 31 : 23, 31. 
 
 21. Among equals the bestowal of gifts seems to have been 
 a matter left to ever}* one s discretion. The gifts brought to 
 rulers and religious teachers by those who approached them will 
 be considered elsewhere. Alms-giving was inculcated in both 
 the Old and the New Testament, as one of the imperative duties 
 of religion. Besides the provisions made for the poor in con 
 nection with the harvest and vintage (Chap. 14, No. 13), the- 
 duty of relieving their wants by gifts of charity was inculcated 
 in both the law and the prophets. Deut. 15 : 7, 8 ; Isa. 58 : 7 ; 
 Ezek. 18 : 7, 16. The New Testament reaffirms these precepts, 
 and insists on the necessity of obeying them not in the letter 
 alone, but in the spirit also. Matt. 6 : 1-4 ; 1 Cor. 13 : 1-3. 
 
 It has been from ancient times a question with interpreters, whether 
 our Lord s words, "When thou doest thine alms, do not sound a trumpet 
 before thee, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, 
 that they may have glory of men" (Matt. 6:2), refer to an actual prac 
 tice, or are simply a figurative expression for ostentations display. But, 
 taken either way, the caution which they give in respect to deeds of char 
 ity is the same, and .one that deserves careful consideration on the part 
 of ah 1 who hope for a heavenly approval upon their alms. 
 
 IV. THE BURIAL OF THE DEAD. 
 
 22. That the body should be left after death unburied, a 
 prey to wild beasts and birds, was considered by all the ancient 
 nations as a great calamity. No greater insult could be offered 
 to the corpse of an enemy than to deprive it of burial cere 
 monies. 1 Sam. 31:8-10; 2 Sam. 4:12; Jer. 22:19. Goliath 
 says to David, in the true spirit of an ancient warrior : " Come 
 to me, and I will give thy flesh unto the fowls of the air, and 
 to the beasts of the field ;" and David, in turn, threatens that he 
 will do the same to "the carcasses of the host of the Philis 
 tines." 1 Sam. 17:44, 46. Such threats are common with 
 Homer s heroes ; and God by the prophets often denounces 
 
440 BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 upon the wicked "a like doom for their persistent disobedi 
 ence to Iris commands. Deut. 28:26; 1 Kings 14:11; 16:4; 
 21:24; Jer. 7:33; 15:3; 16:4; 34:20; Ezek. 29:5; 32:4. "The 
 supper of the great God " to which all the feathered fowls and 
 wild beasts are invited (Ezek. 39:17-20; Rev. 19:17, 18) is 
 made up of the flesh of men and horses that have perished in 
 their vain attempt to make war upon God and his Messiah. 
 
 23. Of the methods of embalming practised among the Egyp 
 tians notice has been taken elsewhere (Chap. 8, No. 19) ; also 
 of the forms of the ancient Hebrew sepulchres (Chap. 2, No. 43). 
 It remains "to say a few words on the funeral rites of the ancient 
 Hebrews. These appear to have been in primitive times of a 
 very simple character. The sacred record notices the closing 
 of the eyes, the kissing, and the washing of the corpse (Gen. 
 46:4; 50:1; Acts 9: 37) all simple customs common to every 
 nation. Coffins were used in Egypt and Babylon, but not 
 among the Hebrews. The body was swathed in grave-clothes, 
 with a bandage also around the head (John 11 : 44), laid on a 
 frame or bier, and thus conveyed to its final resting-place. Wher 
 ever the means of the friends would allow it, the materials em 
 ployed were of the most costly character fine linen with an 
 abundance of spices and ointments. Mark 15 : 46 ; 16 : 1 ; Luke 
 23:56; 24:1; John 19:39, 40. That the spices and ointment 
 were commonly employed is manifest from our Lord s words: 
 " She is come beforehand " that is, in the counsels of God 
 "to anoint my body for the burial" {Mark 14: 8) ; and also from 
 the remark of the Evangelist : " as the manner of the Jews is to 
 bury " (John 19 : 40). Compare the burial of Asa, whom they 
 laid " in the bed which was filled with sweet odors and divers 
 kinds of spices prepared by the apothecary s art: and they 
 made a very great burning for him." 2 Chron. 16:14. The 
 burning which they made for Asa, and refused afterwards to 
 make for Jehoram (2 Chron. 21 : 19), was one of fragrant incense. 
 Compare Jer. 34 : 5. The burning of the corpse was a Grecian 
 and Roman custom. It was practised among the Hebrews only 
 in exceptional cases. 1 Sam. 31 : 12 ; Amos 6 : 10. 
 
DOMESTIC RELATIONS AND USAGES. 441 
 
 24. The oriental expressions of mourning agree with their 
 lively and demonstrative character. We have abundant notices 
 of them in the Old Testament. Among these may be men 
 tioned (1.) Rending the garments (Gen. 37:29, 34; 44:13; Josh. 
 7: 6, etc.), for which the Jewish doctors prescribe several degrees 
 corresponding to those of relationship. (2.) Putting on sack- 
 doth; that is, a coarse and dark-colored cloth made of hair, or 
 other dark-colored apparel. The custom was so common that 
 no references are needed. (3.) Sprinkling ashes or earth on the 
 person, particularly the head. Josh. 7 : 6 ; 1 Sam. 4 : 12 ; 2 Sam. 
 13 : 19 ; 15 : 32. Sitting, lying, or wallowing in ashes was a kin 
 dred usage. Esther 4 : 3 ; Job 2 : 8 ; Isa. 58 : 5 ; Jer. 6 : 26 ; 25 : 34 ; 
 Ezek. 27 : 30. (4.) Shaving the head and plucking off the hair are 
 mentioned as tokens of deep affliction. Job 1:20; Ezra 9:3; 
 Jer. 7:29; 16:6; Amos 8:10. The captive woman whom a 
 Hebrew took to be his wife was to shave her head in connection 
 with the month s mourning allowed her. Deut. 21 : 12. On the 
 other hand, covering tJie head is mentioned as a sign of grief 
 (2 Sam. 15 : 30 ; Jer. 14 : 4) ; also covering the upper lip. Ezek. 
 24 : 17-22 ; Micah 3 : 7. This last rite was specially prescribed 
 in the case of the leper. Lev. 13:45. (5.) Removal of orna 
 ments and general neglect of person. Exod. 33:4; 2 Sam. 14:2; 
 19 : 24 ; Dan. 10 : 3 ; Micah 1 : 11. The Pharisees disfigured their 
 faces and went with a sad countenance when they fasted; 
 whereas the Saviour directs that when we fast we wash the 
 face and anoint the head. Matt. 6 : 16-18. Such voluntary neg 
 lect of the person is to be distinguished from the forced naked 
 ness and humiliation of captives. 2 Sam. 10:4; Isa. 20:4; 
 47:2; Jer. 13:22, 26; Nah. 3:5. (6.) Abstinence from food and 
 drink, a sign of mourning so natural and common that refer 
 ences are unnecessary. The abstinence was sometimes simply 
 from pleasant food, wine, and other luxuries. Dan. 10 : 3. When 
 long continued it was necessarily so, except in cases of mirac 
 ulous support. (7.) Equally natural signs of mourning are 
 weeping r , toaiUng, and beating the breast and thigh. Gen. 23:2; 
 1 Sam. 1:7; 30:4; 2 Sam. 15:30; Esther 4:1; Ezek. 21:12; 
 
 19* 
 
442 BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 Nahum 2:7; Luke 18:13; 23:48; etc. (8.) The practice of 
 employing professional mourners is mentioned by the Hebrew 
 prophets. Such were the persons "skilful of lamentation" (Amos 
 5:16), and the "mourning and cunning women" of whom the 
 prophet says : " Let them make haste, and take up a -wailing for 
 us, that our eyes may run down with tears, and our eyelids gush 
 out with water." Jer. 9 : 17, 18. In the Saviour s day this was 
 an established usage. When he came to the house of Jaims, 
 he found there "minstrels" playing mournful strains, and "them 
 that wept and wailed greatly;" and it was to these hired mourn 
 ers chiefly, if not exclusively, that he directed his rebuke : " Why 
 make ye this ado and weep?" Matt. 9:23, 24; Mark 5:38, 39. 
 The children sitting in the markets imitated in their sports wed 
 dings and funerals. At a mimic wedding, some "piped" played 
 a lively air, either actually or by way of imitation, while their 
 companions were expected to dance. At a mimic funeral, some 
 "mourned" played a funeral dirge, at which their companions 
 were to set up the customary wail. Matt. 11 : 16, 17. See 
 further the article on mourning in Smith s Bible Diet., from 
 which the above particulars have been mainly condensed. 
 
 The oriental expressions of mourning have been handed down from 
 high antiquity, and they still prevail as in olden times. "There are," 
 says Thomson, in every city and community women exceeding cunning 
 in this business. These are always sent for and kept in readiness. When 
 a fresh company of sympathizers comes in, these women make haste to 
 take up a wailing, that the newly come may the more easily unite their 
 tears with the mourners. They know the domestic history of every per 
 son, and immediately strike up an impromptu lamentation, in which they 
 introduce the names of their relatives who have recently died, touching 
 some tender cord in every heart, and thus each one weeps for his own 
 dead, and the j)e^formance, which would otherwise be difficult or impos 
 sible, becomes easy and natural, and even this extemporaneous artificial 
 sorrow is thereby redeemed from half its hollow-heartedness and hypoc- 
 risy." 
 
 The heathen practice of self -laceration for the dead, by cutting the 
 flesh, and imprinting marks upon it, was forbidden by the Mosaic law, 
 along with other superstitious rites making baldness upon the head, 
 shaving off the corner of the beard, making baldness between the eyes. 
 Lev. 19 : 28 ; 21 : 5 ; Deut. 14 : 1. The spirit of true religion demands 
 
DOMESTIC RELATIONS AND USAGES. 443 
 
 both genuineness and moderation in the expression of grief for the di-.-id. 
 All hypocritical displays of mourning, as well as the abandonment of the 
 soul to excessive sorrow, ara most unbecoming in the child of God who 
 is an heir of heaven, and whose daily language should be, " THY WILL BE 
 DONE." 
 
 APPENDIX. GRECIAN AND ROMAN GAMES. 
 
 25. Public games were not a Hebrew institution. The three 
 great national festivals prescribed by the Mosaic law furnished 
 a recreation of a nobler and more spiritual character. It is 
 true that in the reign of Antiochus Epiphanes the high priest 
 Jason, who had bought his office of the king, established a 
 gymnasium at Jerusalem for the practice of Grecian games, 
 and that afterward Herod erected a theatre and amphitheatre 
 at Jerusalem, as well as at Caesarsea and Berytus. 1 Mace. 1 : 14 ; 
 2 Mace. 4:12-14; Josephus Antiq., 15. 8. 1; 9. 6; 19. 7. 5. But 
 such departures from ancient Jewish usage were regarded with 
 abhorrence by the body of the people, among whom only the 
 simplest sports were common. 
 
 Jerome, for example, in commenting on the -words of Zechariah (chap. 
 12 : 3): "In that day will I make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all 
 people : all that burden, themselves with it shall be cut in pieces, though 
 all the people of the earth be gathered together against it," illustrates 
 them by reference to a custom still prevalent in his day in Judaea. Round 
 stones of great weight were placed in the villages, towns, and fortresses, 
 with which the young men might try their strength. Some were able to 
 raise them only to their knees, some to their navel, some to their shoul 
 ders and heads ; a few only could hold them with arms erect above their 
 heads, thus making manifest the greatness of their strength. 
 
 26. The public games of the Greeks and Kornans, though 
 foreign to Hebrew usage, are yet so often referred to in the 
 New Testament that a brief notice of them is desirable. The 
 Grecian games were celebrated at four different places in Greece ; 
 the Olympian, at Olympia not far from the town of Pisa in Elis ; 
 the Pythian, near Delphi in Phocis ; the Nemean, at Nemea in 
 Argolis ; the Isthmian on the Isthmus of Corinth. They con 
 sisted of chariot and foot races, leaping, throwing the quoit 
 
-144 BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 and javelin, wrestling, and boxing with leathern gloves armed 
 with lead or iron. The competitors w r ere required to enter 
 their names beforehand, and were subjected to a long and 
 severe course of training in which their daily diet and exercises 
 were carefully regulated. For each of the games rules were 
 prescribed and sternly enforced, and the prizes were awarded 
 by judges appointed for the purpose. These prizes were in 
 themselves trivial at the Olympian games a chaplet formed of 
 the leaves of the wild olive, at the Isthmian games one of pine 
 leaves, etc. but the honor of the victory, of which they were 
 the sign, was very great, and it was eagerly sought by the young 
 men of Greece. 
 
 The victor upon his return home, especially from the Olympian games, 
 was universally honored. He rode in a triumphal chariot into his city, and 
 the walls were broken down to give him entrance. He had an honorable 
 seat at all shows and games, and at some places was maintained at the pub- 
 he expense. See Potter s Antiquities of Greece (Book 2, chaps. 21-25) and 
 the authorities there referred to. 
 
 27. In the New Testament are various allusions to these 
 games as emblems of Christian conflict. The apostle refers to 
 them generally when he says : " Fight the good fight of faith ; 
 lay hold on eternal life, whereunto thou art also called " (1 Tim. 
 6 : 12) ; for here the Greek word (agon) denotes not a fight on 
 the battlefield, but a conflict in the stadium. So also 2 Tim. 
 4:7; Phil. 1 : 30 ; and elsewhere. Again, the Christian life is 
 described as a race set before the believer (Acts 20 : 24 ; 2 Tim. 
 4:7; Heb. 12 : 1, where the race is run in the presence of a great 
 cloud of heavenly witnesses, in allusion to the crowds that assem 
 bled to witness the Grecian games) ; and the apostle compares 
 himself (Phil. 3 : 13, 14) to a racer who, forgetting ah 1 that is be 
 hind, ever reaches forward towards what is before him, his body 
 being bent forward in the race, and his eye steadily fixed on the 
 mark. He further refers to the strict rules of the games (2 Tim. 
 2:5): "If a man also strive for masteries, he is not crowned 
 except he strive lawfully;" and to the crown dispensed by the 
 judge of the games (2 Tim. 4:8): " Henceforth there is laid up 
 
DOMESTIC RELATIONS AND USAGES. 445 
 
 for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous 
 Judge, shall give me in that day." In the epistle to the Ephe- 
 sians (chap. 6 : 12) the conflict of believers with the powers of 
 darkness is represented under the figure of the wrestlings of the 
 Grecian games, which were emphatically hand-to-hand struggles, 
 although the figure is immediately changed to that of an armed 
 warrior. 
 
 We have in 1 Cor. 9 : 24-27 an accumulation of beautiful allusions to 
 these games. The competitors "run all, but one receiveth the prize." 
 They are "temperate in all things," and their reward is a "corruptible 
 crown," the chaplet of leaves above noticed, and the perishable honor 
 which it represents. "I therefore so run," says the apostle, "not as uncer 
 tainly ;" not running at random, but with my eye steadily fixed on the 
 goal. Then, passing to the figure of a boxer, he adds : "So fight I" (lit 
 erally so box I), " not as one that beateth the air," as the boxer does when 
 he fails to hit his antagonist. Reverting again to the severe training of the 
 combatants, with the figure of the boxer still in his mind, he says: "I 
 keep under my body " (literally beat it in the face black and blue, as the boxer 
 does the face of his antagonist by striking it under the eyes), "and bring 
 it into subjection ; lest, perchance, having preached the gospel to others, I 
 myself should become a rejected one ;" that is, rejected as unworthy of the 
 prize. 
 
 28. The Greeks and Romans were also passionately fond of 
 theatrical exhibitions, which were as foreign to the true Hebrew 
 spirit as the games above noticed. The Romans had amphithea 
 tres vast elliptical buildings, with an elliptical space in the cen 
 tre called the arena, and tiers of seats around the wall rising 
 one above another. These were used for public games, espe 
 cially gladiatorial shows and contests with wild beasts. Gladia 
 tors fought with each other sword in hand for the amusement of 
 the spectators, and vast numbers perished in this way. There 
 was a class of men who fought with wild beasts for hire. Others 
 were exposed to wild beasts by way of punishment, as the prim 
 itive Christians often were. In such cruel exhibitions the Roman 
 populace took great delight. 
 
 When the apostle says (1 Cor. 4:9): " God hath set forth us the apos 
 tles last, as it were appointed to death : for we are made a spectacle unto 
 the world, and to angels, and to men," he probably alludes to the exposure 
 
446 BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 of condemned malefactors in the amphitheatre, that they might be de 
 spatched by gladiators or wild beasts. 
 
 Whether the fighting with beasts at Ephesus to which the apostle Paul 
 alludes (1 Cor. 15 : 32) is to be understood figuratively, or is a reference to 
 an actual exposure, has long been a matter of controversy among commen 
 tators. Considering the fact that his Roman citizenship made such an 
 exposure utterly unlawful, and also the silence of the record in the book of 
 Acts as to any such transaction, we may, perhaps, best understand the 
 expression in a figurative way. 
 
THE SCIENCES AND ARTS. 447 
 
 CHAPTEE XX. 
 
 CIENCES AND 
 
 THE S 
 
 1. THE Hebrews were not distinguished for their attainments 
 in the arts and sciences, their energies being turned in another 
 and a higher direction. The whole field of astrology was to 
 them forbidden ground, and their study of astronomy had refer 
 ence solely to the divisions of time. In the peaceful arts they 
 did not excel the neighboring nations, and in some respects fell 
 short of them. What relates to military matters will be consid 
 ered elsewhere. 
 
 I. HEBREW DIVISIONS OF TIME. 
 
 2. The Hebrew year was necessarily sdar, its great festivals 
 being connected, as we shah 1 see, with the products of agricul 
 ture; but the months of the Mosaic law were certainly lunar. 
 According to Josephus (Antiq., 3. 10. 5), the passover was cele 
 brated " on the fourteenth day of the month Nisan according to 
 the moon, the sun being in the sign Aries ;" and Philo (Life of 
 Moses), testifies in like manner that this was the day of the full 
 moon. The custom of beginning the year from the new moon 
 of Nisan or Abib had come down to the later Jews from anti 
 quity, and we cannot assume any fundamental change in this 
 respect from the time of Moses. We may add that the Septua- 
 gint renders by the term new moon the Hebrew expressions for 
 the first day of tlie month (Exod. 40 : 2, 17) and the beginning of the 
 month (Numb. 10 : 10 ; 28 : 11). 
 
 All admit that the Hebrew word for month, which signifies newness, 
 renovation, was taken from the new moon of the primitive lunar month. 
 But upon the adoption of a solar division of the months, the term would 
 naturally remain ; so that from this alone no sure conclusion can be drawn. 
 The expression new moon does not occur in the Hebrew Scriptures. Where 
 our translators employ it the original has the simple word month or months. 
 
448 BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 See 1 Sain. 20 : 5 ; 2 "Kings 4 : 23 ; Psa. 81 : 3 ; Isa. 66 : 23 ; Ezek. 46 : 1 ; 
 Amos 8 : 5 ; 1 Cliron. 23 : 31 ; 2 Chron. 2:4; Isa. 1 : 13 ; etc. Here, how 
 ever, we must naturally understand, with our translators, the beginning of 
 the hyiar month, as a phenomenon that could be noticed by all. It lias 
 been commonly assumed that in the account of the deluge the months 
 contained each thirty days ; since from the seventeenth day of the second 
 month, when the deluge began (Gen. 7 : 11) to the seventeenth day of the 
 seventh month, when the ark rested upon the mountains of Ararat (Gen. 
 8:4), we have apparently the hundred and fifty days (five months of thirty 
 days each) during which the waters prevailed (Gen. 7 : 24 ; 8 : 3). At least, 
 we cannot see what other sign than this of the ark s resting on the land 
 Noah could have had that the waters had ceased to prevail, shut up as he 
 was from all view without. Compare chap. 8 : 6-13. We know, moreover, 
 that a year of three hundred and sixty days divided into twelve months of 
 thirty days each, with an intercalation of five days, prevailed from very 
 ancient times in Egypt. 
 
 3. Since the lunar month consists of a little more than twen 
 ty-nine and a half days, and the Hebrews never reckoned less 
 than a whole day to a month, it follows that their months must 
 have varied between twenty-nine and thirty days, making a year 
 of 354 days, so that an intercalary month would be necessary 
 every third year, and sometimes on alternate years. This inter 
 calation was doubtless made from the beginning by the priests 
 who had charge of the sanctuary services, as we know that it 
 was in later times. 
 
 In later Jewish history the beginning of the month was determined by 
 the first appearance of the new moon, which was reported by witnesses 
 appointed for the purpose. As the Jewish day began at sunset, if the 
 announcement was made before dark, that day was the first of the month ; 
 if not till after dark, the following day began the month. 
 
 4. By the appointment of the Mosaic law the Hebrew year 
 began with the month of Abib, that is, of green ears (Exod. 12 : 2 ; 
 13:4; Deut. 16 : 1) called in later times Nisan (Neh. 2:1; Esth. 
 3:7). According to the modern rabbinical Jewish calendar, 
 Nisan answers to our March. But there are strong grounds for 
 believing that originally it coincided more nearly with our April. 
 
 J. D. Michaelis (Hebrew Months) argues for the coincidence of Nisan 
 with April on the following grounds : (1.) That the climate of Palestine 
 
THE SCIENCES AND ARTS. 449 
 
 would not permit the oblation of the sheaf of the first fruits of the harvest 
 ordered for the second day of the Passover festival (Lev. 23 : 10 compared 
 with ver. 15, 16) at an earlier date ; since the barley harvest does not take 
 place even in the warm climate about Jericho until about the middle of 
 April, while it is still later on the highlands. (2. ) That the Syrian calen 
 dar, which has essentially the same names for the months, makes its Nisan 
 absolutely parallel with our April. (3. ) That Josephus, in one place, makes 
 Nisan equivalent to the Macedonian month Xanthicus ; and also mentions 
 that on the 14th of Nisan the sun was in the sign Aries, which could not 
 be on that day except in April. The later Jews may have departed from 
 the ancient order, as Michaelis suggests, in imitation of the Koruans, who 
 began their year with March. 
 
 It is commonly assumed that the Hebrews had two modes of 
 reckoning: a sacred year reckoned from Nisan, and a civil, reck 
 oned from the new moon of Tishri, the seventh month. This is 
 tine only in a modified sense. The sabbatical year and the year 
 of jubilee were indeed reckoned from the seventh month (Lev. 
 25 : 9 compared with ver. 20-22), as the convenience of the hus 
 bandman required; this being at the close of one agricultural 
 year and the beginning of another. But the months were in all 
 cases numbered from Nisan. 
 
 It has been conjectured that before the time of Moses, the year began 
 about the autumnal equinox, and that he, by divine direction, transferred 
 its beginning to the vernal equinox ; that is, to the new moon nearest to 
 that point of time. The words of the ordinance (Exod. 12:2): "This 
 month shall be unto you the beginning of months : it shall be the first 
 month of the year unto you," certainly have the appearance of containing 
 a new ordinance. Had the year always begun with the month of Abib, we 
 can hardly suppose that such a command would have been given, with the 
 annexed reason (Deut. 16 : 1) : " for in the month of Abib the Lord thy God 
 brought thee forth out of Egypt by night. " 
 
 We give from Jahn (Archaeology, 103) the later names of the Jewish 
 months in order. They are Babylonian, adopted during the captivity. 
 "Where no scriptural authority is given, they are taken from the Talmud. 
 The few earlier Hebrew names that occur in the Old Testament are added 
 in parentheses. 
 
 1. Hisan, from the new moon of April, Neh. 2:1; Esth. 3 : 7 (Abib, 
 
 Exod. 13 : 4; etc.); 
 
 2. Ijar, May (Ziv, 1 Kings 6 : 1, 37); 
 
 3. Siran, June, Esth. 8:9; 
 
450 BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 4. Tammuz, from the new moon of July ; 
 
 5. Ab, " " August; 
 
 6. Elid, September, Neh. 6 : 15 ; 
 
 7. Tishri, " October (Ethanim, I Kings 8:2); 
 
 8. Marcheshvan, " " November (Bui, 1 Kings 6 : 38); 
 
 9. Kislev, " " December, Neli. 1:1; Zech. 7:1; 
 
 10. Tebetk, " " January, Esth. 2 : 16 ; 
 
 11. Shebat, " " February, Zech. 1 : 7 ; 
 
 12. Adar, " March, Esth. 3:7; etc. 
 
 The intercalary month was called Veadar, which may be rendered Sec 
 ond Adar. 
 
 5. The division of time into weeks was originally made by 
 God himself in commemoration of the order of creation. Gen. 
 2:2, 3. From certain notices in the book of Genesis (7 : 4, 10 ; 
 8 : 10, 12 ; 29 : 27, 28) we infer that a weekly division of time 
 existed from the beginning. With this agree the words of the 
 fourth commandment : " Eemember the Sabbath-day to keep it 
 holy," in which the Sabbath-day is not ordained for the first 
 time, but referred to as already well known. The religious sig 
 nificance of the Sabbath, and the change of the day under the 
 Christian dispensation, will be considered elsewhere. We simply 
 remark here that the Hebrew Sabbath, as commemorative of 
 the rest after creation, occurred at the end of the week, and thus 
 answered to our Saturday. 
 
 The week of weeks was the period of seven weeks or fojjfcy-iiine days 
 from the morrow after the paschal Sabbath, and it was followed on tliejif- 
 tietli day by the feast of Pentecost (Greek pentecoste, fifty). It is hence called 
 the feast of weeks. Lev. 23 : 45, 16 ; Deut. 16 : 9, 10. 
 
 The week of years was the period of seven years, ending with the sabbat 
 ical >/ear. See above, Chap. 14, No. 2. 
 
 The week of sabbatical years was the period of seven limes seven years, 
 succeeded by the year of jubilee. See above, Ibid. 
 
 In Lev. 23 : 15 the word sabbath is thought by some to denote not the 
 weekly Sabbath, but the first day of the passover, as a day of holy rest. 
 Compare Lev. 23 : 15, 16 with Deut. 16 : 9, 10. 
 
 6. The Hebrew day, as indicated in the primitive record (Gen. 
 1 : 5, etc.), was reckoned/rora evening to evening. Hence the com 
 mand : " From even unto even shall ye celebrate your Sabbath." 
 Lev. 23 : 32. 
 
THE SCIENCES AND ARTS. 451 
 
 The paschal lamb and the lamb of the daily sacrifice were to be slain 
 between the two evenings. Hebrew of Exod. 12 : 6 ; 29 : 39, 41 ; Lev. 23 : 5 ; 
 Numb. 9:3, 5, 11 ; 28 : 4, 8. At the same time Aaron was to light the 
 lamps of the sanctuary and burn incense upon the golden altar. Exod. 
 30 : 8. The quails also came between the two evenings. Exod. 16 : 12. Ac 
 cording to the Karaites and Samaritans, this was the time between sunset 
 and deep twilight ; but the Pharisees began the first evening with the n / /<///. 
 hour (about three o clock in the afternoon), and the second at sunset. So 
 Josephus, who says that the paschal lamb was slain from the ninth to the 
 eleventh hour. Jewish War, 6. 9. 3. 
 
 7. Hours are first mentioned in the book of Daniel, but there 
 only in an indefinite way. Dan. 3 : 6, 15, etc. In New Testa 
 ment times the day was divided into twelve hours, numbered 
 from sunrise to sunset. John 11 : 9 ; Matt. 20 : 3, 5, 6 ; etc. The 
 hours varied in length according to the varying seasons of the 
 year. 
 
 Mention is made of a sun-dial 2 Kings 20 : 9-11 ; Isa. 38 : 8. Andther 
 instrument for measuring time was the clepsydra, in which water was used 
 much as we now use sand in hour-glasses. 
 
 The ancient Hebrews divided the night for military purposes 
 into three watches. Of these the second was the middle watch 
 (Judg. 7 : 19), and the last, the morning watch (Exod. 14 : 24 ; 
 1 Sam. 11 : 11). In the Saviour s day the Roman usage pre 
 vailed, according to which the night was divided into four watches, 
 of which the second, third, andfourth are mentioned (Matt. 14 : 25 ; 
 Mark 6 : 48 ; Luke 12 : 38) ; and all four are apparently referred 
 to (Mark 13 : 35) as evening, midnight, cock-crowing, and morning. 
 
 II. THE DOMESTIC AND MECHANICAL ARTS. 
 
 8. We have seen in the former part of this work (Chap. 8, 
 No. 5) that the domestic and mechanical arts were practised in 
 Egypt with great skill from very early times. "When the Hebrews 
 left Egypt they earned with them the knowledge of these arts. 
 They were skilful in spinning, weaving, and embroidery ; produ 
 cing not only plain fabrics of a fine texture, but those inwrought 
 with various colors and figures, to which, in the case of the most 
 
152 BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 precious garments, golden threads were added. They under 
 stood the art of dyeing ; for there were found among them stores 
 of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and red skins of rams. They 
 had workmen in gold, silver, and brass, and in wood also ; who 
 manufactured with skill the furniture and implements of the 
 tabernacle. They could set precious stones, and compound pre 
 cious ointments and incense of sweet spices " after the art of the 
 apothecary." All this is manifest on the face of the narrative in 
 the book of Exodus, in which are given in detail the materials 
 and construction of the tabernacle with its court and its furni 
 ture ; and it is confirmed by the later books of the New Testa 
 ment. 
 
 The Hebrew has two terms rendered in our version cunning workman 
 (Hoxliebh) and embroiderer (rokem) ; of which, according to the Jewish 
 rabbins, the former denotes one who inweaves patterns of different colors, 
 the latter one who embroiders with tfie needle, and to this view Gesenius 
 assents. But while it is certain that the Egyptians were skilful in inweav 
 ing patterns, it is not certain that they embroidered with the needle. Some 
 would therefore refer the terms rokem and rikmah (rendered in our ver 
 sion embroiderer and needlework) to the inweaving of patterns by the loom. 
 See for one view Gesenius in his Thesaurus ; for the other, Smith s Bible 
 Diet., Art., Embroiderer. 
 
 9. We cannot, however, claim for the Hebrews any preemi 
 nence in the above-named arts. They had sufficient skill in them 
 for the ordinary occasions of life ; as also in the manufacture of 
 iron implements for agricultural purposes and for war, the man 
 ufacture of leather, the cutting of stones, the building of houses, 
 and the construction of household furniture. But in none of 
 these respects did they excel their neighbors, and in some they 
 fell short of them. In sword-blades, for example, Damascus was 
 superior to them ; in rich dyes, the Tynans and several other 
 nations. It was the testimony of Solomon himself, in his mes 
 sage to Hiram, king of Tyre, that none of his people could "skill 
 to hew timber like unto the Sidonians;" or had equal skill with 
 them to work in the precious metals and iron, and in purple, 
 crimson, and blue. 1 Kings 5 : 6 ; 2 Chron. 2:7. It was not in 
 these secular arts that God had appointed the covenant people 
 
THE SCIENCES AND ARTS. 453 
 
 to be a light to the world ; but in the knowledge of himself and 
 of that great salvation which he was through them preparing for 
 all nations. 
 
 III. THE ART OF WRITING. 
 
 9. Moses, being "learned in all the wisdom of the Egyp 
 tians," was of course familiar with the various modes of writing 
 that prevailed in that countiy long before his day. The Hebrew 
 alphabet, however, which he employed, is Shemitic in its origin, 
 the same substantially as that used by the Phoenicians, and 
 which probably came to them from Chalda3a. The great He 
 brew legislator appears as a writer very early after the exodus 
 before the giving of the law (Exod. 17 : 14), and all along the 
 course of his history (Exod. 24:4; 34:27; Numb. 33:2; Deut. 
 31 : 22 ; etc.) ; and the knowledge and practice of the art are 
 assumed in the law of divorce. Deut. 24 : 1. 
 
 For the change in the Hebrew alphabet from the earlier- form repre 
 sented on coins to the Assyrian or square \vriting, and for various partic 
 ulars as to the ancient mode of writing see Companion to the Bible, Chap. 
 3, No. 2 ; Chap. 14, No. 2, 3 ; Chap. 26, No. 5. 
 
 10. The materials of writing were various. Mention is made 
 in the Pentateuch of stone plates on which the words were 
 graven directly (Exod. 31 : 18 ; 32 : 15, 16 ; Deut. 4 : 13) ; of great 
 stones plastered with plaster upon which the words of the law 
 were written (Deut. 27:2-8); of a plate of gold (Exod. 28:36); 
 and of precious gems (Exod. 28:11, 21). Job refers to the 
 custom of writing "with an iron pen and lead in the rock" 
 (chap. 19 : 24), the letters being first deeply cut in the rock, and 
 then filled with lead. The ancients also used palm leaves, the 
 inner bark of trees, bones, shells, ivory, bricks, clay tablets,* 
 cylinders and prisms of fine terra-cotta, wood, wax tablets ; in 
 a word, whatever furnished a smooth surface. The ruins of 
 Assyrian and Chaldsean cities furnish bricks, clay tablets, and 
 cylinders, in countless thousands, as well as slabs of stone, 
 covered with arrow-headed inscriptions. According to Eawlin- 
 son (Ancient Monarchies, vol. 1, pp. 330, 478) some of the Assyr- 
 
454 BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 ian hollow cylinders and prisms have characters so minute 
 that a magnifying glass is needed to decipher them. The two 
 principal materials, however, which the Hebrews employed were 
 paper manufactured from the papyrus plant, and parchments 
 prepared from the skins of sheep, goats, and other animals. 
 
 For a brief notice of the papyrus plant see above, Chap. 7, No. 21. 
 According to Pliny (Hist. Nat., 13. 11) the method of preparing the 
 paper was as follows : The stem (either the inner cuticle or pith) was 
 divided by a needle into thin plates, each as large as the plant would 
 allow, and these were placed side by side on a table kept moist with 
 Nile water. When the table was covered, another layer was spread over 
 the first transversely, and the two layers were united by being subjected 
 to pressure. As many sheets were afterwards joined together as were 
 needed for a given roll. This paper was very much used by the ancients 
 and was of various qualities, as was also the parchment prepared from the 
 skins of animals. 
 
 11. The instruments for writing varied of course, as they 
 do now, with the materials employed. For refractory sub 
 stances they had "a pen of iron" and "the point of a diamond;" 
 that is, a graver with a point of steel, or one tipped with dia 
 mond; the latter being especially necessary in engraving upon 
 precious stones. For writing on tablets covered with wax they 
 had a style sharp at one end and at the other flat and circular. 
 With the sharp end they formed the letters, and erased them 
 with the flat end, as occasion required, smoothing over again 
 the surface of the tablet. On paper and parchment they wrote 
 with a pen and ink. The reed pen split at the end has been 
 in use among the orientals from high antiquity, and is still 
 employed by the Arabs. 
 
 The ink of the ancients appears to have resembled the Chinese or India 
 ink a combination of lampblack with glue or gum reduced to a fluid form. 
 According to Josephus (Antiq. 12. 2. 10) the parchments containing the 
 Jewish law, which the high priest Eleazar sent to Ptolemy king of Egypt 
 ta be translated into Greek, were of marvellous thinness, joined together 
 so exactly that the seams could not be discerned, and written in letters of 
 gold. When, about the eleventh century, paper of a finer texture, made 
 of linen and cotton, came into common use, this rendered necessary pens 
 
THE SCIENCES AND ARTS. 455 
 
 of a finer character. These were supplied by the quills of geese, swans, 
 crows, etc. ; till in our day metallic pens took their place. 
 
 12. The form of aneient books depended on the material 
 employed. . When tablets of wood, or plates of ivory or metal 
 were used, they were connected with rings at the back through 
 which a rod was passed. When the soft and flexible papyrus 
 was used, the books took the form of rolls. The sheets, being 
 fastened together at tlieir edges, were wound round a cylindrical 
 stick, or sometimes two cylinders, whence the term volume, that 
 is, roll (Latin, volumen) is derived. The cylinders projected at 
 each end beyond the roll and were ornamented with bosses. 
 The volume was read by unrolling the scroll so as to expose 
 successfully its several sheets. Books written on parchment 
 may take the square form with leaves, or the roll form. The 
 public Hebrew manuscripts consist of synagogue rolls ; the pri 
 vate manuscripts are written with leaves in book form. See 
 Companion to the Bible, Chap. 14, No. 8 ; and for the ancient 
 manuscripts of the New Testament, Chap. 26, No. 5. 
 
 The roll-form prevailed among the ancient Hebrews (Isa. 8:1; Jer. 
 36:2, seq. ; Ezek. 2:9, seq. ; Zech. 5:1), also in other nations. Ezra 
 6:1, 2. In the synagogue at Nazareth our Lord read from a roll. "Hav 
 ing unrolled the book" (so the original reads) "he found the place where 
 it was written," etc. When he had finished reading "he rolled up the 
 book, and gave it back to the attendant." Luke 4 : 17, 20. The manner 
 in which the ancients speak of rolls written within and without (see the 
 references in Alford and Meyer on Kev. 5 : 1) indicates that this was some 
 thing unusual, the rule being to write only on the inner side. The roll 
 which Ezekiel sees in vision (chap. 2 : 10), the flying roll of Zechariah 
 (chap. 5:1-3, where "on this side" and "on that side," ver. 3, refer to 
 the inner and outer sides of the roll), and the apocalyptic book sealed 
 with seven seals (Rev. 5:1), are each written within and without to denote 
 the fulness of their contents. In respect to the seven successive revela 
 tions of the apocalyptic book, answering to the breaking, one after 
 another, of the seven seals, there are two views : (1,) it is assumed that 
 the breaking of each seal allowed a certain portion of the scroll to be 
 unrolled, and thus its contents to be read; (2,) it is assumed that the roll 
 remains closed, the breaking of the seals in succession being simply sym 
 bolic of revelations to be made of parts of its contents, not by inspection. 
 
456 BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 but by the visions that follow. See further in the commentaries on the 
 passage. 
 
 13. Extended epistles, like most of those in the New Testa 
 ment, took the form of small volumes. Letters, in the strict 
 sense of the word short communications on special subjects 
 ordinarily received the seal of the sender. In all matters of 
 importance this was necessary for authentication, and sometimes 
 for secrecy also ; as in the case of David s letter to Joab, wliich 
 he sent by the hand of the man whose destruction he sought. 
 
 2 Sam. 11:14,15; 1 Kings 21:8; Esther 3: 10; 8:8, 10; Isa. 
 29 : H. In their addresses and salutations the writers of the 
 New Testament conform in general to the usage of the day. 
 Compare the letter of the apostles and elders (Acts 15 : 23-29) 
 with that of Claudius Lysias to Felix. Acts 23 : 26-30. Both 
 state at the outset by whom and to whom the letter is sent, and 
 both close with the simple salutation, "Farewell." The only 
 modification is that in most of the apostolic epistles a benedic 
 tion more or less extended took the place of the brief Farewell. 
 
 IV. MUSIC AND MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS. 
 
 14. The Hebrews, like other oriental nations, were fond of 
 music on all occasions of social and national rejoicing. Their 
 songs were, as a rule, accompanied with musical instruments, 
 and sometimes with dancing also. Thus they took, from the 
 outset, a lyrical character. Gen. 31 : 27 ; Exod. 15 : 1, 20 ; Judg. 
 5:1; 11:34; etc. In the schools of the prophets instituted 
 by Samuel music seems to have been regularly cultivated. 
 1 Sam. 10 : 5. Its elevating and tranquillizing influence was 
 well understood by the courtiers of Saul (1 Sam. 16 : 16, 23) ; 
 and was afterwards sought by Elisha himself, that he- might 
 thus be prepared to receive the Spirit of prophecy. 2 Kings 
 
 3 : 15. David, "the sweet Psalmist of Israel," himself a master 
 in both the composition and lyrical performance of sacred song, 
 made music vocal and instrumental a regular part of the tab 
 ernacle service (1 Chron. 16 : 4-6, 41, 42 ; chap. 25) ; and at 
 the dedication of the temple by Solomon the musical part of 
 
CYMBALS, TIMBREL, ETC. 
 
 DRUM, SISTRUM, ETC. 
 
 4 
 
 A WAR GALLEY. 
 
THE SCIENCES AND ARTS. 457 
 
 the service was of the most magnificent character. 2 Chron. 
 5 : 12, 13. 
 
 15. The Egyptian and Assyrian monuments have made us 
 familiar with the form of the musical instruments anciently 
 employed in Egypt, Assyria, and Babylon. From their long 
 residence in Egypt the Hebrews must have been perfectly 
 acquainted with the musical instruments of this country. It 
 is not certain, however, that they borrowed from the Egyptians 
 exclusively their own musical instruments. These may have 
 come with their ancestors, in part at least, from Chaldsea and 
 Mesopotamia, as did their language and their alphabet. In 
 investigating the difficult question of the form of the Hebrew 
 instruments of music, it is necessary that we compare the Egyp 
 tian with the Assyrian models, as they are revealed to us by 
 the monuments. Between the two are contained, substantially 
 at least, the forms of the instruments mentioned in sacred writ. 
 
 16. Musical instruments are of three classes, stringed instru 
 ments, wind instruments, and instruments of percussion. 
 
 STRINGED INSTRUMENTS. 
 
 Foremost among the stringed instruments of the Egyptian 
 and Assyrian monuments is the harp. The harp is usually 
 defined to be a stringed instrument of music of a triangular 
 figure, the form allowing the strings to be successively of differ 
 ent lengths. This definition holds good of modern harps and 
 some forms of ancient harps. But the idea of the Egyptian 
 harp seems rather to have been that of the bow. A bow 
 standing upright, and furnished with a sound-chest and a suit 
 able number of strings (which varied according to the size and 
 model of the instrument) gives substantially the idea of the 
 common Egyptian harps. Some of them have almost exactly 
 the form of the bow, but usually the curvature of one end is 
 more abrupt than that of the other. Instead of the curved the 
 triangular form also appears with various modifications. The 
 number of strings varies from three to twenty and more. The 
 heavier kinds stand upright upon the floor, while the lighter 
 
 Geog. t Antiq. V>0 
 
458 BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 kinds are portable. In one case an Egyptian woman carries on 
 her shoulder a harp with three strings, playing it at the same time 
 with her fingers. On the Assyrian monuments we have porta 
 ble harps of a triangular form. One class of these is carried 
 by the performer in front with the sound-chest next to him in 
 an upright position, and is played with the fingers. Another 
 class is carried at his side with the sound-chest horizontal, and 
 is played with a plectrum. 
 
 The lyre is essentially a modified form of the harp. In this 
 the sound-chest constitutes the base. From the end of this 
 arise two rods curved or straight connected above by a cross- 
 piece, and the strings are stretched upward from the base to 
 the cross-piece. It is always portable, is carried in an upright 
 or a horizontal position, and is commonly played with the fin 
 gers, but sometimes with a plectrum. 
 
 The ancient Egyptian guitar or lute was of an oval form 
 with a long neck. The strings, which were few in number, 
 were carried over a bridge. 
 
 17. The identification of the Hebrew stringed instruments is 
 a matter of great difficulty. The two of most common occur 
 rence are the kinnor and ncbd, of which the first is commonly 
 rendered harp in our version, and the second psaltery. Respect 
 ing the form of these the opinions of biblical scholars are very 
 discordant, and cannot be discussed to any profit within the 
 limits prescribed to the present work. 
 
 Josephus remarks (Antiq., 7. 12. 3): "The kinura (Heb., kinnor) being 
 furnished with ten strings, is struck with a plectrum : but the nabla (Heb., 
 nebel}, having twelve strings, is played with the fingers." This definition 
 is loose and unsatisfactory enough ; and seems to be, moreover, at vari- 
 ence with the words of Scripture, according to which David played on 
 the harp with his hand. 1 Sam. 16 : 23 ; 18 : 10 ; 19 : 9. The Hebrew 
 kinnor was certainly portable, at least in some of its forms ; for David and 
 others played on it in procession before the ark. 2 Sam. 6 : 5. See also 
 1 Sam. 10 : 5 ; Isa. 23 : 16. We think it probable that the kinnor was an 
 instrument of the harp kind, including possibly the lyre. As to the nebel 
 we can only adopt the language of a writer in the Imperial Bible Diction 
 ary : "We prefer to leave it a doubtful question whether the nebel was a 
 lyre or a lute, or even some other form of stringed instrument." The 
 
THE SCIENCES AND ARTS. 459 
 
 nebel clsor (Psa. 33:2; 144:9) was a ten slringed-nebel ; not "a psaltery 
 and an instrument of ten strings. " Yet it seems to have been a peculiar 
 variety of the instrument ; for elsewhere the dsdr is distinguished from 
 the simple nebel : "upon an clsor and upon a nebel." Psa. 92 : 3. 
 
 In Daniel (chap. 3) mention is made of the sabbeka, rendered in our 
 version sackbut; but which was probably identical with the Greek sambuke, 
 a stringed instrument of the harp kind. In the same chapter we have 
 the word pesanierln, that is, psaltery (Greek, psalterion), also a species of 
 harp. 
 
 WIND INSTRUMENTS. 
 
 18. The primitive horn was what the name denotes made 
 from the horn of an ox or ram. From this came by a natural 
 transition, the curved metallic trumpet (sJ(dpJtar), and the straight 
 trumpet (hatsbtserali), the form of which is preserved on the 
 triumphal arch of Titus. 
 
 In our version the word sliophar is often rendered cornet, especially 
 where it occurs in connection with hatsotserah, which last is then rendered 
 trumpet. 1 Chron. 15 : 28 ; 2 Chron. 15 : 14 ; Psa. 98 : 6 ; Hosea 5:8; etc. 
 
 The Egyptian monuments exhibit the flute and the pipe 
 single and double. The Hebrew term haltt (1 Sam. 10 : 5 ; 
 1 Kings 1 : 40 ; Isa. 5 : 12 ; 30 : 29 ; Jer. 48 : 36), rendered in our 
 version pipe, denotes either the pipe or the flute. So also prob 
 ably the plural form nchiibth in the title to Psalm 5. 
 
 The Hebrew organ (ugab) was an instrument of high anti 
 quity. Gen. 4 : 21. The most probable opinion concerning it is 
 that it was the so-called pipe of Pan a compound instrument 
 consisting of several reeds of unequal length, so arranged that 
 the performer could pass his mouth from one to another. 
 
 The Chaldean name sumponya, that is, symphony (Dan., chap. 3), is 
 borrowed from the Greek. It is rendered in our version dulcimer, but is 
 probably equivalent to the Hebrew ugab, organ; as mashrokitha in the same 
 chapter (Eng. \ers., flute) is to halU. 
 
 INSTRUMENTS OF PERCUSSION. 
 
 19. The most common of these are the timbrel (Heb., tiph) and 
 the cymbal (Heb., tseltselim). The timbrel or tabret was a hoop or 
 
460 BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 square frame over which a membrane was strained. It was 
 beaten with the fingers. Cymbals are plates of brass which, 
 being struck together, produce a loud clanging sound. Both 
 timbrels and cymbals are represented on the Egyptian monu 
 ments, as also drums of various shapes. 
 
 Mention is also made of the shallsh (1 Sain. 18 : 6; where our version 
 renders instruments of music), which was, perhaps, a triangle, and of the 
 menaanim (2 Sam. 6:5), where our version has cornets. But the word 
 denotes rather an instrument answering to the ancient sistrum, which gave 
 forth a tinkling sound upon being shaken. 
 
 For the character, form, and office of Hebrew poetry, see Companion 
 to the Bible, Chap. 21, Nos. 1-4. 
 
 V. THE MEDICAL ART. 
 
 20. The medical art was early cultivated in Egypt. Accord 
 ing to Herodotus (2. 84) it was practised in that country on the 
 principle of division, each physician treating a single disorder ; 
 one diseases of the eye, another those of the head, another those 
 of the teeth, and so on. Of course a special class of physicians 
 made the art of embalming their proper business (Herod., 2. 86) ; 
 and these were the men who embalmed Jacob, and afterwards 
 Joseph (Gen. 50 : 2, 26). When the Hebrews left Egypt they 
 must have carried thence no inconsiderable knowledge of the 
 healing art as it then existed. Physicians are mentioned in the 
 book of Job (chap. 13 : 4), and in the later history of the Israel- 
 itish nation (2 Chron. 16 : 12 ; Jer. 8 : 22) ; and in New Testament 
 times they constituted a regular profession in Palestine as else 
 where (Matt. 9 : 12 ; Mark 5 : 26 : Luke 4 : 23 ; Col. 4 : 14 ; etc.). 
 In ancient times the medical art embraced that of surgery as its 
 most prominent branch. The physicians described by Homer 
 are skilful in extracting from the wound the arrow s point, in 
 cleansing it from gore, and in applying to it soothing medica 
 ments. Eiad, 4. 213-219. So* also Jeremiah speaks of the bal 
 sam of Gilead in connection with the physician. Jer. 8 : 22 ; and 
 compare 2 Kings 8 : 29. Of the practice of the Hebrew physi 
 cians in the treatment of diseases we know nothing with certainty. 
 
THE SCIENCES AND ARTS. 461 
 
 21. It does not come within the plan of the present work to 
 give a list of the diseases to which the Israelites were subject, in 
 common with other nations of antiquity. There are, however, 
 two maladies which appear so prominently in scriptural history 
 that a few words respecting them will be in place. These are 
 leprosy and demoniacal possessions. 
 
 Leprosy is a disease of hot climates, veiy prevalent in Egypt 
 and the adjoining regions. The formidable character of the dis 
 ease in Moses day may be inferred from the minuteness with 
 which he describes the disease in its various forms, the careful 
 ness with which he distinguishes it from other maladies, and the 
 sternness of the seclusion imposed upon those afflicted with it. 
 See Lev., chap. 13. The interpretation of this chapter in its 
 details belongs to the commentator. We remark generally that 
 the leprosy here described appears to have been the white lep 
 rosy, and not the malignant disorder known as elephantiasis of the 
 Greeks. This latter is an awful malady, beginning with dusky 
 shining spots upon the skin ; succeeded, after a series of months 
 or years, by soft, reddish, livid tumors ; and then by ulcers that 
 exude a sanious fluid, till at last the joints of the extremities are 
 separated, and they fall off. Moses does not hint at such ex 
 treme symptoms, and whiteness of the skin is everywhere men 
 tioned as one of the marks of leprosy. Exod. 4:6; Numb. 
 12 : 10 ; 2 Kings 5 : 27. Leprosy was regarded as an infliction 
 from God, incurable by human means, and rendering the sufferer 
 ceremonially as w r eU as physically unclean. The seclusion im 
 posed upon lepers has been thought to indicate the infectious 
 character of the disease. But this assumption is not sustained 
 by modern observation. The uncleanness contracted by the 
 malady, and the painful fact that it is, to a certain extent at 
 least, hereditary, were sufficient grounds for the separation im 
 posed on lepers by the Mosaic law. 
 
 Leprosy exists in modern Syria in all its malignity. See Thomson, The 
 Land and the Book, vol. 2, p. 516, seq. But this fact does not prove that 
 such a form as this the true elephantiasis was found in Moses day in the 
 Israelitish camp ; since diseases change their type in the same country from 
 
462 BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 age to age. We would not, however, absolutely deny that it did ; since the 
 symptoms described by Moses have respect to the beginning of the malady 
 rather than to its termination. 
 
 As to the leprosy in houses and garments (Lev. 13 : 47-59 ; 
 14 : 34, seq.), this was not a proper disease, but a decay of the 
 materials due to some chemical change, perhaps with the pres 
 ence of living animalcules), which rendered them unwholesome 
 and unfit for use. 
 
 In regard to the reality of demoniacal possessions there has 
 been much controversy, one class of theologians maintaining that 
 those recorded in the New Testament are simply cases of insan 
 ity, in which the sufferers believed themselves to be under the 
 power of demons, in whose name they spoke. But the candid 
 reader of the New Testament must be profoundly impressed with 
 the conviction that the Saviour regarded demoniacal possessions 
 as a reality. The narrative of the entrance of the demons into 
 the swine (Matt. 8 : 28-34 ; Mark 5 : 1-16) is utterly inconsistent 
 with the hypothesis that they were simply a figure of speech, as 
 some maintain. 
 
 The New Testament makes a distinction between lunatics and demoniacs 
 (Matt. 4 : 24) ; but also ascribes lunacy to the influence of a demon (Matt. 
 17 : 15, seq.), nor is there any inconsistency here ; for though all demoni 
 acs were lunatics, it does not follow that all lunatics were demoniacs. 
 Unless we take the Sadducean ground of denying the existence of all crea 
 ted spiritual beings beyond the sphere of our senses, we cannot, with any 
 show of reason, deny that some of these beings may be malignant in char 
 acter, just as is the case among men. Nor, until we know not only the 
 inmost essence of our own material-spiritual nature, but also the inmost 
 essence of the nature belonging to these invisible spiritual beings, can we 
 deny that, under certain conditions of the human subject, bodily and men 
 tal, they may gain an overmastering control of him ; or, in scriptural phra 
 seology, take possession of him, and bring him into a state analogous to 
 that of lunacy, if not identical with it. 
 
TRADE AND COMMERCE. 463 
 
 CHAPTEK XXI. 
 
 TRADE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 1. BEFORE the Babylonish captivity the Hebrews were emi 
 nently an agricultural and pastoral people, living contentedly 
 upon their own soil. At the close of the captivity a part of the 
 Jews remained settled in foreign lands when then: brethren re 
 turned from exile. Their descendants, increased by fresh colo 
 nies from Palestine after it had again become full of inhabitants, 
 spread themselves over all the regions around the holy land 
 Parthia, Media, Persia, Babylonia, Mesopotamia, Armenia, Syria, 
 Asia Minor, Cyprus, and the ^Egsean isles, the chief cities of 
 Greece and Koine, and especially Alexandria in Egypt. Jose- 
 phus testifies (Antiq., 14. 7. 2) that in the time of Sylla (who died 
 B. c. 78) the Jews had filled the habitable world ; and he quotes 
 Strabo as saying that " this people had now entered every city, 
 so that one could not easily find a place in the world which had 
 not received this race and was not occupied by them." Com 
 pare Acts 2 : 9-11. These Jews, who also included the remnant 
 of the ten tribes, constituted "the Dispersion" (James 1:1; 
 1 Pet. 1 : 1), or more fully "the Dispersion of the Gentiles" 
 (John 7 : 35). They remained steadfast in the faith of theii 
 fathers, acknowledged Jerusalem as their religious head, and 
 considered themselves as strangers and sojourners. As they 
 were settled chiefly in the cities, they naturally turned their 
 attention to trade and commerce rather than to agriculture, and 
 thus became emphatically a people of traffic. 
 
 2. The Hebrews before the captivity were never a commer 
 cial people. The chief ports of the Mediterranean were held on 
 the south by the Egyptians and Philistines, and on the north by 
 the Tyrians. Solomon indeed established navies to go to Ophir 
 and Tarshish (see above, Chap. 8, No. 24; Chap. 10, No. 30), but 
 
404 BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 it was in conjunction with Hiram king of Tyre, the Tynans being, 
 as we have seen (Chap. 10, No. 27), the great commercial nation 
 of antiquity. 
 
 3. In an age when the mariner s compass was unknown (at 
 least in the western world), navigation was confined to the coasts. 
 In the longest voyages, as those to Ophir in the east, to Tarshish 
 in the west, and along the African coast, the vessels kept of 
 necessity near to the land, creeping cautiously along from one 
 headland to another. Ships of war were called long ships, be 
 cause they were of a longer shape than ships of burden, the latter 
 being more round and deep. Ships of war, though furnished 
 with sails, were propelled chiefly by oars (Ca?sar, Gallic War, 
 3. 13; 4. 25), of which there were two, three, or more banks. 
 Merchant vessels relied chiefly on sails, especially those of the 
 larger class. The vessel in which Paul was wrecked " cast four 
 anchors out of the stern." This was done in an exigency, and 
 was the right course, the plan being to run the ship aground at 
 daybreak. See Smith s Bible Diet., Art., Ship. The more usual 
 custom was to anchor from the prow. .ZEneid, 6, end. Under- 
 girders (Acts 27 : 17) were cables or chains, which, in case of 
 necessity, could be passed round the ship and made tight for the 
 purpose of strengthening it. 
 
 The ship in which Paul was wrecked contained 276 souls, besides a 
 cargo of wheat. Acts 27 : 37, 38. It cannot then have been much less 
 than five hundred tons burden. The ship in which Josephus was wrecked 
 in the same part of the Mediterranean (Life, 3) contained six hundred per 
 sons. There were much larger ships, but their size was exceptional. See 
 the article in Smith s Bible Diet, above referred to, where the writer comes 
 to the conclusion that "if we say an ancient merchant-ship might range 
 from five hundred to one thousand tons, we are clearly within the mark." 
 
 The standard work on ancient ships is that of James Smith, Esq., of 
 Jordanhill, entitled, TJie Voyage and Shipwreck of St. Paul, which throws 
 much light on the thrilling narrative of that event contained in the twenty- 
 seventh chapter of the Acts. 
 
 4. Commerce by overland routes was carried on by means of 
 caravans, the beast of burden being the camel ; which is, there 
 fore, appropriately called the ship of the desert. Caravans for 
 
TRADE AND COMMERCE. 4G5 
 
 mercantile purposes are regularly organized bodies of merchants 
 provided with officers, guides, and servants ; and attended, when 
 necessary, by a military escort. They sometimes consist of a 
 thousand or more persons, and several thousand camels. Such 
 a caravan was the company of Ishmaelites and Midianites to 
 whom Joseph w^as sold. Gen. 37 : 25-28. They were on their 
 way from the region east of the Jordan to Egypt by one of the 
 roads travelled at the present day. See above, Chap. 2, No. 8. 
 Such also were "the troops of Tenia" and "the companies of 
 Sheba" mentioned in the book of Job (chap. 6:19), who are 
 represented as perishing from the failure of the waters on which 
 they had placed their reliance ; just as it frequently happens at 
 the present day to caravans traversing the desert, where wells 
 are few and widely separated from each other. 
 
 Among the ancient caravan routes were the following : 
 
 a. The route from Upper Syria across the desert by Pal 
 myra to the Euphrates. According to Josephus (Antiq., 8. 6. 1), 
 Palmyra, the Tadmor of Scripture (1 Kings 9 : 18 ; 2 Chron. 8 : 4), 
 was two days journey from Upper Syria, one day s journey from 
 the Euphrates, and six days journey from Babylon; and the 
 reason why Solomon built the city in that remote part of the 
 desert was that lower down no water is to be had, but here only 
 are found fountains and wells : 
 
 1. The route from Palestine into Egypt along the shores of the 
 Mediterranean from Gaza to Pelusium. There is another more 
 circuitous route by the way of Mount Sinai : 
 
 c. The route from the Persian Gulf to the Mediterranean, by 
 which the Phoenicians received the goods of India. " Sometimes 
 they received them from the Arabians, who either brought them 
 by land through Arabia, or up the Red Sea to Ezion-geber." 
 Jahn, Archaeology, 109. 
 
 The deserts of Africa and Arabia and the great salt desert of 
 Asia can be traversed only in this way. 
 
 5. The inns mentioned in the Pentateuch (Heb. mdldn, lodg 
 ing-place, Gen. 42 : 27 ; 43 : 21 ; Exod. 4 : 24) were perhaps only 
 lodging-places in the open, air selected chiefly for the convenience 
 
 20* 
 
460 BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 of water. But the inns of the New Testament (Luke 2:7; 
 10 : 34) correspond to the modern khans or caravanserai*, spacious 
 buildings constructed simply for the convenience of caravans 
 carrying with them their own provisions for man and beast. 
 They are, therefore, as a rule, utterly unfurnished, offering to the 
 traveller nothing but shelter ; though some of the modern khans 
 " are inhabited by a keeper who sells coffee, provisions, and the 
 like, to the guests, so far as they may need ; and furnishes them 
 with fire and the means of cooking for themselves." Robinson, 
 Bib. Res., vol. 2, p. 487. 
 
 6. Weights and measures are absolutely necessary 7 for trade 
 and commerce. We find them in existence in Abraham s day 
 (Gen. 18 : 6 ; 23 : 10 ; 24 : 22) ; and in the Pentateuch they every 
 where appear as a well-developed system. The exact determi 
 nation of Hebrew weights and measures, especially of those in 
 use before the captivity, is a matter of great difficulty. Wo give 
 below the common tables of Hebrew weights, measures, and 
 coins, remarking, however, that they are to be considered only 
 as approximations to the truth. 
 
 TABLES OF WEIGHTS, MEASUKES, AND MONEY, 
 MENTIONED IN THE BIBLE. 
 
 1. JEWISH WEIGHTS, REDUCED TO ENGLISH TROY WEIGHTS. 
 
 Ibs. oz. pen. gr. 
 
 The gerah, one-twentieth of a shekel 12 
 
 Bekah, half a shekel -0050 
 
 Theshekel -0 10 
 
 The maneh, 60 shekels 2600 
 
 The talent, 50 manehs, or 3,000 shekels 125 000 
 
 2. SCRIPTURE MEASURES OF LENGTH, REDUCED TO ENGLISH MEASURE. 
 
 Eng. ft. Inches. 
 
 Adigit 0.912 
 
 4 = Apalm --- 3.648 
 
 12= 3 = Aspan 10.944 
 
 24= 6= 2 = Acubit 1 9.888 
 
 96= 24= 8= 4 = Afathom 7 3.552 
 
 144= 36= 12= 6 = 1.5 = Ezekiel s reed 10 11.328 
 
 192= 48= 16= 8= 2= 1.3 = An Arabian pole-- -14 7.104 
 
 1920 = 480 = 160 = 80 = 20 = 13.3 = 10 A measuring line 145 11.04 
 
TRADE AND COMMERCE. 467 
 
 3. THE LONG SCRIPTURE MEASURES. 
 
 Eng. miles. Paces. Feet 
 
 Acubit 1.824 
 
 400 = A stadium, or furlong 145 4.6 
 
 2000= 5 = A sabbath-day s journey --- 729 3 
 
 4000= 10= 2 = An eastern mile 1 403 1 
 
 12000= 30= 6 = 3 = A parasang 4 153 3 
 
 96000 = 240 = 48 = 24 = 8 = A day s journey 33 172 4 
 
 NOTE. 5 feet = 1 pace; 1,053 paces = 1 mile. 
 
 4. SCRIPTURE MEASURES OF CAPACITY FOR LIQUIDS. REDUCED TO 
 ENGLISH WINE MEASURE. 
 
 Gal. Pints. 
 
 Acaph - - 0.625 
 
 1.3 = A log 0.833 
 
 5.3= 4 = Acab 3.333 
 
 16 = 12= 3 = Ahin 1 2 
 
 32 = 24= 6= 2 = Aseah - -- 2 4 
 
 96 = 72= 18= 6= 3 = A bath, ephah, or firkin-- 7 4.50 
 
 960 = 720 = 180 = 60 = 30 = 10 = A kor, chores, or homer 75 5.25 
 
 6. SCRIPTURE MEASURES OF CAPACITY FOR THINGS DRY, REDUCED TO 
 ENGLISH CORN MEASURE. 
 
 Bu. Pks. Gal. Pints. 
 
 Agachal 000 0.141 
 
 20 = Acab 2.833 
 
 36= 1.8 = An omer, or gomer - 5.1 
 
 120= 6 = 3.3 = Aseah -0101 
 
 360= 18 =10 = 3 = An ephah 303 
 
 1800= 90 =50 =15= 5 = Aletech 4 001 
 
 3600=180 =100 =30 = 10 = 2 = A homer, or kor--- 8 001 
 
 6. JEWISH MONEY, REDUCED TO THE ENGLISH AND AMERICAN < 
 
 STANDARDS. 
 
 s. d. $ cts. 
 
 Agerah 1.3687 002.5 
 
 10 = Abekah 1 1.6875 025.09 
 
 20= 2 = A shekel 2 3.375 050.187 
 
 1200 = 120 = 50 = A maneh, or mina Hebr. 5 14 0.75 25 09.35 
 
 60000 = GOOO = 3000 = 60 = A talent 342 3 9 1505 62.5 
 
 A solidus aureus, or sextula, was worth 12 0.5 264.09 
 
 A siclus aureus, or gold shekel, was worth 1 16 6 803 
 
 A talent of gold was worth 5475 2430900 
 
 In the preceding table, silver is valued at 5s. and gold at 4 per ounce. 
 
468 BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 7. ROMAN MONEY, MENTIONED IN THE NEW TESTAMENT, REDUCED TO 
 THE ENGLISH AND AMERICAN STANDARDS. 
 
 s. d. far. $ cts. 
 
 Amite - 0.75 000.343 
 
 A farthing, about 1.50 000.687 
 
 A penny, or denarius 072 013.75 
 
 A pound, or mina 3 260 1375 
 
 REMARK. The ancient Egyptian cubit is known to us from 
 specimens preserved in the tombs. " No great difference," says 
 a writer in Smith s Bible Dictionary (Article, Weights and Meas 
 ures), " is exhibited in these measures, the longest being estima 
 ted at about 21 inches, and the shortest at about 20 J, or exactly 
 20.4729 inches (Wilkinson, Anc. Eg., 2. 258)." There is a strong 
 presumption that the old Hebrew cubit (2 Chron. 3 : 3) must 
 have agreed with this, and cannot, therefore, have exceeded 21 
 inches. Keil (Archaologie, 126) estimates it at about 214.512 
 Persian lines, or a trifle over 19 inches English measure. But 
 Jahn (Archaeology, 113) and Saalschiitz (Archaologie, 59. 2) 
 reckon the old Hebrew cubit from the elbow to the wrist, which 
 would make it not over a foot. After the captivity another 
 cubit was in use, as is plain from the words of 2 Chron. 3 : 3, 
 where we are told that the cubits giving the dimensions of Sol 
 omon s temple are " after the ancient measure." The angel 
 whom Ezekiel sees in vision during the captivity has a measur 
 ing-reed in his hand " six cubits long by the cubit and a hand- 
 breadth." Chap. 40 : 5. Is this the Hebrew cubit with the ad 
 dition of a hand-breadth to make the Babylonian cubit, or the 
 ^Babylonian cubit with a hand-breadth added to make the Hebrew 
 cubit ? If, as is natural to suppose, the angel uses the cubit of 
 the covenant people, we must suppose the latter. The reader 
 will find this subject discussed more at large in Smith s Bible 
 Dictionary, under the article Weights and Measures. 
 
PATRIARCHAL FORM OF GOVERNMENT. 469 
 
 SECOND DIVISION 
 
 CIVIL ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 CHAPTEE XXII. 
 
 THE PATRIARCHAL FORM. OF GOVERNMENT. 
 
 1. THE terras of the covenant made by God with Abraham 
 for himself and his posterity are as follows : " I will establish my 
 covenant between me and thee, and thy seed after thee, in their 
 generations, for an everlasting covenant ; to be a God unto thee, 
 and to thy seed after thee. And I will give unto thee, and to 
 thy seed after thee, the land whereon thou art a stranger, all the 
 land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession; and I will be 
 their God." Gen. 17 : 7, 8. The reader will notice that this was 
 a sovereign act of God s grace, and thus was equivalent to a 
 promise. Gal. 3 : 16. But inasmuch as the blessings which it 
 contains are conditioned on the obedience of Abraham and his 
 children after him (Gen. 18 : 19), and thus the action of two par 
 ties that of God on the one side, and that of Abraham s seed 
 on the other is involved in its fulfilment, it is properly called a 
 covenant ; but not a covenant in such a sense that it could be 
 annulled at the will of either party. God could not annul it, 
 because it was originally made with Abraham as " an everlast 
 ing covenant." The Israelitish people could not annul it, but 
 only deprive themselves of its blessings by their disobedience. 
 
 In the transaction between God and the Israelites recorded in Exodus 
 (chap. 19 : 5-9), God says, on his part : "If ye will obey my voice indeed, 
 and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above 
 
470 BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 all people : for all the earth is mine : and ye shall be unto me a kingdom 
 of priests, and a holy nation." And the people reply on their part: 
 "All that the Lord hath spoken we will do ;" which words Moses returns 
 to the Lord, and then he proceeds to give them the law from Sinai. We 
 must not interpret this transaction as if God left it to the free election of 
 the people whether they would or would not have him for their covenant 
 God, in such a sense that, if they did not choose his service, they might 
 be released from their special relation to him, and become like the other 
 nations of the earth. This would involve the absurdity of supposing that 
 God gave to Abraham s posterity the opportunity of abrogating the ever 
 lasting covenant made with their father and confirmed with sacrifices and 
 a solemn oath. Gen. 15 : 8-21 ; 22 : 15-18. The true purport of the trans 
 action was rather to set forth before the Israelites the great truth that the 
 blessings of the covenant were conditioned on their obedience, and that 
 this obedience must be their own free and hearty act. In the same way 
 Joshua, after the giving of the law, proposed to the people the service of 
 Jehovah as something that must be sincere and hearty to be acceptable : 
 "Now, therefore," says he, after recounting to them the past dealings of 
 Jehovah, "fear the Lord, and serve him in sincerity and in truth ; and 
 put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the 
 flood, and in Egypt ; and serve ye the Lord. And if it be evil unto you 
 to serve the Lord, choose you this day whom ye will serve," etc. Josh. 
 24 : 14, 15. 
 
 2. The supremacy which God claimed over the covenant 
 people was absolute, extending to all their civil as well as their 
 religious institutions. From the nature of the case, however, 
 the Mosaic laws are far more numerous and fundamental in 
 the sphere of religion than of purely civil life. When God led 
 the Israelites out of Egypt, he found them under the patriarchal 
 form of government. This form he left for the time being 
 untouched in all its essential features, simply modifying some 
 of its usages, that, for example, which related to the avenger 
 of blood (Numb., chap. 35), the law of the levirate (Deut. 
 25 : 5-10), etc.; and superadding what was needed ; as for exam- 
 
 ple, judges in the different cities. Deut. 16 : 18. The patriarchal 
 form of government, then, is that wliich first claims our atten 
 tion. 
 
 3. The patriarchal form of government grows naturally out 
 of the family; is, in truth, but an expansion of it into tribes 
 
PATRIARCHAL FORM OF GOVERNMENT. 471 
 
 or clans with their various divisions and subdivisions, each oi 
 them haying its own chieftain, generally according to the law 
 of primogeniture. It follows from the very constitution of this 
 form of government that the family relation must constitute 
 the great bond of union. This unites, first of all, the different 
 tribes, as descendants of a common ancestor, then the various 
 divisions and subdivisions still more intimately. The predom 
 inant spirit is that of attachment to one/s particular clan, in 
 stead of loyalty to a common government, as in our modern 
 civilization. It is obvious that under such a system the growth 
 of the nation must continually weaken the ties which bind 
 together its several parts ; and that without some counteracting 
 influence, such as that provided by the Mosaic theocracy, the 
 final result must be jealousies, feuds, and a succession of deso 
 lating wars between the different tribes. All this is illustrated 
 by the history of the Arabian tribes, of the clans of Scotland, 
 and of our own aborigines. 
 
 4. When the Israelites left Egypt they had increased to a 
 nation of some two and a half millions. The primary division 
 was into tribes which bore the names of Jacob s sons. These 
 were again divided into families, and the families into houses, or 
 more fully, fathers houses. 
 
 The Israelitish tribes are uniformly reckoned as twelve, from the twelve 
 sons of Jacob. Gen. 49 : 28 ; Exod. 24 : 4 ; 28 : 21 ; Numb. 1 : 44 ; Acts 
 26 : 7 ; Jas. 1:1; etc. But inasmuch as Jacob adopted the two sons of 
 Joseph, Ephraim and Manasseh, and thus made them heads of two tribes 
 (Gen. 48 : 5, 6), the number of the tribes including Levi was properly 
 thirteen. The Levites, however, had no inheritance with their brethren, 
 being distributed throughout the land in cities assigned to them (Numb. , 
 chap. 35); so that the number of the tribes reckoned according to the 
 division of the land of Canaan remained twelve. 
 
 The divisions and subdivisions of the tribes may be learned very defi 
 nitely from two passages. When it was to be ascertained for whose sin 
 the Israelites had been discomfited before Ai, God directed that it should 
 be done by lot. First, Israel was brought by tribes, and the tribe of 
 Judah was taken : then the families of Judah were brought, and the lot 
 fell upon the family of the Zarhites : next the house of Zabdi, one of the 
 divisions of the family of the Zarhites, was taken. It now remained to 
 
472 BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 bring tlio men of Zabdi s house, each of whom stood at the head of a 
 household, and Achan was taken. Josh. 7 : 16-18. When again, at sin 
 earlier period, the Israelites were to be numbered, Mosos was directed 
 (Numb. 1 : 2) to take the sum of the congregation " after their families, by 
 the house of their fathers " (or, as we might better render, by their fathers 
 houses); and twelve men, one from each tribe, were appointed to preside 
 over the work. We learn also from the second numbering (Numb. , chap. 
 26) that the number of families belonging to the twelve tribes, the eight 
 families of Levi (Numb., chap. 3) being excluded, was fifty-seven. These 
 families were named mostly from the sons of the founders of the several 
 tribes, but partly from their grandsons; and in the case of Gilead s six 
 sons from the great-grandsons. The number and names of the tribes 
 remained constant throughout the history of the ancient Hebrews. But 
 the less divisions were apparently subject to changes through the extinc 
 tion of old families and houses and the rise of new ones. The family of 
 Matri, for example, to which Saul belonged (1 Sam. 10 : 21), is not named 
 among the old families of Benjamin. Numb. 26 : 38-41. 
 
 To avoid confusion, it is further important to notice that the term 
 family is used in a general sense, as well as in the special technical sense 
 above defined. God says to Abraham (Gen. 12:3), "In thee shall all 
 families of the earth be blessed," where the word families is equivalent to 
 nations. Again, the word family is used loosely for a tribe, as when " the 
 family of Judah " is spoken of, Josh. 7 : 17. The term father s house, or 
 in the plural fathers houses, is also used not only technically of the divis 
 ions of the families belonging to a tribe, but also more generally of the 
 leading father s house of a tribe, under which was comprehended the whole 
 tribe (Numb. 1:4; 17 : 2 in the Heb. text, 17 : 7 Josh. 22 : 14) ; and of 
 the leading father s house of a family, under which was comprehended the 
 whole family. Numb. 3 : 24, 30, 35. 
 
 5. At the suggestion of Jethro (Exod. 18 : 13, seq.), Moses 
 appointed "rulers of thousands, rulers of hundreds, rulers of 
 fifties, and rulers of tens," whose special office was to act as 
 judges. As this was a division of the people for civil and not 
 for military purposes, we have a right to assume that it was 
 ingrafted upon the existing organization of the tribes, and that 
 the first division coincided with that of the families. With this 
 assumption agrees the fact that the families are frequently 
 designated by the term thousands. Thus Samuel directs the 
 people to present themselves before the Lord by their tribes 
 and by their thousands. 1 Sam. 10 : 19. In accordance with 
 
PATRIARCHAL FORM OF GOVERNMENT. 473 
 
 this direction the Israelites (ver. 21) first come by tribes, when 
 the tribe of Benjamin is taken ; then this tribe conies by fam 
 ilies, when the family of Matri is taken. Here it is plain that 
 the thousands of ver. 19 are the families of ver. 21. So also 
 when the princes of the tribes are called "heads of thousands 
 in Israel" (Nurnb. 1:16; 10:4), the meaning is heads of the 
 thousands, that is, families, which constituted the primary divis 
 ion of the tribes. 
 
 For explanation of this use of the term thousand we may conveniently 
 begin with the smallest division, that of lens. This obviously consisted 
 not of ten individuals "from twenty years old and upwards" (a number 
 too inconsiderable for judicial purposes), but of ten heads of families with 
 their sons and in some instances grandsons ; or, in the case of elder broth 
 ers, with their younger brothers and sons. Thus Jesse of Beth-lehem 
 with his seven sons (according to 1 Sam. 16 : 10, his eight sons) constituted 
 one in a division of tens. The enrolled men in a division of tens, consist 
 ing of those who were twenty years old and upwards, would thus consti 
 tute a number varying between less and more than a hundred. Assuming 
 105 as the average, we have for the hundreds 1,050, and for the thousands 
 10,500, and for 57 families or thousands 598,500. This comes very near 
 to the sum of the fifty-seven families of the second census (Numb., chap. 
 26), which was 601,730. As the tens constituted a variable number of 
 individuals, so did the hundreds and thousands. 1 Sam. 9 : 21 ; Micah 
 5:2. 
 
 6. Each tribe and division of a tribe had its chief, who seems 
 to have held his office, as a general rule, according to the law 
 of primogeniture. The proper title for the chief of a tribe is 
 prince (Heb., nasi, variously rendered in our version prince, ruler, 
 chief), less frequently head (Heb., rosh). The chiefs of the less 
 divisions are called heads, and occasionally princes. Numb. 
 3 : 24, 30, 35 ; 16 : 2. These chiefs of the different tribes, fam 
 ilies, and fathers houses constitute -collectively the elders of 
 Israel; those of a particular tribe, the elders of that tribe; and, 
 after the settlement in the land of Canaan, those of a particular 
 city, the elders of that city. The elders are the representatives 
 of the people. "When Moses addresses the whole congregation 
 of the Israelites he does this through their elders. So he and 
 Aaron are directed (Exod. 12 : 3) to speak unto " all the congre- 
 
474 BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 gation of Israel ;" and in pursuance of this command Moses calls 
 (ver. 21) for " all the elders of Israel," and communicates to them 
 God s message. In Deut. 31 : 28, the elders of Israel, with their 
 officers (see below), represent, in like manner, the whole people ; 
 and the song which Moses recites in their hearing he is said (ver. 
 30) to speak " in the ears of all the congregation of Israel." God 
 elsewhere directs (Numb. 10 : 3, 4) that when a signal is given by 
 blowing with the two silver trumpets, " all the assembly " shall 
 assemble themselves at the door of the tabernacle of the congre 
 gation; but when one trumpet only is used, "the princes, heads 
 of the thousands of Israel," shall assemble themselves. It is 
 obvious that here "all the assembly" means all the elders of 
 Israel, in distinction from the assembly of the princes of the 
 tribes. And, in general, the whole congregation of the Israelites, 
 assembled for the transaction of business, consists of their repre 
 sentatives in the persons of the whole body of elders, unless 
 indeed there is a specification like that contained in the follow 
 ing words : " Gather the people together, men, and women, and 
 children, and thy stranger that is within thy gates" (Deut. 
 31 : 12), where the law is to be read in the hearing of the whole 
 multitude, the people being doubtless divided into sections with 
 a competent number of expositors. Compare, Neh. 8 : 7. 
 
 Mention is made (Numb. 1 : 16 ; 16 ; 2) of the called of the congregation 
 (not, as in our version, renowned of the congregation and famous of the con 
 gregation], who are also designated in the latter passage as men of reputa 
 tion. These called of the congregation are those who were customarily called 
 to the assembly of the elders, and who thus represented the whole people. 
 
 7. Mention is made very early in the history of the Israelites 
 of a class of men called officers. The Hebrew name (shbterwi) 
 properly denotes scrifas or registrars. They appear in the double 
 capacity of registrars and also administrators. The officers of 
 the Israelites in Egypt (Exod., chap. 5) are men of then- own 
 nation set over them by the Egyptian taskmasters, whose busi 
 ness it is to enforce the performance of the daily tasks laid upon 
 the people by their oppressors, and to render to the taskmasters 
 an account of the same. As registrars they keep an account of 
 
PATRIARCHAL FORM OF GOVERNMENT. 475 
 
 the work, and as administrators they are responsible for its per 
 formance. At a later period they appear as executing the com 
 mands of Joshua (Josh. 1 : 10 ; 3 : 2), and of the commander in 
 war (Deut. 20 : 5, 8, 9). The same executive capacity is assumed 
 in Solomon s advice to the sluggard (Prov. 6 : 6-7) : " Go to the 
 ant, thou sluggard ; consider her ways, and be wise : which having 
 no judge, officer, or ruler, provideth her meat in the summer, and 
 gathereth her food in the harvest." The officers are closely asso 
 ciated with the judges in the Old Testament : " Judges and officers 
 shalt thou make thee in all thy gates." Deut. 16 : 18, and com 
 pare Deut. 1 : 15. The relation of the officers to the judges is 
 nowhere denned in the Old Testament. They seem to have 
 assisted the judges not only as scribes and registrars, but also 
 as counsellors ; and to have been charged with carrying their 
 decisions into execution. 
 
 The officers held their office by election, though the manner of the 
 election is not specified. They seem to have been selected, as a rule, 
 from among the elders, as were the judges appointed at Jethro s sugges 
 tion, Deut. 1 : 15. "We cannot, however, infer from the record of the 
 appointment of the seventy elders in the wilderness (Nuinb. 11 : 16) that 
 this was always the case. The direction of God to Moses : " Gather unto 
 me seventy men of the elders of Israel, whom thou knowest to be elders 
 of the people and their officers," can only prove that the men selected on 
 this special occasion must be elders who were also officers. 
 
 It is a common and not improbable supposition that these officers had 
 the charge of the genealogical tables.* "As the writers and keepers of 
 the genealogical lists, they had to assist in levying troops for military 
 service, and to mark off those whom the law excused. Deut. 20 : 5, com 
 pared with 2 Chron. 19 : 11. They had also to stand by the side of the 
 judges when they administered the law, because all questions of property 
 and many other judicial proceedings were connected with families and 
 correct lineal descent. After the time of David both they and the judges 
 were chiefly, if not exclusively chosen from the Levites." Keil on Josh. 
 1:10. 
 
 8. During the sojourn in Egypt the Hebrews did not feel the 
 need of a special class of men to act as judges. In accordance 
 with patriarchal usage, their elders administered justice so far as 
 jurisdiction was allowed them by the Egyptians. But upon their 
 
476 BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 emergence from a state of bondage to one of self-government 
 questions of a judicial nature began to multiply, and these were 
 by common consent referred to Moses, till, at the suggestion of 
 Jethro, he appointed, as we have seen, "rulers of thousands, 
 rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens," whose 
 office was to "judge the people at all seasons." The hard causes 
 they were to bring to Moses, but the small matters they were to 
 judge among themselves. Exod. 18 : 21-26. 
 
 The question lias been raised : What was the relation to each other of 
 this series of courts ? According to some, appeals lay from the judges 
 over tens to the next higher court, and so on. According to others, " the 
 judges over tens could decide only matters of very little importance ; the 
 judge over fifties, greater questions ; the judge over hundreds, still weight 
 ier," etc. Knobel on Exod. 18 : 21, seq. Another, and perhaps the most 
 probable opinion, is that the difference between these courts lay in the 
 extent of their jurisdiction that the judges over thousands settled differ 
 ences that arose between the families constituting the first great division 
 of a tribe ; the next two lower courts, controversies among the less divis 
 ions ; while the courts of tens took cognizance of crime and controversies 
 within its own proper section, the final appeal in difficult matters being 
 from each of the courts to Moses. See Keil, Archaol. , 149. 
 
 Upon the entrance of the people into the land of Canaan this 
 arrangement necessarily underwent a modification. In antici 
 pation of this Moses commanded : " Judges and officers shalt 
 thou make thee in all thy gates" the gates, as places of public 
 resort, being opportune for the exercise of judgment "which 
 the Lord thy God giveth thee throughout thy tribes ; and they 
 shall judge the people with just judgment." Deut. 16 : 18. 
 
 Neither the number of the judges nor the manner of their appoint 
 ment is specified. Under the commonwealth they were probably chosen 
 by the elders, and selected, as a rule, from among their number. Deut. 
 1 : 15. Joseplms says that they were seven in number, with two assist 
 ants. "Let seven men preside in each city who have been previously 
 trained in virtue and in the love of justice ; and to every court let two 
 assistants be given from the tribe of the Levites. " Autiq,, 4. 8. 14. By 
 the assistants he probably understands the officers associated with the 
 judges in the original appointment. This statement of Josephus is evi 
 dently taken from the late* usages of the Jews. According to the Talmud 
 there were two local courts : a greater, for the large cities, consisting of 
 
PATKIA11CHAL FOKM OF GOVERNMENT. 477 
 
 hvrnty-three men, and a smaller for the towns and smallest cities. See Keil, 
 Archiiol., $149, who adds that "probably the number of the judges varied 
 in the different cities, and corresponded only generally with the number 
 of the inhabitants, according to the rule: judges over tens, fifties, etc." 
 After the settlement of the people in Canaan, the final appeal in difficult 
 cases was, before the time of the kings, to the high priest who resided at 
 the tabernacle, or to the extraordinary judges mentioned below. Dent. 
 17 : 8-13. 
 
 9. It remains to speak of those extraordinary rulers whom 
 God raised up from time to time in great emergencies, that he 
 might accomplish through them his gracious purposes towards 
 the covenant people. Foremost among these in time, and in the 
 dignity of his office, is Moses. The twofold office committed to 
 him is clearly indicated in the sacred record. First, he is sent 
 to deliver the Israelites from their bondage to the Egyptians. 
 "Behold," says God to him, "the cry of the children of Israel is 
 come unto me ; and I have also seen the oppression wherewith 
 the Egyptians oppress them. Come now, therefore, and I will 
 send thee unto Pharaoh, that thou mayest bring forth my peo 
 ple, the children of Israel, out of Egypt." Exod. 3 : 9, 10. How 
 he executed this part of his office, with the miraculous help of 
 Jehovah, is familiar to all. Secondly, he is the mediator of the 
 covenant established at Mount Sinai between God and his peo 
 ple. God began by addressing the people directly from amid 
 the thunders and lightnings of Sinai. But they could not en 
 dure this mode of communication. " Speak thou with us," was 
 their petition to Moses, "and we will hear; but let not God 
 speak with us, lest w r e die." Exod. 20 : 19. In reply the Lord 
 said: "They have well spoken that which they have spoken" 
 (Deut. 5 : 28 ; 18 : 17) ; and immediately added : " I will raise 
 them up a prophet from among their brethren, like unto thee, 
 and will put my words in his mouth ; and he shall speak unto 
 them all that I shall command them. And it shall come to 
 pass, that whosoever will not hearken unto my words which he 
 shall speak in my name, I will require it of him." Deut. 18 : 18, 
 19. The two essential things here (so far as the mode of com 
 munication is concerned) are that God will henceforth commu- 
 
478 BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 nicate with man through the medium of man; and that such 
 communications have the same authority as they would have 
 were he to address man directly, as he did on Sinai. The Great 
 Prophet of the latter days is to be a man speaking in God s 
 name to his brethren ; and the promise of such a Prophet con 
 tains in itself the pledge that, until his advent, God will make 
 all needful communications to his people through men like them 
 selves. 
 In both of the above offices Moses was an eminent type of 
 Christ ; and in neither of them could he, from their very nature, 
 have any successor until the appearance of his great Antitype. 
 See Deut. 34 : 10-12. 
 
 10. The office of Joshua was also twofold. He was the mili 
 tary leader of the people in the conquest of Canaan (Josh., chaps. 
 1-12), and afterwards their civil ruler in the distribution of the 
 land among the several tribes (Josh., chaps. 13-24). To tin s 
 office he was called by God himself (Numb. 27 : 18-23), and from 
 its nature he had no successor. 
 
 11. After the death of Joshua and the elders who survived 
 him there was a succession of judges in an eminent sense, who had 
 general authority over the nation; or, perhaps in the case of 
 some of them, over a section of the nation. The book of Judges 
 records the names of twelve, that of Abimelech being excluded, 
 namely: Othniel, Ehud, Shamgar, Barak with Deborah the 
 prophetess, Gideon, Tola, Jair, Jephthah, Ibzan, Elon, Abdon, 
 Samson; and the first book of Samuel adds those of Eli and 
 Samuel. Most of these men were called by God himself to their 
 office in times of national calamity ; and their first work was to 
 deliver the Israelites from their oppressors. They began, there 
 fore, as military leaders ; but, after the settlement of the people 
 in peace, they exercised an authority wliich was freely accorded 
 to them, and which was general and political rather than muni 
 cipal. With the exception of EH, and apparently Samuel (see 
 the genealogy 1 Chron. 6 : 33-38, where Shemuel of our version is 
 only a more exact representation of the Hebrew name for Sam 
 uel}, none of them were taken from the tribe of Levi. 
 
PATRIARCHAL FORM OF GOVERNMENT. 479 
 
 No notice is taken of any military services performed by Tola, Ibzan, 
 Elon, or Abdoii. The land seems to have enjoyed rest from oppression 
 during their office. Eli and Samuel, also, were civil and not military lead 
 ers. Jephthah and the three succeeding judges seem to have exercised 
 their office in Northeastern Israel beyond the Jordan. The scene of Sam 
 son s exploits was Southwestern Israel. In the opinion of some he was 
 contemporary with Eli, who judged Israel at Shiloh. 
 
 12. Under this simple patriarchal constitution the Israelitish 
 nation lived, according to the longer chronology, " about the space 
 of four hundred and fifty years, until Samuel the prophet." The 
 general affairs of the several tribes, with their divisions and sub 
 divisions, were managed by their elders, not according to definite 
 written rules, except so far as they were contained in the Mosaic 
 law, but rather according to ancient usage the mos mo jorum of 
 the Eomans, and the common law of later times ; while the judges, 
 assisted by the officers, administered justice. The judges whom 
 God raised up for them in succession did not constitute an 
 organic part of the government, but exercised their authority 
 only through the common consent of the people. The tribes, 
 not being bound together by any permanent civil head, acted 
 either singly or a few of them in concert, independently of the 
 nation as a whole. The tribe of Dan, for example, sent six hun 
 dred of its warriors to take possession of Laish and the adjoin 
 ing region without consulting the other tribes (Judg., chap. 18) ; 
 the tribes of Judah and Simeon made a mutual agreement to act 
 in concert in the expulsion of the Canaanites from their terri 
 tory (Judg. 1:3, 17); "the house of Joseph" went separately 
 against the inhabitants of Beth-el (Judg. 1 : 22-25) ; Deborah 
 and Barak had the help of only a part of the tribes in their war 
 against Sisera (Judg. 5 : 14^18) ; Gideon summoned, at the be 
 ginning of his conflict with the Midianites, only four of the north 
 ern tribes, for which he was sharply rebuked by the Ephraimites 
 (Judg. 6 : 35 : 8 : 1-3) ; and Jephthah seems to have acted inde- j 
 pendently of the tribes west of the Jordan. It was only rarely 
 and on very special occasions that all the tribes acted in concert, 
 as they did in avenging the wrong done to the Levite in Gibe ah 
 of Benjamin. Judg., chap. 20. It is this loose relation of the 
 
180 BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 tribes to each other which the sacred penman describes when he 
 says (Judg. 17 : 6) : " In those days there was no king in Israel, 
 but every man did that which was right in his own eyes." He 
 did not mean to indicate a state of anarchy within the several 
 tribes, but rather the absence of a regularly organized central 
 power that could give unity to the movements of the people. 
 
 13. Nevertheless there was a religious and social bond of union. 
 By the provisions of the Mosaic law all the sacrifices were to be 
 offered on the brazen altar at the door of the tabernacle, and 
 three times a year all the male inhabitants of the land were 
 required to present themselves there before the Lord at the three 
 feasts of the passover, of the pentecost, and of tabernacles. 
 Exod. 23 : 14-17 ; 34 : 22, 23 ; Deut. 16 : 16. These great national 
 gatherings were social as well as religious, and the first and third 
 of them lasted a whole week. They brought all the tribes to 
 gether in their peculiar character as the covenant people of Jeho 
 vah. Encamped around the tabernacle they offered sacrifices 
 together; they feasted together; together they were instructed 
 in the law of Moses; and together they recounted the mighty 
 acts of the God of their fathers. Thus God placed the unity of 
 the nation on a religious instead of an organic civil foundation. 
 It was a unity of which he was himself the centre, not any earthly 
 chieftain. Had the people remained true to him, they must have 
 remained true to each other also. The bond which united them 
 to their covenant God, would have united them among them 
 selves. Well did Jeroboam the son of Nebat understand the 
 power of these national gatherings. " If this people," said he, 
 after the revolt of the ten tribes, "go up to do sacrifice in the 
 house of the Lord at Jerusalem, then shall the heart of this peo 
 ple turn again unto their lord, even unto Eehoboam king of Ju- 
 dah, and they shall kill me, and go again unto Rehoboain king 
 of Judah." 1 Kings 12 : 27. So he set up two golden calves, 
 one in Beth-el and the other in Dan, as a means of withdrawing 
 I/he people from the yearly feasts at Jerusalem. He was willing 
 to corrupt the religion of his whole kingdom that he might 
 secure hiy family on the throne. 
 
PATRIARCHAL FORM OF GOVERNMENT. 481 
 
 We see, then, that the Hebrew commonwealth, as established 
 by God, offered to the people a large amount of true liberty, 
 while it secured for them a national unity grounded in their alle 
 giance to himself, their time head and king a unity of the noblest 
 and the most ennobling character. It was for them the best 
 form of government, upon the simple condition of their remain 
 ing faithful in the service of their covenant God. Happy, thrice 
 happy had been the Israelites before the days of the kings, had 
 they but understood then- privileges ! But they did not under 
 stand them. The spirit of loyalty to Jehovah died out among 
 them, and a worldly spirit took its place. Then they began to 
 clamor for a king, that they might be " like ah 1 the nations ;" and 
 God gave them a king in his anger, and afterwards took him 
 away in his wrath. 
 
482 BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 CHAPTEB XXIII. 
 
 THE KINGLY FORM OF GOVERNMENT. 
 
 1. IN demanding of Samuel a king the Israelites were actua 
 ted, as we have seen, by a worldly and unbelieving spirit. They 
 had withdrawn from Jehovah, their almighty heavenly King and 
 Protector, their faith, love, and obedience. Thus the religious 
 bond which should have united them as a nation was broken, 
 and a process of disintegration was going on which imperilled 
 their national existence, surrounded as they were by numerous 
 and powerful enemies. The evils of disunion were real, though 
 the cause was reprehensible. Gpd, therefore, while he sharply 
 rebuked the people for their request, yet decided to grant it; 
 because the kingly form of government, though not in itself the 
 best, was best under existing circumstances. "It would bring 
 upon the people many evils, as he faithfully forewarned them 
 (1 Sam. 8 : 10-18) ; yet, in view of their character and condition, 
 it was expedient that it should be established. 
 
 2. In changing, through the agency of Samuel, the ancient 
 patriarchal form of government to one that was monarchical, 
 God was careful to assert, in the manner of the transaction, his 
 continued supi*emacy over the covenant people. The monarch 
 was one of his own selection; first, by a private revelation to 
 Samuel, who was directed to anoint him as the future king of 
 Israel (1 Sam. 9 : 15-17 ; 10 : 1, seq.) ; secondly, by a public ap 
 peal to the sacred lot (1 Sam. 10 : 17-25). Then, again, the new 
 king was given to understand, upon his inauguration, that he 
 must exercise his office in hearty and unreserved subjection to 
 the commandment of Jehovah, from whom he had received it. 
 Finally, when he showed himself regardless of God s authority, 
 he was rejected, and a man from another tribe and family was 
 selected as his successor. 1 Sam. 13 : 13, 14 ; chap. 15 ; 16 : 1-13. 
 By these successive acts of sovereignty God made it manifest to 
 
THE KINGLY FORM OF GOVERNMENT. 483 
 
 all that, though he had granted the request of his people for an 
 earthly monarch, he had not thereby vacated one jot or tittle of 
 his supremacy over them ; and that their king was not indepen 
 dent of his -will, but absolutely subject to it. 
 
 It may be said, in an important sense, that Sard, the first king of Israel, 
 was a man after the people s heart He had those external physical qualities 
 which in those days were highly valued in a leader of the people. He was 
 " a choice young man, and a goodly : and there was not among the children 
 of Israel a goodlier person than he : from his shoulders and upward he was 
 higher than any of the people." 1 Sam. 9 : 2. Nor was he a mean com 
 mander in war, as his successes show. 1 Sam. 14 : 47, 48. His misfortunes 
 were due not to want of ability but to disobedience of God s commands. 
 
 David, his successor, had still higher qualities as a military and civil 
 leader. But it was not in view of these that God described him as a man 
 after his own heart. This high praise was given him as one in whose heart 
 the reigning principle was faith and love towards Jehovah, producing a 
 uniform and hearty obedience to all his commands. Divinely designated 
 as the successor of Saul, he waited patiently till the tin-one should be made 
 vacant by his death ; and, after a suitable probation, the kingdom was con 
 firmed to him and his family for ever. 2 Sam. , chap. 7. 
 
 3. The kingly form of government having been established, its 
 bright side began to manifest itself, and afterwards its dark side, 
 as foretold by Samuel. Looking first to the bright side, we notice 
 an immediate increase of national strength from the new centre 
 of union which the different tribes had in their common sov 
 ereign. The reign of Saul was upon the whole prosperous in its 
 outward relations. 1 Sam. 14 : 47-52. Its sad close came in 
 accordance with the divine purpose to set aside his house, for 
 his persistent disobedience to God s commands. Under David, 
 Saul s successor, the Hebrew nation attained to full organic 
 unity, and was victorious over its enemies on every side. This 
 was the culmination of the military power of Israel. As the 
 fruit of David s victories Solomon received a kingdom extending 
 from Tiphsah on the Euphrates to Gaza, " and he had peace on 
 all sides round about him." 1 Kings 4 : 24. The new national 
 unity which the monarchical form of government brought to the 
 Hebrew people was also favorable to internal tranquillity. It 
 put an end, as a rule, to dissensions between the tribes and divis - 
 
484 BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 ions of the tribes ; such as that between Abimelech and the men 
 of Sliechem (Judg., chap. 9) ; between the Gileadites and the men 
 of Ephraim, in which forty-two thousand Ephraimites perished 
 (Judg. 12 : 1-6) ; and between the tribe of Benjamin and the other 
 tribes, by which the former was well nigh destroyed (Judg., chaps. 
 19-21). It may be mentioned as a further advantage that the 
 pious kings ALke David before the division of the kingdom, and 
 Asa, Jehoshaphat, Hezekiah, and Josiah after the division, did 
 much to suppress idolatry and establish the worship of Jehovah, 
 at least in its outward form. 
 
 4. But the dark side also manifested itself less rapidly, but 
 not less certainly. Here we can hardly mention the abridgment 
 of power in the case of the individual tribes ; for this was, in the 
 existing circumstances/ a benefit rather than an injury. But the 
 prerogatives that belong to the very idea of an oriental king, and 
 the expenses of maintaining an oriental royal establishment soon 
 began to be felt, with increasing power, by the Hebrew people. 
 A " limited monarchy," in the modem English sense of the ex 
 pression, was then, and has ever been, foreign to the ideas of 
 the eastern nations. Their kings administer justice in a sum 
 mary way : and the right of life and death belongs to them, not 
 by any constitutional provision, but by immemorial usage. This 
 prerogative was exercised from the first by the Hebrew mon- 
 archs, particularly in the case of state criminals, or those whom 
 they chose to regard as such. Saul unrighteously slew eighty- 
 five priests on the alleged ground that they had conspired against 
 him. 1 Sam., chap. 22. David gave commandment to kill Ke- 
 chab and Baanah, the murderers of Ishbosheth, and he charged 
 Solomon to see that Shimei and Joab were slain. This charge 
 Solomon executed, and also put to death his brother Adonijah 
 for attempting to usurp the throne. 2 Kings, chap. 2. 
 
 In the case of ordinary criminals, it is natural to suppose that the pen 
 alty of the law was inflicted through the medium of the regular judges and 
 officers ; yet here also the final power rested with the sovereign, and he 
 might exercise it directly by virtue of his kingly prerogative. 2 Sam. 12 : 5 ; 
 U : 8-11. 
 
THE KINGLY FORM OF GOVERNMENT. 485 
 
 The king had also, by the same immemorial usage, 
 power to demand the personal services of his subjects and to 
 levy upon their property for public uses. The picture which 
 Samuel drew of the royal prerogative (1 Sam. 8 : 10-18) was 
 taken from the actual practice of monarchs in his day : " He will 
 take your sons, and appoint them for himself, for his chariots, 
 and to be his horsemen ; and some shall run before his chariots. 
 And he will appoint him captains over thousands, and captains 
 over fifties; and will set them to ear" (that is, plough) "his 
 ground, and to reap his harvest, and to make his instruments of 
 war, and instruments of his chariots. And he will take your 
 daughters to be confectionaries, and to be cooks, and to be ba 
 kers. And he will take your fields, and your vineyards, and your 
 oliveyards, even the best of them, and give them to his servants. 
 And he will take the tenth of your seed, and of your vineyards, 
 and give to his officers, and to his servants. And he will take 
 your men-servants, and your maid-servants, and your goodliest 
 young men, and your asses, and put them to his work. And he 
 will take the tenth of your sheep ; and ye shah 1 be his servants." 
 In illustration of the truthfulness of this portraiture we may 
 remark that Solomon raised a levy of thirty thousand men, whom 
 he sent to Lebanon by courses, besides the seventy thousand 
 that bare burdens, and the eighty thousand that were hewers in 
 the mountains (1 Kings 5 : 13-15) ; and that " Solomon s provis 
 ion for one day was thirty measures of fine flour, and threescore 
 measures of meal, ten fat oxen, and twenty oxen out of the pas 
 tures, and a hundred sheep, besides harts, and roebucks, and 
 fallow-deer, and fatted fowl. 1 Kings 4 : 22, 23. This was the 
 daily provision for Solomon s household, and it is in perfect 
 accordance with the magnificence and luxury of an oriental 
 court, with its numerous retinue of servants and its harem of 
 wives and concubines. The necessary sequel is heavy taxes. 
 The burden of these was felt under Solomon s reign, and the 
 refusal of his son Rehoboam to lighten them was the occasion of 
 the revolt of the ten tribes. 
 
 The royal prerogative enabled pious kings, as we have seen, 
 
186 BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 to do much for the maintenance of the Mosaic institutions. It 
 must now be added that the same prerogative in the hands of 
 wicked men was most disastrous to the cause of religion. The 
 very first of the Israelitish kings corrupted the worship of his 
 whole Ipngdom, and all his successors followed in his footsteps 
 as a matter of state policy. It was easier for a camel to go 
 through the eye of a needle than for a monarch of the ten tribes 
 to serve Jehovah ; for. there were the golden calves at Beth-el 
 and Dan, the worship of which he felt himself bound to maintain, 
 lest his subjects should go to Jerusalem to worship, and turn 
 again to the house of David. What a corrupting influence was 
 exercised in the kingdom of Judah, also, by such monarchs as 
 Ahaz and Manasseh, is familiar to all. 
 
 The first check to the abuse of the royal prerogative lay in 
 the character of the monarchs. Good kings, like David, were 
 " just, ruling in the fear of God." And their influence was " as the 
 light of the morning when the sun riseth, even a morning with 
 out clouds; as the tender grass springing out of the earth by 
 clear shining after rain." 2 Sam. 23 : 4. A further check lay in 
 the character of the people. They had inherited from their 
 fathers a patrimony of liberty and manly independence which 
 their kings could not safely disregard, as we see in the case of 
 Kehoboam. In the case of the earlier kings the restraining 
 power from this source must have been great. But with the 
 increasing degeneracy of the people its influence gradually died 
 out. 
 
 5. In respect to outward form, the monarchical being, so to 
 speak, superimposed upon the ancient patriarchal constitution, 
 was administered, in a great measure, through the medium of its 
 forms and usages. It is recorded (1 Sam. 10 : 25) that " Samuel 
 told the people the manner of the kingdom, and wrote it in a 
 book, and laid it up before the Lord." This can hardly have 
 been a " constitution" in the modern sense of the word, with its 
 various specific provisions. It seems to have been rather a gen 
 eral statement of the principles upon which the kingly govern 
 ment was to be administered (compare Deut. 17 : 14-20) ; one of 
 
THE KINGLY FORM OF GOVERNMENT. 487 
 
 the most important of which was the inviolability of the Mosaic 
 code. The king had no authority to set aside any of its laws, 
 or to usurp any office under it belonging to others. "When, long 
 afterwards, Uzziah attempted to burn incense on the golden 
 altar, which was a priestly function, he was valiantly withstood 
 by the high priest and his associates, and smitten with leprosy 
 by the immediate act of God. 2 Chron. 26 : 16-21. It was only 
 in details not touching the fundamental principles of the theoc 
 racy that discretion was allowed to the Hebrew monarchs ; as 
 when David distributed the Levites into twenty-four courses; 
 arranged the service of song in the sanctuary; and appointed 
 from among the Levites porters, treasurers, officers, and judges. 
 1 Cliron., chap. 23, seq. Changes in the service of the temple 
 like those made by Aliaz and Manasseh (2 Kings, chaps. 16, 21) 
 were impious acts of rebellion against Jehovah. 
 
 6. The essential rite of inauguration to the kingly office was 
 anointing with the sacred oil. Exod. 30 : 22-33. When this rite 
 was privately performed by a prophet under God s direction, as 
 in the case of Saul (1 Sam. 9 : 16; 10 : 1), of David in the pres 
 ence of his father s family alone (1 Sam., chap. 16), and of Jehu 
 (2 Kings 9 : 1-10), it conferred simply a title to the throne, the 
 occupancy of which took place afterwards, either by the com 
 mon consent of the people (1 Sam. 10 : 17-25 ; 2 Sam. 2:4; 
 5 : 1-3), or by force (2 Kings, chap. 9). The public anointing was 
 in connection with the monarch s induction into office. Thus 
 David was anointed at Hebron, first as king over the tribe of 
 Judah (2 Sam. 2 : 4), and afterwards as king over all Israel 
 (2 Sam. 5:3); Solomon was by David s command publicly 
 anointed by Zadok the priest with oil out of the tabernacle 
 (1 Kings 1 : 39) ; and Joash was anointed by the high priest 
 Jehoiada in the presence of " the rulers over hundreds, with the 
 captains and the guard" (2 Kings 11 : 4-12). 
 
 The above are the only cases in which the anointing of a Hebrew mon 
 arch is mentioned.. Where the crown descended regularly from father to 
 son, or from an elder to a younger brother without controversy, it does not 
 appear that the ceremony of anointing was thought necessary. " As far as 
 
488 . BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 we are informed," says Jahn (Archaeology, $223), "unction, as a sign of 
 investiture with the royal authority, was bestowed only upon the first two 
 kings who ruled the Hebrews, namely, Saul and David ; and subsequently 
 upon Solomon and Joash, who ascended the throne under such circum 
 stances that there was danger of their right to the throne being forcibly 
 disputed." 
 
 Solomon and Joash, whose right to the throne was a matter 
 of controversy, were publicly crowned upon their inauguration 
 with shouts and the blowing of trumpets. 1 Kings 1 : 39, 40 ; 
 2 Kings 11 : 12. In the case of Joash it is added that " they 
 gave him the testimony," that is, a copy of the law of Moses as 
 the rule of his administration. Compare Deut. 18 : 17-20. We 
 may reasonably infer that these ceremonies were usual when a 
 new king was inducted into office ; and also that, in the case of 
 a peaceable succession to the kingdom, his predecessor s sceptre 
 was placed in his hand, and he was seated upon his throne. 
 Sacrifices also were offered on the occasion, and a magnificent 
 feast was provided, See 2 Sam. 15 : 12 ; 1 Kings 1 : 9, seq., where 
 the usurpers manifestly follow the usage of the times. 
 
 7. The officers of the royal establishment may be conveni 
 ently considered in several groups. 
 
 The following general executive officers are mentioned : 
 
 The commander-in-chief of the army in the phraseology of 
 the sacred record, the man who was " captain of the host," or 
 " over the host." 1 Sam. 14 : 50 ; 2 Sam. 8 ; 16 ; 20 : 23 ; 1 Kings 
 2:32; 4:4; etc. 
 
 The commander of the body-guard, the same as " the captain 
 of the guard" under Pharaoh and Nebuchadnezzar. Gen. 
 37 : 36 ; 2 Kings 25 : 8 ; etc. This body of men waited on the 
 king s person and executed his commands. From the nature of 
 their service they were not only the keepers of his person, but 
 also his executioners in the case of state criminals. That " the 
 Cherethites and the Pelethites" (2 Sam. 8 : 18 ; 20 : 23 ; 1 Chron. 
 18 : 17) were David s body-guard, according to the interpretation 
 of Josephus (Antiq. 7. 5. 4), is admitted by all. But why they 
 received this appellation is a matter of controversy. The Cher 
 ethites are mentioned (1 Sam. 30:14; Ezek. 25:16; Zeph. 2:5) 
 
THE KINGLY FORM OF GOVERNMENT. 
 
 
 
 in such a connection as shows that they were either the Philis 
 tines themselves, or more probably, a tribe of that people. 
 Hence it has been supposed that David s body-guard consisted of 
 Philistines from the tribes called Cherethites and Pelethites. In 
 favor of this view has been, urged the fact that Ittai the Gittite, 
 with his six hundred followers, was a trusty Mend of David 
 (2 Sam. 15 : 18-22) ; and also the usage of some modern sov 
 ereigns of Europe, the pope, for example, with his Swiss guard. 
 Others understand the two words Cherethites and Pelethites as 
 terms of office, and render them executioners and couriers. 
 
 The recorder (Heb., wti~ku\ />///- ntl.rnncer, 2 Sam. 8 : 1G ; 
 20:24; 1 Kings 4:3; 2 Kings 18:18, 37; etc.) had charge of 
 the public records of the kingdom. He was not, however, a sim 
 ple annalist. His office seems to have included not only the 
 record of passing transactions, but the collection, for the mon 
 arch s use, of accurate information concerning the affairs of his 
 kingdom. How high a position he occupied at the court is man 
 ifest from the fact that the recorder was one of the three officials 
 sent by Hezekiah to confer with Bab-shaken, the commander of 
 the Assyrian armies, the other two being the scribe and the man 
 who was over the royal household (2 Kings 18 : 18, 37 ; Isa. 36 : 3, 
 22) : also one of the three appointed by Josiah to repair the 
 temple (2 Chron. 34:8). 
 
 The scribe, also another high officer (2 Sam. 8:17; 20:25; 
 2 Kings 18 : 18, 37 ; 22 : 3 ; etc.), was the state secretary. As 
 such, he is to be distinguished from the inferior scribes often 
 mentioned elsewhere, who were ready writers employed in civil, 
 military, and sacred service (2 Kings 25 : 19 ; 1 Chron. 24 : 6 ; 
 Ezra 7:6; etc.). Two scribes are mentioned as associated under 
 Solomon. 1 Kings 4:3. 
 
 Under David and Solomon was an officer who was over the 
 service (Heb., mas, rendered in our version sometimes levy, but 
 generally tribute). The service consisted of a levy of men to be 
 employed upon the public works. Of these Solomon had thirty 
 thousand, over whom he set Adoniram, or Adoram, as he is 
 elsewhere called. 2 Sam. 20 : 24 ; 1 Kings 4:6; 5 : 13, 14. 
 
 21* 
 
490 BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 * 
 
 The Hebrew term mas is very seldom employed to denote a trib ute of 
 money. The most certain example of this usage occurs in one of the latest 
 books. Esther 10 : 1. It almost always denotes tribute-service, and con 
 cretely a service, that is, a body of men levied to do service 
 
 We come next to a more interior class of courtiers. Here 
 belong the king s counsellor, and the king s companion or friend. 
 (2 Sam. 15 : 12, 37 ; 16 : 16, 17 ; 1 Chron. 27 : 32, 33. The dis 
 tinction between these two seems to be that the counsellor s 
 office was more public and official ; that of the friend more per 
 sonal and private. 
 
 Mention is made of another class of courtiers, called in our version 
 chief rulei*s (Heb. , cohen, priest), who held an intimate relation to the mon 
 arch. 2 Sam. 8 : 18 ; 20 : 26 ; I Kings 4 : 5. That these were not priests 
 in any proper sense of the word is manifest. They were neither descend 
 ants from Aaron nor Levites. That David, who so scrupulously regarded 
 the Mosaic institutions, should have bestowed upon his own sons (2 Sam. 
 8 : 18) or any not pertaining to the house of Aaron priestly functions is not 
 to be admitted for a moment. We have in two passages a clue to the right 
 meaning of the word in this connection. In the list of Solomon s officers 
 (1 Kings 4 : 2-6) Zebud, son of Nathan, "was priest and companion of the 
 king." Again, the author of the books of Chronicles, in giving the list of 
 David s officers (1 Chron. 18 : 15-17), substitutes for the words, " The sons 
 of David were priests" (2 Sam. 8 : 18), "the sons of David were chief men 
 at the king s hand." This is a true gloss, and gives the nature of their 
 office. They were employed about his person as trusty friends to execute 
 his orders. 
 
 There remains a class of officers belonging not to the king 
 dom at large, but to the kings household. Here belongs the man 
 who was over the house (1 Kings 4 : 6 ; 2 Kings 19 : 2 ; etc.), an offi 
 cer who first appears in the reign of Solomon, and whose duties 
 corresponded generally to those of the chamberlain of the house 
 hold in European courts. Then there were twelve officers "who 
 provided victuals for the king s household : each man his month 
 in a year made provision." They had their separate districts, 
 by which means the burden was distributed throughout the 
 whole kingdom. See 1 Kings, 4 : 7-19. There were also special 
 officers, who had charge of " the substance that was king Da 
 vid s" his storehouses, husbandmen, vineyards, wine-cellars, 
 
THE KINGLY FORM OF GOVERNMENT. 491 
 
 olive-trees, oil-cellars, sycamore-trees, herds, camels, and asses. 
 See 1 Chron. 27 : 25-31. There were other inferior officers, as 
 " the keeper of the wardrobe " (2 Kings 22 : 14), of whom it is 
 not necessary to speak. 
 
 8. The sources of the royal revenue were, according to Jahn 
 (Archeology, 234), the following : 
 
 (1.) Presents given voluntarily. 1 Sam. 10 : 27 ; 16 : 20. 
 
 (2.) The. produce of the royal possessions mentioned above. 
 
 (3.) A tribute exacted of the people, apparently in the shape 
 of a tithe of their produce. 1 Sam. 8 : 15, 17. A part may have 
 been in ready money. 
 
 (4.) The spoils of conquered nations, at least a large share of 
 them, and the tribute imposed on such nations. Thus Mesha 
 king of Moab rendered to the king of Israel as a tribute "a 
 hundred thousancf lambs, and a hundred thousand rams with 
 the wool." 2 Kings 3 : 4. See also 1 Kings 4.: 21. 
 
 (5.) The tribute imposed upon merchants who traded in the 
 Hebrew territories. 1 Kings 10 : 15. 
 
 9. The appointments of the royal household seem to have 
 been, at the beginning, very simple. But there was a rapid 
 increase towards the pomp and luxury of oriental courts, which 
 culminated in the reign of Solomon, who eclipsed all the neigh 
 boring monarchs in the splendor of his establishment ; unhappily 
 also in the extent of his harem. See 1 Kings, chaps. 10 and 11. 
 All this was contrary to both the letter and the spirit of that law 
 in which he was commanded to read all the days of his life. 
 Deut. 17 : 14-20. It was most corrupting in its influence, and it 
 brought speedy disaster upon his kingdom. For the burden laid 
 upon his subjects to support such a magnificent court, with its 
 "seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concu 
 bines," became, under the management of Jeroboam the son of 
 Nebat,-the occasion of its division, with ah 1 the sad train of evils 
 that followed.* 
 
492 BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 CHAPTEK XXIV. 
 
 THE FORM OF GOVERNMENT AFTER THE CAPTIVITY. 
 
 1. THE captivity of the ten tribes was completed about 721 
 years before Christ. "The king of Assyria," as the. sacred rec 
 ord informs us (2 Kings 17 : 6), " took Samaria, and carried Israel 
 away into Assyria, and placed them in Halah and in Habor by 
 the river of Gbzan, and in the cities of the Medes." Afterwards 
 the king of Assyria brought men from Babylon, and from Cu- 
 thah, and from Ava, and from Hamath, and from Sepharvaiin, 
 and placed them in the cities of Samaria instead of the children 
 of Israel : and they possessed Samaria, and "dwelt in the cities 
 thereof" (ver. 24). These foreign colonists, whose descendants 
 constituted the people afterwards called Samaritans, did not 
 spread themselves over the whole of what once constituted the 
 territory of the ten tribes. Their home was Samaria and its 
 adjacent cities, where we afterwards find them, apparently in 
 exclusive possession of the region from their first entrance into 
 it. It is not certain, however, that the remaining parts of the 
 kingdom of Israel were everywhere stripped of all their Hebrew 
 inhabitants. We know that at the. time of Hezekiah s passover, 
 a few years before the end of Hoshea s reign, this was not the 
 case ; for a multitude of people from Ephraim, Manasseh, Asher, 
 Issachar, and Zebulun, came to the feast at Jerusalem upon his 
 invitation. 2 Chron., chap. 30. More than eighty years after 
 wards, when Josiah had cleansed Judah and Jerusalem of idols, 
 it is added that his servants did the same " in the cities of Ma 
 nasseh, and Ephraim, and Simeon, even unto Naphtali" (2 Chron. 
 34 : 6) ; words which clearly imply the presence of some, at least, 
 of the Israelitish inhabitants. 
 
 The extinction of the Jewish kingdom took place about 588 
 years before Christ, the poor of the land being left to be hus 
 bandmen and vine-dressers. 2 Kings 25 : 12. Upon the con- 
 
GOVERNMENT AFTER THE CAPTIVITY 493 
 
 quest of Babylon by Cyrus, the Jews were permitted to return to 
 their own land after their seventy years captivity. Many availed 
 themselves of this privilege, but not all. A part of the Jews 
 remained in the land of their captivity, while they steadfastly 
 adhered to the religion and institutions of their forefathers, and 
 acknowledged Jerusalem as the seat of supreme ecclesiastical 
 authority. There is good reason to believe that, upon the resto 
 ration of Jerusalem, a remnant of the captives belonging to the 
 ten tribes (to say nothing of those who had been left in Pales 
 tine) returned with the Jews, and became incorporated with 
 them. Cyrus certainly did not throw any obstacles in their way, 
 and the Jews must have received them with open arms, acknowl 
 edging them, as did Hezekiah long before (2 Chron. 30 : 6), as a 
 part of the covenant people. 
 
 The idea that the "ten tribes" are living as a body in some obscure 
 region of the East, and are hereafter to be restored as such to the land of 
 their fathers, does not appear to rest on a sure basis of scriptural evidence. 
 The promise of the reunion of the kingdoms of Judah and Israel (Ezek., 
 chap. 37) was limited to "a remnant" of both (Isa. 6 : 13 ; 10 : 22). The 
 first instalment, so to speak, oi its fulfilment took place at the restoration 
 under Cyrus. That some of the ten tribes became at this time incorpora 
 ted with the Jews, and kept their genealogy, we learn from the notice of 
 "one Anna, a prophetess, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Aser." 
 Luke 2 : 36. "What higher fulfilment awaits the promise hereafter God will 
 make manifest in his own time, 
 
 2. From the above historical sketch it is manifest that, upon 
 the restoration of the Jewish commonwealth after the captivity, 
 the distinction of tribes, though kept in the genealogical tables, 
 became comparatively unimportant. Henceforth it was not so 
 much the twelve tribes of Israel, as the people of the Jews, that 
 were known in history. Of these the Galileans constituted a 
 part, but not the Samaritans. In other respects the covenant 
 people were reestablished under their old constitution and laws, 
 only that they were required to acknowledge the supremacy of 
 their Persian rulers. Syria remained under Persian rule till B. c. 
 333, when Alexander the Great became master of it. At the 
 beginning of this Persian period the temple was rebuilt at Jeru- 
 
494 ]5IBLICAL ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 salem, and about seventy years after its completion the walls of 
 Jerusalem. Though the Jews were subjected to many annoyan 
 ces from the machinations of their neighbors the Samaritans, 
 they had general peace and quiet with the free exercise of their 
 religion. 
 
 Under the Persian rule satraps had command of provinces, while the 
 less districts, like Judaea, were administered by governors (Heb., peha). 
 This title is applied to the governors of the Jews (Ezra 5 : 14 ; 6:7), and 
 also that of Tirshatha (Ezra 2 : 63 ; Neh. 7 : 65, 70 ; 8:9; 10 : 1). What 
 was the difference, if any, between these two titles is not known. 
 
 3. Alexander bestowed eminent favor upon the Jews; but, 
 upon the division of his empire, Palestine fell between the two 
 rival monarchies of Egypt on the south and Syria on the north. 
 The Jews suffered much from the contentions of these two king 
 doms, and they frequently changed masters, as the one or the 
 other of them prevailed. The cruelties and outrages practised 
 upon the Jews by the Syrian king Antiochus Epiphanes are well 
 known. Aided by a party of apostate Jews, he sought to sup 
 press the Jewish religion, and substitute in its stead the rites of 
 heathenism. This led to a protracted and bloody conflict, which 
 finally resulted in the establishment of the independence of the 
 Jews B. c. 143. Their rulers at the first bore the title of princes, 
 but afterwards that of kings. The independence of the Jews 
 was terminated B. c. 63 by Pompey, who captured Jerusalem 
 and demolished its walls ; appointing Hyrcanus II. high priest 
 and prince of the country, on condition that he should submit to 
 the Romans and pay tribute, not assuming the diadem, nor 
 attempting to enlarge his territories. " Thus," says Jalm (Heb. 
 Commonwealth, 109), " the Jews, who had been the allies of 
 the Romans, were now reduced to a subordinate principality, 
 and, in a short time, were compelled to pay more than ten thou 
 sand talents of tribute to their conquerors." It was the policy 
 of the Romans to allow their dependencies the enjoyment of 
 their ancient civil and religious institutions, so long as they ac 
 knowledged Roman authority and paid the revenue demanded 
 of them. It is not necessary to enumerate all the changes which 
 
GOVEKNMENT AFTER THE CAPTIVITY. 495 
 
 the government of Judea underwent in its outward form under 
 the sway of the Romans. Suffice it to say that B. c. 37 Herod 
 the Great, a prince of Idumsean descent, received from the Ro 
 man senate the grant of the kingdom of Juda3a. After a series 
 of conflicts with his enemies in Palestine he captured Jerusalem, 
 and thus established himself in his kingdom. Our Saviour was 
 born in the last year of his reign or near the close of the prece 
 ding year. Among the last acts of his life was the slaughter of 
 the children at Bethlehem. Matt. 2 : 16. 
 
 Upon the death of Herod the Great, the emperor Augustus 
 refused to confer upon his son Archelaus the kingly dignity; 
 but gave him Judaea, Idumaea, and Samaria, with the title of 
 <Y//mor//, while his brother Antipas was made tetrarch of Galilee 
 and Peraea, and Philip, another brother, tetrarch of Trachonitis 
 and the adjacent region. 
 
 The term ethnarch signifies prefect or ruler, and is variously used. The 
 term tetrarch originally signified the ruler of .the fourth part of a district or 
 province; but was used loosely of a tributary prince inferior in- dignity to 
 a king. 
 
 4. We come now to the last form which the government of 
 Judaea took under the Romans. In the year 12 of the Christian 
 era Augustus united Juda?a and Samaria to Syria, and constitu 
 ted the whole into an imperial province. There were two classes 
 of Roman provinces, imperial and senatorial The magistrates of 
 the senatorial provinces w^ere appointed annually by the senate ; 
 but those of the imperial provinces held their office at the will of 
 the emperor. The chief magistrates of the imperial provinces 
 had the title of presidents, while the revenues were managed by 
 procurators appointed by the emperor. " Sometimes a procura 
 tor discharged the office of a governor, especially in a smaller 
 province, where the governor could not be present ; as Pontius 
 Pilate did, who was procurator or prcepositus (Suet. Yesp. 4) of 
 Judaea, which was annexed to the province of Syria (Tacitus, 
 Annals, 12. 23). Hence he had the power of punishing capitally 
 (ibid., 15. 44), which the procurators did not usually possess 
 (ibid., 4. 15)." Adam s Roman Antiquities, under the head of 
 
496 BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 Provincial Magistrates. The Jews had now lost the power of 
 inflicting capital punishment, as appears prominently in our 
 Lord s trial. 
 
 5. The rise of the various Jewish sects noticed in the gospel 
 history will be considered hereafter. But one Jewish tribunal 
 arose after the captivity of transcendent influence, and which 
 was so far civil in its character that it may be appropriately 
 noticed in the present connection. This was the great Sanhedrim. 
 The Talmud traces the origin of this august body to the seventy 
 elders whom Moses, at God s direction, associated with himself 
 in the government of the people. Numb. 11 : 16, 17. We may 
 well believe that this primitive body of elders gave the idea of 
 the later Jewish council; but that it was perpetuated through 
 all the intervening ages is a baseless hypothesis. The first ex 
 press notice of the sanhedrim which we have in Josephus is about 
 47 B. c., when that body summoned Herod, then a young man 
 and governor of Galilee, to answer for the arbitrary manner in 
 which he" had exercised the power of life and death. Antiq., 
 14. 9. 4. But it was certainly then an ancient institution. It 
 appears in the second book of Maccabees under the title of the 
 seriate (1 : 10 ; 4 : 44 ; 11 : 27) in the days of the Syrian kings in 
 the first half of the second century before Christ. 
 
 The term sanhedrim, or more accurately sanliedrin, is formed from the 
 Greek (owtdpiov, session), and this indicates that the body had its origin 
 in the period of Grecian rule. Besides the term session (in our version 
 council, Matt. 26 : 59 ; Mark 14 : 55 ; John 11 : 47 ; etc.) it is called presby 
 tery (in our version, estate of the elders, Luke 22 : 66 ; Acts 22 : 5) ; and oriee, 
 as a parallel term, senate (Acts 5 : 21). 
 
 If, as there is reason to suppose, the idea of the sanhedrim 
 was taken from the council of seventy elders that assisted Moses 
 in the wilderness (Numb., chap. 11), we may assent to the Rab 
 binic statement that it consisted of seventy-one members, an 
 swering to the seventy elders in the wilderness, with the addition 
 of Moses as their head (not seventy-two, as some have supposed ; 
 for Eldad and Medad, who remained in the camp and prophe 
 sied there, " were of them that were written," that is, plainly, of 
 
GOVERNMENT AFTEK THE CAPTIVITY. 497 
 
 the number of the seventy, ver. 26). From the New Testament, 
 which is our only reliable source of information, we gather that 
 this tribunal was composed of chief priests, elders, and scribe*. 
 Matt, 26 : 57, 59 ; Mark 15 : 1 ; Luke 22 : 66. The chief priests 
 were apparently the heads of the twenty-four courses of priests 
 (1 Chron., chap. 24), together with the high priest and those 
 who, in these times of frequent and irregular changes, had borne 
 the office of high priest. The elders were probably men of 
 experience and influence selected from among the heads of the 
 Jewish families ; and the scribes were men chosen into the body 
 for their learning in the law of Moses. The sanhedrim had a 
 president, called head or prince, who was, as a rule, the high priest ; 
 a vice-president, called father of (he house of judgment ; and officers 
 who executed its commands. Matt. 26 : 47 ; Mark 14 : 43 ; Luke 
 
 22 : 63 ; John 7 : 32 ; 18 : 3, 22 ; Acts 4 : 1, seq. ; etc. It contained 
 members of the sect of Sadducees as well as of Pharisees. Acts 
 
 23 : 6, seq. Its sessions were held in a hall at or near the tem 
 ple; but in emergencies, as when the Saviour was arraigned 
 before it, at the high priest s palace. The sanhedrim was the 
 supreme judicial tribunal of the land. To it belonged the decis 
 ion of all questions pertaining to religion ; as for example, the 
 trial and condemnation of false prophets and teachers, and men 
 guilty of blasphemy. On this ground Jesus, and afterwards his 
 apostles, were arraigned before it. It had the power of life and 
 death until this prerogative was taken away by the Romans, 
 according to the rabbins some forty years before the destruction 
 of Jerusalem ; at all events, before our Lord s trial. John 18 : 31. 
 There then remained the right of arrest and trial not only in 
 Palestine, but, as it appears from Acts 9 : 2, beyond its limits. 
 This must, however, have been with the consent or connivance 
 of the Roman authorities ; for the sanhedrim could not compel 
 Paul to appear before its tribunal in Jerusalem without leave 
 obtained from the Roman governor. Acts 25 : 9-12. 
 
498 BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 CHAPTEE XXV. 
 
 yH ADMINISTRATION OF JUSTICE. 
 
 1. WE have seen the provision made for judges in the wilder 
 ness of Arabia, and afterwards in the land of Canaan (Chap. 22, 
 No. 8), which latter remained in force, with but slight modifica 
 tions, till the Babylonish captivity. Upon the reorganization of 
 the commonwealth under Ezra, he was authorized by a royal 
 edict to set magistrates and judges over the people according to 
 the law of his God (Ezra 7 : 25, 26), that is, according to the 
 Mosaic constitution. Thus the ancient system of judges was 
 restored, as far as the altered circumstances of the people per 
 mitted. We have seen also how, under the Grecian rule, the 
 supreme tribunal of the nation, called the great sanhedrim, arose. 
 Chap. 24, No. 5. It remains to consider the processes by which 
 justice was administered, and the penalties inflicted upon viola 
 tors of the law. 
 
 I. PROCESSES OF JUSTICE. 
 
 2. For the judges, as well as for the priests and magistrates, 
 the Mosaic law was the supreme rule. In the twenty-first, twen 
 ty-second, and twenty-third chapters of the book of Exodus is a 
 summary code of civil laws, and various additional statutes are 
 scattered through the remaining books of the pentateuch. It is 
 not to be supposed, however, that these specific precepts could 
 cover all the particular cases that would arise in the intercourse 
 of life. They embodied rather the spirit of the Mosaic law, and 
 those great principles of justice by which the judges were to be 
 governed in their decisions. Moses solemnly admonished the 
 judges whom he appointed that they acted in God s stead, and 
 were bound to give their decisions without respecting men s per 
 sons, fearing men s power, or. taking gifts to pervert judgment : 
 
THE ADMINISTRATION OF JUSTICE. 499 
 
 " Hear the causes between your brethren, and judge righteously 
 between every man ancLhis brother, and the stranger that is with 
 him. Ye shall not respect persons in judgment; but ye shall 
 hear the small as well as the great ; ye shall not be afraid of the 
 face of man ; for the judgment is God s : and the cause that is 
 too hard for you, bring it unto me, and I will hear it " (Deut. 
 1:16, 17); "Thou shalt not wrest judgment; thou shalt not 
 respect persons, neither take a gift ; for a gift doth blind the eyes 
 of the wise, and pervert the cause" (marginal rendering ma ft -I M) 
 " of the righteous" (Deut. 16 : 19). 
 
 False prophets and idolaters were to be punished with death. Deut. , 
 chap. 13. In the case of individuals this penalty would naturally be in 
 flicted (before the institution of the Sanhedrim) by the ordinary magistrates 
 after due investigation. In the case of a city that had apostatized from the 
 service of God to idolatry, the inhabitants with their cattle were to be 
 slain, and all the spoil burnt with fire a punishment which could only be 
 inflicted by the people in their collective capacity under the guidance of 
 their rulers. Compare the action of "ah 1 the children of Israel " under the 
 direction of "the chief of all the people," in the case of the Benjainite 
 who protected the children of Belial in Gibeah. Judg. , chap. 20, seq. 
 
 3. The ordinary fiaces of trial in ancient times were the gates 
 of the cities. " They were adapted to this purpose, inasmuch as 
 they were public, and were used not only for entering and de 
 parting, but for fairs, places of business, and to accommodate 
 those who were assembled merely to pass away the time." Jahn, 
 Archaeology, 247. 
 
 The allusions in the Old Testament to the gates of cities as places of 
 common resort and publicity are almost innumerable. It is there that Boaz 
 redeems Elimelech s estate, and with it receives Ruth as his wife (Ruth, 
 chap. 4) ; there Eli sits to hear tidings from the ark of God (1 Sam. 4 : 13) ; 
 there the two kings of Israel and Judah hold their council respecting the 
 expedition to Ramoth-gilead (1 King 22 : 10) ; there wisdom is represented 
 as lifting up her voice and crying to the children of men (Prov. 8:3); there 
 the wise counsellor speaks (Job 29 : 7, seq. ; Prov. 2-4 : 7) ; and there the 
 upright judge rebukes iniquity and establishes judgment (Amos 5 : 10, 15). 
 To be crushed, oppressed, or turned aside in" the gate (Job 5:4; Prov. 
 22 : 22 ; Amos 5 : 12), is to be overthrown there by an unrighteous judg 
 ment. Other places of judgment were chosen according to convenience. 
 
500 BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 Moses, for example, decided causes at the door of the tabernacle in the 
 "wilderness ; Deborah under a palm-tree, where ^he children of Israel came 
 to her for judgment ( Judg. 4:5); and the kings in their palaces (2 Sam. 
 14 : 4 ; 1 Kings 3 : 16 ; 7:7). The publicity of the process in all these pla 
 ces is worthy of notice. 
 
 From some incidental notices of Scripture (2 Sam. 15 : 2 ; Psa. 101 : 8 ; 
 Jer. 21 : 12) it has been inferred that judges ordinarily held their sessions in 
 the morning. In a warm climate, like that of Palestine, such a custom would 
 be natural and convenient. It is doubtful, however, whether the last two 
 of the above passages express anything more than the promptness and zeal 
 which a righteous judge exercises in the discharge of his duty ; and as for 
 Absalom he would begin his labors early that he might win to himself the 
 greater number. 
 
 4. In accordance with oriental usage, the process of trial was 
 simple and summary. In civil cases the plaintiffs brought their 
 complaints personally before the judges, and it was the right of 
 the accused to be present and answer for themselves. Exod. 
 22 : 9 ; Deut. 25 : 1 ; 1 Kings 3 : 16, seq. In both civil and crim 
 inal causes, the examination of witnesses and the sifting of tlieir 
 testimony was the most essential part of the proceeding. In 
 cases of life and death, two or three witnesses were required : 
 " Whoso killeth any person, the murderer shall be put to death 
 by the mouth of witnesses; but one witness shall not testify 
 against any person to cause him to die " (Numb. 35 : 30) ; " at the 
 mouth of two witnesses, or three witnesses, shall he that is wor 
 thy of death be put to death; but at the mouth of one witness 
 he shall not be put to death" (Deut. 17 : 6). Another precept of 
 the law (Deut. 19 : 15) is more general in its provisions : " One 
 witness shall not rise up against a man for any iniquity, or for 
 any sin, in any sin that he sinneth ; at the mouth of two wit 
 nesses, or at the mouth of three witnesses, shall the matter be 
 established." A false witness, after due conviction, received in 
 his own person the penalty which he had sought to bring upon 
 his neighbor. Deut. 19 : 16-21. When the circumstances per 
 mitted, the accused might bring other proof of his innocence; 
 the torn body, for example, of his neighbor s beast that had 
 been intrusted to his care. Exod. 22 : 13 ; see also Deut. 22 : 15, 
 seq. Where no testimony was available, the oath of the accused 
 
THE ADMINISTRATION OF JUSTICE. 501 
 
 was accepted in proof of his innocence. Exocl. 22 : 10, 11. The 
 whole process was oral, and there is no decisive proof that advo 
 cates were employed by either the accuser or the accused. 
 
 There is a passage in Leviticus (chap. 5 : 1) which may be thus literally 
 rendered : "And if a soul sin, and hear the voice of adjuration, and he is 
 a witness, or has seen or known ; if he shall not declare, then he shall bear 
 his iniquity." The meaning of these words seems to be this: If a soul 
 shall sin by withholding his testimony when he hears the voice of adjura 
 tion, in a case where he is a witness, as one who has either seen or other 
 wise known the matter in question ; then he shall bear his iniquity. In 
 what sense, now, does he hear the voice of adjuration ? According to 
 Michaelis (Laws of Moses, 6. g 299) and others, it is in the sense of hearing 
 the voice of the judge who administers to him the oath ; whence they in 
 fer that the usual custom was to put witnesses upon their oath. But Keil 
 (Commentary on Lev. 5 : 1) and others understand by "the voice of adju 
 ration " a solemn adjuration on the part of the judge addressed to the mul 
 titude, by wliich all present, who have knowledge of the matter, should feel 
 themselves called upon to come forward as witnesses. Whichever interpre 
 tation be adopted, the passage in Proverbs (chap. 29 : 24, " The partner of 
 a thief hateth his own soul ; he heareth adjuration, and doth not declare 
 it ") must be explained in a corresponding way. 
 
 The sanhedrim employed scribes, and made use of writing. See on 
 this point Saalschutz, Mosaic Law, chap. 87, note. As to the use of wri 
 ting in*the judicial processes of the earlier times, the same writer remarks 
 that the notices that appear in the biblical books (Isa. 10 : 1 ; Job 13 : 26 ; 
 31 : 35) are obscure and isolated. The connection of the passage in Isaiah 
 seems to show that it includes written judicial decrees as customary in the 
 prophet s time. The two passages in Job certainly refer to written accu 
 sations, though not necessarily those of Hebrew courts ; for the writer may 
 have hail in mind the Egyptian processes of law, where, as is well known, 
 writing was employed on the side of both the accuser and the accused. See 
 Diodorus Siculus, 1. 75. 
 
 5. After due examination the sentence was pronounced and 
 carried into execution without delay. The statement of Jahn 
 (Archaeology, 246), that "according to the Tahnudists (Sanhe 
 drim, 4) it was not lawful to try causes of a capital nature in the 
 night, and it was equally unlawful to examine a cause, pass sen 
 tence, and put it in execution the same day," and that "the last 
 particular was veiy strenuously insisted on," must be restricted 
 to the later usage as determined by the sanhedrim. It does not 
 
502 BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 appear from the Old Testament that there was more delay in 
 capital cases, than in those of fine and corporal punishment. 
 "When Achan had been found guilty, the sentence of death was 
 immediately executed upon him. Josh., chap. 7. By the same 
 summary process was the blasphemer put to death (Lev. 24 : 10, 
 seq.), and the Sabbath-breaker (Numb. 15 : 32, seq.). Although 
 the judgment, in these cases, proceeded immediately from Jeho 
 vah, it does not appear that in respect to the promptness of exe 
 cuting it there was any departure from the custom of the times. 
 In the case of corporal punishment, the judge was to see the 
 sentence carried into execution " before his face." Deut. 25 : 2. 
 
 II. HEBREW PENALTIES. 
 
 6. The constitution of the Hebrew commonwealth being 
 ordered throughout by God in the interest of religion being, in 
 truth, a state that embodied in itself organically all the institutions 
 of religion ; or, if one choose to say so, God s church put into 
 the form of a state its magistrates and judges took cognizance 
 alike of offences against religion, against morality, and against 
 social order. The gradations of punishment were determined 
 partly from the nature of the offence, whether committed imme 
 diately against God in its outward form, or more directly against 
 man ; partly from the spirit manifested by the offender. Thus 
 idolatry, witchcraft, and blasphemy, murder, man-stealing, adul 
 tery, bestiality, and some forms of incest, were punished with 
 death; but not simple injuries done to the person, estate, or 
 character of a neighbor. Then, again, sins of ignorance or 
 neglect might be expiated by a sin-offering or a trespass-offer 
 ing (Lev., chap. 4, seq.), but the presumptuous transgressor was 
 to die without mercy (Dent. 17 : 12). 
 
 7. Imprisonment, as a form of penalty to be inflicted upon 
 convicted criminals, was not in use among the ancients. The 
 accused were sometimes kept in ward till their case could be 
 examined and adjudged (Lev. 24: 12), and there were of course 
 among them prisoners of state (2 Kings 24 : 12 ; 2 Chron. 33 : 11 ; 
 
THE ADMINISTRATION OF JUSTICE. 503 
 
 Jer. 82 : 2) ; but a criminal was never sentenced upon conviction 
 
 to imprisonment as a specific form of punishment. 
 
 i* 
 
 Prisoners were not unfrequently confined in empty cisterns. Such was 
 the dungeon into which Jeremiah was thrown, and from which he was de 
 livered by the intercession and kind offices of Ebed-melech. Jer. , chap. 
 38. Prisoners were often confined with chains, or their feet were put in 
 the stocks. Jeremiah was subjected to both of these indignities. Jer. 
 20 : 2 ; 40 : 4. 
 
 8. In enumerating the penalties prescribed by the Mosaic 
 law, we begin with fines in their various forms. The man who 
 had defamed his newly married wife was to be chastised and 
 also to pay to her father, upon conviction, a hundred shekels of 
 silver. Deut. 22 : 19. If an ox, previously known to be vicious, 
 gored a free man or woman, the penalty was death ; but instead 
 of this a fine might be accepted, the amount being determined 
 by the judges. If the person gored was a servant, a fine of 
 thirty shekels was to be paid. Exod. 21 : 28-32. For other 
 cases see Exod. 21 : 22, 33, 34; Deut. 22 : 28, 29. 
 
 Under the head of fines we may properly consider the cases 
 in which compensation in kind was required. If, for example, a 
 man had stolen an ox or sheep, and killed or sold it, he was to 
 restore five oxen for an ox, and four sheep for a sheep. If the 
 animal were found in his hand, he was required to restore dou 
 ble. If he had allowed his beast to feed in another man s field 
 or vineyard, of the best of his own field or vineyard was he to 
 make restitution, etc. See Exod. 22 : 1, seq. ; 21 : 35, 36. 
 
 9. Corporal punishment is prescribed under two distinct forms. 
 The first is that of stripes, to be inflicted, apparently, at the dis 
 cretion of the magistrate, within a prescribed limit. "If there 
 be a controversy between men, and they come unto judgment, 
 that the judges may judge them ; then they shall justify the right 
 eous, and condemn the wicked. And it shall be, if the wicked 
 man be worthy to be beaten, that the judge shall cause him to 
 lie down, and to be beaten before his face, according to his fault, 
 by a certain number. Forty stripes he may give him, and not 
 exceed : lest if he should exceed, and beat him above these with 
 
504 BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 many stripes, then thy brother should seem vile unto thee." 
 Deut. 25 : 1-3. The* judge may order more or less stripes, " ac 
 cording to his fault," but the number is not to exceed forty. As 
 a safeguard against exceeding this limit, the Jews were accus 
 tomed to inflict in extreme cases " forty stripes save one." 2 Cor. 
 11 : 24. Only a few cases are specified in which scourging was 
 to be inflicted (Lev. 19 : 20; Deut. 22 : 18) ; but there is no rea 
 son to doubt that this form of punishment was employed in 
 many other cases, at the discretion of the judge. This indeed is 
 implied in the general precept above given. 
 
 The instrument of punishment is not mentioned. According to the 
 Kabbins it was a whip made of leather. In New Testament times this was 
 in common use (Matt. 10 : 17 ; 23 : 34 ; Acts 5 : 40) ; but in earlier ages it 
 may have been the rod so often mentioned as the common instrument of 
 punishment (Exod. 21 : 20 ; Prov. 10 : 13 ; etc.). The scourge of scorpions 
 (1 Kings 12 : 11, 14) is supposed to have been a scourge armed with knots 
 and sharp points, or a rod beset with thorns. 
 
 The second form of corporal infliction is that of retaliation. 
 The cases in which this is allowed are thus stated : " If a man 
 cause a blemish in his neighbor, as he hath done, so shall it be 
 done unto him: breach" (fracture of a limb) "for breach, eye 
 for eye, tooth for tooth : as he hath caused a blemish in a man, 
 so shall it be done to liim again." Lev. 24 : 19, 20. In the case 
 of a false witness, the judges are commanded to do to him as 
 he had thought to have done unto his brother : " Thine eye shall 
 not pity ; but life shall go for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, 
 hand for hand, foot for foot." Deut. 19 : 16-21. The same rule 
 is prescribed in the special case of injury done to a woman with 
 child, if it proceed farther than to cause " that her fruit depart 
 from her." Exod. 21 : 22-25. It was only in the case of free 
 persons that retaliation in kind was allowed. If a man smote 
 out the eye or tooth of a servant, the prescribed penalty waf 
 that he should let him go free. Exod. 21 : 26, 27. The law ot 
 retaliation was allowed only in certain specified cases of wilful 
 injury, where it would have a salutary influence in restraining 
 the violence of the strong and passionate. It does not appear 
 
THE ADMINISTRATION OF JUSTICE. 505 
 
 to have been made absolutely binding except in the single case 
 of " life for life." In other cases the injured party might, if he 
 thought proper, accept satisfaction in the form of a sum of 
 money. In this way the law seems to have become mainly obso 
 lete in practice. 
 
 The notion that the law of retaliation sanctioned all kinds of private 
 revenge (Matt. 5 : 38, seq.) was a gross perversion of its form as well as its 
 spirit. It was a rule for the magistrate alone. It prescribed what the in 
 jured party might claim from him, but which the higher spirit of the gos 
 pel would incline him to remit, at least upon condition of reasonable pecu 
 niary compensation. ^ 
 
 10. The loss of freedom was prescribed as the penalty of theft, 
 when the thief was unable to make restitution. Exod. 22 : 3. 
 This case is to be distinguished from that of the Hebrew who, 
 according to the usage of the age, was sold, or was compelled to 
 deliver up his children as servants, to satisfy the claims of his 
 creditors. Lev. 25 : 39 ; Deut. 15 : 12; 2 Kings 4:1; Isa. 50 : 1. 
 The latter was, or might be, a case of simple misfortune. The 
 former was one of crime, for which the penalty was loss of liberty. 
 
 11. Two cases have already been noticed in which the penalty 
 of death was prescribed ; that of murder, in which the law was 
 " life for life ," and that of the false witness who sought the life 
 of his neighbor. Divine revelation guards with solemn severity 
 the sanctity of human life. The words of God addressed to 
 Noah, and through him to all nations, were : " At the hand of 
 every man s brother will I require the life of man. Whoso shed- 
 deth man s blood, by man shall his blood be shed : for in the 
 image of God made he man" (Gen. 9 : 5, 6) words which cannot 
 be diluted down to a mere prophecy, but which manifestly con 
 tain a divine precept, and that on ground valid for all time. In 
 accordance with the spirit of these words is the Mosaic com 
 mand : " Ye shall take no satisfaction for the life of a murderer, 
 who is guilty of death ; but he shall be surely put to death." And 
 the reason assigned is that " blood defileth the land : and the land 
 cannot be cleansed of the blood that is shed therein, but by the 
 blood of him that shed it." Numb. 35 : 31, 33. In the case of 
 
 Geog. k Autiq. ^ 22 
 
506 BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 the unknown murderer, the guilt was first to be laid on the near 
 est of the cities adjacent to the spot where the slain man s body 
 was found, and then to be expiated by a sacrifice, with which 
 was joined a solemn protestation of innocence on the part of 
 the elders. Deut. 21 : 1-9. It is a sign not of the advance of 
 true Christian civilization, but rather of the decay of a whole 
 some sense of justice, that it is with us so difficult to convict the 
 murderer, and so easy for him when convicted to escape the 
 penalty of death. 
 
 Other capital offences were the smiting or cursing of parents 
 (Exod. 21 : 15, 17 ; Lev. 20 : 9) ; man-stealing (Exod. 21 : 16 ; 
 Deut. 24 : 7) ; adultery, the indulgence of unnatural lust, and 
 gross forms of incest (Lev. 20 : 10-21 ; etc.) ; idolatry, all forms 
 of witchcraft, and the false assumption of the character of a 
 prophet (Deut., chap. 13 ; etc.) ; Sabbath-breaking (Exod. 31 : 14, 
 15 ; Numb. 15 : 32-36) ; and blasphemy (Lev. 24 : 16). A stub 
 born and rebellious son might be brought by his parents before 
 the elders of his city, and if found guilty, put to death by sto 
 ning. Deut. 21 : 18-20. Insubordination to the magistrate was 
 an offence against the state ; and, if persisted in, was punished 
 with death as rebellion. 
 
 12. The ordinary, if not the exclusive, form of capital pun 
 ishment for persons duly convicted of the above-named crimes by 
 a regular civil process was stoning, as appears from numerous 
 passages of the Old Testament. Lev. 20 : 2, 27 ; 24 : 14, 16, 23 ; 
 Numb. 15 : 35 ; Deut. 13 : 10 ; 17 : 5 ; 21 : 21 ; 22 : 21, 24 ; etc. The 
 witnesses were required to begin the work of execution. Deut. 
 13 : 9 ; 17 : 7. Compare Acts 7 : 58. Executions by means of a 
 sword or other military weapon were rather of a military charac 
 ter. Tims the children of Levi, at Moses command, slew with 
 the sword the idolaters at Sinai (Exod. 32 : 27-29) ; Phinehas the 
 man who had brought a Moabitish woman into the camp, and 
 the woman also (Numb. 25 : 7, 8) ; Samuel, Agag (1 Sam. 15 : 33) ; 
 and Benaiah, at Solomon s command, Adonijah, Joab, and Shimei 
 (1 Kings, chap. 2). Thus, also, the individual man or woman 
 convicted of idolatry was to be stoned ; but a city that had apos- 
 
THE ADMINISTEATION OF JUSTICE. 507 
 
 tatized to idolatry was to be smitten with the edge of the sword. 
 Deut. 13 : 6-18. 
 
 In respect to the form of punishment, military men allowed themselves 
 much freedom. David s treatment of the conquered Ammonites, for exam 
 ple, (2 Sam. 12 : 31), and Jehu s conduct in respect to Ahab s sons ajyl the 
 brethren of Ahaziah (2 Kings 10 : 1-14) ar to be regarded as military, not 
 regular judicial proceedings. 
 
 13. Hanging or gibbeting appears never to have been a mode 
 of execution among the Hebrews, but only an exposure of the 
 body after death as accursed of God. " If," says Moses (Deut. 
 21 : 22, 23), " a man have committed a sin worthy of death, and 
 he be put to death " (not, as in our version, be to be put to death), 
 " and thou hang him on a tree ; his body shall not remain all night 
 upon the tree, but thou shalt in any wise bury him that day (for 
 he that is hanged is accursed of God) ; that thy land be not de 
 filed, which the Lord thy God giveth thee for an inheritance." 
 The assumption that hanging was the mode of execution led our 
 translators to render, after the Latin (et acljudicatus morti appen- 
 susfueritpatibulo): and lie be to be put to death. But the Hebrew 
 says simply, and he be put to death. He is first put to death and 
 then gibbeted till evening, precisely as Joshua proceeded in the 
 case of the five Canaanitish kings (Josh. 10 : 26), and, as we infer 
 by parity of reason, in that of the king of Ai (Josh. 8 : 29). So 
 David first slew and mutilated the murderers of Ishbosheth, and 
 then " hanged them up over the pool in Hebron." 2 Sam. 4 : 12. 
 When Israel had joined himself to Baal-peor, God s direction to 
 Moses was : " Take all the heads" (that is, chiefs) "of the people 
 and hang them up to Jehovah before the sun." In pursuance of 
 this command Moses said to the judges of Israel : " Slay ye every 
 one his men that were joined unto Baal-peor." Numb. 25 : 4, 5. 
 The most natural interpretation of the passage, taken in con 
 nection with the other instances of hanging, is that the men were 
 first slain with the sword, and then gibbeted. As to the seven 
 persons of Saul s family (2 Sam., chap. 21) who were delivered 
 to the Gibeonites, the presumption is, as in the case of the king 
 of Ai. that they were first slain and then hanged. But it is not 
 
508 BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 necessary to determine this point, since the Gibeonites did not 
 follow the precept of the Mosaic law, which required that all 
 bodies that had been hanged should be taken down before sun 
 set. Hanging as a Persian punishment may well have been 
 hangjpg alive as a mode of execution. Ezra 6 : 11 : Esther 7 : 10. 
 
 14. In the case of Achan s sin (Josh., chap. 7), the direction 
 of God was : " He that is taken with the accursed thing shall bo 
 burned with fire, he and all that he hath." Taken by themselves 
 these words might be understood of burning alive, as a mode of 
 execution. But the record shows us that Achan and all the liv 
 ing things pertaining to him were first stoned and afterwards 
 burned with fire. Upon the same principle may we interpret the 
 direction concerning the incestuous persons (Lev. 20 : 14), though 
 some understand the words of the manner in which they were to 
 be put to death. 
 
 Strangulation is mentioned by the Rabbins (Sanhedrim, 7. 3) as a pun 
 ishment for various offences. But this is unknown to the law of Moses ; 
 as is also their statement (Sanhedrim, 7. 2) that execution by burning was 
 accomplished by pouring melted lead down the culprit s throat. 
 
 15. It remains to consider the oft-repeated threatening of 
 excision: "I will set my face against that soul, and will cut In m 
 off from among his people; "that soul shall be cut off from 
 Israel;" "he shall be cut off from his people;" "he shall bear 
 his iniquity." That the penalty of excommunication is meant, 
 according to the opinion of the later Jews, cannot be maintained, 
 for in some cases (Exod. 31 : 14, 15 ; Lev., chaps. 18 and 20) there 
 is added the penalty of death. According to Jahn (Archaeology, 
 258), when God is introduced as saying, in respect to any per 
 son, "I will set my face against that soul, and will cut him off 
 from among his people " (Lev. 17 : 10 ; 20 : 3, 5 ; and compare 
 1 Kings 14 : 10 ; 21 : 21 ; 2 Kings 9 : 8), the expression means 
 death and in this connection premature death by the provi 
 dence of God; but if the expression be, "He shall be cut off 
 from his people " (Exod. 30 : 33 ; Lev. 7 : 20, 21, 25, 27 ; 17 : 4, 9 ; 
 18 : 29 ; 19 : 8 ; etc.), the punishment of stoning is meant. It is 
 difficult to maintain this distinction; for we find both forms of 
 
THE ADMINISTRATION OF JUSTICE. 509 
 
 expression employed with respect to the same offence the eat 
 ing of blood (Lev. 17 : 10 ; 7 : 27). According to Keil (Archiiolo- 
 gie, 153, note) and others, "we are to understand by the excis 
 ion which the law prescribes for various offences stoning, not 
 only where the penalty of death is annexed, but also where the 
 mention of it is omitted. On the expression, "I will cut him off 
 from his people" (Lev. 20 : 2-6), he remarks that "it proves only 
 this much, that God himself will cut off the transgressor, when 
 the earthly magistrate winks at the crime of idolatry, and does 
 not himself cut off the idolater." This candid concession, to 
 gether with the difficulty of maintaining the distinction made by 
 Jalm between the two forms, " I will cut him off from his peo 
 ple," and "He shall be cut off from his people," seems to indi 
 cate as most probable the interpretation proposed by Saalschlitz 
 (Mosaic Law, chap. 60), that the threatened excision does not, 
 in and of itself, lay upon the magistrate the duty of putting the 
 offender to death; and that in cases where it is expressly con 
 nected with the death-penalty, the meaning is, that if the offend 
 er should in any way escape punishment at the hand of the 
 magistrate, a premature death shall sooner or later follow at the 
 hand of God. 
 
 16. The infliction of the death-penalty belonged regularly to 
 the magistrate ; but, in conformity with ancient usage, an excep 
 tion was allowed in the case of the murderer. He was to be 
 slain by the avenger of Nood, that is, by the nearest relative of 
 the murdered person. To guard against the abuse to which this 
 custom was liable, Moses, by divine direction, appointed six cit 
 ies of refuge, three on either side of the Jordan, to which any man 
 who had slain another might flee and be protected till a regular 
 judicial inquiry could be instituted. If found guilty of wilful 
 murder, he was to be delivered up to the avenger of blood; if 
 acquitted, he was to remain in the city of refuge till the death 
 of the high priest, when he was at liberty to return to his home. 
 See, for the particular provisions, Numb., ch. 35 ; Deut. 19 : 4-13. 
 We have here, as in the case of divorce, an ancient usage tolerated, 
 and at the same time ameliorated by the provisions annexed to it. 
 
510 BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES. . 
 
 The cities on the west side of the Jordan were Kedesh in Galilee, She- 
 chem in Mount Ephraim, and Hebron in Judah. On the east side they were 
 Golan in Bashan, Ramoth-gilead in the tribe of Gad, and Bezer in the tribe 
 of Beuben. Josh. 20 : 7, 8. An inspection of the map shows how conve 
 niently they were distributed over the Israelitish territory. The direction 
 in Deut. 19 : 3, " Thou shalt prepare thee a way," means that plain and 
 convenient roads should be kept open to these cities. A writer in Kitto 
 (Art. , Cities of Kefuge) states, on the authority of the Babbins, that the main 
 tenance of these roads in good condition belonged to the Sanhedrim ; that 
 at every turning there were posts erected bearing the words, Refuge, Refuge, 
 to guide the unhappy man in his flight ; and that two students in the law 
 were appointed to accompany him, that, if the avenger should overtake him 
 before he reached the city, they might attempt to pacify him till the legal 
 investigation cquld take place. 
 
 III. PENALTIES OF FOBEIGN NATIONS. 
 
 17. Among the penalties inflicted by foreign nations we no 
 tice the following : 
 
 Imprisonment, as of debtors, until they or their friends should 
 satisfy their creditors. Matt. 5 : 25 ; Luke 12 : 58. John the 
 Baptist was imprisoned by Herod as an expression of his dis 
 pleasure (Matt. 14 : 3) ; but most of the cases of imprisonment 
 mentioned in the New Testament were with reference to a future 
 trial (Acts 5 : 17-40 ; 12 : 4 ; etc.). So also Paul, during his two 
 long imprisonments, first at Csesarsea and afterwards at Home 
 (Acts 24 : 27; 28 : 16, 30, 31), was waiting for a decision of his 
 case. 
 
 The Eomans had a custom of fastening their prisoners, sometimes by 
 one hand to a soldier (Acts 28 : 16), sometimes by both hands to a soldier 
 on each side (Acts 12 :6). In the latter case the confinement was close; 
 but in the former case a larger degree of liberty was allowed to the prisoner. 
 
 Scourging was regarded by the Eomans as an ignominious 
 punishment, and its infliction upon Eoman citizens was forbid 
 den by the Porcian law. Cicero pro Eabinio, c. 3. To this ex 
 emption there is reference in the history of the apostle. Acts 
 16 : 37 ; 22 : 25. According to Adam (Eoman Antiquities, Judi 
 cial Proceedings), whips were employed in the case of slaves; 
 otherwise rods. Compare 2 Cor. 11 : 25. 
 
THE ADMINISTRATION OF JUSTICE. 511 
 
 Decapitation was a common mode of execution among the 
 Greeks and Romans, as well as other nations. So also were 
 harming and strangulation. See Adam, as above. 
 
 Beating to death (2 Mace. 6 : 10, 19, 28, 30; Heb. 11 : 35, where 
 our version uses the word torture] was a cruel Grecian punish 
 ment. Dichotomy or cutting in pieces was a mode of execution 
 practised by the Chaldeans and some other nations. Dan. 2 : 5. 
 To this our Saviour refers Matt. 24 : 51 ; Luke 12 : 46. Bufniij 
 alive and exposure to mid beasts are mentioned as Chaldean and 
 Persian punishments. Jer. 29 : 22 ; Dan., chaps. 3, 6. They 
 were also, as is we]i known, in use at Rome under the emperors, 
 and multitudes of Christians were thus destroyed. When crim 
 inals were burnt they were dressed in a -tunic besmeared with 
 pitch and other combustible matter. See Adam, as above. 
 
 Crucifixion was a mode of execution common among the 
 Romans in the case of slaves. Roman citizens were exempted 
 from it, and it was inflicted upon free persons only when they 
 wished to mark them with infamy. Scourging regularly prece 
 ded it ; but the other insults to which our Lord was subjected by 
 the Roman soldiers are to be put simply to the account of their 
 brutality. The cross consisted simply of a post intersected a 
 little below the top by another piece at right angles with it. 
 The criminal, having been scourged, was subjected to the further 
 ignominy of bearing his own cross, at least so far as his strength 
 allowed, to the place of execution, which was without the city. 
 The cross was laid on our Lord in the first instance (John 
 19 : 17), but afterwards one Simon, a Cyrenian, was compelled to 
 bear it after him. Matt. 27:32; Mark 15:21; Luke 23:26. 
 Unless we bear in mind this custom of compelling the condemned 
 man to bear on his own shoulder the instrument of his death, we 
 shall fail to apprehend the full meaning of our Saviour s words, 
 spoken in anticipation of the ignominious death appointed for 
 him in the counsels of heaven : " He that taketh not his cross, 
 and followeth after me, is not worthy of me." Matt. 10 : 38. He 
 is to follow his Master to the place of execution with the cross 
 on his shoulder. Thousands have imitated their Lord literally 
 
512 BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 in this respect, and all true disciples do it in spirit. Arrived at 
 the place of execution the victim was stripped of his garments 
 and stretched upon the cross, his hands being nailed to the ex 
 tremities of the cross-piece and his feet to the upright part. The 
 raiment of the sufferer fell to the four soldiers who carried into 
 execution the sentence of crucifixion. John 19 : 23, 24, and the 
 parallel passages. 
 
 According to the ancient church fathers (Justin Martyr, Trypho, 91 ; 
 Tertullian adv. Nat., 1. 12), there was a piece projecting from the middle 
 of the upright part of the cross, on which the criminal sat. The design of 
 this was to support the body, since otherwise its flight might have torn 
 away the hands from the nails driven through them. It is probable that, 
 as a rule, the cross was first erected and then the condemned man lif ted up 
 and fastened to it ; though he may, in some instances, have been stretched 
 upon it as it lay on the ground, and then lifted up with it. Tying of the 
 feet, and sometimes of the hands also, was a less usual mode of procedure. 
 In our Lord s case both the hands and the feet were nailed. Luke 24 : 40 ; 
 John 20 : 20, 25, 27. The modern representations of the cross exaggerate 
 both its size and its height. The feet of the condemned man were proba 
 bly not more than three or four feet above the ground. Crucifixion must 
 be distinguished from the no less barbarous punishment of impaling, which 
 we see represented on the Assyrian monuments. 
 
 The crucified person suffered a lingering and very painful 
 death, sometimes surviving till the third day, and even longer. 
 Pilate marvelled that our Lord should have expired on the day 
 of his crucifixion. Mark 15 : 44. It was customary with the 
 Romans to leave the body of the crucified person upon the cross 
 indefinitely. But they allowed the bodies of Jewish malefactors 
 to be taken down before sunset, in conformity with the Mosaic 
 law. Deut. 21 : 22, 23. To this end they hastened their death 
 by breaking their legs. John 19 : 31. The vinegar offered by 
 the soldiers in mockery (Luke 23 : 36), and afterwards received 
 by the Saviour in the agony of death (Matt. 27 : 48 ; Mark 15 : 36 ; 
 John 19 : 29, 30) was a customary drink adapted to quench thirst. 
 But the "wine mingled with myrrh " (Mark 15 : 23 ; Matt. 27 : 34, 
 where the " vinegar mingled with gall" is the same preparation), 
 which was offered to the Saviour just before his crucifixion, was 
 
THE ADMINISTRATION OF JUSTICE. 513 
 
 a stupefying drink intended to deaden the sense of pain. When 
 our Lord had ascertained its nature by tasting it, he refused it, 
 choosing to suffer with the faculties of his mind in full exercise. 
 By the thrust of the soldier s spear his real death was certified 
 beyond the possibility of doubt. John 19 : 34^36. 
 
 Thus did the Father expose his beloved Son to ignominy and 
 death on the accursed tree for our redemption, as it is written : 
 " Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made 
 a curse for us." Gal. 3 : 13. In contemplating the painful scene 
 of the crucifixion let us remember that the Saviour, now at the 
 right hand of glory, asks not our sympathy, but our humble 
 acceptance of the great salvation which he purchased for us by 
 his own blood on Calvary. 
 
 22* 
 
514 BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 CHAPTER XXVI. 
 
 MILITARY AFFAIRS. 
 
 I. THE LEVYING OF TKOOPS. 
 
 1. Two enrolments were made in trie wilderness, of all the 
 males " from twenty years old and upwards " (Numb., chaps. 1, 2G); 
 and these, after the necessary deduction for the aged and infirm, 
 constituted the men of war. After their forty years training in 
 the wilderness, the Israelites entered the land of Canaan a nation 
 of soldiers. This fact appears very conspicuously in the transaction 
 recorded in the thirty-second chapter of the book of Numbers. 
 The tribes of Reuben and Gad, and half the tribe of Manasseh, 
 received their inheritance on the east side of the Jordan, on con 
 dition that all the men of war should pass over with their breth 
 ren and help them subdue the land. " Our little ones, our wives, 
 our flocks and all our cattle," said they to Moses (vers. 26, 27), 
 "shall be there in the cities of Gilead. But thy servants will 
 pass over, every man armed for war, before the Lord to battle, 
 as my lord saith." The whole body of able-bodied warriors was 
 to take part with their brethren in the conquest of Canaan, and 
 thus they were to stand on the same footing as the other nine 
 and a half tribes. 
 
 2. We learn from the book of Judges that before the time of the 
 kings, when foreign enemies were to be repelled, the people were 
 levied in a mass, but not generally from all the tribes. Only those 
 were summo^d who lived in the vicinity of the scene of conflict. 
 Thus Ehud " blew a trumpet in the mountain of Ephraim, and 
 the children of Israel went down with him from the mount, and 
 he befor^ them" (chap. 3 : 27) ; Barak took with him ten thousand 
 men of Naphtali and Zebulon to meet ^isera (chap. 4:5-10); 
 Gideon blew a trumpet and assembled an army of thirty-two 
 
MILITARY AFFAIRS. 515 
 
 thousand men from Manasseh and the northern tribes (chaps. 6 : 
 34, 35 ; 7 : 3) ; and Jephthah assembled against the Ammonites an 
 army mainly from the region east of the Jordan (chap. 11, seq.). 
 Upon Saul s accession to the kingdom, there was a general sum 
 moning of all the men of war throughout all the cosfcts of Israel 
 330,000 in number to rescue the men of Jabesh-gilead 
 (1 Sam., chap. 11). These hasty levyings of the people were for 
 brief expeditions. No regular provision appears to have been 
 made for any standing army. The warriors assembled on the 
 spur of the moment, fought without wages, accomplished their 
 work, and then returned to their homes. 
 
 A very remarkable provision of the Mosaic law is recorded in the book 
 of Deuteronomy (chap. 20:1-9). When the Hebrews were about to en 
 gage in battle, it was the duty of the priest to exhort the soldiers to cour 
 age and confidence in God. The officers were then to make proclamation 
 of exemption from the war to every man who had built a new house and 
 not dedicated it, or planted a vineyard and not eaten the fruit of it, or be 
 trothed a wife and not taken her; and finally they were to say : "What 
 man is there that is fearful and faint-hearted? let him go and return unto 
 his house, lest- his brethren s heart faint as well as his heart." 
 
 3. But upon the establishment of a monarchical form of gov 
 ernment, a standing army, with some regular provision for its 
 maintenance, became a necessity. It is manifest from the his 
 tory of Saul that he had troops in constant attendance upon 
 him, and so had all the kings after him; though we have no 
 definite information as to the manner of their selection. In 
 special emergencies there was, under the kings, in addition to 
 the regular army, a general levying of the men of war. Thus 
 Kehoboani assembled from the tribes of Judah and Benjamin 
 an army of 180,000 men, with the intention of fighting against 
 Jeroboam (1 Kings 12 : 21) ; Abijah, king of Judah, with an army of 
 400,000 men, met Jeroboam, king of Israel, who had at his com 
 mand double that number (2 Chron. 13 : 3) ; and Asa had an army 
 of 580,000 men (2 Chron. 14:8). 
 
 Of the paid troops in the regular armies of the Greeks, 
 Romans, and other foreign nations, we do not propose to speak. 
 
51G BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 II. THE CONSTITUTION OF THE ARMY. 
 
 4. The mountainous character of Palestine was not suitable 
 to the employment of cavalry, or of war chariots. These m-iv 
 both comm^i in Egypt (Exod. 14 : 9, 23, 25, 28), and the Israelites 
 encouriterecP war-chariots very early after their entrance into the 
 land of Canaan (Josh. 17 : 16, 18 ; Judg. 1:19; etc.) ; but they never 
 employed them or mounted warriors before the time of the kings. 
 Samuel forewarned the people that their king would have char 
 iots and horsemen, and some to run before his chariots (1 Sam. 
 8 : 11, 12). Solomon and the monarchs after him had chariots and 
 horsemen. 1 Kings 10 : 26 ; 16 : 9 ; 2 Kings 10 : 16 ; Isa. 2:7; etc. 
 The kings and their chief captains rode in chariots, with a retinue 
 of horsemen, but the main strength of the Hebrew armies always 
 lay hi their foot-soldiers. These, as among other ancient nations, 
 were divided into heavy-armed troops, who fought hand to hand 
 with swords and spears, and light-armed troops, whose chief 
 weapons were bows and slings. 
 
 5. The division of the army into thousands and hundreds, with 
 their captains, is frequently mentioned. 1 Sam. 8 : 12 ; 17 : 18 ; 18 : 
 13 ; 22 : 7 ; 29 : 2 ; 1 Chron. 12 : 14. These corresponded very nearly 
 to our modern regiments and companies. There was also a sub 
 division of the hundreds into fifties. 1 Sam. 8 : 12 ; 2 Kings 1 : 9, 
 seq. Larger divisions of the army were made according to circum 
 stances. Thus, when Saul marched against the Ammonites, he 
 divided his army into three parts (1 Sam. 11 : 11); so, also, David, 
 when he fought against Absalom, keeping also a reserve with 
 himself (2 Sam, 18 : 2). In his encounter with the Syrians and 
 Ammonites; Joab made two divisions of his army, and placed 
 them so that they could succor each other. 2 Sam. 10:9-14. 
 Each division had its commander, and over the whole was a 
 commander-in-chief. 
 
 III. ARMS OFFENSIVE AND DEFENSIVE. 
 
 The chief weapons of offence used by the heavy-armed soldiers, 
 were the sword, spear, and javelin. 
 
 The form of the Egyptian and Assyrian swords, as also of the 
 
MILITARY AFFAIRS. 517 
 
 Grecian and Roman, is well known to us from the ancient monu 
 ments and works of art. The Egyptian swords were from two 
 and a half to three feet in length, straight, and tapering to a 
 sharp point. They appear to have been, as a rule, two-edged. 
 They had also a falchion, of a curved form, and furnished with 
 a single edge. This was used only for cutting, while the sword 
 was a cut-and-thrust instrument. The Assyrian swords were 
 both straight and curved. The swords of the Greeks and Ro- 
 ma*ns were, as a rule, short and straight, made for cutting and 
 thrusting. The swords of the Hebrews seem to have been of 
 the same general character. Thrusting through with the sword 
 is frequently mentioned in the Old Testament; cutting or hew 
 ing with it but seldom. 
 
 Ehud s sword (so the Hebrew reads, Judg. 3: 16, making no distinction 
 between the sword and the dagger) was a cubit in length, straight and two- 
 edged. It appears to have had the usual form of two-edged swords, but 
 was, perhapSj shorter than the average. 
 
 The sword, when not hi use, was encased in a sheath, which, 
 as well as the handle of the sword, was often elaborately orna 
 mented. The ancients generally carried the sword on the left 
 side attached to a belt. The monuments represent Roman sol 
 diers wearing on the right side a short dagger-like sword. The 
 Persian acinaces was also worn fli the right side. 
 
 The spear was a staff of wood, of varying length, armed with 
 an iron blade. The Grecian spear, as used by Homer s warriors, 
 served for both thrusting and throwing. That of Hector was 
 eleven cubits in length. II., 6. 319. The Hebrew spear seems to 
 have served, occasionally at least, the same double purpose. It 
 was the spear winch Saul ordinarily earned (1 Sam. 13: 22; 26: 
 7, seq.; 2 Sam. l : 6) that he threw at David (1 Sam. 18 : 11 ; 19 : 10), 
 and afterwards at Jonathan (1 Sam. 20 : 3). The translators seem 
 to have chosen the rendering jatttZtft in these last named passages, 
 simply from the circumstance of its having been thrown, while 
 they elsewhere render the same word spear. The hind end of 
 the spear was armed with a sharp point, by means of which it 
 could be ftuck in the ground. 1 Sam. 26:7. It was this that 
 
518 BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 Asaliel thrust through the body of Abner as he followed him. 
 2 Sam. 2 : 23. 
 
 The true javelin or dart (Heb. kidJibn or sltdali) was a missile 
 weapon of a lighter construction, and is distinguished from the 
 spear. Thus Goliath of Gath had a spear like a weaver s beam, 
 the blade of which weighed six hundred shekels of iron ; and, in 
 addition to this, a javelin (Heb. kidJtbn), of brass, between his 
 shoulders ; that is, slung over his shoulders to be used as occa 
 sion might require. 
 
 The mace or war-club was a staff armed with iron, used by the 
 Assyiians, Egyptians, etc. It seems to be the instrument referred 
 to by Jeremiah (Heb. mappets, rendered in our version, battle-axe, 
 chap. 51 : 20). The true battle-axe, as represented on the Egyp 
 tian monuments, does not appear to have been in use among the 
 Hebrews. 
 
 7. The weapons of the light-armed troops were in part com 
 mon to them with the heavy-armed soldiers. According to Eaw- 
 linson (Herodotus, 9. 32, note), the Egyptian light-armed in 
 fantry " were chiefly archers ; who, besides their bows, had clubs, 
 swords, or battle-axes, and occasionally a sort of flail (as in the 
 
 middle ages) Some had light javelins, which were also 
 
 used by the chariot corps." The Roman light-armed troops 
 (velites), besides their bows or lings, earned each a cut-and- 
 thrust sword and seven javelins with slender points like arrows, 
 so that when thrown they bent, and could not easily "be thrown 
 back lay the enemy (Adam, Roman Antiquities). But the dis 
 tinguishing weapons of the light-armed troops were boivs and 
 slings. Hence the divisions into archers and slingers. 
 
 In the hands of the ancients the bow was a very formidable 
 weapon. The bow of the foot-soldiers was five feet or more hi 
 length, with either a single or a double curvature. It was made 
 of tough, elastic wood tipped with horn, sometimes of metal, or 
 of the horns of animals. "The bow of Pandarus (II., 4. 105, seq.) 
 was made of the horns of a wild goat of sixteen palms spread. 
 The power of the bow was measured by the strength required 
 to bend it. This operation was commonly performed by placing 
 
COAT OF MAIL. 
 
 CATAPULT. 
 
MILITARY AFFAIRS. 519 
 
 the foot upon one end of it, and pressing down the other end by 
 the left hand and the weight of the body, while the string was 
 passed into the notch with the right. Hence the common He 
 brew expression to tread the bow, for bending if, as our translators 
 have uniformly rendered. The suitors of Penelope tried in vain 
 to bend the bow of the mighty Ulysses, which he himself strung 
 with ease (Od., Bk. 21). Such a bow in the hands of its owner 
 was a terrible instrument of death, as we see in the case of Jehu, 
 who sent an arrow quite through the body of the retreating king 
 of Israel, so that it came out at his heart. 2 Kings 9 : 24. Each 
 bowman was furnished with a quiver plentifully supplied with 
 arrou Sj and often highly ornamented. The arrows were of wood 
 or reed, tipped with a metallic head and furnished with feathers. 
 
 The sling was in common use among the Hebrews, Egyptians, 
 and Assyrians, as it was in later ages among the Greeks and 
 Romans. It was very simple in its construction, consisting of a 
 leathern strap with two strings. The stone, being placed in the 
 strap, was whirled rapidly round, and then discharged by letting 
 go one of the strings. Sometimes bullets of lead were used in 
 stead of stones. By constant practice the slinger learned to 
 throw with great precision, as we see in the case of David. The 
 Benjaniites had, in their war with the other tribes, " seven hun 
 dred chosen men left-handed ; every one could sling stones at a 
 hair-breadth, and not miss. Judg. 20 : 16. 
 
 8. The war-chariot of the ancients had always two wheels, 
 and was drawn by tw r o horses abreast. If there were three or 
 four horses, they were hi like manner harnessed abreast. The 
 frame of the Egyptian chariot was, according to "Wilkinson, a 
 nearly Bern-circular wooden frame with straightened sides. It 
 had a floor made of rope network, and was mounted from behind, 
 where it was open. The Assyrian chariot was not essentially 
 different. Both the chariot and the trappings of the horses are 
 ornamented according to the rank of the owner. The ordinary 
 complement of a war-chariot is tw r o persons, the warrior with 
 his bow and quiver, and sometimes his spear, also, attached to 
 the side of the chariot ; and the charioteer, standing at his left 
 
520 BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 side; but in some instances the king is represented alone, 
 with the reins tied around his body, his arms being thus left at 
 full liberty to wield his weapons. Sometimes, again, a third 
 person appears standing behind the other two. He is appa 
 rently the third man (Heb., shalisli, English version, captain), who 
 waited on the warrior and executed his commands (2 Kings 
 9:25). In the king s chariot of state, he carried, in times of 
 peace, the royal umbrella ; in war, a shield to protect his master. 
 The chariots of iron (Josh. 17 : 16, 18 ; Judg. 1 : 19 ; 4:3) were 
 probably not chariots armed with scythes, which seem to have 
 been unknown to the inhabitants of Asia in this early age (Xeno- 
 phon, Cyropsedia, 6. 1. 30) ; but chariots bound with iron, or per 
 haps furnished with iron frames. 
 
 The difficult passage (Exod. 14:: 7), where, according to the common ren 
 dering, Pharaoh "took six hundred chosen chariots, and all the chariots of 
 Egypt, and captains (Heb. slicftisldm, third men) over every one of them," 
 may, perhaps, be rendered with equal propriety : third men on all of 
 them," the meaning being that each chariot had, besides its warrior and 
 charioteer, its attendant. 
 
 9. Defensive armor was an essential part of the ancient war 
 rior s equipment. The introduction of gunpowder has made this 
 useless. Against artillery it can avail nothing, and the protection 
 which it might furnish against musketry is more than counter 
 balanced by the loss of agility and speed. At the beginning of 
 the present century, the heavy cavalry of some nations still 
 wore defensive armor. But this has fallen more and more into 
 disuse, and, with the present immensely increased efficiency of 
 small arms, may be regarded as obsolete for all coming time. 
 But against the weapons of ancient warfare defensive armor was 
 of indispensable importance. The principal parts of it were the 
 following : 
 
 Tho IK Inn I for the head, generally furnished with flaps to pro 
 tect the ears and back of the neck, but leaving the face uncov 
 ered. The heaviest helmets were made of the hides of animals, 
 covered with plates of brass or iron*, and having the flaps strength 
 ened by metallic scales. Then there were lighter helmets, made 
 
MILITARY AFFAIRS. 521 
 
 simply of leather, felt, quilted stuff, etc. As to form, some took 
 the shape of a skull-cap, fitted closely to the head ; others, that 
 of an oval, or of a pointed cone. The top was usually orna 
 mented with a knob, or with a conspicuous crest, or a nodding 
 plume. Sometimes it was entirely plain. There are various 
 fanciful forms represented on the monuments, which it is not 
 necessary to describe. 
 
 The breastplate, as a covering for the body. It was made of 
 leather or quilted cloth, and was often strengthened above with 
 small metallic plates, or, in a later age, iron rings twisted within 
 one another like chains ; or it was, perhaps, made entirely of me- 
 talhc plates or rings, and worn over a shirt. Over the breast 
 plate was worn the military girdle. 1 Kings 2 : 5. 
 
 41 
 We read (1 Kings 22:3-4) that "a certain man drew a bow at a venture, 
 
 and smote the king of Israel between the joints and the breastplate" 
 (marginal rendering), inflicting upon Vn m a mortal wound. The words 
 may be understood, with our translators, to mean between the joints of the 
 harness; that is, in the seam where one part of the harness was joined to 
 another; or they may mean where the harness was joined to some other 
 part of the armor. But some render : between the armpits and the harness. 
 
 Greaves for the protection of the legs. They were made of 
 leather, felt, cloth, or metal. Goliath had greaves of brass ; and 
 the greaves of the Greeks and Romans were generally made of 
 brass or tin. See the references in Potter s Grecian Antiqui 
 ties, 3. 4. 
 
 There was also a military shoe, to which there is a reference in 
 2 Sam. 2 : 5, where Joab is said to have " put the blood of war 
 upon his girdle that was about his loins, and in his shoes that 
 were on his feet." To these, also, Paul refers in his well-known 
 comparison of the Christian to an armed warrior (Ephes. 6: 15): 
 " Your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace." 
 The Roman military shoe, worn by the common soldiers, was set 
 with nails (Juvenal, 16. 24, 25). 
 
 The above pieces of armor were worn on the body. The shield 
 was carried in the left hand, or by an armor-bearer who went 
 before the warrior. The frame of the shield was a light frame 
 
522 BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 of wood or wicker-work, covered with bull s hide, and often with 
 plates of brass or wood, and a boss jutting out in the middle. 
 Homer describes the shield of Ajax as covered with seven thick 
 nesses of bull s hide and an eighth covering of brass. II., 7. 222. 
 The shields of his heroes were round, as appears from the con 
 stant epithet, equal on dd sides. The Egyptian shield was circu 
 lar at the summit, and square at the base, like a funereal tablet, 
 and was about half the soldier s height. The Assyrian shield 
 was circular or oblong. They had also a shield which stood up 
 right on the ground and covered the wiiole body. The top of 
 this curved inward, and it seems to have been used as a defence 
 against missiles from the walls of cities. Layard s Nineveh, 2, 
 chap. 4. The Greeks and Romans had a larger oblong shield, 
 and a smaller circular shield. The distinction of a larger and a 
 smaller shield existed among the Hebrews also. The larger 
 shield (tsinnah, answering to the Latin scutum) appears to have 
 been either oblong or shaped like the Egyptian shield. It was 
 this that Goliath s armor-bearer carried before him (1 Sam. 17: 7). 
 The small buckler (maglien, Latin clypeus) was of a round form. 
 The shield and buckler are, in the Old Testament, the constant 
 emblems of God s protection. 
 
 The most complete description which we have iii the Old Testament of 
 an ancient warrior s equipment, occurs in the account of Goliath s challenge 
 to the Israelites (1 Sam. 17:5-7): "He had a helmet of brass upon his 
 head; and he was clothed with a harness of scales" (Heb. kaskasslm, scales, 
 that is, small plates like scales); "and the weight of the harness was five 
 thousand shekels of brass. And he had greaves of brass upon his legs, and 
 a javelin of brass" (that is, armed with a head of brass) "between his 
 shoulders. And the staff of his spear was like a weaver s beam; and the 
 head of his spear weighed six hundred shekels of iron; and one bearing a 
 shield went before him." The description is drawn from the life, and 
 agrees almost exactly with that of Homer s heroes. Instead of six cubits 
 and a span," as the height of this champion, Josephus reads "four cubits 
 and a span." The weight of Goliath s armor was six hundred shekels of 
 brass, which Thenius estimates at something over one hundred and forty- 
 two Dresden pounds, the Dresden pound being a trifle heavier than the 
 English pound avoirdupois. 
 
 The apostle Paul, in his celebrated description of the Christian warrior 
 (Ephes. 6:13-17), enumerates almost all the armature of the Roman soldier: 
 
MILITARY AFFAIRS. 523 
 
 " Wherefore take to yourselves the panoply of God, that ye may be able 
 to withstand in the evil day, and, having accomplished all " (having gone 
 through with the fight in this divine armor), "to stand. Stand, therefore, 
 having your loins girt about with truth, and having put on the breastplate 
 of righteousness; and having shod your feet with the preparation of the 
 gospel of peace " (the preparedness, cheerful promptitude, which the gos 
 pel of peace gives); "besides ah 1 , taking to yourselves the shield of faith, 
 wherewith ye shall be able to to quench all the fiery darts " (darts or arrows 
 fitted with combustible substances) "of the wicked one. And take the 
 helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word 
 of God." 
 
 IV. THE ORDER OF BATTLE. 
 
 10. In regard to the Hebrew order of battle, we have no defi 
 nite information. The Roman armies were drawn up in three lines, 
 the light-armed troops being posted in the intervals between the 
 companies of heavy-armed soldiers, and on the wings. But we 
 have no reason to think that any such definite arrangement pre 
 vailed in the Israelitish armies. We may infer from the analogy 
 of procedure in the armies of other nations that the battle was 
 begun by the light-armed troops, the main body following them 
 with a rapid and impetuous charge and loud shouts. 2 Chron. 
 13 : 15 ; Jer. 50 : 15 ; 51 : 14. The Orientals relied much on the 
 impetuosity of the first charge ; while it was the custom of the 
 Roman armies to stand still, and let the enemy exhaust his 
 strength in the assault. The Hebrews, in common with all 
 other nations^ made use of ambuscades. Josh., chap. 8 ; 2 Chron. 
 13:13,14 
 
 11. The progress of the science of war, with its numerous 
 modern appliances, has continually tended to sink the individual 
 in the mass. The elements of success in modern warfare are 
 numbers, abundance of the material of war, strategic skill on 
 the part of the commander, courage and discipline on the part 
 of the troops. Except in special emergencies, personal strength 
 and prowess are of little avail. But in ancient times a large 
 part of the battle consisted in the individual encounters of sol 
 diers with soldiers, the victory depending mainly on personal 
 strength and valor. In this respect there is a wonderful agree- 
 
524 BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 ment between the battles described by Homer and those re 
 corded in the Old Testament. When Achilles shows himself on 
 the Grecian rampart, and shouts aloud, the Trojans flee before 
 him in dismay, as the Hebrews do at the challenge of Goliath. 
 The Iliad is filled with the account of personal encounters. The 
 briefer notices of the Hebrew battles record the exploit of Jona 
 than and his armor-bearer in putting to flight the whole army of 
 the Philistines (1 Sam., chap. 14) ; of David in slaying Goliath 
 (1 Sam., chap. 17) ; of the three mighty men who brake through 
 the host of the Philistines, and drew water from the well of 
 Bethlehem ; with various other like achievements on the part of 
 David s heroes (2 Sam., chap. 23). 
 
 V. THE SIEGE OF CITIES. 
 
 12. The siege and defence of cities have in all ages constituted 
 a prominent part of war. Although the ancient modes of attack 
 and defence differed widely from those which now prevail, they 
 were no less systematic, and called into exercise no less skill and 
 endurance. Anciently, all towns of importance were surrounded 
 by watts, sometimes of immense height and thickness, and fur 
 nished with gates and bolts of brass or iron. There was a breast 
 work at top for the protection of the defenders, and towers 
 were arranged at intervals along the summit where the be 
 sieged could with more effect attack the assailants. "When the 
 nature of the ground permitted, a ditch was dug without the 
 walls, which increased their relative height and made them more 
 difficult of access, especially if it was filled with water, as in the 
 case of the moat about the walls of Babylon. In addition to 
 these means of defence, some cities enjoyed the advantage of 
 being built on the edge of precipices, or on the summit of steep 
 hills. Jerusalem, for example, was protected on the east and 
 south by deep ravines, and Alesia, in Gaul, was built on the 
 summit of a very lofty hill, so that it was impregnable to direct 
 assault. 
 
 13. If a city could not be taken by sudden assault, strata 
 gem, or the treachery of its defenders, the assailants prepared 
 
MILITARY AFFAIRS. 525 
 
 for a reyiilar siege, and the defenders for a protracted resistance. 
 The first concern of the latter, provided they had timely no 
 tice of the assault, was to strengthen the defences as far 
 as possible, and to see that the place was abundantly sup 
 plied with provisions and water. If there were fountains and 
 reservoirs without the walls of the city, they endeavored to 
 make them unavailable to the besiegers. Hezekiah stopped 
 the waters of certain fountains around Jerusalem, apparently 
 by carrying them into the city by subterranean channels. 
 2 Chron. 32 : 3, 4, compared with ver. 30. Besides the common 
 offensive weapons, the men on the walls were provided with 
 great stones to cast down upon the enemy; also with engines, 
 called by the Romans catapults and lattistce. According to 
 Jalm (Archaeology, 280), "the catapults were immense bows, 
 which were bent by means of a machine, and which threw with 
 great force large arrows, javelins, and even beams of wood. The 
 lallisice, on the other hand, may be denominated large slings, 
 which were discharged likewise by machines, and threw stones 
 and balls of lead." Of this nature were the engines provided in 
 Jerusalem by Uzziah, "on the towers and upon the bulwarks, 
 to shoot arrows and great stones withal." 2 Chron. 26:15. The 
 same engines were used by the besiegers, as well as fiery darts 
 to set fire on the one hand to the houses of the city, and on the 
 other to the works of the assailants. 
 
 The besiegers, on their side, encompassed the city with two 
 lines of fortifications at some distance from each other ; the in 
 ner one to protect them against the sallies of the townsmen, the 
 outer to guard against attacks from without. Among the Romans 
 "the Hues were," says Adam (Antiq., Military Affairs), "com 
 posed of a ditch and a rampart, strengthened with p, parapet and 
 battlements, and sometimes a solid wall of considerable height 
 and thickness, flanked with towers and forts at proper distances 
 
 round the whole From, the inner line was raised a mount, 
 
 composed of earth, wood, and hurdles, and stone, which was 
 gradually advanced towards the town, always increasing in 
 height, till it equalled or overtopped the walls. The mount 
 
526 BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 which Caesar raised against Avaricum, or Bourges, was 330 feet 
 broad, and 80 feet high. COBS. B. G., 7. 24." There were also 
 fixed towers, consisting of different stories, from which showers 
 of darts and stones were hurled upon the besieged by means of 
 the engines above described ; also, movable towers, which were 
 pushed forward and backward on wheels. The towers were 
 protected against the flaming missiles thrown from the town 
 by raw hides and other appliances. The towers were some 
 times of immense size and height, overtopping even the towers 
 of the city. 
 
 But the most formidable engine of assault was the battering 
 ram. The Roman battering-ram is thus described by Adam 
 (ubi supra): "It was a long beam, like the mast of a ship, and 
 armed at one end with iron in the form of a ram s head, whence 
 it had its name. It was suspended by the middle with ropes 
 or chains fastened to a beam that lay across two posts; and 
 hanging thus equally balanced, it was by a hundred men, more 
 or less (who were frequently changed), -violently thrust forward, 
 drawn Back, again pushed forward, till by repeated strokes it 
 had shaken and broken down the wall with its iron head." The 
 ram and the workmen generally were protected by sheds or 
 mantlets, made of wood and hurdles, and covered with earth, 
 raw hides, or other incombustible substances. These sheds 
 were placed on wheels, and thus moved backward or forward as 
 occasion required. Meanwhile the besieged, when they saw that 
 a breach would soon be made in the walls, reared new walls be 
 hind it with a deep ditch before them. 
 
 Another mode of both attack and defence consisted in tho 
 running of mines. Thus the besiegers sought to undermine the 
 walls or cut off the springs in the city. The besieged employed 
 the same means to overturn the works of the enemy. Some 
 times the opposing parties of miners met under ground and 
 had bloody conflicts there. When all the above-named means 
 of assault (and various others which need not be specified) 
 proved unavailing, the assailants sought to reduce the city by 
 famine. 
 
MILITARY AFFAIKS. 527 
 
 There are references in the Old Testament to the besiegers mount (2 Sam. 
 20:15; 2 Kings 19:32; Isa. 37:33; Jer. 32:24; 33:4; Ezek. 4:2; Hab. 1:10, 
 etc.); to the bailer ing ram (2 Sam. 20 : 15 ; Ezek. 4:2; 21:22); to the engines 
 for hurling javelins and stones (2 Chron. 26:15); and to the military works 
 of the besiegers generally (Deut. 20:20; Micah 5:1). The Hebrew dayek, 
 rendered in our version/or/, or, in a collective sense, forts (2 Kings 25 : 1 ; Jer. 
 52:4; Ezek. 4:2; 17: 17; 21:22; 26:8) is explained by some to mean, in a col 
 lective sense, towers; by others, lines of circumvaUaiion. In Ezek. 4:1, 2, 
 the prophet describes in his own graphic way the different processes of a 
 siege: "Also, thou son of man, take thee a tile, and lay it before thee, 
 and portray upon it the city, even Jerusalem; and lay siege against it, and 
 build against it towers (or, lines of circuinvallation), and cast up against it 
 a mount, and set the camp against it, and set battering-rams against it 
 round about." 
 
 14. Among the remarkable sieges of antiquity, we notice the 
 following : 
 
 The siege of Azotus (Ashdod) by Psammetichus, king of Egypt, 
 about B. c. 630. He took the city after a siege of twenty-nine 
 years, the longest siege on record. Herodotus, 2. 157. 
 
 The siege of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar, who captured and 
 buined the city and temple after about a year and a half. B. c. 
 588. 2 Kings, chap.- 25. 
 
 The siege of Tyre, by Nebuchadnezzar, which Josephus says 
 (Antiq., 10. 11. 1, against Apion, 1. 21) lasted thirteen years. He 
 does not state the issue ; but, according to Ezekiel (chap. 26), he 
 must have been successful. See above, Chap. 10, No. 30. 
 
 The siege of Jlabylon, by Cyrus. Finding it impossible to 
 take the city by the ordinary methods of assault, he diverted the 
 course of the Euphrates, and then marched in by its channel 
 under the wall. This was about B. c. 536. See Herodotus, 1. 
 191 ; Xenophon Cyropredia, 7. 5. 
 
 The siege of Tyre, by Alexander the Great, about B. c. 332. 
 The city, being on an island, could not be directly approached. 
 But Alexander built a causeway from the main land to the island, 
 and thus succeeded in taking it after seven months of hard toil. 
 Josephus, Antiq., 11. 8. 3; Diodorus Siculus, 17. 40-46. 
 
 The siege of Jerusalem, by the Romans under Titus. For the 
 particulars of this celebrated siege, in which a million of persons 
 
528 BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 are said to have perished, and which ended in the complete de 
 struction of the city and temple, about A. D. 71, see Josephus 
 Jewish War, books 5 and 6. 
 
 VI. THE EIGHTS CLAIMED BY THE VICTORS. 
 
 15. War is essentially cruel. It is the meeting of force by 
 force. The conquerors among the ancient heathen nations ac 
 knowledged no limit to their power, but such as they prescribed 
 to themselves on the ground of policy. When a city or people 
 capitulated upon specified conditions, the recognized law of an 
 cient nations required the conquerors to abide in good faith by 
 these conditions. But when a city was taken by assault, the vic 
 tors claimed the right of disposing of the persons and possessions 
 of the vanquished as they saw good. The men were very com 
 monly slain, and the women and children carried into captivity 
 or sold as slaves. Sometimes the principal men only were put 
 to death, and the rest carried captive with the women and chil 
 dren. At other times the conquered territory was not depopu 
 lated, but reduced to a tributary condition. Such was ancient 
 warfare in what may W 1 called its normal forms. But, under the 
 impulse of the malignant passions which war generates, many 
 atrocities were perpetrated the recital of which makes us 
 shudder. 
 
 16. For warfare with other nations than the Canaanites, the 
 law of Moses prescribed a definite rule : " When thou comest 
 nigh unto a city to fight against it, then proclaim peace unto it. 
 And it shall be if it make thee an answer of peace, and open unto 
 thee, then it shall be that all the people that is found therein 
 shall be tributaries unto thee, and they shall serve thee. And if 
 it will make no peace with thee, but will make war against thee, 
 then thou shalt besiege it ; and when the Lord thy God hath de 
 livered it into thy hands, thou shalt smite every male thereof 
 with the edge of the sword ; but the women and the little ones, 
 and the cattle, and all that is in the city, even all the spoil thereof, 
 shalt thou take unto thyself, and thou shalt eat the spoil of thine 
 enemies, which the Lord thy God hath given thee." Deut. 20 : 
 
MILITARY AFFAIRS. 529 
 
 10-14. It is to be assumed that the war here contemplated was 
 just and necessary; waged not against a peaceful neighboring 
 people, but against those who sought to injure the Israelites. 
 The rule of procedure is in full accordance with the usage of 
 ancient warfare. With regard to its severity, the following re 
 marks of Jahn (Heb., Archaeology, 296) are worthy of being 
 pondered : " It is permitted, by the natural law of nations, to a 
 people, to inflict as many and as great evils upon an enemy, as 
 shall be necessary to deter others from committing the like of 
 fence. The prevalent state of feeling among nations, whether it 
 tend to kindness or to cruelty, will determine how much is neces 
 sary to secure such an object. Nations anciently could not 
 exhibit that humanity and forbearance in war which are common 
 among modem European nations, without running the risk of 
 exposing themselves to every sort of injury." "We must by no 
 means, however, suppose that all the cruelties practised by He 
 brew monarchs, of which we have an account in the Old Testa 
 ment, are in accordance with either the spirit or the letter of the 
 Mosaic law. Such atrocities as those recorded in 2 Kings, 15 : 16 ; 
 2 Chron. 25 : 12 ; and, we may add, 2 Sam. 12 : 31, compared with 
 1 Chron. 20 : 3, are simply recorded but not justified. 
 
 We have iu Dent. 20 : 19, 20, a precept which beautifully illustrates the 
 just and considerate spirit of the Mosaic law. In besieging a city they 
 were forbidden to destroy the fruit-trees of the neighborhood, to employ 
 them in the siege; and the annexed reason is: "for the tree of the field is 
 man s life." No wonder that the people who lived under such a law should 
 have had the reputation of being merciful in war. 1 Kings 20 : 31. 
 
 17. The extirpation of tJie Canaanites was placed by Jehovah 
 himself on a different ground. "Of the cities of these "people 
 which the Lord thy God doth give thee for an inheritance, thou 
 
 shalt save alive nothing that breatheth That they teach you 
 
 not to do after all their abominations which they have done unto 
 their gods; so should ye sin against the Lord your God." Deut. 
 20 : 16-18. The same precept is elsewhere given, and enforced by 
 the same reason (Deut. 7 : 1-6 ; 12 : 29-31) ; and the subsequent his 
 tory of the Israelites shows that the danger to be guarded against 
 
 C.eo = -. A .\utiq. ^3 
 
530 BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 was not imaginary but real. Judg., chap. 2. It pleased the sov 
 ereign Lord of heaven and earth to give the land of Canaan to his 
 people as their heritage. The grant itself involved the alternative 
 of either expelling and destroying them or reducing them to servi 
 tude. Since the latter course would have exposed the covenant 
 people to inevitable corruption, the former was adopted ; and the 
 divine command was a warrant to the Israelites to do what would 
 have been otherwise unlawful. This transaction, like the whole 
 history of God s government, was based upon the eternal princi 
 ple that the cause of truth and righteousness is of supreme value 
 worth infinitely more than the lives and possessions of the 
 idolatrous Canaanites ; both of which belonged to Jehovah, and 
 could be destroyed if he saw good, in any way that he should 
 appoint, in the interest of the great plan of redemption. "Be 
 hold, therefore," we may say, "the goodness and severity of God" 
 towards the Canaanites, whose measure of iniquity was full, 
 severity (Gen. 15 : 16); but towards the chosen people goodness, 
 if they had but understood it and continued in it. 
 
ROMAN CITIZENSHIP. 531 
 
 APPENDIX TO THE SECOND DIVISION. 
 
 ON ROMAN CITIZENSHIP. 
 
 1. The Apostle Paul, on more than one occasion, availed himself of his 
 rights as a I^oman citizen to protect himself from injury. At Philippi he and 
 Silas had been openly beaten and thrust into the inner prison, with their 
 feet made fast in the stocks. The next morning the magistrates sent to 
 the keeper of the prison an order for their release. Whereupon Paul re 
 plied : "They have beaten us openly uncondemned, being Eomans, and 
 have cast us into prison ; and now do they thrust us out privily ? Nay, 
 verily ; but let them come themselves and fetch us out." Upon hearing 
 this message from Paul, the magistrates "feared, when they heard that 
 they were Romans. And they came and besought them, and desired them 
 to depart out of the city. " Acts 1C : 23, 24, 35-39. When, again, they 
 were binding him in the castle at Jerusalem, for the purpose of scourging 
 him, he said to the centurion who stood by: "Is it lawful for you to scourge 
 a man that is a Roman and uncondemned ? When the centurion heard 
 that, he went and told the "chief captain, saying, Take heed what thou 
 doest : for this man is a Roman. Then the chief captain came, and said 
 unto him, Tell me, art thou a Roman ? He said, Yea. And the chief cap 
 tain answered, With a great sum obtained I this freedom. And Paul said, 
 But I was free born. Then straightway they departed from him that 
 should have examined him " (examined him by scourging) ; " and the chief 
 captain also was afraid, after he knew that he was a Roman, and because 
 he had bound him." Acts 22 : 24-30. 
 
 In view of these passages in the histoiy of Paul, two questions arise : 
 In what ways did foreigners obtain Roman citizenship ? and, what were 
 the privileges to which it entitled them ? Passing by the times of the Re 
 public, we shall restrict our inquiries to the earlier period of the Empire. 
 
 2. In the time of the Empire, Italy, Cisalpine Gaul included, enjoyed the 
 right of Roman citizenship. Out of Italy, it was granted to certain towns 
 called municipal towns (municipia). "Of these," says Adam (Aiitiq., Art., 
 Public Rights), "there were different kinds. Some possessed all the rights 
 of Roman citizens except such as could not be enjoyed without residing at 
 Rome. Others enjoyed the right of serving in the Roman legion, but had 
 not the right of voting and obtaining civil offices." The municipal towns 
 enjoyed their own laws and customs, and were not obliged to receive 
 the Roman laws unless they chose it. Then, again, there were colo- 
 nies, consisting of cities or lands which Roman citizens were sent to 
 
532 BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 inhabit. These colonies differed from the free towns (munidpia) in this 
 that they used the laws prescribed to them by the Eoinans. "Some colo 
 nies," says Adam (ubi supra), "consisted of Roman citizens only, some of 
 Latins, and others of Italians. Liv., 39. 55. Hence their rights were dif 
 ferent. Some think that the Eoman colonies enjoyed all the rights of citi 
 zens, as they are often called Eoman citizens, and were once enrolled in 
 the censor s books at Eome. Liv. , 29. 37. But most are of opinion that 
 the colonies had not the right of voting, nor of bearing offices at Rome, 
 from Dio,43. 39 and 50. " It was at a much later period that Caracalla granted 
 the freedom of Eoman citizenship to all the free inhabitants of the Eoman 
 world. Finally, the right of Eoman citizenship was obtained as a reward 
 for fidelity to the Eoman interest (Suetonius, Aug., 47), or by purchase, as in 
 the case of the chief captain. Acts 22 : 28, and see Dio Cassius, 60. 17. 
 The children of Eoman citizens enjoyed by birth the prerogative of their 
 fathers ; that is, they Vf ere free-born, 
 
 3. It is certain that Paul s father was a Eornan citizen ; but how he, or 
 some of his ancestors before him, had obtained that privilege is unknown. 
 Some have supposed that he had it simply as a citizen of Tarsus. But 
 this is denied by Biblical scholars generally. "Tarsus," says Meyer (Com 
 mentary in loco), "was neither a colony nor a municipal town, but nfree 
 city (urbs libera] ; which had received indeed from Augustus, after the 
 civil war, the privilege of being governed by its own laws and magistrates, 
 in subordination to the Eoman authority, and with this other prerogatives 
 (Appian, Bell, Civ. 5. 7 ; Dio., Chrys., 2, p. 36 ed., Eeisk), but not Eoman 
 citizenship." See also Winer, Bib. Eealworterbuch, Art., Tarsus. It is 
 sufficient to point out the various ways in which a foreigner, like Paul s 
 father, could have obtained Eoman citizenship, without attempting to de 
 cide anything farther. 
 
 4. Among the privileges to which Eoman citizenship entitled its possessor 
 was exemption from stripes and torture. This was given with certain lim 
 itations by the Valerian law, and afterwards absolutely by the Porcian law. 
 To this there are many references in the writings of Cicero. " The Porcian 
 law," says he (Pro Eabirio, c. 3), "forbade rods to be used on the body of 
 any Eoman citizen." In his oration against Verres occurs the well-known 
 passage : "A Eoman citizen, judges, was beaten with rods, at Messana, ill 
 the open forum : while, in the meantime, no groan escaped the lips of the 
 sufferer, no other words wc-xe heard from him, amid the resounding blows 
 of the rods, except these: I am a Eoman citizen. By this mention of 
 his citizenship he thought to icpel from his body all stripes and torture. 
 But in vain. Not only did he not save himself from the violence of rods, 
 but, while he repeatedly implored deliverance and proclaimed the fact of 
 his citizenship, the cross, the cross, I say, was made ready for the unhappy 
 sufferer, who had never witnessed such an exercise of power" (2. 5. 62, 63). 
 
ROMAN CITIZENSHIP. 533 
 
 The exercise of power to which the orator refers was that of scourging and 
 crucifying a Roman citizen ; for Roman citizenship protected its possessor 
 from ignominious forms of punishment, such as crucifixion, which was espe 
 cially a servile punishment. According to Cicero (against Verres, 2. 1. 3), 
 exemption from it was the privilege of every Roman citizen. In accord 
 ance with this is the tradition of the ancient church that, while Peter was 
 subjected to the ignominious death of crucifixion. Paul was beheaded. 
 
 5. Another privilege enjoyed by the Roman citizen was the right of appeal 
 from a lower to a higher tribunal. This was established by the Valerian 
 law, and afterwards once and again renewed. After the subversion of the 
 Republic, the final appeal was to the emperor. See Adams Roman An 
 tiquities, Art., Judicial Proceedings, and the authorities there referred to. 
 The apostle Paul, as a Roman citizen, availed himself of this right to escape 
 the snares laid for him by the Jews. Acts 25 : 9-12. 
 
534 BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 THIRD DIVISION 
 
 SACRED ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 CHAPTEE XXVII. 
 
 HISTORICAL SURVEY. 
 
 1. "First the blade, then the ear, after that the full corn in 
 the ear," is the" divine law of procedure in the kingdom of grace, 
 not less than in the kingdoms of nature and of providence. He 
 in whose sight a thousand years are but as yesterday, when it is 
 past, never forces results prematurely. He gave man at the be 
 ginning two fundamental institutions, the Sabbath and Marriage; 
 the first looking more immediately to man s relation to his Crea 
 tor, the second, to the relation of the sexes to each other, and 
 thus to the constitution of society in its inmost essence. After the 
 fall he gave the great promise concerning the Seed of the woman, 
 which contained in a germinal form the whole history of re 
 demption. He also gave, apparently, the institution of sacrifices, 
 which prefigured the work that the Seed of the woman should 
 perform for our salvation. Gen. 4 : 3, 4. From that day to the 
 present it seems to have been a principle of the Divine govern 
 ment to give men institutions only when their necessity had been 
 fully evinced by experience ; and that, apparently, on the ground 
 that in no other way, humanly speaking, can their permanent 
 observance be secured. 
 
 2. The sacred record informs us that in the third generation 
 " began men to call upon the name of the Lord." Gen. 4 : 26. 
 From some notices in the New Testament (2 Peter 2:5; Jude, 
 
HISTORICAL SURVEY. 535 
 
 14, 15), we gather that there were before the flood preachers of 
 righteousness who warned the ungodly of the impending judg 
 ments of heaven. There was a spontaneous separation between 
 the righteous and the wicked, but there was no written word 
 and no church; that is, no organic body constituted by God 
 to be his peculiar people, and having institutions of his appoint 
 ment. As to civil government they had apparently only the 
 loose organization growing out of the family relation. The 
 idea of a state as an organic whole Had not yet been developed ; 
 nor had the great law, "whosoever sheddeth man s blood, by 
 man shall his blood be shed," which contains within itself the 
 germ of a state, been as yet promulgated. The first great exper 
 iment was made with the race as a whole without a church, 
 and without positive enactments, civil or religious, except so far 
 as the institutions of Eden, with that of sacrifices, may be re 
 garded as such. 
 
 3. After the deluge, the law against murder was announced, 
 when now its necessity had been shown by centuries of violence 
 and bloodshed, some other enactments were added, and the ex 
 periment with the race as a whole was renewed and continued 
 until the time of Abraham. Then, when men had once more 
 apostatized from their Maker, and idolatry, with all the gross 
 vices that accompany it, was overspreading the world, God 
 changed his plan of procedure. Leaving the mass of mankind 
 for a season "to walk in their own ways" (Acts 14:16), he se 
 lected one family, that of Abraham, to be his peculiar people and 
 the depositaries of the precious boon of revelation ; that, having 
 trained them up in the knowledge of himself and prepared them 
 by types and prophecies for the advent of his Son, he might, 
 from them as a- centre, propagate the true religion in its last and 
 most perfect form, over all the earth. He began with one family, 
 but he had in view the redemption of the race, as the original 
 promise shows: "In thee shall all families of the earth be 
 blessed." He gave to Abraham and his posterity the singfe rite 
 of circumcision. In other respects divine worship was left in its 
 primitive simplicity. There was neither sanctuary nor prescribed 
 
536 BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 ritual. Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob builded altars under the 
 open heaven ; and there they offered sacrifices and called on the 
 name of the Lord. Doubtless their posterity in Egypt wor 
 shipped in the same primitive way. 
 
 4. But when God had brought the covenant people, now 
 grown to be a nation, out of Egypt into the wilderness of Arabia, 
 he gave commandment, for the first tune in the history of the 
 world, that they should make him a sanctuary, that he might 
 dwell among them (Ex. 25 :"8) ; and, in connection with this, he 
 gave to them in the Mosaic law an elaborate national constitu 
 tion, embracing alike civil and religious institutions. Here it is 
 important to bear in mind the following points : 
 
 First : The Mosaic economy, having God for its immediate 
 author, and being intended to regulate the whole national life of 
 the Hebrews, made no distinction between civil and religious 
 duties, so far as the jurisdiction of the magistrate was concerned. 
 Ifc was not a state united with a church, but a state embosoming 
 in itself all the institutions of religion in an organic way. Conse 
 quently the magistrate took cognizance alike of offences against 
 God, such as idolatry and witchcraft, and civil offences, like niur- 
 der, theft, and false witness. 
 
 Secondly : It was supplementary to the Abrahamic covenant. 
 It did not supersede it, but prepared the way for the advent 
 of Christ, in whom its provisions were to be fully carried out. 
 This end it accomplished in various ways ; particularly by the 
 full revelation which it made of God s unity and infinite per 
 fections ; by the conviction of sin which it produced, with which 
 was connected an ever-deepening sense of the need of redemp 
 tion ; and by its types which continually foreshadowed this re 
 demption. Unless we constantly bear in mind this, its prepara 
 tory character, we fail to comprehend the wisdom and suitable 
 ness of its provisions. 
 
 Thirdly : It follows from the above that while the Abrahamic 
 covenant was made for all time, the Mosaic economy was tem 
 porary, and destined, after it should have fulfilled its office, to 
 wax old and vanish away. 
 
HISTORICAL SURVEY. 537 
 
 Fou rthly: The multiplicity and minuteness of its provisions 
 were adapted, as the Apostle Paul shows (Gal. 4 : 1-5), to the 
 childhood of the covenant people who constituted God s church. 
 They were under tutors and govemers until the time appointed" 
 by God for the full liberty of manhood ; and the ordinances of 
 the Mosaic law, "Touch not, taste not, handle not," were, there 
 fore, in place. The same view may be taken of the splendor of 
 its ritual. Its final end was the establishment of the simple, 
 spiritual and universal system of Christianity. But the human 
 mind could not be elevated at once to the idea of such a system. 
 It must be brought up to it by a long course of preparation. 
 "God, therefore, gave to his people a ritual, which rigorously 
 excluded all forms of idolatry and image worship, and impurity 
 of every kind ; while it was, at the same time, better adapted 
 than the rituals of the surrounding heathen nations to strike the 
 minds of the worshippers with awe. Its multiplied ordinances and 
 its outward magnificence served as a resting-place for the reli 
 gious feelings of the Hebrews, and also as a guard against the 
 seductive influence of the sensuous and imposing rites of heathen 
 ism wliich they could not but witness in the worship of the sur 
 rounding nations. If the Israelites abused this ritual to nourish 
 in their souls a spirit of formalism, it was the abuse of what was 
 good and needful for the time being. 
 
 Fifthly : Since it was God s purpose that his people should 
 have a constitution absolutely free from all admixture of heathen 
 ish superstitions, it followed of neceesity that it should be given 
 by himself immediately, not merely in its great principles, but in 
 all its details. The subsequent history of the Israelites shows 
 that if any discretion had been left to them in respect to the 
 rites of Hheir religion, heathenish superstition would have crept 
 in as a bad leaven to corrupt the whole, and thus the very end 
 of the economy would have been defeated. To guard against 
 this, God gave the priests, who had charge of his service, a 
 severe lesson at the very outset on the necessity of a strict 
 adherence to the rites of his appointment. Nadab and Abihu, 
 the two eldest sons of Aaron, were slain by the immediate judg- 
 
 23* 
 
538 BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 ment of God, because they "offered strange fire before the 
 Lord" fire not taken from that kept burning upon the altar 
 (Lev. 6 : 12, 13) "which he commanded them not." And Moses 
 comment on the transaction was : " This it is that the Lord spake, 
 saying : I will be sanctified in all them that come nigh me, and 
 before ah 1 the people I will be glorified." Lev. 10 : 1-3. This 
 simple principle covers a multitude of particulars. The ritual 
 must come from Jehovah in all its details, that it might be pure 
 throughout from all admixture of heathenism. It is probable 
 that some very obscure provisions of the Mosaic law had refer 
 ence to heathenish superstitions of which we are ignorant. 
 
 5. The Mosaic law, with the exception of its moral precepts, 
 taught mainly by types. These were the " shadow of good things 
 to come," of which Christ is the substance. The general duties 
 of the priests in the line of instruction are specified in various 
 passages of the Old Testament : " That ye may put difference 
 between holy and unholy, and between unclean and clean; so 
 that ye may teach the children of Israel all the statutes which 
 the Lord hath spoken unto them by the hand of Moses." Lev. 
 10 : 10, 11. Of the priests in the sanctuary, which Ezekiel sees 
 in vision, all the appointments of which are in conformity with 
 the Mosaic law, it is said : " They shall teach my people the dif 
 ference between the holy and profane, and cause them to discern 
 between the unclean and the clean." Ezek. 44 : 23. " The priest s 
 lips should keep knowledge, and they should seek the law at his 
 mouth ; for he is the messenger of the Lord of hosts." Mai. 2 : 7. 
 It was the duty of the priests to see that the people were in 
 structed in the law of Moses and that its statutes were main 
 tained in their purity. It is worthy of notice, however, that, so 
 far as we can gather from the Old Testament, there does not 
 seem to have been any provision for the stated instruction of the 
 people out of the law before the Babylonish captivity, if we ex 
 cept the reading of the law before ah 1 Israel, "men and women and 
 children," once in seven years, "in the solemnity of the year of 
 release, in the feast of tabernacles." Deut. 31 : 10-13. It is not 
 surprising, therefore, that, in the period immediately preceding 
 
HISTORICAL SURVEY. 539 
 
 the captivity, when the priests had become, as a body, unfaithful 
 to their charge, the grossest ignorance of the divine law should 
 have prevailed, and that even the pious king Josiah should have 
 been, in great measure, ignorant of its contents. 2 Kings, chap. 22. 
 "It is probable," says Keil (Commentary on vers. 9-14), " that 
 hitherto Josiah had not possessed or read any copy of the law ; 
 although the fundamental knowledge of the law, which all the 
 prophets display, makes indubitable the dissemination of the 
 Pentateuch in the prophetic circles." Such was the daily sendee 
 of the sanctuary for several successive centuries, till the time of 
 David a solemn adumbration of silent types, in which neither 
 the words of the living teacher nor the voice of holy song was 
 heard. 
 
 6. But when "the sweet psalmist of Israel" arose, sacred 
 poesy burst from his soul, smit by the inspiration of God s Spirit, 
 like the Jordan from the foot of Hermon, in a pure and full 
 stream ; and it has flowed through the sanctuary ever since, and 
 will continue to flow to the end of time. The songs of IJavid 
 and his coadjutors may be supplemented, but they can never be 
 superseded ; for they open the floodgates of the pious heart, and 
 pour forth its emotions as no uninspired song can do. They 
 well up from the centre of the soul, fresh and sparkling, and for 
 this reason the lapse of ages does not diminish their adaptation 
 to the wants of God s worshippers. In the twenty-fifth chapter 
 of the first book of Chronicles we have a detailed account of 
 the arrangement made by David of the sons of Asaph, Heman, 
 and Jeduthun, in twenty-four courses, "who should prophesy 
 with harps, with psalters and with cymbals." And the record 
 adds that " the number of them, with their brethren, that were 
 instructed in the songs of the Lord, even all that were cunning, 
 was two hundred four score and eight." From that time onward 
 " the service of song in the house of the Lord " (1 Chron. 6 : 31) 
 constituted a part of divine worship at the sanctuary. 
 
 The account of the cleansing of the sanctuary under Hezekiah contains 
 a lively picture of tliis part of divine worship. In connection with the 
 offering of the several sacrifices the king "set the Levites in the house of 
 
540 BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 the Lord with cymbals, with psalteries, and with harps, according to the 
 commandment of David, and of Gad the king s seer, and Nathan the 
 prophet ; for so was the commandment of the Lord by his prophets. And 
 the Levites stood with the instruments of David, and the priests with the 
 trumpets. And Hezekiah commanded to offer the burnt-offering upon the 
 altar. And when the burnt-offering began, the song of the Lord began 
 also with the trumpets, and with the instruments ordained by David, king 
 of Israel. And all the congregation worshipped, and the singers sang, and 
 the trumpeters sounded ; and all this continued until the burnt-offering 
 was finished. And when they had made an end of offering, the king and 
 all that were present with him bowed themselves and worshipped. More 
 over, Hezekiah the king and the princes commanded the Levitos to. sing 
 praises unto the Lord with the words of David, and of Asaph the seer. 
 And they sang praises with gladness, and they bowed their heads and 
 worshipped." 2 Chron. 29:25-30. 
 
 The same service of song was carefully perpetuated, after the captivity, 
 in the second temple. Ezra 2 : 41 ; 7:7; Neh. 7:1; 11 : 22, 23. 
 
 7. Yeiy soon -after the establishment of the twenty-four 
 courses of singers, came, under Solomon, the substitution of the 
 famflefor tJie tabernade. This, however, brought no change to 
 the Mosaic ritual. It was simply an accommodation of the sanc 
 tuary to the altered circumstances of the people, as intimated by 
 David. " See now, I dwell in a house of cedar, but the ark of 
 God dweUeth within curtains." 2 Sam. 7 : 2. "With the edifice 
 erected by Solomon were connected courts and chambers for the 
 convenience of the worshippers and of the priests. But the 
 temple proper, as we shah 1 see hereafter, was modelled after the 
 tabernacle, and ah 1 the services appointed by Moses remained 
 unchanged. The same was true of the second temple erected 
 after the captivity by Zerubbabel and his associates, and after 
 wards renewed by Herod the great, with a splendor exceeding 
 even that of Solomon s temple. 
 
 8. After the captivity there grew up in a quiet way an 
 other institution of immense importance, the influence of which 
 reached over into Christendom, and is felt in our day. This was 
 the Jeioish Synagogue. Of this we shall speak more particularly 
 in the proper place. We notice it now as containing an essential 
 addition to the stated worship of God ; an addition, however, 
 
HISTORICAL SURVEY. 
 
 not having for its seat the temple, but dispersed through the 
 cities and villages of the land, and thus foreshadowing, in a re 
 markable way, the great principle of Christianity announced by 
 our Lord in his discourse with the woman of Samaria: "The 
 hour conieth when ye shall neither in this mountain, nor yet at 
 
 Jerusalem, worship the Father The hour cometh, and 
 
 now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in 
 spirit and in truth. God is a spirit, and they that worship him 
 must worship him in spirit and in truth." John 4 : 21, 23. The 
 synagogue adumbrated the Christian sanctuary, also, in the sim- 
 plicity of its forms of worship. Leaving to the temple the altar 
 with its priesthood and ritual of types, it occupied itself with 
 prayer, praise, the reading of the Scriptures, and addresses to 
 the people. Sections of the law and the prophets were read, 
 and, on certain occasions, other portions of the Old Testament, 
 and expounded in the vernacular of the congregation. After this 
 came the sermon or address to the people. These simple spir 
 itual services, with singing and prayer, constituted the body of 
 the synagogue worship; and thus naturally furnished to the 
 primitive Christian congregations a model of divine service. To 
 complete the stated public worship of God it only remained that 
 the teachings of Christ and his apostles should be added to the 
 words of Moses and the prophets. This came in the fullness of 
 time, and is our rich inheritance from the past. 
 
542 BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 CHAPTER XXVIII. 
 
 THE TABERNACLE AND ITS FURNITURE. 
 
 I. STRUCTURE OF THE TABERNACLE AND COURT. 
 
 1. THE Divine command to Moses (Exod. 25 : 8), " Let them 
 make me a sanctuary ; that I may dwell among them," gives the 
 essential idea of a sanctuary, and that for all time. It is a house 
 built for God, that he may dwell in it, and manifest himself 
 there to his people. In his essential presence, Gpd dwells in no 
 temple made with hands, "seeing the heaven and heaven of 
 heavens* cannot contain him." But in his manifested presence 
 that is, in the revelations which he makes to men of his own 
 character and works, and of their duties to him he can and 
 does Swell in human temples, where his servants worship him 
 through the ordinances of his appointment. 
 
 2. The Israelitish tabernacle, as described by Moses (Exod., 
 chap. 25, seq.), was very simple in its structure. Its framework 
 for three sides the north, south, and west consisted of boards 
 standing upright, side by side (rather planks than boards, but we 
 retain the familiar term of our version), and making an enclo 
 sure for these three sides, ten cubits high, thirty cubits long from 
 east to west, and ten cubits wide. The eastern end, which con 
 stituted the front, had only a veil suspended from five pillars. 
 This enclosure of thirty cubits by ten with a height of ten 
 cubits was then divided by a rich veil, running parallel to the 
 two ends and supported by four pillars, into the outer sanctuary 
 or holy place, twenty cubits by ten, and the inner sanctuary, or 
 lioly of holies, ten cubits in each of its three dimensions. Each 
 of the upright boards had two projections or "tenons" at its 
 lower end, and underneath were two sockets of silver, one for 
 each tenon. Though not stated by Moses, it is manifest that 
 there was, in the words of Josephus (Antiq., 3. 6. 3) " a hole in 
 
I LAX OF THK TABERNACLE. 
 
 HIGH -PRIEST AND BREASTPLATE. 
 
THE TABERNACLE AND ITS FURNITURE. 543 
 
 each socket for receiving the tenon." These walls were further 
 strengthened on the outside by bars running crosswise through 
 rings of gold. 
 
 Shlttim-wood was employed for the woodwork of the tabernacle and its 
 furniture throughout. It is agreed on all hands that this was a species 
 of acacia, growing in the Arabian peninsula. No acacia-trees are found 
 in this region at present large enough to furnish planks of the length and 
 width ascribed to the boards of the tabernacle ten cubits by a cubit and a 
 half ; but we must remember that the primitive forests existing in Moses 
 day have long been destroyed. According to Theophrastus (Hist. Plant, 
 4. 3), boards were anciently cut from the Acacia twelve cubits in length ; 
 and Jerome says (on Joel, 3 : 18) : The trees are so great that very wide 
 planks (tabulata) may be .cut from them." It is not, therefore, necessary 
 to assume, as some do, that the boards of the tabernacle consisted of two 
 or more pieces joined together ; although this might be admitted, since in 
 the only passage out of the book of Exodus where the Hebrew word oc 
 curs (keresli, Ezek. 27 : 6) it denotes plank-work ; that is, planks joined to 
 gether composing the deck of a ship. Shittim-wood was every way suita 
 ble for the movable framework of the tabernacle, being, according to the 
 testimony of Jerome (ubi supra), "a veiy strong wood of incredible light 
 ness and beauty ;" and he adds, elsewhere (on Isa. 41 : 19), that it was not 
 subject to decay. . 
 
 The boards of the tabernacle, its bars, its pillars, and the woodwork of 
 its interior furniture were overlaid with gold, probably in very thin plates. 
 
 Moses gives ten cubits for the height of the boards, and a cubit and a 
 half for their width. Their thickness is nowhere stated. The rabbins as 
 sume that it was a cubit. The way in which they arrive at this extraordi 
 nary conclusion (in which they are followed by many modern scholars) is 
 plain. The sacred record tells us that on each side were twenty boards, 
 each a cubit and a half in breadth, which makes the required length of 
 thirty cubits. It further gives for the west or hind end, first, six boards, 
 and then, separately, two boards, one for each corner. Exod. 26 : 22, 23. 
 The six boards, being each a cubit and a half wide, make a wall of nine 
 cubits. Assuming now, as do the rabbins, that the two corner boards were 
 of the same width as the rest, we have for the entire west end twelve cu 
 bits, just enough to reach across from outside to outside, provided the 
 thickness of the side walls be taken at a cubit But we may well hesitate 
 to admit such an enormous thickness. How could such an immense mass 
 of timber with ah 1 "the bars thereof, and the pillars thereof, and the sock 
 ets thereof," and, in addition to these, "the pillars of the court round 
 about, and their sockets, and their pins, and their cords" (Numb. 4:31, 32), 
 be transported from place to place by the help of four wagons and eight 
 
544 BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 oxen, the number assigned to the sons of Merari (Numb. 7 : 8) for this ser 
 vice ? Even upon the lowest assumption for the length of a cubit, it is plain 
 that four wagons, drawn by four yoke of oxen, could not have transported 
 48 pieces of timber, each ten cubits long, a cubit and a half wide, and 
 a cubit thick, all of them overlaid with gold ; 9 pillars for the taberna 
 cle, ten cubits in length and overlaid with gold ; 60 pillars for the court, 
 five cubits in length ; 100 sockets of silver, weighing a talent each ; with 
 all the sockets, pins and cords of the court. Nor is it necessary to assume 
 such a thickness for these boards. The fact that the two comer boards are 
 mentioned separately allows us to assume that their width was determined 
 by the exigency of their position. Josephus says (ubi supra) that they 
 "were four fingers thick. This would make the width of the corner boards 
 half a cubit and four fingers. 
 
 Another hypothesis, based on the marginal rendering : they shall be 
 twinned, that is, doubled (Exod. 26 : 24), makes the corner boards to consist 
 each of two ports joined together at right angles with each other ; one part 
 on a line with the west end, the other on a line with the sides. But this 
 would of necessity make the length of the area of the tabernacle exceed 
 thirty cubits an objection which is not disposed of by making an allow 
 ance for the pillars that supported the veil between the inner and the outer 
 sanctuary (Keil and others) ; for these pillars did not constitute the sepa 
 rating wall. That was made by the veil, which must have hung on the one 
 side of them or on the other, and have constituted the limit of the apartments 
 on each side. Sec Ba hr, Symbolik 1, p. 59, who explains the words, "they 
 shall be coupled or doubled to one ring" (Exod. 26 : 24) to mean that where 
 the corner boards meet each a side board the two shall be firmly joined to 
 gether above and below by one ring let into each. 
 
 The silver sockets weighed each a talent. Exod. 38 : 27. Some sup 
 pose that they were of a quadrangular form ; others that they were pointed 
 or wedge-shaped beneath, so as to be sunk into the earth. So Josephus, 
 who compares them (Antiq. , 3. 6. 2) to the spike at the butt end of a spear. 
 
 There were five bars on each side running through rings on the outside 
 of the boards. Of these it is said that "the middle bar in the midst of the 
 boards shall reach from end to end." Exod. 26 : 28. According to Josephus 
 (ubi supra), the middle bar at the west end projected somewhat each way, 
 and received into holes provided for the purpose the middle bars of the 
 sides, by which means the sides and ends were bound firmly together. It 
 is natural to suppose that the other four bars on each side extended half 
 the length of the tabernacle, and were placed end to end in two lines ; so 
 that there were three rows of bars, not five, as represented by Lundius and 
 others. So Jarchi (on Exod. 26 : 26), who, however, makes the unnecessary 
 supposition that the middle bar passed not on the outside through rings 
 provided for it, but through Jhc substance of the boards. 
 
THE TABERNACLE AND ITS FURNITURE. 545 
 
 3. We come next to the covering of the framework, which 
 was four-fold. 
 
 First : The innermost and by far the richest covering, which is 
 called emphatically the tabernacle (Exod. 26:1, 6, 7; 36:8, 14), 
 consisted of the curtains made of fine twined linen, with blue, 
 and purple, and scarlet, and cherubim, the work of the cunning 
 workman. The length of each curtain was twenty-eight cubits, 
 an4 its width four cubits, a convenient width for weaving. They 
 were then joined (probably by sewing, as Jarchi suggests, on 
 Exod. 26:3) into two compound curtains, consisting each of five 
 pieces, and therefore twenty cubits in width. The provision for 
 fastening these together, when the tabernacle was set up, is thus 
 stated by Moses (Exod. 26 : 4-6), according to the most approved 
 rendering of the text: "And thou shalt make loops of blue on 
 the edge of the one curtain" (one compound curtain), "on the 
 border of the coupling" (on its edge where it is coupled to the 
 other compound curtain) ; " and so shalt thou make in the edge 
 of the outermost curtain" (the curtain lying farthest from the 
 door of the sanctuary) "at the second coupling" (where this 
 second compound curtain is coupled to the first). "Fifty loops 
 shalt thou make in the one curtain, and fifty loops shalt thou 
 make in the border of the curtain which is at the second coupling" 
 (the border where the second compound curtain is coupled to the 
 first); " the loops shall be over against each other. And thou shalt 
 make fifty taches" (or clasps) "of gold, and thou shalt join the 
 curtains together with the taches, and it shall be one tabernacle." 
 
 Secondly : Over the innermost curtain was a second made of 
 goats hair, which is called, in distinction from the first, the tent. 
 Exod. 26 : 11, 12, 13> etc. This consisted of eleven curtains, each 
 thirty cubits long and four wide, united, like the preceding, into 
 two compound curtains; the one in front containing six single 
 pieces, and having, therefore, a width of twenty-four cubits ; the 
 other made of five pieces, with. a width of twenty cubits. These 
 two compound curtains were joined together by loops and brass 
 taches, when the tabernacle was erected, in the same manner as 
 the two parts of the inner curtain. 
 
546 BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 Thirdly: Over the curtain of goats hair was a covering of 
 rams skins dyed red, as our version rightly renders ; not as Lun- 
 dius, skins with the wool of rams having a reddish brown fleece. 
 
 FourtJdy : Over all was a covering of tahash skim, rendered 
 in our version badgers skins, but thought by many to have been 
 the skins of some species of marine animal that anciently 
 abounded in the Red sea, probably the seal or the dugong. 
 
 
 
 The symbolism of the inner curtain will be considered hereafter. We 
 add here a few remarks pertaining to its material structure. There has 
 been much controversy on the question whether this inner curtain was 
 made of linen or cotton, since the Hebrew word (shesh) seems to include 
 both. This question is discussed by Bahr (Symbolik, p. 263, seq.), Keil 
 (Archaologie, $ 17), and many other writers. We pass it by as of no par 
 ticular importance. It is generally agreed that the colored stuffs were of 
 wool. The blue ( hyacinth of the Septuagint and Vulgate) was a bluish or 
 cerulean purple, obtained from a species of shell-fish found in the Medi 
 terranean. The purple proper was a reddish purple obtained from another 
 species of shell-fish. The scarlet (including crimton) was a dye produced 
 from an insect (coccus ilicis) found in eastern countries. It is generally 
 agreed that these colors were inwoven, not embroidered. 
 
 4. Respecting the arrangement of these curtains there are 
 several discordant opinions. We give, first of all, the common, 
 and, as it seems to us, the preferable view : that the two inner 
 most compound curtains, called the tabernacle, were laid across 
 the framework of the tabernacle, side by side, and hung down 
 without on each of its sides. Being each twenty cubits in width, 
 the first would exactly cover the outer sanctuary, so that the line 
 of loops and taches, by which it was joined to the second or 
 hinder curtain, would come directly over the veil that separated 
 the outer from the inner sanctuary. Exod. 26 : 33. One-half of 
 the width of the hinder curtain would cover the inner sanctuary ; 
 while the remaining ten cubits would hang over the west end of 
 the framework, being prevented from reaching the ground by 
 the width of the boards, which may be assumed to have been 
 not over a quarter of a cubit. The curtains were twenty-eight 
 cubits in length. .Of this about ten and a half cubits would lie 
 over the sanctuary and the ends of the boards ; and the remain- 
 
THE TABERNACLE AND ITS FURNITURE. 547 
 
 der would hang down one-half on each side, the ends boing 
 somewhat more than a cubit from the ground. 
 
 The two compound curtains of goats hair were next laid on 
 so that their line of loops and taches coincided with that of the 
 inner curtains. The first of these curtains consisted, as we have 
 seen, of six pieces, only five of which were needed to cover the 
 outer sanctuary. The sixth superfluous piece was to be doubled 
 over in the fore-front of the tabernacle. Exod. 26 : 9. The sa 
 cred record adds (vers. 12, 13) : " And the remnant that remaineth 
 of the curtains of the tent, the half curtain that remaineth " (that 
 is, as we understand it, the half of the hindermost compound 
 curtain that remains after the innermost sanctuary is covered) 
 " shall hang over the back side of the tabernacle. And the cubit 
 on the one side, and the cubit on the other side of that which 
 remaineth in the length of the curtains of the tent" (which were 
 thirty cubits long, and therefore just a cubit longer on each side 
 than the innermost curtains underneath them) " shall hang over 
 the sides of the tabernacle on this side and on that side to cover 
 it." We understand by "the tabernacle" in this and the prece 
 ding verse, the innermost curtain, as in vers. 1, 6, 7 ; and thus all 
 is plain and consistent. 
 
 Various other arrangements have been assumed, which will 
 now be briefly noticed. 
 
 Bahr, Kiel, Fairbairn, and . others assume that the innermost curtain 
 hung down on the inside of the framework, being supported by rows of 
 hooks attached to the tops of the boards. Bahr maintains this view on 
 various grounds, among which are the following : that the innermost cur 
 tain is often called the tabernacle, as the second is the tent, because, as he 
 thinks, it constituted the tabernacle itself, that is, the inside of the same, 
 its walls of wood serving only as a framework to support it : and again, 
 that the inner sanctuary of Solomon s temple, which was modelled after 
 the tabernacle, was carved on the inside with images of cherubim. 1 Kings 
 6 : 29. We are willing to allow due weight to these two considerations. 
 But when he argues, further, that since this innermost curtain was the 
 most sumptuous and elaborate work of art belonging to the tabernacle it 
 is unreasonable to suppose that only the part overhead was allowed to be 
 visible, he takes a wrong view of the matter. The tabernacle and its fur- 
 
548 BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 niture were not simply works of art, made to please the eye of the be 
 holder, but they contained a holy symbolism. It is necessary that works 
 of art should be exposed to full view ; but all that is needful in the case of 
 material symbols is that their structure be known, as that of these could 
 be from the reading of the law and the reports of the officiating priests. 
 The power of symbols is increased by a degree of concealment. In 
 truth, the deepest symbol within the tabernacle, the ark of the covenant 
 with its overshadowing cherubim, was seen only once a year by the high 
 priest ; and the interior of the ark, overlaid as it was with gold, and con 
 taining the two tables of the law, written with the finger of God, was hid 
 from even his view. Whatever weight there may be in the above-named 
 arguments of Bahr, and others which he adduces, it is, as it seems to us, 
 overborne by the plain words of the record above quoted (Exod. 26 : 13), 
 which are perfectly nafural and intelligible upon the supposition that the 
 curtains of goat s hair rested throughout upon the innermost curtains, but 
 not otherwise. 
 
 Ferguson, in an elaborate article in Smith s Bible Dictionary under the 
 word Temple, propounds a peculiar theory. According to him, the central 
 pillar at the front of the tabernacle was fifteen cubits in height, with a 
 corresponding pillar at the hind end, and probably an intermediate pillar 
 also ; and these pillars supported a ridge-pole over which the curtains 
 were thrown. Then he places on each side of the tabernacle a vei-andak, 
 five cubits wide. The result is the framework of a roof, the two slopes of 
 which are each almost exactly fourteen cubits wide, and meet at right an 
 gles to each other just width enough to be covered by the innermost cur 
 tains, wliile the curtains of goats hair must hang over them on each side 
 to the extent of a cubit. He further supposes, contrary to the plain mean 
 ing of the context, that "the middle bar in the midst of the boards," which 
 reaches from end to end (Exod. 26:28), is the ridge-pole above noticed, 
 understanding the words "in the midst of the boards" to mean not half 
 way between the top and the bottom but halfway between the north and 
 the south side ; whereas it is obvious from the connection that this middle 
 bar is one of the five bars named in the preceding verse. The main argu 
 ment for this arrangement is that there must be a roof to shed rain and 
 snow. It must be conceded that in Palestine, during the rainy season, 
 . some provision for carrying off water from the roof of the tabernacle was 
 necessary. But could not the priests who had charge of it have provided 
 for this exigency in some less cumbersome way ? 
 
 "The pins .of the tabernacle" (Exod. 27 : 19 ; 35 : 18), which are dis 
 tinguished from "the pins of the court," are apparently the pins used in 
 making fast the coverings of the tabernacle which we have been consider 
 ing. The necessity of these, at least for the outer coverings, is obvious. 
 
THE TABERNACLE AND ITS FURNITURE. 549 
 
 5. The tabernacle was enclosed in an open court one hundred 
 cubits long by fifty in width. The enclosure consisted of curtains 
 five cubits high suspended by hooks from pillars resting on s< >ck- 
 ets of brass and " filleted with silver " at the top ; that is, connected 
 at the top by fillets or slender silver rods running from one pillar 
 to another. The curtains were made simply of "fine twined 
 linen," with the exception of the gate on the eastern side which 
 was twenty cubits wide, and adorned with a rich veil "of blue, 
 and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen, wrought with 
 needlework." Exod. 27 : 16. 
 
 The wood of which the pillars were made is not specified. Doubtless 
 it was sliittim-wood. They had "chapiters," that is, ornamented heads, 
 overlaid with -silver. -Exod. 38 : 19. There were 20 pillars on each side, 
 and 10 on each end. This gives 60 pillars in all, provided the corner-pil 
 lars be each reckoned once only. This is manifestly the true mode of reck 
 oning, since it gives exactly five cubits for the spaces between the pillars. 
 If we begin, namely at one corner, and measure around the court, placing 
 a pillar for every five cubits of distance, we shall have at the end of the 
 circuit, where the last pillar is placed, just 60 in all. 
 
 The position of the tabernacle within the court is not given. It is nat 
 ural to assume, after Philo (Vita Mos., 3, p. 668), that its front was 50 cu 
 bits from the entrance, and that it was equally distant from the north and 
 south side. " The tabernacle," says he, "was pitched in the midst [of the 
 court] , being thirty cubits long, while its boards had a breadth of ten cu 
 bits. It was equally distant from the court in three directions, those of 
 the two sides and that of the hind end, and this distance amounted to 
 twenty cubits. But in front, as was suitable on account of the multitude 
 of those that entered, there was the larger interval of fifty cubits." 
 
 II. THE FURNITURE OF THE TABERNACLE. 
 
 6. We begin with the holy of holies. Here was the ark of the 
 covenant (Exod. 25 : 10, seq.), so-called because in it were depos 
 ited the two tables of the law which contained summarily the 
 terms of the covenant made by God with his chosen people. 
 Exod. 25 : 16. It was, therefore, the most sacred piece of furni 
 ture belonging to the tabernacle, and above it was, as we shall 
 see, the peculiar dwelling-place of Jehovah. The ark was a chest 
 of sliittim-wood, two and a half cubits long, and a cubit and a 
 
550 BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 a half in width and depth. It was overlaid within and without 
 with pure gold, and had an ornamental cornice of gold around its 
 upper margin. It was further fitted with four gold rings, one at 
 each corner, and therefore two on a side. Through these were 
 passed two staves of shittim-wood overlaid with gold, by which 
 it was borne when the Israelites journeyed from one place to 
 another. The direction concerning these staves, that they " shall 
 be in the rings of the ark; they shall not be taken from it" 
 (ver. 15), seems to mean, when compared with Numb. 4 : 8, that 
 when the ark is in its place in the holy of holies, the staves shall 
 be in the rings. They were apparently taken out in the process 
 of covering it for removal. 
 
 Above the ark was placed a lid of pure gold, of the same 
 length and breadth, which is called in our version, the mercy- 
 seat. This expression represents the words employed in the 
 Greek and Latin versions, both of which mean place of propiiiar- 
 twn and there can be no reasonable doubt that they truly ex 
 press the meaning of the original Hebrew word (kapporeth), a 
 term applied only to this cover of the ark, on and before which 
 was. sprinkled the blood of propitiation on the great day of 
 atonement, to " make propitiation for the holy place, because of 
 the uncleanness of the children of Israel, and because of their 
 transgressions in all their sins." Lev. 16 : 14^-16. Above the 
 mercy-seat, at its two ends, were placed the two cherubim, which 
 are thus described (Exod. 25 : 18-20) : " And thou shalt make 
 two cherubim of gold, of beaten work shalt thou make them, at 
 the two ends of the mercy-seat. And make thou one cherub at 
 the one end and one cherub at the other end. Of the mercy- 
 seat shalt thou make the cherubim" (that is, apparently, thou 
 shalt make them as inseparable parts of its substance) "at the 
 two ends thereof. And the cherubim shall spread forth their 
 wings above, covering the mercy-seat with their wings ; and their 
 faces shah 1 be towards each other; towards the mercy-seat shall 
 the faces of the cherubim be " (that is, their faces shall be to 
 wards each other, and at the same time inclined towards the 
 mercy-seat). Hence we infer that the two wings of each cherub 
 
ARK OF THE COVENANT. 
 
 INCENSE-ALTARS. 
 
 ALTAR OF BURNT-OFFERINGS. 
 
 TABLE OF SHOW-BUEAD. 
 
 rx; CANDLESTICK. 
 
THE TABEKNACLE AND ITS FURNITURE. 551 
 
 were spread upward and forward so as to meet those of the 
 other cherub over the middle of the mercy-seat. Different from 
 this was the arrangement of the two great cherubim in Solomon s 
 temple. 1 Kings, 6 : 27. Between the cherubim over the mercy- 
 seat was the shekinah, that is, dwelling-place of Jehovah. See 
 further in No. 19 below. 
 
 The mercy-seat, as covering the ark, may be called a lid. But we must 
 not conceive of it as simply a cover, and so a mere appendage to the ark. 
 On the contrary, it was coordinate with it in importance, constituting with 
 it, as we shall see hereafter, one glorious symbol. The rendering propitia 
 tory, or place of propitiation, is in full accordance with the Hebrew form of 
 the word (from the Piel form kipper, to atone). 
 
 The meaning of these cherubic figures will be considered in another 
 place. As to their particular form we have little light. The cherubim of 
 Ezekiel s vision (chap. 1) had each four faces of a man, of a lion, of an 
 ox, and of an eagle. In the book of Revelation (chap. 4) these four faces 
 are distributed among the four living creatures, one to each. From the 
 words of Ezekiel (chap. 10 : 14) : "And every one had four faces ; the first 
 face was the face of a cherub, and the second face was the face of a man, 
 and the third the face of a lion, and the fourth the face of an eagle," 
 where "the face of a cherub" manifestly corresponds to "the face of an 
 ox" (chap. 1 : 10), we infer that the Hebrew cherub ordinarily had but one 
 face, and that the face of an ox. Ideal winged beings were familiar to the 
 ancients, as we learn from the Egyptian and Assyrian monuments, on 
 which appear winged men, and quadrupeds with the heads of eagles, 
 winged asps, winged bulls with human heads, etc. It would seem that 
 God took the general idea of winged symbolic beings already known to 
 the covenant people, ennobled it, spiritualized it, and removed it from 
 all approach to idolatrous worship. The Egyptians had their sacred arks 
 surmounted by winged figures, but containing within a cat, crocodile, or 
 serpent, as an object of worship. Clement, of Alexandria, quoted in Wil 
 kinson s Ancient Egyptians, 5. 275. But the ark of the covenant contained 
 only the Divine law, written on two tables of stone, and hidden from all 
 eyes ; and above God dwelt not icithin the cherubim, but between them ; 
 
 not in any material form, but invisible to mortal eyes. 
 
 
 
 7. In the outer sanctuary, before the veil that separated it 
 from the holy of holies, stood the table of shoicbread on the 
 north side, the golden candlestick on the south side, and the 
 golden altar of incense Between them. Exod. 40 : 22-26. 
 
 In describing these we begin with the golden altar of incense. 
 
552 BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 Exod. 30 : 1, seq. This was made of shittim-wood, a cubit square 
 at top and bottom, and two cubits in height, with horns at the 
 corners. It was overlaid throughout with gold, and had also a 
 golden border round about, underneath which on two opposite 
 sides (not corners) were two golden rings for the staves by which 
 it was borne. These staves were made of shittim-wood and over 
 laid with gold. Upon this Aaron was commanded to burn in 
 cense every morning and evening when he trimmed the lamps, 
 and to make an atonement on the horns of it once a year, on the 
 great day of atonement, with the blood of the sin-offerings. It 
 was not to be used for any burnt-sacrifice, oblation, or drink- 
 offering. Exod. 30 : 7-10 ; Lev. 16 : 18, 19. 
 
 The office of burning incense fell, in process of time, to the regular 
 courses of priests, and was determined daily by lot. See on this point 
 Liglitfoot, on Luke 1 : 8, 9. 
 
 8. The table of showbread (Exod. 25 : 23, seq.) was of shittim- 
 wood overlaid with gold, a cubit and a half in height, two cubits 
 in length, and one in breadth. The border or "enclosing" (mis- 
 gereth) of a hand-breadth round about (ver. 25), is most natu 
 rally understood of a framework immediately under the leaf of 
 the table, which served as a support to the legs, as in our modern 
 tables. The border was ornamented with a golden crown round 
 about. Whether this was the same as the golden crown to the 
 table mentioned in the preceding verse, or the table and its bor 
 der had each a crown, is a point on which the Jewish rabbins are 
 not agreed. Each of the feet had a ring of gold for the staves 
 by which it was borne. "Over against the border ".(rather near 
 by the border, being directly under it) "shall the rings be for 
 places of the staves to bear the table" (ver. 27). The sacred 
 record mentions (ver. 29), as apparatus for tlie table, four kinds 
 of vessels, the exact form of which is uncertain. "We may, per 
 haps, render : " dishes, cups, cans, and libation-bowls." 
 
 Upon the table were placed every Sabbath twelve loaves (Heb., 
 halloth, cakes manifestly of a flat form), ^vhich were arranged in 
 two rows (Heb., order-ings), consisting each of six loaves laid one 
 
THE TABKKNACLE AND ITS FURNITURE. 553 
 
 upon another, with pure frankincense upon each row. AVhen the 
 new bread was brought into the sanctuary, the old was removed, 
 its frankincense burned for a " a memorial, a fire-offering to Je 
 hovah," and the priests then ate it in the holy place as a most 
 holy thing. See Lev. 24 : 5-9. When David and the young men 
 that were with him ate of this bread (1 Sam. 21 : 3-6), they vio 
 lated the letter of the law, as the Saviour concedes. Matt.12 : 4 ; 
 Mark 2 : 25, 26. Their justification lay in the exigency of the 
 case. Their life was of more value than a rite. Matt. 12 : 7. 
 
 On the Arch of Titus is a representation of the table of showbread 
 belonging to the sacred temple. It has a border running round it, but not 
 rising above the leaf ; also, apparently, the remains of another border 
 around the middle of the legs. Since the table was fixed in one place, 
 its legs had no rings. 
 
 The bread is called bread of the presence, that is, of Jehovah s presence 
 (Exod. 25 : 30 ; 35 : 13 ; 39 : 36 ; 1 Sam. 21 : 7 Eng. version 21 : 6 ; 1 Kings 
 7 :48 ; 2 Chron. 4 : 19); but in the later books more commonly bread of the 
 ordering (1 Chron. 9 : 32 ; 23 : 29 ; Neh. 10 : 34^Eng. version 10: 33), or the 
 ordering of bread (2 Chrpru 13 : 11). For its symbolical meaning, see below. 
 
 Each loaf contained two tenth deals of fine flour (in all probability un 
 leavened, according to the Jewish tradition). If, as seems natural, we 
 understand here two tenth parts of an ephah (which is generally reckoned 
 at about three pecks), we shall find that the loaves were of great size, and 
 that no other arrangement was practicable except that given by the rab 
 bins an arrangement in two piles. 
 
 9. The golden candlestick, so called (Exod. 25 : 31, seq.), was a 
 lamp-stand consisting of an upright shaft (Heb., kane), restmg 
 upon a pedestal (yarekh). This shaft, with its lamp at the top, 
 is the part repeatedly called the candlestick (menbrali) in the de 
 scription. From it there branched out at intervals three pairs of 
 shafts, which we are to conceive of as curving upward, with a 
 lamp at the summit of each, making seven lamps in all. It is 
 expressly said that three branches came out of the one side of 
 the upriglit shaft, and three out of the other the opposite side 
 (ver. 32) ; so that the seven lamps formed a line, which we may 
 assume to have been level with the horizon. Each branch was 
 ornamented with three almond-like bowls, with a knob and a 
 flower (ver. 33) ; where we are to understand a knob and a flower 
 
 Geog. & Anil ]. J4 
 
554 BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 for each bowl, since that was the arrangement in the main shaft 
 (ver. 34). An almond-like bowl probably means a bowl made 
 like the flower of an almond. The knobs were ball-like protu 
 berances. The rabbins call them apples ; Josephus, pomegrtni< f<H. 
 The main shaft had four bowls with their knobs and flowers. 
 One knob was under each pah: of branches, and the fourth ap 
 parently above them, immediately under the lamp. To the can 
 dlestick belonged two instruments, which may be rendered .v// of 
 fers (Eng. version tongs, for the same use) and snuff-dishes. The 
 size of the candlestick was sufficiently determined by the direc 
 tion : " Of a talent of gold shall it be made with all these vessels" 
 (ver. 39). "From this mass of gold a lamp-stand made hollow 
 could be formed of considerable size." Keil, on Exod. 25 : 39. 
 
 . The golden candlestick is also exhibited, though in an imperfect condi 
 tion, on the arch of Titus. It conforms in general to the above descrip 
 tion. Surprise has been expressed at the existence on the pedestal of this 
 lamp of eagles and marine monsters ; and this fact has been thought to 
 cast suspicion on the accuracy of the copy. But.under the auspices of 
 Herod the Great, who virtually rebuilt the temple, such figures may have 
 been allowed, being regarded simply as ornaments. 
 
 10. In the court in front of the tabernacle were the bra 
 zen altar for sacrifice (Exod. 27 : 1, seq.) and the laver (Exod. 
 30:17, seq.). 
 
 The brazen altar, called also the altar of burnt offering (Exod. 
 4(ff 10), was a hollow frame of shittim-wood, five cubits square 
 and three cubits high, with horns at the four corners. It was 
 overlaid throughout with brass. The sacred record adds (Exod. 
 27:4, 5) : " Ami tliou shalt make for it a grate of network of brass ; 
 and thou shalt make upon the network four rings of brass upon 
 its four corners. And thou shalt put it under the circuit" (Heb., 
 I lirkoWi, a margin or projecting ledge running round the altar) "of 
 the altar beneath, and the network shall be unto" (shall reach 
 unto) "the half of the altar" (that is, the half of the altar in 
 height, or the middle of the altar). Some have supposed that 
 this grate of network was placed within the altar as a receptacle 
 for the wood of the sacrifice. But in this case it could not well 
 
THE TABERNACLE AND ITS FURNITURE. 555 
 
 have been sunk halfway down ; and besides it contained the rings 
 for the staves by which the altar was borne (vers. 6, 7), a decisive 
 proof that it was without the altar. Of those who adopt this 
 latter view, some, as Jonathan (in his Targnni), make the grate 
 horizontal. But the more common opinion is that the projecting 
 ledge around the middle of the altar was horizontal, and of a 
 width sufficient to allow the priests to walk on it in their minis 
 trations ; while the network ran around the altar parallel to its 
 four sides, and extended upward from the ground 011 which it 
 rested to the outer margin of the ledge, thus furnishing a sup 
 port to it. Compare the two offsets or terraces (Eng. version, 
 settles) of the altar in Ezekiel s vision (chap. 43:13-17). The 
 prohibition to go up by steps to God s altar was on the ground 
 of decorum (Exod. 20 : 26), and did not forbid ascent by a slope. 
 By such a sloping ascent the priests ascended, according to Jose- 
 phus (Jewish War, 5. 5. 6), to the altar of Herod s temple, which 
 was fifteen cubits high. 
 
 The interior of the altar, being empty in journeying, was filled 
 with earth whenever the people encamped; and this was, as 
 Jarchi remark s (on Exod. 27 : 5) the very altar of earth prescribed 
 by God himself, the framework of boards serving simply to hold 
 the earth on which the wood and the victim were laid. 
 
 The apparatus for the ajtar consisted of pans to receive the 
 ashes, shovels, basins for receiving and sprinkling the blood of the 
 victims, fiesh-hooks, for tending the sacrifices, and fire-pans; all of 
 brass. 
 
 11. The directions for making the laver (Exod. 30 : 17, seq.) 
 are of the most general kind. " Thou shalt also make a laver of 
 brass, and its foot " (Heb., kannb, its base) " of brass ; and thou shalt 
 put it between the tabernacle of the congregation and the altar, 
 and thou shalt put water therein. And Aaron and his sons shall 
 wash their feet therefrom" (that is, manifestly, with water drawn 
 therefrom). "When they go into the tabernacle of the congrega 
 tion, they shall wash with water that they die not ; or when they 
 come near to the altar to minister, to burn offering made by fire 
 unto the Lord." It has been suggested with much probability, 
 
556 BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 that the base was itself receiver for water drawn from the laver 
 above, and that here the priests washed. 
 
 In Exod. 38 : 8 we are told that Bezaleel made the laver of brass, and 
 its base of brass, with the mirrors of the assembling women who assem 
 bled" (or, the serving women who served, as in 1 Sam. 2 :22) "at the door 
 of the tabernacle of the congregation." The common understanding of 
 these words, namely, that the laver and its base were made from the mir 
 rors, is preferable to that of B ahr and others : "he made the laver of brass, 
 and its base of brass with the mirrors of the women ;" that is, having made 
 the utensil of brass, he furnished it with "mirrors of the women." But 
 to what end would this be done ? 
 
 12. We bring our account of the furniture of the tabernacle 
 to a close by a notice of the holy anointing oil and the holy siveet 
 incense. 
 
 For the anointing oil Moses is directed to take, according to 
 the most probable rendering of the original (Exod. 30 : 23, seq.), 
 "spices the most excellent, pure myrrh" (literally, myrrh that 
 flows of its own accord, which was regarded as the best) "five 
 hundred [shekels] ; and fragrant cinnamon half as much, two 
 hundred and fifty [shekels] ; and sweet calamus," two hundred 
 and fifty [shekels] ; and cassia" (Heb., kctsiah, a bark resembling 
 cinnamon), "five hundred [shekels], after the shekel of the sanc 
 tuary; and of olive oil a hin" (about. five quarts, the shekel being 
 about half an ounce avoirdupois). Of these a holy anointing oil 
 was to be made " after the art of the apothecary," to be employed 
 exclusively in consecrating the sanctuary and its furniture, and 
 the high priest and his sons. All compounds like it for private 
 use were forbjdden on pain of death. 
 
 13. For the composition of the sweet incense, the direction 
 was (Exod. 30:34, seq.): "Take unto thee sweet spices; stacte" 
 (either the gum-resin of myrrh, or a species of storax gum-resin), 
 " and onycha " (the shell of a species of muscle, which, when 
 burned, emits a musky odor; but some, as Jarchi, understand 
 the Hebrew word to signify an aromatic root of some kind), " and 
 galbanum " (a resinous substance of a strong odor, but whether 
 the gum-resin called galbanum by us is doubtful) ; " these sweet 
 
THE TABERNACLE AND ITS FURNITURE. 557 
 
 spices and pure frankincense" (the well-known fragrant gum- 
 resin of India) ; " of each shall there be a like weight" (or, each 
 part shall be prepared separately). "And thou shalt make it an 
 incense, a composition after the art of the apothecary, salted, 
 pure, and holy. And thou shalt beat some of it small, and put 
 some of it before the testimony, in the tent of the congregation 
 where I will meet with thee ; it shall be unto you most holy." 
 As in the case of the holy anointing oil, the people were forbid 
 den to make any composition like it for private use, under pen 
 alty of death. This was the sweet incense burned on the golden 
 altar. 
 
 III. REMOVAL OF THE TABERNACLE AND ITS 
 FURNITURE. 
 
 14. " God is not the author of confusion," says the apostle ; 
 and upon this he grounds the precept : " Let all things be done 
 decently, and in order " (1 Cor. 14 : 33, 40) a precept by which 
 he carried over into the Christian congregations the great prin 
 ciple of order that pervaded the old Mosaic economy. All the 
 arrangements for tlie journeying of the Israelities in the wilderness, 
 and for the transfer of the tabernacle and its furniture from place 
 to place, were marked by the same order and decorum that pre 
 vailed in the ritual of religious service. First, in the inner cir 
 cle, immediately around the tabernacle and its court, pitched 
 the priests and Levites. Then, in the outer circle, the tribes 
 pitched in a prescribed order on the east side, Judah, Issachar, 
 and Zebulun ; on the south side, Keuben, Simeon, and Gad ; on 
 the west side, Ephraim, Manasseh, and Benjamin ; on the north 
 side, Dan, Asher, and Naphtali (Numb., chap. 2) ; and every un 
 clean person w r as removed without the limits of the camp (Numb. 
 5 : 1-4). Two silver trumpets were provided " for the calling of 
 the assembly, and for the journeying of the camps;" and the 
 manner of blowing them for each of these purposes was pre 
 scribed. Numb. 10 : 1, seq. When the congregation journeyed 
 the order was : first, the three tribes that pitched on the east 
 side ; then the Levites belonging to the families of Gershon and 
 Merari with the tabernacle (see below) ; next, the three tribes of 
 
558 BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 the south side ; after them the Levites of the families of Kohath, 
 with the sanctuary (see below) ; then the three tribes of the west 
 side; and, finally, the three tribes of the north side. Numb., 
 chap. 10. 
 
 15. Every priestly function belonged to Aaron and his sons ; 
 while the Levites were solemnly presented before them that they 
 might minister to them and " do the service of the tabernacle." 
 Numb. 3 : 5-13. The several parts of this service were distrib 
 uted among them in an orderly way, as follows : 
 
 Before the tabernacle on the east side, which was the most 
 honorable place, pitched Moses and Aaron and his -sons, "keeping 
 the charge of the sanctuary. Numb. 3 : 38. The record adds 
 (Numb. 4 : 16) that " to the office of Eleazar the son of Aaron the 
 priest pertaineth the oil for the light, and the sweet incense, and 
 the daily oblation" (unbloody offering), "and the anointing oil; 
 the oversight of all the tabernacle, and of all that therein is, in 
 the sanctuary and in its vessels." This work, as also the super 
 vision of the Kohathites, was laid upon him as chief of all the 
 Levites. Numb. 3 : 32. 
 
 The next place in dignity, as we infer from the order in which 
 the tribes marched, was the south side ; and here accordingly 
 were stationed the Kohathites, who had charge of the most sa 
 cred things " the ark, and the table, and the candlestick, and 
 the altars" (the golden altar and the brazen altar, probably the 
 laver also), " and the vessels of the sanctuary wherewith they 
 minister, and the hanging " (the inner veil that separated the 
 holy of holies from the outer sanctuary), " and all the service 
 thereof." Numb. 3 : 31. 
 
 Next in order were the Gershonitcs, behind the tabernacle on 
 the west side. They had charge of all the curtains and cover- 
 Jings pertaining to the tabernacle and its court, with the excep 
 tion of the inner veil above specified ; and also of the cords be 
 longing to the curtain for the door of the court. Numb. 3 : 25, 26. 
 
 The sons of Merari pitched on the north side of the taber 
 nacle, and to them was assigned the heaviest service the boards, 
 bars, pillars, and sockets of the tabernacle, with all the imple- 
 
THE TABERNACLE AND ITS FURNITURE. 559 
 
 nieiits pertaining to them ; also the pillars of the court, with their 
 sockets, pins, and cords. Numb. 3 : 36, 37. 
 
 To the sons of Gershon were given, for their part of the ser 
 vice, two wagons and four oxen ; to the sons of Merari, four wag 
 ons and eight oxen. The sons of Kohath had no oxen or wag 
 ons, as they bare upon their shoulders the burdens assigned to 
 them. Numb. 7:6-9. 
 
 16. Although the Kohathites were the bearers of the most 
 holy things, the work of preparing them for removal belonged to 
 the priests alone. The Kohathites were not permitted to enter 
 the sanctuary or to see when the holy things were covered, under 
 penalty of death. Numb. 4 : 18-20. They were most beautiful 
 and precious ; but they were not mere works of art made to be 
 gazed upon and admired. They were shadows of good things 
 to come hidden from all eyes but those of the officiating priests. 
 Undoubtedly their sacredness was enhanced in the minds of the, 
 people by their perpetual concealment. But this can hardly 
 have been the only end proposed by the divine wisdom. " The 
 heavenly things themselves," of w T hich they were "figures" (Heb. 
 9 : 23, 24), were as yet mysteries awaiting their explanation in 
 the fulness of time ; and it w^as most suitable that the types 
 themselves should be covered from the eyes of the multitude. 
 Of this principle we have a significant hint in the epistle to the 
 Hebrews (9 : 7, 8) : "Into the second" (the inner sanctuary) "en 
 ters the high priest alone once a year, not without blood, which 
 he offers for himself and for the errors of the people ; the Holy 
 Ghost this signifying that the way into the most holy place is 
 not yet made manifest, while the first tabernacle is yet standing." 
 
 A solemn majesty pervades the directions given to the priests in the 
 fourth, chapter of Numbers for the preparation of these articles. When the 
 camp sets forward, Aaron and his sons are to cover the ark with the veil 
 that hangs before it, put upon it a covering of badgers skins, spread over 
 this a cloth wholly blue, and put in its- staves. Upon the table of show- 
 bread they are to spread a cloth of blue, put upon it all the vessels belong 
 ing to it with the showbread, spread upon them a cloth of scarlet, put over 
 this a covering of badgers skins, and put in its staves. The candlestick, 
 with its oil- vessels and all the implements belonging tc it, is to be wrapped 
 
560 BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 in a cloth of blue ; this is to be put in a covering of badgers skin- 
 the whole put upon a bar. The golden altar is to be covered first with a 
 cloth of blue, then with a covering of badgers skins, and its staves put in 
 order. "All the instruments of ministry, wherewith they minister in the 
 sanctuary," are to be put in a cloth of blue, covered with a covering of 
 badgers skins, and put on a bar. After they have cleansed the bra/ru 
 altar of its ashes, they are to spread a purple cloth upon it, lay upon this 
 all its implements, spread over the whole a covering of badgers skins, and 
 put its staves in order. No directions are given for the removal of the 
 laver. The reader will notice that every article of furniture pertaining to 
 the sanctuary was covered externally with badgers skins, except the ark of 
 the covenant. This was distinguished from all the rest by a covering 
 wholly of blue, perhaps as an emblem of the heavenly firmament wln-ro 
 God resides, his earthly dwelling-place being between the cherubim that 
 overshadowed the ark. 
 
 It is to be understood that upon encamping the Kohathites delivered 
 the holy things again to Aaron and his sons, to be by them set in order. 
 No particular directions are given for the two other divisions of the Le- 
 yites, the sons of Gershon and Merari. It is simply said that they are 
 to act "under the hand of Ithaniar the son of Aaron the priest." Vers. 
 28, 33. 
 
 IV. SYMBOLISM OF THE TABERNACLE AND ITS 
 FURNITURE. 
 
 17. The Mosaic economy in all its parts was " a shadow of 
 good things to come." Heb. 10 : 1. We have in this declara 
 tion of God s word the key to the symbolical meaning of the 
 tabernacle with its various appointments. It represented not 
 what we render to God by our services, but the good things 
 which he has provided for us hi the plan of redemption, and 
 which he bestows upon his sincere worshippers through the ordi 
 nances of his own appointment. Radically erroneous is the view 
 which regards the sacrifices, oblations, and - showbread as mere 
 scenic representations of the provision wliich the servants of a 
 monarch are accustomed to make for his table ; the sweet in 
 cense as an emblem of the homage paid to him, etc. " God is 
 not worshipped with men s hands, as though he needed anything, 
 seeing he giveth to all life, and breath, and all things." He does, 
 indeed, require us to worship him with reverence and godly fear 
 
THE TAHKKNACLJ: AXD ITS FURNITURE. 501 
 
 through the ordinances which he has appointed ; but it is that 
 we may be the receivers, not the givers. 
 
 In endeavoring to unfold the symbolism of the tabernacle and 
 its furniture, it is best to avoid minute details ; such, for exam 
 ple, as the meaning of the different colors in its curtains. When 
 we go into these particulars, without a warrant from som indi 
 cation of Scripture, we are in danger of substituting our own 
 ingenious speculations for the mind of the Holy Spirit. In types, 
 as in parables, the meaning often lies in a figure taken as a whole, 
 not in the dissection of its parts. 
 
 18. The tabernade as a whole was God s earthly dwelling- 
 place. " Let them make me," said he (Exod. 25 : 8), " a sanctu 
 ary ; that I may dwell among them." But God s true residence 
 is in heaven, as the Scripture affirms in hundreds of places. 
 The material tabernacle, made with men s hands, was then a type 
 of God s tabernacle above not made with hands. This idea is 
 exhibited with much beauty and force in the epistle to the He 
 brews. The Jewish high priest went once every year -into the 
 earthly holy of holies with the blood of bulls and goats, which he 
 sprinkled upon and before the mercy-seat to make expiation for 
 the sins of the people. Heb. 9 : 7 compared with Lev. 16 : 14, 15. 
 "With reference to this solemn rite the sacred penman says (Heb. 
 9 : 11, 12) : " Christ having come, a high priest of good things to 
 come" (a high priest through whose mediation we receive those 
 very " good things to come " which were shadowed forth in the 
 office of the Jewish high priest), "entered, once for all, through 
 the greater and more perfect tabernacle not made with hands, 
 that is to say, not of this creation" (not belonging to this mate 
 rial creation); "neither through the blood of goats and calves" 
 (as a medium of approach), "but through his own blood, into 
 the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us." As 
 the Jewish high priest went, year by year, through the earthly 
 sanctuary into the material holy of holies with the blood of 
 bulls and goats, to make theje in the presence of God, who 
 dwelt between the cherubim, a typical expiation for the sins of 
 the people ; so Christ has gone, once for all, through the heav- 
 
 2 * 
 
5G 2 BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 enly tabernacle into the true holy of holies, to present before his 
 Father s throne his own blood as a perfect expiation for the sins 
 of his people, thus obtaining eternal redemption for them. Again ; 
 the same writer, having referred to the fact that " almost all things 
 are, according to the law, purified in blood" (by means of blood), 
 "and without shedding of blood remission does not take place" 
 (Heb. 9 : 22), goes on to say (vers. 23, 24) : " It was therefore 
 necessary that the patterns" (representations or types) "of things 
 in the heavens" (that is, of the heavenly tabernacle with its high 
 realities) " should be purified with these " (with the blood of 
 material victims), " but the heavenly things themselves with bet 
 ter sacrifices than these. For Christ entered not into holy places 
 made with hands" (such as the earthly tabernacle with its outer 
 and inner sanctuary), "which are figures of the true" (the true 
 heavenly tabernacle), "but into heaven itself" (which is the true 
 tabernacle of God), " now to appear before God s face in our 
 behalf." 
 
 The* ailmomtion to Moses (Exod. 25:40 and elsewhere): "And look 
 that thou make them after the pattern which was showed thee in the 
 mount," refers, apparently, to a representation made to Moses in vision, 
 after which he was to make the tabernacle with its furniture. This vision 
 was an adumbration of heavenly realities in forms drawn from earthly 
 things ; so that the tabernacle itself, with- its appointments, being modelled 
 after it, was "a shadow of heavenly things." Heb. 8:5. It is not neces 
 sary to adopt the gross Jewish idea of an actual heavenly temple or taber 
 nacle after which the earthly tabernacle was to be made. 
 
 19. The tabernacle was God s earthly dwelling-place. "We 
 may call it the palace of the heavenly king. But a king s palace 
 has its audience-chamber, where he receives those who are per 
 mitted to come into his presence. In the Mosaic tabernacle the 
 S/H kinah, that is, the dwelling-place of Jehovah, was within the 
 veil in the inner sanctuary, between the wings of the cherubim 
 that overshadowed the mercy-seat. This we learn from the 
 original direction for the construction of the ark (Exod. 25 : 21, 
 22): "And thou shalt put the mercy-seat above upon the ail;; 
 and in the ark thou shalt put the testimony" (the two tables of 
 stone containing the ten commandments) " that I shall give thee. 
 
THE TABERNACLE AND ITS FURNITURE. . ;".r.:j 
 
 And there will I meet with thee, and I will commune with thee 
 from above the mercy-seat, fr<5in between the two cherubim which 
 are upon the ark of the testimony, of all things which I will give 
 thee in charge unto the children of Israel." In accordance with 
 these words God repeatedly promised that he would meet with 
 Moses at the mercy-seat (Exod. 30 : 36 ; Lev. 16:2; Numb. 
 17 : 4)- ; and after the dedication of the tabernacle and altar it is 
 recorded that " when Moses went into the tent of the congrega 
 tion to speak with him " (that is, with God), " he heard the voice 
 of one speaking unto him from off the mercy-seat that was upon 
 the ark of the testimony, from between the two cherubim ; and 
 he spake unto him " (Numb. 7 : 89). Hence Jehovah is described 
 in the Old Testament as he who dwells between the cherubim. 
 1, Sam. 4:4; 2 Sam. 6:2; 2 Kings 19:15; Isa. 37:16; Psa. 
 80 : 1 ; 99 : 1. In the ark beneath the mercy-seat were the two 
 tables of the divine law, God s presence overshadowing them 
 and keeping them inviolate. This signified that God is the foun 
 tain of law, and that they who approach him must come to him 
 as a holy lawgiver, in a reverential and obedient spirit. 
 
 We have retained the expression of our version, tabernacle of the congre 
 gation, though the rendering, tabernacle of meeting, would be more appro 
 priate. The meaning of the words can be gathered from a passage in the 
 book of Exodus (chap. 29 : 42-45), of which we give the literal rendering : 
 "It shall be a perpetual burnt-offering throughout your generations at 
 the door of the tent of meeting before Jehovah, where I will meet with 
 you to speak unto thee there. And I will meet there with the children 
 of Israel, and it [the tabernacle] shall be sanctified by my glory. And I 
 will sanctify the tent of meeting, and the altar : Aaron also and his sons 
 will I sanctify to minister to me as priests. And I will dwell among the 
 children of Israel, and I will be to them for a God." From these words it 
 is plain that, as the tabernacle itself is called a dwelling-place (Heb., mish- 
 Tcan) because God dwells in it, so also is it called the tent of meeting (some 
 times more fully, taber-nade of the tent of meeting, Exod. 40 : 6, 29), as being 
 the place where God meets and communes with his servants. 
 
 The cherubim appear everywhere as the ministers of God s will. Gen. 
 3 : 24 ; Ezek., chaps. 1, 10 ; Rev., chap. 4, seq. The cherubim of Ezekiel s 
 vision are the bearers of God s throne. They have four fronts a repre 
 sentation of the universality of their ministrations and they move instan 
 taneously in any required direction, according to the will of the divine 
 
">< >!: . BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 Spirit that pervades them, going and returning like a flash of lightning. 
 Their appearance is like burning coal* of fire, and they have each four 
 faces the faces of the four beings that stand severally at the head of the 
 four orders of living beings, according to the Hebrew division by which 
 seems to be represented the combination in them of all that is excellent in 
 created life. The four living creatures (that is, cherubim) of John s vision 
 have the four faces distributed among them ; and they, like the wheels in 
 Ezekiel s vision, are full of eyes the symbol of intelligence. They are 
 "in the midst of the throne and round about the throne," ascribing glory 
 to God, and executing his purposes. Chap. G : 1, 3, 5, 7; 15:7. "What 
 now do they represent ? Are they the heavenly pmcers exclusively, us in 
 the expression, "the Lord of hosts"? or the representation of "all that 
 has life on earth " (Hengstenberg on the Apocalypse, 4:6)? or something 
 more comprehensive the representation of all created living beings in heav 
 en and on earth, as standing under God s absolute control and ministering 
 to his will V This last seems to us the preferable view. 
 
 The cherubim that overshadow the mercy-seat have their faces looking 
 towards each other, consequently towards Jehovah who dwells between 
 them above the ark. Their faces are also bowed towards the mercy-seat. 
 This may represent either simply the posture of adoration, or the reveren 
 tial contemplation of that which the ark contains. The symbolism of the 
 cherubic figures upon the inner curtains of the tabernacle (Exod. 26 : 1), 
 and upon the inner veil of the sanctuary (Exod. 26 :31), is for substance 
 the same as that of the cherubim upon the mercy-seat. 
 
 20. In the outer sanctuary, before the veil that separated it 
 from the holy of holies, stood, as we have seen, on the south 
 side the golden candlestick with its seven lamps, and on tl^e 
 north side the table of showbread with its twelve loaves. These 
 typified the light and the life that come from God s presence 
 through the ordinances of his appointment ; and, since the end 
 of all these ordinances is the exhibition to our understanding 
 and heart of Jesus Christ crucified, they typified Christ as the 
 light of the world and the bread of life. Between them stood 
 the golden altar, on which the priests burned sweet incense every 
 morning and evening before the Lord. The burning of sweet in 
 cense is a natural symbol of prayer. In the book of Revelation 
 (chap. 5 : 8) the sweet incense (Eng. version sweet odors) is ex- 
 pivssly defined to be "the prayers of the saints." In accordance 
 with this view, the psalmist prays (Psa. 141 : 2) : "Let my prayer 
 
THE TABKUXACLK AND ITS PTJBNITUBE. -Mi." 
 
 be set forth before thee as incense; and the lifting up of niy hand.-; 
 as the evening sacrifice ;" where the ascent to heaven of both the 
 incense and the sacrifice in fire and smoke is a natural symbol 
 of presentation to God. But in the present instance it is the 
 priest who typifies Christ, interceding by the sweet incense in 
 behalf of God s people, so that the act is a solemn representation 
 of Christ s intercession, by which the prayers of believers are 
 made acceptable to God. Compare Rev. 8 : 3-5, where the in 
 cense makes "the prayers of all the saints" acceptable to God, 
 as is indicated by the symbolical transaction in ver. 5. There 
 . fire taken from the altar of sweet incense is cast upon the earth, 
 signifying that God is preparing to answer "the prayers of all 
 the saints " by judgments upon their persecutors. 
 
 The symbolism of the outer and inner veil of the sanctuary, 
 as also of the altar and laver, will be considered in connection 
 with that of the Aaronic priesthood and sacrifices. 
 
 21. For the symbolism of the materials employed in the con 
 struction of the tabernacle and its furniture, the reader is referred 
 to what is said in the Companion to the Bible, Chap. 37, No.^8, 
 under the head of ritual types. It is- there shown (1) that the 
 general predomness of the materials shadowed forth the excel 
 lence of God s service, and, by necessary consequence, the sacred- 
 ness of man s obligation to give to God the best of ah 1 that he 
 has ; (2) that the gradation so carefully observed in respect to 
 the costliness and splendor of the materials was made upon the 
 principle that God s presence constituted the glory of the- taber 
 nacle ; and that the closer the relation which its parts bore to 
 him, the greater was the glory with which they were invested. 
 
 22. Finally, when the tabernacle was reared up and conse 
 crated by anointing it with the holy oil (Exod. 40 : 9-11), the pillar 
 of cloud, the symbol of Jehovah s presence, " covered the tent of 
 the congregation, and the glory of Jehovah filled the tabernacle. 
 And Moses was not able to enter into the tent of the "congrega 
 tion, because the cloud dwelt upon it, and the glory of Jehovah 
 filled the tabernacle." Exod. 40 : 34, 35 ; Numb. 9 : 15 ;.and com 
 pare 1 Kings 8:10, 11; 2 Chron. 5 : 13 ; 7:2; Isa, 6:4; 
 
 
566 BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 15 : 8. This same cloud, the symbol of God s presence, guided 
 the Israelites in their journeyings throughout their forty years 
 pilgrimage in the wilderness. " When the cloud was taken up from 
 upon the tent, then after that the children of Israel journeyed ; 
 and in the place where the cloud abode, there the children of 
 Israel encamped." "Whether it were two days or a month or a 
 longer time, while the cloud prolonged its dwelling upon the tab 
 ernacle, the children of Israel abode in camp and did not jour 
 ney; but when it was taken up they journeyed " (Numb. 9:17, 
 22) a blessed symbol of the guidance which God vouchsafes to 
 his church, and to every true member of it, in the journey to the 
 heavenly Canaan. 
 
 The word sliekinah signifies simply dwelling-place; but inasmuch as Je 
 hovah s visible dwelling was in a cloud amid the brightness of fire (Exod. 
 19 : 9, 16, 18 ; 20 : 18, 21 ; 24 : 16-18; 40 : 38 ; etc.), the term was employed 
 by the later Jews to express his manifested presence in a cloud between 
 the wings of the cherubim that overshadowed the ark. That there was such 
 a manifestation in Moses day is plain from the words of God to Moses 
 (Lev. 16:2): "Speak unto Aaron, thy .brother, that he come not at all 
 times into the holy place within the veil, before the mercy-seat wliich is 
 upon the ark ; that he die not ; for I will appear in the cloud upon the 
 mercy-seat." How constant was this appearance during the continuance of 
 the ark, we will not venture to affirm. All are agreed that it was wanting 
 in the second temple wliich had not the ark. 
 
PEIESTHOOD, SACRIFICES AND OBLATIONS. 5C7 
 
 CHAPTEK XXIX. 
 
 THE PRIESTHOOD, SACRIFICES, AND OBLATIONS. 
 
 1. THE Aaronic priesthood, with its sacrifices and oblations, 
 is considered in the Companion to the Bible, Chap. 37, and to this 
 the reader is referred. We simply recapitulate the essential 
 points relating to the priesthood and sacrifices. 
 
 The Levitical priests typified Christ (1) in their possession of 
 of the same common human nature as those in whose behalf they 
 acted (Heb. 2 : 11, 14, 17, 18 ; 4 : 15 ; 5 : 1, 2) ; (2) in the fact that 
 they were appointed to their office by God (Heb. 5 : 4-6) ; (3) in 
 their being mediators between God and the people, not in a general 
 way, but (4) through the propitiatory sacrifices which they were 
 ordained to offer. Heb. 5:1; 7 : 27 ; 8:3; 9 : 12-28 ; 10 : 10-14. 
 
 The points of dissimilarity between the Levitical priests and 
 Christ, their great Antitype, by which the superior dignity and 
 efficacy of his priesthood were illustrated, are : (1) that they were 
 sinners, needing to offer sacrifice first for their own sins, and 
 then for the sins of the people (Heb. 5:3), while he was " holy, 
 harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and made higher than 
 the heavens " (Heb. 7 : 26) ; (2) that they were many, " because 
 they were not suffered to continue by reason of death," but he, 
 "because he continueth ever, hath an unchangeable priesthood" 
 (Heb. 7 : 23, 24) ; (3) that their offerings, being only typical, could 
 not make a true expiation for sin, and therefore needed to be 
 continually repeated, while Christ by his one offering, " perfected 
 for ever them that are sanctified" perfected them in respect to 
 the expiation of sin, which is the foundation on which the work 
 of personal sanctification rests. Heb. 10 : 11, 12. 
 
 Mediatorship between God and man through propitiatory 
 sacrifice constitutes the essence of priesthood. It is a false and 
 mischievous idea that there can be true mediating priests under 
 the Christian dispensation. The very supposition of their neces- 
 
568 BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 sity is an affront to the all-sufficient priesthood and sacrifice of 
 Christ. Believers all believers, people as well as ministers 
 are "a holy priesthood to offer up spiritual sacrifices," "the sac 
 rifice of praise to God continually" (1 Pet. 2:5; Heb. 13:15), 
 and these figurative sacrifices are the only ones known to the 
 New Testament. 
 
 In respect to sacrifices, the essential idea is making atonement 
 for sin by blood. " It is the blood that maketh an atonement for 
 the soul." Lev. 17 : 10, 11. The reason that the blood makes 
 atonement is that "the life of the flesh is in the blood." The life 
 of an innocent victim is offered to God instead of the life of the 
 sinner, and God accepts it as a vicarious propitiation. The sac 
 rifices of the Mosaic ritual were of various classes, each class 
 having its own accessory idea ; but underlying them all was the 
 fundamental idea of propitiation through blood. In the Levitical 
 sacrifices the propitiation was typical ; in the sacrifice of Christ 
 a true atonement was made for sin. 
 
 We add some remarks pertaining to the Levitical priesthood, 
 to the sacrifices and oblations, and to the priests and Levites 
 considered as distinct parts of the Hebrew commonwealth. 
 
 I. THE AAEONIC PEIESTHOOD. 
 
 2. In the last terrible plague that befell Egypt, all the first 
 born of man and beast were slain ; while among the Israelites 
 they were preserved by the sprinkling of the blood of the pas 
 chal lamb. Exod. 12 : 7, 13. In view of this deliverance, God 
 claimed all the first-bom of man and beast as his own in a spe 
 cial sense. Exod. 13:2. Afterwards he took the -Levites and 
 their cattle instead *of the first-born of man and beast among the 
 other- tribes. " Take the Levites instead of all the first-born 
 among the children of Israel, and the cattle of the Levites in 
 stead of their cattle ; and the Levites shall be mine : I am the 
 Lord." Numb. 3 : 45 ; and see chap. 8. From the tribe of Levi, 
 thus set apart for the special service of Jehovah, God took Aaron 
 and his sons for the priesthood (Exod. 28:1), giving them the 
 
PBIESTHOOD, SACRIFICES, AND OBLATIONS. 509 
 
 tribe of Levi for their attendants. The whole arrangement is 
 given in the following words (Numb. 3 : 6-10) : " Bring the tribe 
 of Levi near, and present them before Aaron, the priest, that 
 they may minister unto him. And they shall keep his charuv. 
 and the charge of the whole congregation" (charge, in the ^ 
 of duties with which they are charged in behalf of Aaron and 
 the congregation) " before the tent of the congregation, to do the 
 service of the congregation. And they shah 1 keep all the instru 
 ments of the tent of the congregation " (that is, the tabernacle 
 itself, with all its furniture), "and the charge of the children of 
 Israel, to do the service of the tabernacle. And thou shalt give 
 the Levites unto Aaron and his sons ; they are w r hoh*y given unto 
 him out of the children of Israel. And thou shalt appoint Aaron 
 and his sons, and they shall w r ait on their priestly office ; and the 
 stranger" (that is, one "not of the seed of Aaron," Numb. 16 : 40) 
 "that coineth nigh" (nigh to the sanctuaiy to perform any 
 priestly function) "shah 1 be put to death." "No man," says the 
 writer to the Hebrews (chap. 5:4), "taketh this honor unto 
 himself, but he that is called of God, as was Aaron." 
 
 The office of high priest descended from Aaron in the line of Eleazar, the 
 eldest of his two surviving sons. Numb. 20 : 22-28. Afterwards it was, for 
 some unknown reason, transferred to the line of Ithamar ; for we find Eli 
 and his descendants, who belonged to that line (1 Sam. 14 : 3, compared 
 with 1 Sam. 22 : 9, 20 ; and 1 Chron. 24 : 3) executing the office of high 
 priest till Solomon s time, who put Zadok, of the line of Eleazar (1 Chron. 
 24 : 3), in the place of Abiathar, a descendant of Eli. 1 Kings 2 : 27. 
 
 3. Aaron and his sons having been thus taken from among 
 the children of Israel to minister in the priest s office, they were 
 inducted into it with great solemnity. First of all, Moses was 
 directed to make for them "holy garments for glory and for 
 beauty." Exod. 28 : 2, seq. Those of Aaron, the high priest, are 
 very fully described. Leaving to the commentators the minute 
 details of the description, we give as concisely as possible the 
 general- idea of the different parts of his official robes. 
 
 4. Of these the cpliod, with the breastplate attached to it, was 
 the outermost. It was made of the richest materials "gold" 
 
570 BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 (that is, golden threads woven into its texture, Exod. 39 : 3), " and 
 blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen." Exod. 28 : 5, 6. 
 As to form, it consisted of two pieces reaching down, according 
 to Jewish writers, to the middle of the thighs ; one piece cover 
 ing the fore part of the body and the other the back. The two 
 shoulder-pieces (vers. 7, 12) appear to have been strips attached 
 to the right and left border of the upper part of the ephod, and 
 extending above over the shoulders, thus connecting the two 
 pieces of the ephod. On each of the shoulder-pieces, directly 
 over the shoulder, was an onyx-stone, set in an ouch, or socket, 
 of gold. These were graven with the names of the twelve chil 
 dren of Israel, six in each stone, according to the order of their 
 birth, that Aaron might "bear their names before the Lord on 
 his two shoulders for a memorial" (ver. 12). The ephod had 
 also a girdle of the same texture gold, and blue, and purple, 
 and scarlet, and fine twined linen ; which appears to have con 
 sisted of two lateral straps passing around the body, by which 
 the two parts of the ephod were kept each in its place. 
 
 Some writers represent that the onyx-stone ouches served also for 
 clasps or buttons to fasten together the two halves of the ephod. But the 
 Hebrew text ascribes to them no such office. It simply states that they 
 were stones of memorial (ver. 12), leaving us at liberty to assume that the 
 shoulder-pieces passed over the shoulders beyond the onyx-stones to form 
 a connection with the hinder part of the ephod. As to the ouches and 
 chains of gold mentioned in vers. 13, 14, they seem to be the same as those 
 described in vers. 22-25. 
 
 5. The breastplate of judgitent was made of the same rich 
 materials as the ephod. The direction, " Foursquare shall it be, 
 being doubled; a span" (half a cubit) "shall be the length 
 thereof, and a span the breadth thereof" (ver. 16), leads natu 
 rally, though not necessarily, to the idea that the breastplate 
 was a bag or pouch half a cubit square. On its front were placed 
 twelve precious stones in four rows, three in each row. The 
 ^stones were set in gold, and engraven with the names of the 
 twelve children of Israel. "And Aaron," says the sacred rec 
 ord, " shall bear the names of the children of Israel in the breast- 
 
PRIESTHOOD, SACRIFICES, AND OBLATIONS. 571 
 
 plate of judgment upon his heart, when he goeth in unto the 
 holy place, for a memorial before the Lord continually" (ver. 
 29). The size of the breastplate corresponded very nearly with 
 the open space between the two shoulder-pieces of the ephod. 
 In its two upper corners were two rings of gold with golden 
 chains of wreathen work, which were fastened at their other end 
 to ouches in the upper part of the shoulder-pieces. In its two 
 lower comers, on the inside next to the ephod, were also two 
 rings of gold with ribbons of blue (hyacinthine purple) attached 
 at then- other end to golden rings placed in the lower margin of 
 the shoulder-pieces just above the girdle of the ephod. Thus 
 was the breastplate held firmly in its place. 
 
 * The following literal rendering of vers. 26-28 may help to make the 
 description of the lower fastenings of the breastplate more intelligible : 
 "And thou shalt make two rings of gold, and shalt put them upon the 
 two ends" (lower corners) "of the breastplate, on its border which is over 
 against the ephod" (faces the ephod) "on the inside. And thou shalt 
 make two rings of gold, and shalt put them upon the two shoulder-pieces 
 .of the ephod below on its front part by its junction" (where the ephod is 
 joined to the shoulder-pieces) "above the girdle of the ephod. And they 
 shall bind the breastplate by its rings to the rings of the ephod by a rib 
 bon of blue, that it may be above the girdle of the ephod, that the breast 
 plate may not be loosened from the ephod." 
 
 6. Then follows the direction (ver. 30) : " And thou shalt put 
 in the breastplate of judgment the Urim and the Thummim ; and 
 they shall be upon Aaron s heart, when he goeth in before the 
 Lord : and Aaron shall bear the judgment of the children of 
 Israel upon his heart before the Lord continually." Compare 
 Lev. 8:8. "And he put upon him" (Aaron) "the breastplate, 
 and he put in the breastplate the Urim and Thummim." It is 
 clear from the first of these passages that the office of the Urim 
 and Thummim was to obtain judgment from God God s decis 
 ion on questions submitted to him ; and that for this reason the 
 breastplate, as containing the Urim and Thummim, was called 
 "the breastplate of judgment." With this agree the few histor 
 ical notices respecting the use of the breastplate in seeking conn- 
 
572 BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 sel from God. When Joslma is appointed as Moses successor, 
 it is directed that "he shall stand before Eleazar the priest, and 
 he shall ask counsel for him through the judgment of the Urim " 
 (Numb. 27 : 21) ; after Saul s apostasy, when he inquired of the 
 Lord, " the Lord answered him not, neither by dreams, nor by 
 Urim, nor by prophets" (1 Sam. 28 : 6) ; after the captivity, cer 
 tain priests, whose genealogy could not be found, were forbidden 
 to eat of the most holy things " till there stood up a priest with 
 Urim and Thummim" (Ezra 2 : 63). Besides these express noti 
 ces, we have the case of David s inquiry by means of the ephod 
 which Abiathar the high priest had brought with him (1 Sam. 
 23 : 6, 9-12) ; where the ephod is that containing the breastplate 
 with the Urim and Thummim. Compare also 1 Sam. 23:2, 4; 
 Judg. 1:2; 20:18, 23; where the inquiry was manifestly nuuTo 
 in the same way. 
 
 The words Urim and Thummim signify Lights and Perfec 
 tions ; the light and perfection, namely, of God s judgments given 
 through them ; but what they were is a question on which the 
 most ancient Jewish writers are not agreed. Whatever they 
 were, they were lost at the Babylonish captivity. Ezra 2 : 63. 
 But that which they represented, the light and perfection of 
 divine truth in the person of Jesus Christ, is the rich heritage of 
 the Christian church. 
 
 Joseplms (Antiq. 3. 8. 9) identifies the Uriin and Tlmnimim with the 
 stones in the breastplate, which, he says, indicated God s will by a preter 
 natural splendor. Philo (de vita Mosis, lib. 3, and do Monarch. , lib. 2) 
 describes them as two images, manifestation and truth, carried in the pouch 
 of the breastplate. A favorite idea of modern scholars (Michaelis, Jahn, 
 and others) is that they were a sacred lot, consisting of three precious 
 stonos, carried in the pouch of the breastplate, one having engraven upon 
 it the Hebrew word answering to Yes, one the word answering to No, and 
 the third being without engraving of any kind, so that the drawing of this 
 gave no response from Jehovah. We abstain from further conjectures. 
 
 7. The robe of the cpliod was a garment all of blue worn under 
 the ephod. It was woven throughout without seam, and h;id 
 " a hole in the top of it in the midst thereof" for the insertion of 
 
PRIESTHOOD, SACRIFICES, AND OBLATIONS. 573 
 
 the head, with a strong binding around it to prevent its being 
 rent. It must also have had annholes, having been apparently 
 destitute of sleeves. According to Josephus (Jewish War, 5. 5. 7) 
 it reached to the ankles. The remarkable ornaments on the 
 lower border of it are thus described (Exod. 28 : 33-35) : " And 
 thou shalt make upon its skirts pomegranates of blue, and pur 
 ple, and scarlet, upon its skirts round about ; and bells of gold 
 between them round about : a golden beh 1 and a pomegranate, 
 a golden bell and a pomegranate, upon the skirts of the robe 
 round about. And it shall be upon Aaron for ministering ; and 
 his sound shall be heard when he goeth in unto the sanctuary 
 before the* Lord, and when he cometh out, that he die not." 
 
 Under the robe next to the skin was worn the tunic of check 
 ered work (ver. 39), the sleeves of which undoubtedly extended 
 to the wrists. There were also linen breeches reaching " from the 
 loins even unto the thighs" (ver. 42), which all the priests were 
 required to wear in their ministrations. 
 
 8. Over the whole dress was wound a girdle of embroidered 
 work. On the head of the high priest was placed a mitre (Heb., 
 mitsnepheth, turban, distinguished from the ~bonnets or caps, Heb., 
 migbaoth, of the common priests), to the forefront of which was 
 fastened with a ribbon of blue a golden plate engraven with the 
 words : HOLINESS TO THE LORD. 
 
 9. The drjess of the common priests was less elaborate. It 
 consisted of tunics, girdles, and bonnets, made "for glory and for 
 beauty," with the linen breeches above mentioned. 
 
 10. The general significance of these official robes is indicated 
 by the words of inspiration: "for glory and for beauty." In 
 the person of the Jewish high priest Christ our great high priest 
 was typified. It was therefore proper that the glory and beauty 
 of the divine Antitype should be shadowed forth by the splendor 
 of the garments in which the human type was arrayed. "What 
 ever may have been the material form of the Urirn and Thurn- 
 mim, we know that they were the medium through which the 
 perfect wisdom and goodness of God communicated to his peo 
 ple light, truth, and guidance ; and that thus they typified the 
 
574 BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 office of him who said, " I am the way, and the truth, and the 
 life: no man cometh unto the Father but by me." The two 
 onxy-stones on the high priest s shoulders were graven with the 
 names of the children of Israel, and the twelve stones on his 
 breastplate contained the same names. Thus, in the language 
 of the sacred record, the high priest, when he entered the sanc 
 tuary, bare the names of the children of Israel " before the Lord 
 upon his two shoulders for a memorial" (ver. 12), and "upon his 
 heart before the Lord continually" (ver. 29) a beautiful and 
 most expressive symbol of Christ s almighty power and un 
 changeable love. He bears his people on his shoulders, as the 
 one to whom " all power is given in heaven and in earth ;" and 
 on his heart, as he who loved his people and gave his life for 
 their redemption. 
 
 The office of the bells on the high priest s robe is that "his sound may 
 be heard when he goeth in unto the holy place before the Lord, and when 
 he cometh out, that he die not" (ver. 35). The bells were then the sym 
 bol of announcement announcement not to man, but to the majesty of 
 heaven, that he came before Him in the way of His appointment. 
 
 The essential part of the high priest s mitre was the golden plate Avith 
 the inscription : HOLINESS UNTO THE LORD. It shall be upon Aaron s 
 forehead, that Aaron may bear the iniquity of the holy things, which the 
 children of Israel shall hallow in all the gifts of their hallowed tilings ; and 
 it shall be always upon his forehead, that they may be accepted before the 
 Lord" (ver. 38). The golden plate is then the sign and seal of Aaron s 
 vicarious office. He appears before God in behalf of the people as their 
 mediator, taking upon himself and expiating the iniquity of their hallowed 
 gifts in the way of God s appointment, that so the people may be accepted 
 before the Lord. Some have regarded the mitre as a symbol of the ;v *_///// 
 dignity of Christ, our great high priest. But when this truth was to be 
 represented in the person of the high priest Joshua (Zech. 6 : 11, eg.), 
 the prophet was directed to make crowns of silver and gold, and set them 
 upon his head ; which would hardly have been necessary, had the mitre 
 which the high priest wore continually represented the kingly dignity. It 
 was by three distinct lines of priests, of prophets, and of kings that God 
 shadowed forth the fulness of Christ s mediatorship. 
 
 11. Next in order comes the solemn inauguration of Aaron and 
 his sons to the priestly office. Exod., chap. 29 ; Lev., chap. 8. 
 
PRIESTHOOD, SACRIFICES, AND OBLATIONS. 575 
 
 Aaron and his sons are brought into the court before the door of 
 the tabernacle, and there washed with water ; a symbol of the 
 putting away of all spiritual uncleanness, and of the inward 
 purity required for their ministrations. They are then clothed 
 with the holy garments ; the tabernacle with all its furniture is 
 consecrated by anointing with the holy oil ; the altar and all its 
 vessels, with the laver and its base, are in like manner consecra 
 ted by sprinkling the holy oil upon them seven times ; and the 
 anointing oil is poured upon Aaron s head to sanctify him. 
 Anointing with oil was the symbol of consecration (in the case 
 of things without life, of dedication), and of the gift of the J [<>(>/ 
 Spirit accompanying such consecration when made according to 
 divine appointment. Hence the Redeemer, as specially conse 
 crated by God to his office, and having the Holy Spirit without 
 measure (John* 3 : 34), is called by way of preeminence the 
 Anointed (in Hebrew, 3fc-ssiah ; in Greek, Christ}. 
 
 12. After the anointing came the sacrifices, in w T hich Moses of 
 necessity officiated as priest. These included all the three kinds 
 prescribed by the law, with the accompanying oblations. See 
 below. (1.) The sin-offering, consisting of a young bullock ; for 
 Aaron and his sons, being sinners, must first bring a sin-offering 
 in their own behalf, before they could offer sacrifices ur behalf of 
 the people. Heb. 5:3; 7 : 27. The blood of this sin-offering 
 was not earned into the sanctuary, according to the usual law for 
 the victims whose bodies were burned without the camp. Lev. 
 6 : 30; Heb. 13 : 11. Instead of this Moses put some of it on the 
 horns of the altar of burnt-offering, and poured the remainder at 
 the bottom of the altar ; thus sanctifying and consecrating it " to 
 make expiation for it." Lev. 8 : 15. (2.) The burnt-offering, 
 consisting of a ram, which signified the entire devotion to 
 God of Aaron and his sons through expiatory blood. See below. 
 (3.) The ram of consecration, which was a peace-offering, but con 
 nected with peculiar- rites. Moses took of its blood " and put it 
 upon the tip of Aaron s right ear, and upon the thumb of his 
 right hand, and upon the great toe of his right foot." After 
 wards he brought Aaron s sons to the altar, and did the same to 
 
570 BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 them. By this ceremony was signified the completeness of their 
 consecration through blood. 
 
 After this " Moses took of the anointing oil, and of the blood 
 which was upon the altar, and sprinkled it upon Aaron, and 
 upon liis garments, and upon his sons, and upon his sons gar 
 ments with him ; and sanctified Aaron, and his garments, and his 
 sons, and his sons garments with him." Lev. 8 : 30. 
 
 13. All the above transactions took place on the first day of 
 the consecration, which lasted seven days. During all this time 
 Aaron and his sons were commanded to abide at the door of the 
 tent of the congregation day and night. On each of the six fol 
 lowing days they offered a bullock for a sin-offering ; and when 
 they had thus made expiation for the altar and sanctified it sc\ <-n 
 days, they anointed it with the holy oil. Exod. 29 : 36, 37. Final 
 ly, on the eighth day Aaron first offered for him self a calf for a 
 sin-offering and a ram for a burnt-offering : after this he offered 
 in IcJtalf of the congregation of Israel a kid of the goats for a sin- 
 offering ; a calf and a lamb of the first year, without blemish, for 
 a burnt-offering; a bullock and a rain for peace-offerings ; ;m<l a 
 meat-offering (unbloody oblation) mingled with oil (Lev. 9:1, 
 seq.). 
 
 The solemnity of this inauguration was in harmony with the 
 dignity of the priestly office. Aaron and his sons typified the 
 person of Christ; and the sacrifices and oblations which they 
 offered shadowed forth Christ s sacrifice of himself on Calvary 
 for man s redemption, and the perfect obedience which he ren 
 dered to the Father. The priesthood with its sacrifices was, 
 tlu-refore, the central part of the Mosaic ritual, even as Christ s 
 person and propitiatory sacrifice constitute the central part of 
 the gospel. 
 
 II. THE SACKIFICES AND OBLATIONS. 
 
 14. The question concerning the nature and classification of 
 the Levitical sacrifices and the transactions connected with them 
 is discussed in the Companion to the Bible (Chap. 37, Noa 14~16)i 
 and to this the reader is referred. In the book of Leviticus the 
 
P1UESTHOOD, SACRIFICES, AND OBLATIONS. 577 
 
 order of prescription is the burnt-offerings (chap. 1), the oblation* 
 (chap. 2), the peace-offerings (chap. 3), the sin-offerings (chap. 4), 
 the trespass-offerings (chap. 5 chap. 6:7); various supplemen 
 tary directions being afterwards added (chap. 6 : 8 chap. 7 : 38). 
 But the true natural order is given in the sacrifices for the sanc- 
 tificatioii and consecration of Aaron and his sons, and of the 
 congregation, as already considered. Exod., chap. 29; Lev., 
 chaps. 8, 9. 
 
 15. The sin-offering, which was, as its name indicates, wholly 
 expiatory and propitiatory, naturally came first in order, since 
 the expiation of sin is the first condition for an acceptable ap 
 proach to God. On the more important occasions, as when the 
 high priest or the whole congregation had sinned through igno 
 rance, the blood of the sin-offering was earned into the outer 
 sanctuary and put upon the horns of the altar of sweet incense. 
 On the great day of atonement (chap. 16) it was earned into the 
 inner sanctuary, and sprinkled upon the mercy-seat, and before 
 the mercy-seat seven times. For these cases the law was : " No 
 sin-offering, whereof any of the blood is brought into the taber 
 nacle of the congregation to make atonement in the sanctuary, 
 shall be eaten: it shall be burnt with fire" (chap. 6 : 30) ; namely, 
 without the camp in a clean place, after certain prescribed parts 
 "the fat that covcreth the inwards, and all the fat that is upon 
 the inwards, and the two kidneys, and the fat that is upon them, 
 which is upon the flanks, and the caul above the liver upon the 
 kidneys;" which parts comprise all the separable fat of the 
 inwards, and are therefore called "all the fat" (Lev. 3 : 16; 4 : 8, 
 19, 26, 31, 35 ; 7 : 3), or simply " the fat " (Lev. 3 : 9 ; 6 : 12 ; 7 : 33 ; 
 8:26; 9:19; 16 : 2o*; 17:6; Numb. 18:17; etc.) had been 
 burned on the altar of burnt-offering (Lev. 4 : 8-12, 19-21, 26, 
 31, 35 ; 16 : 25, 27). In other cases the blood of the sin-offer 
 ings was applied to the horns of the altar of burnt-offering ; 
 and then the officiating priests, after burning upon the altar the 
 same prescribed parts, ate the flesh in the court of the taberna 
 cle (chap. 6 : 26, 29) ; but no offerer ate of the flesh of the victim 
 presented in his own behalf. 
 
 Geo -. & Aiivi-t. 25 
 
578 BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 The sacredness of this sin-offering, by the blood of which 
 atonement was made, is forcibly indicated in the divine direction 
 concerning it (chap. 6 : 26-29) : " The priest that offereth it for 
 sin shall eat it : in the holy place shall it be eaten, in the court 
 of the tent of the congregation. Whoever shall touch its flesh 
 shall be holy, and upon whatsoever garment its blood shall be 
 sprinkled, thou shalt wash that whereon it was sprinkled in the 
 holy place. And every earthen vessel wherein it is sodden shall 
 be broken : and if it be sodden in a brazen vessel, it shall be 
 both scoured and rinsed in w r ater. All the males among the 
 priests shall eat of it : it is most holy." 
 
 Some difficulty has been felt in determining the exact distinction be 
 tween the sin-offering and the trespass-offering. The law itself declares (Lev. 
 7 : 7) that as the sin-offering is, so is the trespass-offering : there is one 
 law for them. " The trespass-offering was then a species of sin-offering. 
 That it was of a subordinate character may be inferred from two facts : 
 (1.) Not only was its blood never carried into the sanctuary, but it was not 
 put upon the horns of the brazen altar : it was simply sprinkled round 
 about upon the altar. Lev. 5 : 9 ; 7 : 2. (2.) It was never employed, like 
 the sin-offering, for general expiation on public occasions, but was always 
 a private offering for particular offences. A comparison of the passages in 
 which trespass-offerings are prescribed (Lev. 5 : 1 6; 7:1 7; Num. 5:6-8) 
 seems to indicate that they belonged especially to trespasses (t gainst human 
 righls, for which restitution was required. 
 
 16. The distinguishing mark of the burnt-qfferwg was the 
 consumption of the whole victim upon the altar; hence the naino 
 whole burnt-offering (Heb., Italil) is sometimes applied to it, and 
 in later usage the Greek term holocaust, which means the same 
 thing. After the animal had been slain, its blood was sprinkled 
 round about upon the altar, it was flayed, cut in pieces, and laid 
 in order upon the wood. The head, the fat, the inwards, and 
 the legs, after being washed in water, were added ; and then the 
 priest burned " all on the altar, to be a burnt-sacrifice, a fire- 
 offering, a sweet savor unto Jehovah." Lev. 1 : 9. The hide of 
 the victim was given to the officiating priest. Lev. 7 : 8. 
 
 That the burnt-offering signified completeness is admitted by 
 all. Some refer this completeness to the offering itself, as that 
 
PRIESTHOOD, SACRIFICES, AND OBLATIONS. 579 
 
 form of sacrifice which comprehends in itself all others, and so 
 concentrates in itself all worship. But we cannot separate, in 
 the intention of God, the completeness of the offering from the 
 state of mind which it symbolizes in the offerer himself. Be 
 cause of the completeness and comprehensiveness of its form it 
 signified the entire self-consecration of the offerer to God. But this 
 was a consecration made through the Uood of expiation. To sig 
 nify this, the blood of the burnt-offering was sprinkled by the 
 priest round about upon the altar; or in the case of a bird, 
 where the quantity was very small, was wrung out at the side of 
 the altar. 
 
 Entire self-devotion to God being the prominent idea of the 
 burnt-offering, it naturally followed the sin-offering, where both 
 kinds of sacrifice were employed. But because of its compre 
 hensiveness it was first in dignity. For this reason no animals 
 but males without blemish were allowed for burnt-offerings. For 
 the same reason also this form of sacrifice was chosen for the 
 daily offerings a lamb every morning and evening,and on the 
 Sabbath-day two lambs (Numb. 28 : 3-10) ; whereby the perpet 
 ual self-devotion of the people to God through the blood of expi 
 ation was signified. 
 
 The Hebrew term olcih signifies ascension, going up. According to 
 Gesenius it was "so called as being earned up and laid upon the altar." 
 But tlie explanation given long ago "by Jerome (on Ezek., chap. 45 : 15-17) 
 that it is so called " because it is all consumed by the sacred fire" all 
 ascends to God as a sweet savor (Gen. 8 : 20, 21, etc.), is preferable. 
 
 Public burnt-offerings were prescribed by the law on various occasions ; 
 but private burnt-offerings were of the worshipper s own free wiU. 
 
 17. The peace-offering (rather, offering of renditions; that is, 
 offering in which the offerer rendered to God the tribute of praise 
 and thanksgiving which was his due) was subdivided into three 
 kinds the thank-offering, as an expression of gratitude to God 
 for favors received (Lev. 7 : 11-15) ; the votive-offering, in pursu 
 ance of a vow made to God in time of trouble, and therefore 
 essentially a thank-offering for deliverance (ver. 16) ; the/ree-ttftZ?- 
 ofering (ibid.), which seems to have been a general expression of 
 
580 BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 thankfulness to God without reference to specific favors received, 
 as in the case of the thank-offering, or to deliverance from specific 
 troubles, as in the case of the votive-offering. The peace-offer 
 ing was then, in all its varieties, essentially eucharistic. Hence 
 iis social and festive character, by which it was distinguished 
 from the sin-offerings and trespass-offerings. When the victim 
 had been slain and its blood sprinkled upon the altar round 
 about, the fat of the inwards, comprising the two kidneys and 
 liver (see above, No. 15) was burned upon the altar, the breast 
 and the right shoulder were given to the officiating priest (Lev. 
 7 : 28-34), and then the offerer and his friends feasted joyfully 
 before the Lord on the remainder (Lev. 7 : 11, seq.). In the case 
 o$ a thank-offering, the flesh was to be eaten the same day; but 
 if the sacrifice was in fulfilment of a vow, or was a free-will-offer 
 ing, the flesh might be eaten on the following day also ; but all 
 that remained over was to be burnt with fire. It is manifest 
 from this that the peace-offering signified joyful communion with 
 God in thanksgiving and praise ; but this, too, only through the 
 blood of propitiation sprinkled upon the altar. 
 
 In the three classes of offerings we have, then, typically set 
 forth : (1) in the sin-offering (of which the trespass-offering was a 
 subordinate species), expiation of sin, restoring man to God s fa 
 vor; (2) in the burnt-offering, self -consecration; (3) in the peace- 
 offering, lioly communion with God and man all three only 
 through "sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ" the great Anti 
 type of the Levitical priests and sacrifices. 
 
 The prohibition against eating of the flesh of the peace-offerings after 
 the second day tended, indeed, to promote liberality on the part of the 
 offerer, since he could not reserve the flesh of his sacrifice for future use. 
 But the immediate ground of the prohibition seems to have been to guard 
 against the danger of defiling, as well the holy flesh as the offerer, through 
 an incipient process of putrefaction ; for it is well known that in hot cli 
 mates it is exceedingly difficult to preserve flesh in its soundness beyond 
 the second day. 
 
 The feasts of the Hebrews naturally took a religious form. They con 
 sisted of holy festive meals in wliich the flesh of peace-offerings AY;IS c;it- u. 
 When the offerer was a king, like David, or Solomon, he gave, on great 
 
PRIESTHOOD, SACRIFICES, AND OBLATIONS. 581 
 
 public occasions. a IVast to the whole nation. See 2 Sam. 6:17-19 ; 1 Kings 
 8 : 62-66. In allusion^ to this usage, the Messiah, as the great king of all 
 nations, is beautifully represented in. the twenty-second Psalm (vers. 
 25-31) as paying to God his vows vows in the form of peace-offerings 
 for the deliverance vouchsafed to him, and summoning all nations to the 
 feast 
 
 18. The unbloody oblations (called in our version meat-offer 
 ings) were partly supplementary to the sacrifices. Such were 
 the cakes and wafers of unleavened bread connected with the 
 peace-offering at Aaron s consecration (Lev., chap. 8) ; and the 
 oblations of fine flour mingled with oil, and of wine, that were 
 always to accompany the burnt-offerings and peace-offerings. 
 Numb., chaps. 15, 28, 29. Such, also, was the salt which, accord 
 ing to the Jewish interpretation of Lev. 2 : 13 accompanied every 
 sacrifice as well as oblation. See Ezek. 43 : 24 ; Mark 9 : 49 ; and 
 compare Josephus Antiq., 3. 9. 1. 
 
 Other oblations, like those prescribed in the third chapter of 
 Leviticus, were apparently independent of sacrifices. No leaven 
 or honey both the natural emblems of corruption : " leaven as 
 being the fermentation of dough, and honey as from its excessive 
 lusciousness naturally tending to sourness" (Fairbairn s Bible 
 Diet.) were allowed to be burned upon God s altar ; though leav 
 ened bread, simply as an article of food, was given along with the 
 other offerings in the case of an offering of thanksgiving (Lev. 
 7:13), and was prescribed for the offering of firstfruits (Lev. 
 23 : 17). Salt was always to be added. Frankincense is also pre 
 scribed in several cases. The priest was to burn a "memorial" 
 of the oblation with all the frankincense, and the rest fell to 
 Aaron and his sons as then- portion. The unbloody offerings were 
 not expiatory ; but rather expressions of love, gratitude, and de 
 votion to God on the part of the giver. Only in the case of the 
 poor man who was not able to bring so much as " two turtle 
 doves or two young pigeons," was "the tenth part of an ephah 
 of fine flour," without either oil or frankincense, accepted for a 
 sin-offering (Lev. 5 : 11) ; and this upon the principle that God 
 "will have mercy and not sacrifice." 
 
582 BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 Thoro wore other sacrifices of a special character the paschal lamb, 
 those connected with the cleansing of the leper, the sacrifice of the red 
 heifer for the ashes of purification, the sacrifice in the case of an unknown 
 murder, etc. which will be noticed each in its place. 
 
 19. Of the typical transactions connoted with the sacrifices 
 and oblations, the following are worthy of notice. 
 
 (1.) In all cases the offerer laid his hands on the head of 
 the victim. The meaning of this transaction is given in the words 
 of inspiration : " And he shall put his hands upon the head of 
 the burnt-offering ; and it shall be accepted for him to make 
 atonement for him." Lev. 1 : 4. It was, then, a solemn presen 
 tation to Jehovah of the victim to make atonement for his soul;- 
 but not a formal transfer of his sins to the victim, as in the case 
 of the scapegoat. See below. 
 
 (2.) The waving and heaving of offerings by the priest were 
 also acts of presentation and dedication to God. For the form, 
 according to rabbinic tradition, see Companion to the Bible, 
 Chap. 37, No. 15. 
 
 (3.) The sprinkling of tJie victim s blood, and the application of 
 it to the horns of the altar or to the persons of men, was em 
 phatically the symbol of expiation. It belonged, therefore, to 
 the priest alone, who was the mediator between God and the 
 offerer. Hence the New Testament speaks of the sprinkling of 
 the blood of Christ, the great Antitype of the Levitical sacrifices. 
 Heb. 9 : 13, 14: 10 : 22; 12 : 24; 1 Pet. 1 : 2. 
 
 (4.) The burning of the offering, or of specified parts of it, 
 upon the altar, whereby its odor ascended up to heaven, was a 
 natural expression of dedication to God. See above, Chap. 28, 
 No. 20, and compare Gen. 8 : 21 ; Lev. 1 : 9, etc. 
 
 (5.) These typical transactions had their culmination on the 
 great day of atonement. Lev., chap. 10. When the high priest 
 had first offered a bullock as a sin-offering for himself, and 
 sprinkled its blood in the inner sanctuary upon and before the 
 mercy-seat seven times, he brought two goats as a sin-offering 
 for the people. The two goats constituted, as we shall see, one 
 offering, the office of each being determined by lot. The one 
 
PKIEbTHOOD, SACRIFICES, AND OBLATIONS. f>8, J 
 
 was slain, and its blood carried by the high priest into the 
 inner sanctuary ?nd sprinkled there upon the mercy-seat and 
 before the mercy-seat seven times, as an expiation for the sins 
 of the people (vers. 15, 16); and when he came out of the 
 sanctuary he put some of the blood of both the bullock and 
 the goat upon the horns of the altar round about, and sprin 
 kled of the blood upon the altar with his finger seven times, to 
 "cleanse it and hallow it from the uncleanness of the chil 
 dren of Israel" (vers. 18, 19). Then the live goat was pre 
 sented before the Lord with the following direction : " Aaron 
 shall lay both his hands upon the head of the live goat, and con 
 fess over him ah 1 the iniquities of the children of Israel, and all 
 their transgressions in all their sins, putting them upon the head 
 of the goat, and shall send him away by the hand of a fit man" 
 (or, a man ready at hand) " into the wilderness ; and the goat 
 shall bear upon him" (take upon himself and bear away) "all 
 their iniquities unto a land not inhabited ; and he sjiall let go 
 the goat into the wilderness" vers. 20-22). Thus the goat, by 
 taking upon Inmsclf the sins of the people, took them away. The 
 inadequacy of the type made it necessary that two goats should 
 be employed in this one service the first to represent expiation, 
 the second the taking away of sin. So Christ, the lamb of God, 
 takes away the sin of the world by expiating it with his own blood. 
 John 1 : 29 ; 1 Pet. 1 : 19 ; 2 : 24 The bullock and the goat for 
 the sin-offering, of which the blood was earned into the sanc 
 tuary, were burned without the camp according to law (Lev. 
 6 : 30) ; and being typically laden with the curse of sin, they de 
 filed the man who earned them out and burned them. For the 
 same reason the scapegoat, laden as it was with the sins of the 
 people, defiled him who conducted it from the camp into the 
 wilderness. Hence the direction for both was that they should 
 wash their clothes and bathe their flesh in water before entering 
 the camp. Lev. 16 : 26, 28. 
 
 The interpretation of the Hebrew word rendered ill our version for a 
 scapegoat (la-azazel) we leave to the commentators. However the word may 
 be interpreted, the typical import of the transaction is clear. 
 
584 BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 20. In the Mosaic ritual God kept himself, as we have seeu, 
 at a distance from the congregation of Israel. The people A\ vu> 
 not allowed to approach him directly with their sacrifices and 
 oblations. They could only come to him through the mediation 
 of the priests, and that not without blood. None but the priests 
 were permitted to enter the sanctuary ; and the high priest alone 
 went into the holy of holies once a year, carrying always in his 
 hand the blood of expiation, "the Holy Ghost this signifying, 
 that the way into the holiest of all was not yet made manifest." 
 Heb. 9 : 8. But when the Lord of glory offered his own blood 
 on Calvary, " the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the 
 top to the bottom" (Matt, 27 : 51 ; Mark 15 : 38), to signify that 
 the way into God s presence was now opened to all believers, 
 through the blood of Christ. From that day to the end of the 
 world, Christ s disciples constitute " a holy priesthood, to offer 
 up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ" 
 (1 Peter 2^5; Rom. 12 : 1 ; Heb. 13 : 15); and he who presumes 
 to thrust himself in between God and the sinner, as a mediating 
 priest, treats with contempt the blood of Calvary, as if it wore 
 not a sufficient expiation for sin ; nay, more, he affronts the great 
 Intercessor himself, who ever stands at God s right hand in be 
 half of his people. 
 
 III. THE PKIESTS AND LEVITES AS CLASSES. 
 
 21. We have seen (No. 2 above) that God took Aaron and 
 his sons for the priestly office, giving them the tribe of Levi for 
 their attendants. Thus an entire tribe was set apart for God s 
 service ; the Levites holding a nearer relation to God than the 
 other tribes, the priests than the Levites, and the high priest 
 than the subordinate priests. The Levites alone could minister 
 to the priests, but were themselves forbidden to exercise any 
 priestly function. None but the priests could enter the sanctu 
 ary, and the high priest alone had access to the holy of holies. 
 
 22. The sacredness of the priestly office was indicated by the 
 regulations pertaining to it. The priests manifestly ministered 
 without shoes (compare Exod 3:5; Josh. 5 : 15), and before en- 
 
PRIESTHOOD, SACRIFICES, AND OBLATIONS. 585 
 
 taring the sanctuary they were required to wash their hands and 
 feet. Exod. 30 : 17-21. During the time of their ministrations 
 they were forbidden to drink wine or strong drink. Lev. 10 : 9. 
 The common priests were not allowed to defile themselves by 
 contact with a dead body, except in the case of near relatives, 
 or to disfigure their persons by any signs of mourning. Lev. 
 21 : 1-6. The high priest was prohibited absolutely from defiling 
 himself, even for his father or mother ; and if the daughter of 
 a priest played the harlot she was to be burned with fire. Lev. 
 21 : 912. The common priests were forbidden to many a harlot 
 or a divorced woman, and the high priest even a widow. Lev. 
 21 : 7, 13-15. The priests, moreover, who came nigh to offer the 
 offerings of the Lord made by fire were to be without personal 
 blemish. Lev. 21 : 17-23. 
 
 The reader may see a good summary of the duties of the common priests 
 in Smith s Bible Dictionary, Art. , Priests. They watched over the fire on the 
 altar of burnt-offering, fed and trimmed the golden lamp, attended to the 
 showbread, offered the morning and evening sacrifices and oblations, and 
 did the priest s office for any private worshipper. The ordeal in the case 
 of a woman suspected of adultery was in their hands (Numb., chap. 5); 
 lepers submitted themselves to their inspection, and they offered the gifts 
 for their purification (Lev. , chaps. 13, 14) ; and, in general, all cases of un- 
 cleanness that required legal purification came under their office. Their spe 
 cial duties during the journeys of the Israelites in the wilderness have 
 already been considered. Chap. 28, No. 16. They were charged, moreover, 
 to instruct the people in the ordinances of the Mosaic law, and thus to 
 maintain the worship of God in its purity. Lev. 10 ; 11 ; Deut. 2-4:8; 
 Mai. 2 : 7. 
 
 David distributed the priests into twenty-four courses, who did service 
 in regular order at the sanctuary. 1 Chron. , chap. 24. 
 
 23. The duties of the Lcvite-s in the wilderness were minutely 
 specified. See above, Chap. 28, No. 15, seq. Then* service re 
 quired the full vigor of manhood; hence the direction (Numb. 
 4 : 23) : " From thirty years old and upward until fifty years old 
 shalt thou number them" (for active service) ; "all that enter in 
 to perform the service, to do the work of the tent of the congre 
 gation." In Numb. 8 : 24, twenty and five years is specified as 
 the tune of their entering upon active service. The explanation 
 
 25* 
 
586 BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 given by Keil (on Numb. 8 : 24) is the following : The rule for 
 twenty-five years and upward to fifty years was general and 
 valid for all time ; that from thirty years to fifty had reference 
 to the transportation of the tabernacle and its furniture, a ser 
 vice which required the full strength of a man. After fifty years 
 they were discharged from active service, but ministered to their 
 brethren in the tent of the tabernacle to keep the charge (Numb. 
 8 : 26) ; that is, they had a general superintendence there. The 
 result of the numbering of the Levites in the wilderness (Numb., 
 chap. 4) gave for the Kohathites from thirty years old to fifty, 
 2,750 persons; for the Gershonites, 2,630; for the Merarites, 
 3,200. 
 
 After the settlement of the Israelites in the land of Canaan, 
 the notices of the place occupied by the Levites, and the services 
 performed by them during the time of the Judges are very scanty. 
 We only learn from the irregular transaction recorded in the 
 seventeenth chapter of the book of Judges, that a special sanc 
 tity attached to their persons in the eyes of the common people ; 
 for when Micah has consecrated a Itevite as his priest, he says : 
 " Now I know that the Lord will do me good, seeing I have a 
 Levite to my priest." But under David a complete reorganiza 
 tion of the Levites was made. He numbered them (according to 
 1 Chron. 23 : 3, "from the age of thirty years and upward," accord 
 ing to ver. 27 of the same chapter, "from twenty years old and 
 above"), divided them into courses, and assigned to them their 
 offices, according to the original idea of the Mosaic constitution. 
 
 The offices of the Levites are, under this organization, clearly given in 
 two passages. The first is 1 Chron. 23 : 4, 5, where we are told that of the 
 38,000 Levites, 24,000 were to preside over the work of the house of the 
 Lord, 6,000 were judges and officers, 4,000 porters, and 4,000 singers and 
 players on instruments. The office of judging fell very naturally to the 
 Levites, and the example of David was imitated by his successors on 
 the throne. 2 Chron. 19 : 8. The other passage is 1 Chron. 23 : 28-32, 
 where the various services connected with the sanctuary are specified in 
 detail the service of the Lord s house in the courts and in the chambers, 
 the purifying of all holy things, the preparation of the flour for the 
 various oblations, the keeping of the holy measures of all kinds, the morn- 
 
PllIESTHOOD, SACKIFICES, AND OBLATIONS. 587 
 
 ing and evening service of song in the sanctuary, all the offering of bumt- 
 offeiings for the stated seasons, etc. The Levites did not usurp the func 
 tions of the priests in offering sacrifices ; but they waited upon them, pro 
 cured the victims for the public sacrifices,. slew them, flayed them, and 
 rendered whatever other services the officiating priests needed. 
 
 From the nature of their office it devolved upon the Levites to see that 
 the Mosaic institutions were maintained in their purity ; but we do not 
 find them acting as formal teachers of the people till a later period. Je- 
 hoshaphat sent with his princes Levites to instruct the people in the law ; 
 And they taught in Judah, and had the book of the law of the Lord with 
 them, and went about through all the cities of Judah, and taught the peo 
 ple." 2 Chroii. 17 :9. We see them performing the same spiritual work 
 under Hezekiah (2 Chron. 30 : 22) and Josiah (2 Chron. 35 : 3). They as 
 sisted Jehoiada the high priest in dethroning Athaliah (2 Chron., chap. 23), 
 and were also employed, in connection with the priests, to cleanse the 
 sanctuary which Ahaz had polluted (2 Chron. 29 : 15, 16), and repeated 
 mention is made of their service as singers and players on instruments 
 (2 Chron. 29 : 25-30 ; 35 : 15 ; Neh. 9:5). 
 
 24. The tribe of Levi received no inheritance with the other 
 tribes in the land of Canaan. It was necessary, therefore, that 
 an adequate provision should be made for their maintenance. 
 This was included hi the declaration : " Levi hath no part nor 
 inheritance with his brethren ; the Lord is his inheritance, ac 
 cording as the Lord thy God hath promised him" (Deut. 10 : 9), 
 which is several times repeated for substance (Numb. 18 : 20, 24 ; 
 Deut. 18 : 1, 2 ; Ezek. 44 : 28) ; for when God gives an inheritance 
 to his servants, it meets all their wants, temporal as well as spir 
 itual. Accordingly, God ordained that the other tribes should 
 give the tenth part or tithe of all the increase of their fields and of 
 then- flocks and herds : " Behold, I have given the children of 
 Levi all the tenth in Israel for an inheritance, for their sendee 
 which they serve, even the service of the tent of the congrega 
 tion." Numb. 18 : 21. The Levites, in turn, were commanded 
 to give a tenth of this -tenth for the maintenance of the priests 
 (vers. 26-32). The priests had, moreover, as we have seen, the 
 skin of the burnt-offerings, a portion of the sin-offerings (except 
 in certain prescribed cases), and of the peace-offerings, and all 
 the unbloody oblations of the people, after a memorial of them, 
 with all the frankincense, had been burned upon the altar. 
 
588 BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 All the titlios of the land might be redeemed l>y adding a fifth part of 
 their value. Lev. 27 : 30, 31. The tithes of the flocks and herds could 
 neither be redeemed nor exchanged. Whoever attempted an exchange 
 lost both the animals. Lev* 27:32, 33. Animals were tithed by In -ing 
 passed under the rod ; that is, they passed out of an enclosure, one by one, 
 and every tenth animal was designated according to the rabbins, marked 
 with a rod dipped in vermilion. 
 
 25. The tithes that have been considered, commonly called 
 first tithes, were given for the maintenance of the priests and Le- 
 vites. Besides these there was a second tithe, applied to festal 
 purposes. For two successive years this tithe was to be carried 
 to the sanctuary (or its value in money), like the other conse 
 crated offerings, with the direction : " thou must eat them " (the 
 tithes, firstlings of the herd and flock, votive and free-will offer 
 ings)- "before the Lord thy God, in the place which the Lord thy 
 God shall choose, thou, and thy son, and thy daughter, and thy 
 man-servant, and thy maid-seryant, and the Levite that is within 
 thy gates." Deut. 12 : 18. Every third year this same second 
 tithe (not probably a third tithe, as some have supposed) was 
 to be eaten at home within the gates of the several cities and 
 towns; "and the Levite," it is added, "because he hath no part 
 nor inheritance with thee, and the stranger, and the fatherless, 
 and the widow, which are within thy gates, shall come, and shaU 
 eat, and be satisfied ; that the Lord thy God may bless thee 
 in all the work of thy hand which thou doest." Deut. 14 : 28, 29. 
 It is probable that the seventh Sabbatical year, in which ag 
 riculture was intermitted, was left out of the account in this 
 arrangement for the second tithes. 
 
 The practice of giving tithes was veiy ancient (Gen. 14 : 20 ; 28 : 22), 
 and existed among other nations as weh 1 as the Hebrews. See the refer 
 ences in Smith s Bible Diet. , Art. , Tithe. The spirit of the Mosaic law is 
 recognized in the New Testament (1 Cor. , chap. 4)) ; and its form also will 
 be found good, in all ordinary cases, as a freewill offering. 
 
 26. Besides the tithes that have been considered, there were 
 other sources of maintenance. All thejirstfyrn of men and ani 
 mals were consecrated to God. The firstborn of man was to be 
 
PRIESTHOOD, SACRIFICES, AND OBLATIONS. 589 
 
 redeemed, according to the estimation of the priest, for a sum 
 not exceeding five shekels, the avails going to the priests. Exod. 
 13:13; Numb. 18:14^16. The firstborn of unclean animals 
 migM also be redeemed by the substitution of a lamb in their 
 stead, or by the payment of their value as estimated by the 
 priest, in which case a fifth part was to be added to it. If not 
 redeemed, they were to be destroyed. The firstbotn of clean 
 animals were offered in sacrifice ; and the designated parts hav 
 ing been burnt, the remainder went to the priests. Lev. 27 : 26 ; 
 Numb. 18 : 17, 18. Devoted things will be considered in the 
 chapter on vows and devoted things. 
 
 27. An offering of firstfruits was also required by tne law. 
 The public offerings of firstfruits will be noticed in connection 
 with the feasts to which they belonged. Individuals were also 
 bound to offer to the Lord the firstfruits of their land. The 
 first of ripe fruits and liquors, and a cake of the first dough 
 made from the new harvest are specified. Exod. 22 : 29 ; 23 : 19 ; 
 34 : 26 ; Lev. 2 : 14 ; Numb. 18 : 11-13 ; Deut. 26 : 1-11. The law 
 included the firstfruits of fruit-trees, of the vine, of grain, oil, 
 honey, wool, etc. These also were given to the priests. 
 
 For a summary of the revenues of the priests and Levites the reader 
 is referred to the eighteenth chapter of the book of Numbers ; and for the 
 solemn profession which the Hebrew was required to make of his obedience 
 to the law in connection with the presentation of the tithes, to the twenty- 
 sixth chapter of the book of Deuteronomy. 
 
 28. As the Levites had no territorial possessions, forty-eight 
 cities were assigned to them by lot out of the inheritance of the 
 other tribes, with ample suburbs for their cattle. Numb., chap. 
 35 ; Josh., chap. 21. Of the above-named forty-eight cities, the 
 priestly order had thirteen, ah 1 in the tribes of Judah, Simeon, 
 and Benjamin ; and six of them were also cities of refuge, three 
 on either side of the Jordan. By this arrangement the Levites 
 were distributed throughout the whole Hebrew commonwealth, 
 and thus enabled, if faithful to their ofiice, to exert the widest 
 influence for the maintenance of the Mosaic institutions in their 
 purity. 
 
590 BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 CHAPTEE XXX. 
 
 THE DISTINCTIONS OF CLEAN AND UNCLEAN. 
 
 1. THE distinctions of dean and undean entered very deeply into 
 the life of the Hebrews, continually meeting them in their public 
 as well as in their private and social relations. The ultimate end 
 of these distinctions was moral and religious. By teaching the 
 covenant people to "put difference between holy and unholy, 
 and between unclean and clean " (Lev. 10 : 10) in the lower 
 sf)licre of physical life, God prepared the way for transferring 
 the idea of "holy and unholy," "unclean and clean," to the 
 higher sphere of spiritual life. Between the outward and the 
 inward there is a natural and close connection, a constant action 
 and reaction. All the terms for expressing inward moral purity 
 or defilement are drawn from the outward material world. 
 " Purge me with hyssop," says the psalmist, " and I shall be 
 clean ; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow ;" " create in 
 me a clean heart, O God ; and renew a right spirit within me." 
 " Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you," says God by the 
 prophet, " and ye shall be clean ; from ah 1 your filthiness, and 
 from all your idols will I cleanse you." The philosophy of the 
 relation is given in a very striking way by Moffat (Southern Af 
 rica, chap. 29): "It would appear a strange anomaly to see a 
 Christian professor lying at full length on the ground, covered 
 with filth and dirt, and in a state of comparative nudity, talking 
 about Christian diligence, circumspection, purification and white 
 robes." It is true that the culture of physical purity, like every 
 other good thing, may be perverted, as in the case of the ancient 
 Pharisees, who strained their liquor to avoid the contamination 
 of an unclean insect, but could swaUow a camel in the shape of 
 "extortion and excess." The same perversion is strikingly niani-. 
 fested in the Hindu distinctions of caste. Nevertheless, it re- 
 
DISTINCTIONS OF CLEAN AND UNCLEAN. 591 
 
 mains true that thPnatural tendency of inward purity is to out 
 ward cleanliness, and that the reverse also holds good. 
 
 I. DISTINCTIONS OF CLEAN AND UNCLEAN IN 
 RESPECT TO FOOD. 
 
 2. These are given, with many specifications, in the eleventh 
 chapter of Leviticus and the fourteenth of Deuteronomy. For 
 the larger animals the rule was very simple : " Whatsoever part- 
 eth the hoof and is cloven-footed" (that is, as explained in Deut. 
 14 : 6, " cleaveth the cleft into two parts"), "and cheweth the cud 
 among the cattle, that shall ye eat." Here belong all animals of 
 the ox kind, sheep, goats, deer, and antelopes all of them exclu 
 sively herbivorous. 
 
 For the fishes (using the term hi a comprehensive sense) the 
 rule was : " Whatsoever hath fins and scales in the waters, in the 
 seas, and in the rivers, them shall ye eat." " Whatsoever hath 
 no fins nor scales in the waters, that shall be an abomination 
 unto you." 
 
 The unclean birds are enumerated. Some of the Hebrew 
 names are of difficult determination ; but most, if not all of them, 
 are birds of prey or such as feed on carrion, or they are marsh- 
 fowls that obtain their food from the mud and slime. To this 
 list the bat, as one of the mongrel " fowls that creep, going upon 
 all fours," is added. 
 
 Of the insects, they were allowed to eat the different species 
 of locusts and grasshoppers, " which have legs above their feet, 
 to leap withal upon the earth." 
 
 Of " the creeping things that creep upon the earth " small 
 animals moving with a low creeping motion a list of unclean 
 animals is added (Lev. 11 : 29, 30), including, among others, wea 
 sels, mice, and various species of lizards. It is afterwards added 
 (vers. 41, 42): "Every creeping thing that creepeth upon the 
 earth shall be an abomination ; it shall not be eaten. Whatso 
 ever goeth upon the belly, and whatsoever goeth upon all four " 
 (creeps upon all four) "or whatsoever hath more feet among ail 
 creeping things that creep upon the earth, them ye shall not eat, 
 
592 BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 for they are an abomination." Hence we leiihi that all "creep 
 ing things that creep upon the earth," of which examples had 
 been given before (vers. 29, 30), were unclean, as also serpents 
 that go upon the belly. 
 
 3. The question now arises : Upon what principle were these 
 distinctions made ? According to some they were dietetic, look 
 ing simply to the health of the covenant people. Thus much 
 must be admitted, that all the species allowed as clean furnished 
 wholesome food, and that by these distinctions of the Mosaic 
 law they were guarded against every hurtful article of animal 
 diet. But we are not, for this reason, warranted to affirm that 
 the principle of admission or exclusion was purely dietetic, or 
 that the flesh of all the species forbidden as unclean, that of the 
 camel, for example, is unwholesome. The abolition of the Mo 
 saic distinctions upon the introduction of the Christian dispen 
 sation seems to imply that they rested rather on typical grounds 
 typical, but not necessarily arbitrary ; for the wisdom of God 
 might avail itself of the natural instincts and antipathies of the 
 human family in respect to the animal kingdom, as well as of he 
 reditary aversions having their foundation in education, to shadow 
 forth what is unclean and abominable in the spiritual world ; and 
 this seems to have been the actual principle of procedure. The 
 ruminant and cloven-footed animals allowed are all exclusively 
 herbivorous, while the animals that feed on living prey or on 
 carrion, to the flesh of which we have a natural aversion, are 
 excluded; also animals that are both carnivorous and herbiv 
 orous, like the swine, so gross and filthy in its habits. The 
 distinction among birds rests on the same general foundation. 
 Among fishes (in the comprehensive Hebrew sense of the word, 
 all that move in the ivaters) the species that have not fins and 
 scales are snake-like or reptilian in then* character, and to such 
 animals we have a natural antipathy, as also to mice, lizards, and 
 the like ; though it is an antipathy that can be overcome by edu 
 cation/ Finally, the prohibition may have rested, in some cases, 
 on an aversion arising from ancestral usage and training. Noth 
 ing that was to the Hebrew mind unclean was to be eaten. They 
 
DISTINCTIONS OF CLEAN AND UNCLEAN. 593 
 
 were to keep themselves holy in respect to tl^ir food: "Ye shall 
 not make yourselves abominable with any creeping tiling that 
 creepeth ; and ye shall not defile yourselves with them, so as to 
 be made unclean by them. For I am Jehovah your God : ye 
 shall, therefore, sanctify yourselves and be holy ; for I am holy." 
 And this holiness in the sphere of food typified the holiness of 
 heart and life that Jehovah required" of them. 
 
 The dead bodies of unclean animals defiled everything which came in 
 contact with them. not only the persons of men, but vessels, raiment, 
 skins, sacks, food, and drink, making necessary either their purification or 
 their destruction, as we shall see hereafter. 
 
 II. UNCiiBANNESS FROM CONDITIONS OF THE 
 
 BODY. 
 
 4. The scriptural view of disease, and all the weaknesses inci 
 dent to man s mortal state, is deep and fundamental. It traces 
 them all to sin as their ultimate source. Not all maladies, how 
 ever, produced ceremonial uncleanness. Here, also, as in the 
 distinctions of food, men s natural instincts were followed. All 
 diseases that produced conniption in the body, or running sores, 
 or a flow of blood, made the sufferer unclean ; and the culmina 
 tion of uncleanness was in death. 
 
 5. Leprosy, as a conniption of the living body manifesting 
 itself on its surface and tending towards death (Chap. 20, No. 21), 
 is an image of the conniption and death which sin brings to the 
 soul ; and is regarded in Scripture as emphatically the unclean 
 disease. The priests were the judges concerning both the pres 
 ence and the removal of leprosy. The prescription of the law 
 concerning him who has been pronounced a leper is : " And the 
 leper in whom the plague is, his clothes shall be rent, and his 
 head shall be bare, and he shall cover his upper lip" (as a sign 
 of mourning, Micah 3:7; Ezek. 24 : 17, 22), "and shall cry" (to 
 passers by, that they may avoid defilement by touching him), 
 " Unclean, unclean ! All the days wherein the plague shall be in 
 him he shall be unclean : he is unclean ; he shall dwell by him- 
 
594 BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 self; without the gamp shall his habitation be." These rules 
 mark him as an unclean person under the frown of God. 
 
 The so-called leprosy in houses and garments (Lev. 13 : 47-59; 14 : 33-53) 
 was a species of decay, which made them unclean in the view of the Mosaic 
 law, and necessitated their purification whenever the plague could ho 
 arrested, and their destruction in all other cases. 
 
 Other sources of uncleanness, from issues, the flow of blood, 
 etc., are mentioned in the fifteenth chapter of Leviticus. These 
 defiled not only the persons in whose bodies they had their seat, 
 but every person or thing with which they came in contact. Un 
 cleanness from childbirth had two stages, both of which, with the 
 requisite purifications, are specified in the twelfth chapter of 
 Leviticus. 
 
 6. The culmination of uncleanness was in death the curse 
 denounced upon man for sin, and the emblem chosen by the 
 Holy Ghost to represent the state of perdition into which sin 
 brings the soul. The flesh of clean animals slain for food re 
 mained clean as long as it was in a sound condition; but natural 
 death made the carcasses of clean beasts, as well as of unclean, 
 impure and abominable. Lev. 11 : 39, 40. For the same reason 
 the human corpse was unclean, and defiled all who touched it. 
 Numb. 19 : 11, seq. 
 
 III. PURIFICATONS FKOM UNCLEANNESS. 
 
 7. The rites of purification varied in different cases, accord 
 ing to the nature of the defilement. In the less important cases 
 uncleanness arising from contact with the carcass of a dead ani 
 mal (Lev. 11 : 24, 25, 28, 31, 39), from eating of the flesh of a 
 clean animal that had died a natural death (Lev. 11 : 40), from 
 entering an infected house (Lev. 14 : 46, 47), from touching the 
 bed of an unclean person (Lev. 15 : 5, seq.), and from various 
 other causes that need not be specified the defiled person was 
 required to wash himself and his clothes, and was unclean until 
 the evening. Raiment, skins, and sacks defiled in the same way 
 must be washed, and remain* unclean until the evening. So also 
 
DISTINCTIONS OF CLEAN AND UNCLEAN. 595 
 
 of household furniture, unless they were made of earth; 
 in which case they were to be broken. Lev. 11 : 32, seq. 
 
 8. For purification, after childbirth (Lev. 12 : 6-8) the mother 
 brought a lamb of the first year for a burnt-offering, and a turtle 
 dove or a young pigeon for a sin-offering : or, in the case of pov 
 erty, "a paii- of turtle doves or two young pigeons" (the very 
 offering presented after the Saviour s birth, Luke 2 : 24). The 
 latter offering was also prescribed in another case. Lev. 15 : 28, 
 seq. 
 
 9. For uncleanness arising from the touch of a human coi-j-*-, 
 or a bone of a man, or a grave, purification was made by the 
 water of uncleanness (Eng. version, water of separation), for the 
 preparation of which directions are given in the nineteenth chap 
 ter of the book of Numbers. A red heifer without blemish, and 
 that had never borne the yoke, was to be taken by the high priest 
 without the camp, slain, and her blood sprinkled seven times 
 towards the front of the tabernacle. Then her entire body was 
 to be burned, along with cedar wood, hyssop, and scarlet, and 
 the ashes gathered and laid up without the camp for future use. 
 As the ashes were typically laden with the uncleanness arising 
 from the touch of dead persons or their bones or graves (in the 
 sense that the uncleanness was to be transferred to them), the 
 priest, the man who burned the heifer, and he who gathered up 
 the ashes, were all rendered ceremonially unclean; and were 
 required each to wash his clothes, and to be unclean until the 
 evening. " It might seem strange," says Bush (on Numb. 19 : 7), 
 " that the same thing should pollute those that were clean, and 
 yet purify those that were unclean. But in fact all the sacrifices 
 that were offered for sin were looked upon as unclean, for the 
 reason that the sins of men were putatively laid upon them, as 
 our sins were upon Christ, who is therefore said to be made sin 
 for us. " In confirmation of this view we refer to the fact that 
 both the man who, on the great day of atonement, conducted 
 the scapegoat into the wilderness, typically laden with the sins 
 of the congregation, and he who burned the sin-offerings without 
 the camp, were required to wash their clothes, bathe their flesh 
 
596 BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 
 
 in water, and afterwards come into the camp. Lev. 16 : 26, 27. 
 For purification with the abovementioned ashes a clean person 
 took some of them, mingled them with living water, and sprink 
 led with a bunch of hyssop the denied person, tent, or vessel on 
 the first, third, and seventh days. On the seventh day the de 
 filed person washed his clothes and his person, and was clean 
 when the evening arrived. 
 
 10. The rites of purification in the case of a person recovered 
 from the plague of leprosy were the most numerous. No direc 
 tions are given for the use of remedies to remove this malady. 
 It is regarded as a visitation from God, incurable by human 
 means. Numb. 12 : 10, seq. ; 2 Kings 5 : 27 ; 15 : 5 ; 2 Chron. 
 26 : 19-21. At the same time it is assumed that it may be re 
 moved ; and in this case minute directions are given (Lev., chap. 
 14) for the purification of the man whose leprosy has been 
 healed. 
 
 The ceremonies connected with the cleansing of the leper were unique, 
 and had two distinct stages ; the first removing his uncleanness and resto 
 ring him to the camp, but without permission to leave liis tent, the second 
 conferring upon him all the privileges of other Israelites. The transac 
 tions of the first stage were of necessity without the camp. The priest 
 took two living birds, with cedar wood, scarlet, and hyssop ; slew one bird 
 over an earthen vessel containing living water water from a fountain or 
 running stream thus producing a mixture of blood and water ; dipped the 
 living bird with the other articles in this mixture ; sprinkled the late leper 
 with the blood and water seven times ; pronounced him clean, and let the 
 living bird loose into the open field. The man then returned to his tent, 
 after washing his garments and his body, and shaving off all his hair, that 
 he might thus remove all vestiges of his late defilement. Expositors differ 
 as to the meaning of these very peculiar rites. But beyond doubt the 
 blood and water denote expiation and purification. With these the late 
 leper is cleansed by a seven-fold sprinkling. The living bird, first dipped 
 in the mixture of blood and water, and then set free, is probably a sym 
 bolic representation of the leper himself, cleansed by blood and water, and 
 thus released alike from defilement and constraint. 
 
 After a week s interval the second stage of purification began. The 
 ceremony of washing the clothes and body and shaving off every particle 
 of hair was repeated. The man who had been hoalcd then brought two 
 he-lambs, the one for a trespass-offering, the other for a sin-offering, and 
 also one ewe-lamb for a burnt-offering, with an accompanying oblation of 
 
DISTINCTIONS OF CLEAN AND UNCLEAN. 5 ( J7 
 
 fine flour and oil, each of which was sacrificed in order. The blood of the 
 trespass-offering, which was first slain, was applied by the priest to the right 
 ear of the man to be cleansed, to the thumb of his right hand, and to the 
 great toe of his right foot. See above, Chap. 29, No. 12. He then poured 
 some of the oil into the palm of his left hand, sprinkled of it seven times 
 before the Lord, and then applied it to the extremities of the late lep< r. as 
 he had done the blood. This signified that with purification from the 
 defilement of leprosy ne received afresh the gift of Divine grace, of which 
 oil was the symbol. The poor man was allowed to bring one lamb for a 
 trespass-offering, and two turtle doves or two young pigeons. The nature 
 and multiplicity of these rites shadowed forth the depth and universality 
 of the defilement of leprosy the best type which the physical world fur 
 nishes of sin with its all-pervading and corrupting power, of which the 
 subject can truly say : 
 
 "No outward forms can make me clean ; 
 The leprosy lies deep within. 
 
 "No bleeding bird, nor bleeding beast, 
 Nor hyssop branch, nor sprinkling priest, 
 Nor running brook, nor flood, nor sea, 
 Can wash the dismal stain away. 
 
 "Jesus, my God, thy blood alone 
 Hath power sufficient to atone : 
 Thy blood can make me white as snow ; 
 No Jewish types can cleanse me so." 
 
 11. We bring this subject to a close by a brief reference to 
 the expiation required in the case of a murder by an unknown 
 person. Deut. 21 : 1-9. When a man was found slain in the 
 field, and the murderer was not known, it was directed that the 
 elders and judges should measure from the body to the neigh 
 boring cities ; and the nearest city was required to clear itself 
 before God of the guilt of shedding blood. The elders of that 
 city were to take a heifer that had never borne the yoke, bring 
 her down to a valley of flowing water (where water constantly 
 runs, as the original if ebrew signifies), which was neither tilled 
 nor sown, to break her neck there in the valley, and wash their 
 hands over her with a solemn appeal to God of their innocence 
 and ignorance of the guilty person, and a prayer that God would 
 not lay to then- charge innocent blood. 
 
598 BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 CHAPTEK XXXI. 
 
 J$EASONS OF THE HEBREWS. 
 
 I. SABBATHS, SABBATICAL YEA&S, AND NEW 
 MOONS. 
 
 1. THE words of Moses concerning the institution of the Sab 
 bath are these : " And God blessed the seventh day, and sancti 
 fied it ; because that in it he had rested from all his work which 
 God created to make." Gen. 2 : 3. The ground for the institu 
 tion of the Sabbath existed from the creation of the world, and 
 the fair interpretation of the passage teaches us that the institu 
 tion itself was given from the beginning given in its essential 
 form as a day of holy rest, the appointment of one day in seven 
 having reference to the manner of creation. This view is con 
 firmed by the occurrence of the period of seven days .in the 
 very concise history of the world before Moses. Gen. 7 : 4, 10 ; 
 8 : 10, 12. Such a period must, indeed, have existed to give rise 
 to the term week. Gen. 29 : 27, 28. It is further confirmed by 
 the manner in which the Sabbath-day is mentioned in the deca 
 logue : "Bemember the Sabbath-day to keep it holy," which 
 assumes that the Israelites are already familiar with its existence 
 as a day holy to the Lord. 
 
 2. In the institution of the Sabbath God claimed all time as 
 his own. As the sovereign Lord of time he gave to men six days 
 to labor and do all their work, reserving the seventh day as holy 
 to himself, making it, at the same time, commemorative of the 
 work of creation. So long as we keep this idea of the Sabbath, 
 that it is a day of holy rest from our worldly employments, that 
 we may give ourselves more immediately to God s service, we 
 have a time Sabbath. But when we substitute for this the idea 
 of a day of merely secular rest, the Sabbath perishes in its very 
 essence, and with it the hold of the institutions of religion upon 
 the masses of the people. 
 
SACKED SEASONS OF THE HEBREWS. 599 
 
 3. "We are to distinguish between the Sabbath itself in its 
 essence, as it existed from the beginning, and the ordinances en 
 grafted upon it by the Mosaic law the* sacrifice of two lambs 
 every Sabbath morning and evening instead of one, the prohi 
 bition to kindle a fire (Exod. 35 : 3), etc. These laws were local 
 and temporary. The spirit of them alone remains, that we should 
 esteem the Lord s Sabbath as honorable, and devote it, as far as 
 practicable, to spiritual duties. We are also to distinguish be 
 tween the essence of the Sabbath one day of holy rest in sev 
 en and the change of the day from the seventh to the first, to 
 commemorate our Lord s resurrection, which completed the work 
 of redemption, a change which can be shown to have been made 
 in apostolic times. 
 
 4. The Mosaic law prescribed also a Sabbath of year^ one 
 year in seven during which no debts could be exacted, and the 
 husbandman was required to rest from the labor of tilling the 
 soil, while its spontaneous products belonged to the poor. Exod. 
 23 : 10, JL! ; Lev. 25 : 1-7 ; Dent. 15 : 1, 2. In this institution God 
 claimed not only all time as his own, but ah 1 the labor of man 
 with its products; allowing the covenant people through the 
 period of six years to appropriate to themselves, under the re 
 strictions of the law, the produce of the soil, but giving it the 
 seventh year to the indigent as a common possession. See fur 
 ther in Chap. 14, No. 2. 
 
 5. Then foUowed the great Sabbath of sabbatical years, called 
 the year of jubilee, when God further asserted his sovereign do 
 minion over the soil itself and all the relations of life ; restoring 
 to every poor Hebrew his possessions, and letting servants go 
 free. The particular enactments connected with the sabbatical 
 year and the year of jubilee have been already considered. 
 Chap. 14, No. 2. They are noticed here simply in their religious 
 aspect. *"The earth is the Lord s and the fulness thereof; the 
 world, and they that dwell therein" this is the lesson which 
 they practically inculcated upon the covenant people, and through 
 them upon us. 
 
GOO BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 The word Sabbath (Heb., shatfbath] signifies rest, day of rest. Hence it 
 is sometimes used in a more general sense of days or periods of time when 
 the covenant people were required to rest from labor. Thus it is applied 
 to the great day of atonement ; from even unto even shall ye "celebrate 
 your Sabbath " (Lev. 23 : 32) ; and the sabbatical year is called "a Sabbath 
 to Jehovah" (Lev. 25:2, 4); "the Sabbath of the land" (ver. 6), and a 
 "Sabbath of years " (ver. 8). The Hebrew word shabbatlton, rest, day of rest, 
 never signifies of itself the Sabbath-day ; but is used in connection with 
 the word sabbath for the Sabbath-day (Exod. 16 : 23 ; 31 : 15 ; 35 : 2 ; Lev. 
 23 : 3), for the sabbatical year (Lev. 25 : 4), and for the great day of atone 
 ment (Lev. 1G : 31). 
 
 6. It was commanded that on the new moons, in addition to 
 the daily sacrifices, two bullocks, a ram, and seven sheep of a 
 year old should be offered to God as a burnt-offering, along with 
 a meal-offering and libation ; also one kid of the goats for a sin- 
 offering. Numb. 28 : 11-14. Thus God claimed a proprietor 
 ship in the months, as well as in the days and years. 
 
 The blowing with trumpets on the days of the new moon, to which the 
 psalmist alludes (Psa. 81 : 3), was not peculiar to these occasions, as we 
 learn from the words of the law (Numb. 10 : 1-10) ; where, in addition to 
 the use of the silver trumpets for convening the congregation, the priests 
 are directed to blow with the trumpets when the people encounter the 
 enemy in war, in the days of their festivals and new moons, and over their 
 burnt-offerings and peace-offerings in all these special cases as a memo 
 rial to bring themselves into remembrance before God, that whether in 
 prosperity or adversity they may have his presence and blessing. 
 
 II. THE OKIGINAL NATIONAL FESTIVALS. 
 
 7. The original national festivals established by the Mosaic 
 law were three in number : " Three times in the year all thy 
 males shall appear before the Lord thy God in the place which 
 he shall choose; in the feast of unleavened bread, and in the 
 feast of weeks, and in the feast of tabernacles : and they shall 
 not appear before the Lord empty ; every man shall gfcre as he 
 is able, according to the blessing of the Lord -thy God which he 
 hath given thee." Dent. 16 : 10, 17. The same three festivals 
 are elsewhere prescribed. Exod. 23:14-17; 34:18, 22, 23; 
 Lev., chap. 23. Other festivals were added in later times. Tho 
 
SACRED SEASONS OF THE HBBKEWS. 001 
 
 salutary influence of these feasts in fostering the spirit of national 
 unity has already been considered. Chap. 22, No. 13. We now 
 look at them in their religious character. 
 
 8. The first of the great national festivals was the passover 
 (Hebrew, pesah, of which the Greek form is pascha), so called 
 because when the Lord smote the firstborn of Egypt he passed 
 ever the houses of the Israelites, on whose door-posts and lintels 
 the blood of the paschal lamb had been sprinkled, and did not 
 destroy their firstborn. Exod. 12 : 13, 23-27. With this was 
 connected & feast of unleavened bread of seven days continuance. 
 Exod. 12 : 15 ; 13 : 6, 7 ; 23 : 15 ; etc. Hence the passover itself 
 is included in the term, feast of unleavened bread. Exod. 23 : 15 ; 
 3.4:18; Deut. 16:16; etc. 
 
 9. The festival of the passover was established in immediate 
 connection with the deliverance of the Israelites from the bond 
 age of Egypt, and was a commemoration of that great event. 
 The ordinances for its first celebration are given at length in the 
 twelfth chapter of the book of Exodus. On th*e tenth day of 
 the month Nisan, the first month of the year, each household (or 
 two neighboring households when small) took a male lamb or 
 goat of the first year without blemish, and kept it till the four 
 teenth day of the same month at evening ; when they were direct 
 ed to slay it, sprinkle its blood on the two side-posts and lintel 
 of their doors. It was then to be eaten roasted whole with fire, 
 with unleavened bread and bitter herbs, and a bone of it was not 
 to be broken. The further direction was : " Ye shall let nothing 
 remain of it until the morning : and that which remaineth of it 
 until the morning ye slrnll burn with fire. And thus shall ye eat 
 it: with your loins girded, your shoes on your feet, and your 
 staff in your hand : and ye shall eat it in haste : it is the Lord s 
 passover" (vers. 10, 11) In future years several modifications 
 wi iv made in the manner of celebration. The directions in ver. 
 11 related obviously to that particular occasion alone. After 
 the erection of the tabernacle the paschal lamb was slain at the 
 sanctuary (Deut. 16 : 6), and its blood, which at the institution of 
 the festival was sprinkled on the side-posts and lintel of the 
 
 Gt-os. A Antiq. 26 
 
602 BCBLICAL ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 doors to defend them against the entrance of the destroying an 
 gel, was sprinkled by the priests at the altar (2 Chron. 30 : 1C ; 
 35 : 11). The other ordinances the roasting with fire, the eat 
 ing with unleavened bread and bitter herbs, the injunctions to 
 break no bone, and leave none of the flesh till the morning 
 remained valid for all time. 
 
 Ah 1 circumcised males, if clean, were allowed to eat the pass- 
 over ; but not foreigners or hired servants. Exod. 12 : 43-45. If 
 ceremonial defilement prevented any circumcised persons from 
 observing the festival at the regular time, they were required 
 to celebrate it on the fourteenth day of the second month. 
 Numb. 9 : 6, seq. The irregularity of Hezekiah s passover con 
 sisted in the fact that some ate who were not ceremonially pure. 
 2 Chron. 30 : 17-20. According to the Rabbins women were 
 allowed but not required to eat the passover ; and that they did 
 partake of it is implied in the words of Josephus. Jewish War, 
 6. 9. 3, end. 
 
 10. The feast of unleavened bread, which included in itself the 
 paschal sacrifice, lasted seven days; the first and seventh, of 
 these being days of holy, convocation, in which no manner of 
 servile work was allowed. On each of these seven days, more 
 over, the priests offered, in addition to the daily burnt-offerings, 
 two young bullocks, one ram, and seven lambs, for a burnt-offer 
 ing, with an accompanying oblation of flour mingled with oil; 
 and one goat for a sin-offering. Exod. 12 : 15-20 ; 13:6, 7 ; 
 23 : 15 ; 34 : 18 ; Lev. 23 : 5-8 ; Numb. 28 : 16-25 ; Deut. 16 : 3-8. 
 That it was customary to connect voluntary peace-offerings with 
 the feast of unleavened bread may be inferred from 2 Chron. 
 35 : 13, where the holy offerings, sod in pots, caldrons, and pans, 
 and divided among the people, must be understood to have been 
 peace-offerings. 
 
 11. The sacrificial character of the passover appears in the 
 original sprinkling of the blood on the door-posts and lintels, 
 and in the subsequent requirement that it should be slain at the 
 sanctuary, -and its blood sprinkled at the altar. In this respect 
 it approached very nearly to the character of a peace-offering. 
 
SACRED SEASONS OF THE HEBREWS. 603 
 
 The feast was both commemorative and typical. It "was a joyous 
 festival commemorative of the deliverance of the Israelites from 
 lvj;\ })tian bondage. But this deliverance typified the higher re 
 demption of God s people from the bondage of sin ; and thus the 
 paschal lamb typified Christ, through whose blood that redemp 
 tion is effected. As the blood of the paschal lamb protected those 
 on whose doors it was sprinkled froim the destroyer of the first 
 born, so does the blood of Christ protect all who through faith 
 receive its expiatory power from the wrath to come. As the 
 Israelites feasted joyfully on the paschal lamb, so does the church 
 of God feed by faith on "the Lamb of God who taketh away the 
 sin of the world." The New Testament distinctly recognizes the 
 typical character of the passover. In noticing the fact that our 
 Saviour s legs were not broken, the evangelist John adds the 
 remark : " These things were done that the Scripture should be 
 fulfilled, A bone of him shall not be broken " (John 19 : 36) ; and 
 the apostle Paul says : " Christ our passover is sacrificed for us : 
 therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with 
 the leaven of malice and wickedness ; but with the unleavened 
 bread of sincerity and truth" (1 Cor. 5 : 7, 8). 
 
 The use of unleavened bread in the feast of the passover had beyond 
 doubt the significance ascribed to it by the apostle. 1 Cor. 5:8. It 
 represented the sincerity and truth required by the new relation into 
 which the people now entered with God, of which the passover festivtd 
 was a sign and a seal, leaven being in the natural world the principle of 
 corruption, and thus the symbol of sin in the moral world. Some have 
 supposed that the peculiar prominence given to the requirement in this 
 particular case was commemorative of the haste with which the Israelites 
 left the land of their bondage, which prevented the regular preparation of 
 bread (Exod. 12 : 39) ; but this is doubtful. The bitler herbs (which abound 
 in Egypt) seem to have been commemorative of the hard bondage to which 
 they had been subjected. Rousting with fire seems to have been enjoined 
 as the purest, and, therefore, the most appropriate mode of preparing the 
 paschal lamb for food ; since thus it was preserved from all waste and all 
 admixture with a foreign substance. The direction that no bone should 
 be broken represented the unity of God s people, which has its centre in 
 Christ s person. His natural body represented mystically his spiritual 
 person, which includes in itself all believers as members. John 15 : 1-7 ; 
 
604 BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 17 : 23 ; 1 John 3 : 24 ; Rom. 12 : 5 ; 1 Cor. 12 : 12, soq. It might be 
 pierced, but not mangled by the breaking of its bones. 
 
 12. On the second day of the passover a sheaf of the first- 
 fruits of the harvest was presented before the Lord, with a 
 lamb for a burnt-offering, and an accompanying meal-offering 
 and drink-offering. Lev. 23 : 9-14. This was the legal intro 
 duction to the harvest of that year, and before its presentation 
 the people were not allowed to eat of anything pertaining to it. 
 The sheaf was of barley, as being the grain first ripe (Josephus, 
 Antiq., 3. 10. 5) ; and by this rite alone was the passover spe 
 cially connected with the season of the year. 
 
 13. The Jews of later times observed the festival of the pass- 
 over with great scrupulosity ; carefully searching every corner of 
 their houses for any fragment of leavened bread the evening be 
 fore the fourteenth of Nisan ; roasting the lamb whole in an oven 
 made of earthenware, so arranged on a spit that it should not 
 touch the oven at any point ; eating it with bitter herbs ; etc. 
 They used a sauce into which they dipped the flesh, bread, and 
 bitter herbs ; and this is the sop of which the evangelist John 
 speaks. Chap. 13 : 26. The rabbins also enjoined that there 
 should never be less than four cups of wine. All these and many 
 more particulars are given in the treatise of the Talmud called 
 Pcsahim. The reader will find them stated at length in the Bible 
 dictionaries of Smith and Kitto. 
 
 14. The passover was, as we have seen (No. 11, above), pre 
 eminently a type of Christ and his redemption, received by feed 
 ing upon him through faith. He, therefore, connected immedi 
 ately with it the institution of the Lord s supper ; using the un 
 leavened bread of the passover to represent his flesh, and one of 
 the cups of wine to represent his blood both given for the life 
 of the world. Thus the passover, which had for so many ages 
 foreshadoiced his sacrifice for the sin of the world, gave place to 
 the Christian ordinance which commemorates that great event. 
 
 15. The second of the great national festivals was that known 
 to us by the name of the feast of Pentecost. In the law of Moses 
 
SACRED SEASONS OF THE HEBREWS. 605 
 
 it is called "the feast of the harvest, the first-fruits of thy labors" 
 (Exod. 23 : 16), for a. reason that will presently appear; also the 
 feast of iceeks ; that is, the feast celebrated the day after the 
 completion of seven weeks from the second day of the passover, 
 when the sheaf of the first-fruits of the harvest was presented 
 before the Lord (Lev. 23 : 15, seq.) ; in other words, the feast 
 occurring fifty days after the second day of the passover. Hence 
 its later Hebrew name, day of Jiffy, which becomes in Greek, */</// 
 of the Pentecost (Greek, pentecoste, fifty). See Exod. 23 : 16; Lev. 
 23 : 15-21 ; Numb. 28 : 26-31 ; Deut, 16 : 9-12. 
 
 16. The day of Pentecost was properly the celebration of the 
 close of the harvest of wheat and barley. As a sheaf of the 
 ripening harvest had been presented at the sanctuaiy on the 
 second day of the passover, as an acknowledgment that it was 
 God s gift, and as such belonged to him, so now two wave-loaves 
 of fine flour, made from the gathered harvest and baken with 
 leaven, were presented before Jehovah. This was the distin 
 guishing rite of the feast. The loaves were made with leaven 
 because they were not intended for the altar, but were a thanks 
 giving offering for God s bounty in furnishing food for his peo 
 ple. At the "same time the priests were commanded to offer 
 seven lambs of the first year, one bullock, and two rams, as a 
 burnt-offering, with the customary 7 meat and drink offerings ; also 
 one kid of the goats for a sin-offering, and two lambs of the first 
 year as a peace-offering. On the same day was a holy convo 
 cation, and all servile labor was forbidden. Lev. 23 : 15-21. It 
 was a joyous festival to the Lord, every one being enjoined to 
 bring with him a freewill offering, according as God had blessed 
 him, and to eat it at the sanctuary with his children, his servants, 
 the Levite, the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow. Deut. 
 16:9-12. 
 
 17. The day of Pentecost coincided, according to later Jew 
 ish tradition, with the giving of the law on Sinai ; but it must be 
 acknowledged that this cannot be clearly made out from the 
 sacred record (Exod. 19 : 1, seq.), nor is there any reference to 
 such coincidence in the Old Testament. God, however, honored 
 
006 BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 the day in a preeminent manner by choosing it as the time for 
 the gift of the Holy Spirit in his plenary influences, and thus for 
 the inauguration of the Christian dispensation. 
 
 18. The third great national festival of the Hebrews began 
 on the fifteenth day of the seventh month (Tishri, reckoned 
 from the new moon of October), and lasted seven days, with a 
 solemn assembly and sacrifices on the eighth day. See Exod. 
 23:16; Lev. 23:34-43; Deut. 16:13-15; Neh. 8:14-17; and 
 especially Numb., chap. 29. This was at the close of the agri 
 cultural labors of the year, when not only the harvest of wheat 
 and barley, but also the produce of the fruit-trees, vineyards, 
 and olive-yards, had been gathered in in the language of Scrip 
 ture : " When thou hast gathered in thy labors out of the field." 
 Exod. 23 : 16. As a joyful recognition of God s bounty to the 
 husbandman it was called ihe feast of ingathering. As an histor 
 ical commemoration of the sojourning of the Israelites in booths 
 on then- journey from Egypt to Canaan.it was called ike feast of 
 tabernacles, and in both these aspects it was a peculiarly joyous 
 festival. Josephus, Antiq., 8. 4. 1 ; 11. 5. 5. 
 
 19. The points to be noticed in the feast of tabernacles are 
 the dwelling in booths, the numerous sacrifices with their 
 meat-offerings and drink-offerings, and the solemn convoca 
 tions. 
 
 (1.) The directions in respect to the booths are as follows 
 (Lev. 23 : 40-43) : " And ye shall take to yourselves on the first 
 day the fruit of goodly trees" (see below), "branches of palm- 
 trees, and the boughs of thick trees, and willows of the valley, 
 and rejoice before Jehovah your God seven days. And ye shall 
 celebrate it as a feast to Jehovah seven days in the year: it shall 
 be a statute for ever for your generations ; in the seventh month 
 shall ye celebrate it. Ye shall dwell in booths seven days; all 
 that are Israelites born shall dwell in booths : that your genera 
 tions may know that I made the children of Israel to dwell in 
 booths when I brought them out of the land of Egypt: I am 
 Jehovah your God." 
 
SACRED SEASONS OF THE HEBREWS. 607 
 
 The Rabbinists of Inter times interpreted the fortieth verse to mean 
 that they should take literally the fruit of goodly trees (they understood 
 citrons], aiid should make of the branches of the trees specified a sort of 
 thyrsus called lulab, to be borne about in their hands with the fruit. See 
 Josephus, Antiq. , 3. 10. 4 ; 13. 13. 5 ; and the references in Keil on Lev. 
 23 : 40, seq. , and in Balir, Syrnbolik, 4. 3. 3. But the Karaite Jews held 
 correctly that the boughs here specified were to be used in the construc 
 tion of booths ; for such was the interpretation of the words by Nehemiah 
 and his associates (chap. 8 : 15), who could not have been mistaken as t< 
 the usage of their forefathers. "The fruit of goodly trees" may mean 
 literally fruit for the embellishment of the booths ; or, the word fruit " 
 may be used in the general sense of growth, that is branches, as in our ver 
 sion ; the fruit of goodly trees being a general statement put in apposition 
 with what follows. So Keil and others. 
 
 (2.) The sacrifices and oblations, which were on a very mag 
 nificent scale, are all specified in order in the twenty-ninth chap 
 ter of the book of Numbers. In addition to the daily sacrifices 
 and oblations, there were to be offered on the first day, as a 
 burnt-offering, thirteen young bullocks, two rams, and fourteen 
 lambs, with the accompanying meal-offering and drink-offering ; 
 also one kid of the goats for a sin-offering. The same offerings 
 were prescribed for the six foUowing days, except that the num 
 ber of bullocks was to be diminished by one each day. On the 
 eighth day, after the termination of the proper feast of taberna 
 cles, they offered, as a burnt-offering, one bullock, one ram, and 
 seven lambs, with the accompanying meal-offering and drink- 
 offering, and one goat for a sin-offering. 
 
 (3.) The first and eighth days were observed as holy convo 
 cations, in which no servile work was to be performed by Jew r s 
 or any in their households. 
 
 There were some rites observed by the later Jews which are not pre 
 scribed in the Pentateuch. Among these was the drawing of water evi iy 
 morning by the priests during the continuance of the feast (whether on the 
 eighth day is doubtful), and pouring it out on the altar together with wine, 
 while the Hallel (Psa. 113-118) was sung. It is commonly supposed that 
 our Saviour alluded to this rite when he stood and cried "in the last day, 
 that great day of the feast," which was certainly the eighth day : "If any 
 man thirst let him come unto me and drink." 
 
<ii)o BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 20. Thus the year of agricultural labor ended (they began 
 their ploughing and sowing for the ensuing year after the fall of 
 the aiitumnal rains, Chap. 7, Nos. 2-4) with a double recognition 
 of God s wonderful dealings in the past, and his bounty in the 
 present. 
 
 The seventh month was preeminently the month of solemn convoca 
 tions. On the first day was a holy convocation with the blowing of trum 
 pets, and the prescribed burnt-offerings and sin-offering : on the tenth was 
 the great day of atonement (Chap. 29, No. 19. 5) : and two such days were 
 connected with the feast of tabernacles each of them a sabbatical day (see 
 above, No. 5) on which no servile labor might be performed. 
 
 III. LATER JEWISH FESTIVALS. 
 
 21. The feast of Purim (that is, lots, Esther 9 : 24, 26) AV;IS 
 ordained by Mordecai to be kept on the fourteenth and fifteenth 
 days of the twelfth month, called Adar, in commemoration of the 
 deliverance of thp Jews from the machinations of Hainan. For 
 the account of its establishment the reader is referred to the 
 ninth chapter of the book of Esther. It became with the Jews 
 of later ages a favorite festival, and so it continues to the pres 
 ent time. The roll of the book of Esther is read over in the 
 synagogue, and as often as the name of Haman occurs, the con 
 gregation make noisy demonstrations of abhorrence by stamping, 
 clapping the hands, etc. When the synagogue services are over 
 they give themselves up very freely to festivities. 
 
 22. The feast of dedication was held in commemoration of the 
 purification of the temple after it had been profaned by Anti- 
 ochus Epiphanes. The profanation took place 107, and the 
 purification 164 years before Christ. The festival commenced 
 on the twenty-fifth day of the ninth month, called Kislev, and 
 lasted eight days, accompanied by many sacrifices. See 1 Mace. 
 4 : 52-59 ; 2 Mace. 10 : 1-8 ; Joseplms, Antiq., 12. 7. 6 and 7. 
 
 The month Kislev began with the new moon of December. Hence the 
 feast of dedication fell in the depths of winter, as intimated by the evan 
 gelist (John 10 : 22, 23): "And it was the feast of dedication at Jerusalem, 
 and it was winter. And Jesus walked in the temple, in Solomon s porch." 
 He walked there in a sheltered place because of the wintry \veather. 
 
SACRED SEASONS OF THE HEBREWS. 609 
 
 23. Besides the days of fasting connected with the Mosaic 
 ritual (Lev. 16:29, 31; 23: 27, 29, 32; Numb. 29:7), the Jews 
 during and after the captivity had certain anniversary fasts, 
 which are enumerated in the book of Zechariah. 
 
 We give these according to John. Archaeology, 358. They were 
 (1) the 17th day of the fourth month, in memory of the capture of Jerusa 
 lem (Jer. 52 : 6, 7 ; Zech. 8 : 19) ; (2) the 9th day of the fifth month, in 
 memory of the burning of the temple (Zech. 7:3; 8 : 19 compared with 
 Jer. 52 : 12, 13) ; (3) the 3d day of the seventh month, in memory of the 
 murder of Gedaliah (Jer. 41 : 2, 3 ; Zech. 7:5; 8 : 19); (4) the 10th day 
 of the tenth month, in memory of the commencement of the attack on 
 Jerusalem (Jer. 52 : 4 ; Zech. 8 : 19). 
 
 26" 
 
610 BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 CHAPTEK XXXII. 
 
 Vows AND PEYOTED THINGS. 
 
 1. THE devotion of persons or things as accursed and doomed 
 to destruction was not allowed according to the arbitrary will of 
 individuals or communities. The Canaanites were thus devoted 
 by God himself. Numb. 33 : 50-56; Deut. 20: 16-18. Special 
 cases, in which both the accursed persons and all the possessions 
 belonging to them were, by God s immediate direction, to be 
 destroyed, or devoted to the uses of the sanctuary, are the case 
 of Jericho (Josh. 6 : 17-19) ; of Achan (Josh. 7 : 24-26) ; of the 
 Amalekites (Exod. 17 : 14 ; 1 Sam. 15 : 2, 3). Here belongs also 
 the case recorded in Numb. 21 : 1-3, for king Arad and his peo 
 ple, as Canaanites, were included within the general curse (Heb., 
 her em). In other cases the devotion to destruction was for the 
 sin of idolatry, and took place after regular investigation. Deut., 
 chap. 13. Jephthah s devotion of his daughter to death as a 
 burnt-offering, in accordance with his interpretation of a previ 
 ous vow (if that be the true meaning of the passage) was an act 
 of blind superstition, not warranted by either the letter or the 
 spirit of the Mosaic law. 
 
 2. Affirmative voivs were a very ancient usage. The earliest 
 example is recorded in the book of Genesis (chap. 28 : 20-22), 
 where Jacob solemnly engaged, upon specified conditions, to 
 give the tenth of all his substance to the Lord. Of the same 
 character were the votive sacrifices. They were saQfifices offered 
 to God in fulfilment of a vow made in time of trouble. To these 
 there is frequent allusion in the Old Testament : " I will go into 
 thy house with burnt-offerings : I will pay thee my vows, which 
 my lips have uttered, and my mouth hath spoken, when I was in 
 trouble" (Psa. 66:13, 14); "Thy vows are upon me, O God; I 
 will render praises unto thee ; for thou hast delivered my soul 
 from death" (Psa. 56 : 12, 18). 
 
VOWS AND DEVOTED THINGS. Gil 
 
 Besides sacrifices, the Hebrews might devote to God bv ,i 
 solemn vow anything of which the right of possession was vested 
 in themselves their own persons or the persons of their chil 
 dren and bond-servants, their beasts clean and unclean, their 
 houses and fields, etc. See Lev., chap. 27, w r here by making " a 
 singular vow" (as our version renders) is meant separating some- 
 tiling as consecrated to God by a vow. All persons thus devo 
 ted were to be redeemed according to a prescribed law of valua 
 tion (vers. 3-8) ; clean beasts thus devoted were to be offered in 
 sacrifice (vers. 9, 10). Unclean beasts might be redeemed by 
 adding a fifth part to their estimated value (vers. 1113). The 
 same law prevailed for houses and lands, the worth of the latter 
 being determined by reference to the nearness or remoteness of 
 the year of jubilee (vers. 14^25). Nothing that already belonged 
 to Jehovah, as for example the firstlings of beasts and tithes, 
 could be devoted to him by such a vow, nor any base gain. 
 Deut. 23 : 18. No devoted thing (Heb., herem, the same word that 
 is rendered accursed thing, Josh. 6:18; 7:1, 11) could be re 
 deemed or sold, but, if it were a living thing, must be put to 
 death (vers. 28, 29). Here we are undoubtedly to understand 
 things devoted as accursed, like the persons and spoils pf an 
 idolatrous city. No. 1, above. We may not for a moment 
 assume that the Israelites had the right thus to devote to death 
 persons over whom they had control, as children or bond-ser 
 vants, by their own arbitrary will. The cases were prescribed 
 by the Mosaic law, and they were required to proceed in an 
 orderly way upon satisfactory evidence. 
 
 3. The persons or things thus devoted to God are the corban 
 (offering, gift to God) of the New Testament. In their original 
 unperverted form, such affirmative vows were expressions of love 
 and devotion to God. Although no man could give to God more 
 than He required in the form of inward love, the command being : 
 " Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart," he could 
 make /VeeznYZ offerings of outward possessions over and above 
 those required by the Mosaic statutes ; and these, if given in the 
 spirit of humility and faith, were acceptable to God. But when 
 
612 BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 they degenerated into acts of self-righteousness, and wore made 
 at the expense of the duties which men owed to their parents 
 and other persons dependent upon them, as in the case of the 
 Pharisees (Mark 7 : 9-13), they became an abomination in the 
 sight of God. 
 
 4. The Mosaic law neither enjoined nor encouraged vows, but 
 it rer/Hhtfcd them with great exactness. They were transactions 
 with God, in which no levity or unfaithfulness was allowable. 
 The cases in which vows were disallowed or permitted to stand 
 as valid are fully described in the thirtieth chapter of the book 
 of Numbers. When valid they must be faithfully kept. "When 
 thou shalt vow a vow unto the Lord. thy God, thou slialt not 
 delay to pay it : for the Lord thy God will surely require it of 
 thee ; and it would be sin in thee. But if thou shalt forbear to 
 vow, it shall be no sin in thee. That which is gone out of thy 
 lips thou slialt keep and perform according as thou hast vowed 
 unto the Lord thy God, as a freewill offering which thou hast 
 spoken with thy lips. Deut. 23 : 21-23. See also Eccl. 5 : 4-6. 
 
 5. Of negative voivs, vows of abstinence, the most important 
 class, for which alone rules were prescribed by the Mosaic law, 
 was that of Nazarite vows. Samson (Judg. 13 : 2-7) and John 
 the Baptist (Luke 1 : 15) were Nazarites from their birth by God s 
 appointment. So also apparently Samuel by the vow of his 
 mother. 1 Sam. 1 : 11. But the rules of the Mosaic law (Numb., 
 chap. 6) have respect to the vow by which men or women made 
 themselves Nazarites unto the Lord for a temporary period. 
 During the continuance of this period the observance of three 
 rules was strictly enjoined upon them: (1) They were to drink 
 no wine or strong drink, and to abstain from every product of 
 the vine in whatever form (vers. 3, 4) ; (2) they were to leave 
 their hair unshorn (ver. 5) ; (3) they were not to defile themselves 
 by the touch of any dead body, though it were one of their 
 nearest kin. In case of an accidental defilement, all the past 
 days of their separation as Nazarites were counted as nothing 
 They were to shave their head, undergo a prescribed purification 
 of eight days, and begin the days of their separation anew. 
 
VOWS AND DEVOTED THI^dS. i]\:\ 
 
 Wl u>ii the days of liis vow were fulfilled, thr Nazarite offered a 
 he-lamb of the first year as a burnt-offering, a ewe-lamb of the 
 first year as a sin-offering, and a ram as a peace-offering, with 
 prescribed unbloody oblations. An additional peculiar rite was 
 that he should shave the hair of his head, " and put it in the fire 
 which is under the sacrifice of peace-offerings," thus consecra 
 ting it to God (vers. 13-21). 
 
 That there were other particular vows of abstinence appears from the 
 thirtieth chapter of the book of Numbers, where the vow (tiedher) is affirm 
 ative, and the bond (issar) is negative; namely, "an oath of a bond to 
 afflict the soul" (ver. 13), probably by fasting and other forms of absti 
 nence. But the Mosaic law gives no special rules respecting them. A 
 notable example of the perversion of the principle contained in such vows 
 occurs in the history of the apostle Paul. On one occasion more than forty 
 Jews bound themselves with an oath that they would neither eat nor drink 
 till they had slain Paul, and they were willing to employ falsehood and 
 hypocrisy for the accomplishment of their oath. Acts 23 : 12, seq. 
 
 6. The underlying idea of the Nazarite vow was the special 
 devotion of one s self to God in the way of purity and abstinence 
 from things in themselves lawful. It had its ground in the deep 
 consciousness of bondage to the flesh and the contamination of 
 the soul by worldly intercourse. It was thus an attempt to ex 
 press the desire of coming into a nearer relation to God, with 
 that self-abnegation, purity, and entire consecration required by 
 such a relation. The requirement of abstinence from wine, 
 strong drink, and every product of the vine, even fresh grapes 
 and raisins, is to be understood in a representative way. It sig 
 nified the abstaining from all the delights of flesh and sense that 
 war against the spiritual man. The prohibition against defile 
 ment by the touch of a dead body (in which respect the Nazarite 
 was placed on a level with the high priest himself, Lev. 21 : 11), 
 represented the purity required of those who come near to God. 
 The prohibition to shave the hair of the head had, of course, a 
 symbolic meaning; but what the meaning was is a question that 
 has been variously answered. The clue to the true significance 
 of the Nazarite s unshorn hair is, as it seems to us, found in the 
 fact that, upon the expiration of the period of his consecration, 
 
614 BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 he was required to shave it off and devote it to the Lord by 
 burning it on the altar (ver. 18). Abstinence from the use of the 
 razor during the days of his consecration was, then, a sign of 
 the entireness of his consecration. His person was wholly devo 
 ted to the Lord, and was to be abridged of nothing that belonged 
 to it. 
 
 The term Nazarite (Heb.. nazlr] signifies separated, set apart by separa 
 tion. It is applied figuratively to the undressed vine of the sabbatical 
 year. Lev. 25 : 5, 11. According to some it has in certain passages (Gen. 
 49 : 26 ; Deut. 33 : 16 ; Lam. 4 : 7) the sense of separated as a prince. 
 
 Among the Jews of later times it was esteemed an act of piety to pay 
 the expenses which poor Nazarites incurred upon the fulfilment of their 
 time of consecration. Upon this usage w r as founded, apparently, the sug 
 gestion made to the apostle Paul (Acts 21 : 23, 24): "We have four men 
 among us who have a vow on them ; them take, and purify thyself Avith 
 them " (by entering into the vow with them), "and be at charges for them, 
 that they may shave their heads. " 
 
 7. The common formula of swearing : " God do so to me and 
 more also, if," etc., is not a vow but an imprecation upon one s 
 own person of the evil in question, if he do not fulfil what his 
 oath engages him to do. See Ruth 1 : 17 ; 2 Sam. 3:9, 35 ; 
 1 Kings 2 : 23 ; 2 Kings 6 : 31. 
 
THE FIRST AND SECOND TEMPLE. G15 
 
 CHAPTEK XXXIII. 
 
 THE FIRST AND J$ECOND TEMPLE. 
 
 1. THERE is much arclnl<rtn,-<il interest connected with the 
 two Jewish temples, especially with the second as renewed, or 
 rather rebuilt, by Herod. But in religious interest neither of 
 them can compare with the tabernacle. The plan of that, with 
 all its appointments, was received from God ; and the two tem 
 ples w r ere modelled after it, with only those modifications that 
 were appropriate to the altered circumstances of the Israelites. 
 They were now settled in the land of Canaan, and no longer 
 needed a movable sanctuary. In Solomon s time they had be 
 come rich and strong, and it was proper that the Lord s house 
 should have an outward magnificence corresponding with the 
 material prosperity which he had bestowed upon them. Such 
 was the view taken by David when he suggested to Nathan, for 
 the first time, the idea of building a temple. " See now," said 
 he, "I dwell in a house of cedar, but the ark of God dwelleth 
 within curtains." 2 Sam. 7 : 2. And, again, he says of the prep 
 arations which he and the princes of Israel had made : " O Lord 
 our God, all this store that we have prepared to build thee a 
 house for thy holy name cometh of thy hand, and is all thine 
 own." 1 Chron. 29 : 16. The brevity of the present work ex 
 cludes elaborate discussions respecting the architecture of the 
 Jewish temples. We shall restrict ourselves mainly to an eluci 
 dation of those points winch had more ^mediate reference to 
 their religious uses. 
 
 I. THE TEMPLE OF SOLOMON. 
 
 2. The temple of Solomon was built on Moriah, a rocky emi 
 nence in the, southeastern part of Jerusalem. In order to obtain 
 a sufficient area, the summit was levelled, immense walls were 
 built up OH the four sides, and the intervening space between 
 
616 BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 them and tlie levelled top was filled in with earth, or built up in 
 vaults. See above, Chap. 2, No. 32, seq. For a description of 
 the temple itself see 1 Kings, chap. 6; 2 Chron., chap. 3; and 
 for the furniture and adornments, 1 Kings, chap. 7; 2 Chron., 
 chap. 4. The walls of the temple were built of white marble, 
 taken apparently from a quarry near the Damascus gate (Bar 
 clay, pp. 459-469), the stones being all prepared beforehand, "so 
 that there was neither hammer nor axe, nor any tool of iron 
 heard in the house while it was in building." 1 Kings 6 : 7. 
 Within, the walls and ceiling overhead were lined with cedar, on 
 which were carved knops (or egg-shaped gourds), opening flow 
 ers, figures of cherubim, and palm-trees. 1 Kings 6 : 18, 29. 
 The floor was made of planks of fir (or cypress) ; and the floor, 
 walls, and ceiling were overlaid with gold. 
 
 3. The interior arrangements of the temple were modelled 
 after those of the tabernacle, but were of double dimensions. 
 Thus, the length of the house was sixty cubits, and its breadth 
 twenty cubits. It was divided, like the tabernacle, into the inner 
 and the outer sanctuary. The inner sanctuary (called in the 
 description the oracle, Heb., <Iclltirj was an exact cube twenty 
 cubits in length, breadth, and height. The outer sanctuary was 
 forty cubits long by twenty in width. Its height is not stated. 
 Since the height of the temple as a whole was thirty cubits 
 (1 Kings 6 : 2) there must have been a space over the inner sanc 
 tuary, occupied apparently by the "upper chambers" mentioned 
 in 2 Chron. 3:9. If the outer sanctuary was of the same height 
 as the inner, then there were chambers over that also. 
 
 4. The oracle, that is, the inner sanctuary, was separated from 
 the outer by a partitiqp, in which evidently at an equal distance 
 from the two sides was a r/oo/v/v///, occupying with the frame in 
 which it was set a fifth part of the wall, that is, four cubits. This 
 was its width. The height must have been proportional. The 
 two leaves of the door were single, and made of olive-wood carved 
 with cherubim, palm-trees, and opening flowers, the whole over 
 laid with gold. The inner sanctuary had also a veil of blue, and 
 purple, and crimson, and fine linen, with figures of cherubim in- 
 
THE FIIIST AND SECOND TEMPLE. 
 
 wrought. 2 Cliron. 3 : 14. " The doors," says Keil (on 1 Kings 
 6 : 32), " did not make the veil mentioned in 2 Cliron. 3 : 14 unne 
 cessary, as many suppose. It may well have hung within the 
 doors ; so that even when their folds were opened without, the 
 veil furnished a second covering, in order that thus every glimpse 
 into the most holy place might be cut off from the priests who 
 ministered in the outer sanctuary and court." The doorway of 
 the outer sanctuary occupied a fourth part of the wall, that is, 
 five cubits ; and it had two double leaves made of cypress wood, 
 ornamented like the leaves of the inner door, and overlaid with 
 gold. Both the inner and outer doors turned on hinges of gold. 
 1 Kings 7 : 50. 
 
 5. In respect to the furniture of the temple, we notice some 
 additions to that of the tabernacle. (1.) The addition in the 
 oracle or inner sanctuary of two cliemlim made of olive-wood, 
 each ten cubits high. These stood against the western or hinder 
 wall of the sanctuary, with their faces directed inward (2 Chron. 
 3: 13), and their wings outspread, "so that the wing of the one 
 touched the one wall, and the wing of the other cherub touched 
 the other wall ; and their wings" (their inner wings) "touched 
 one another in the midst of the house." 1 Kings 6 : 27. Their 
 symbolism was the same as that of the cherubim upon the mercy- 
 seat. (2.) The introduction into the outer sanctuary of ten can 
 dlesticks of gold, and ten tables also, instead of the one candlestick 
 and the one table of showbread that belonged to the taberna 
 cle. 2 Chron: 4 : 7, 8. The ten candlesticks were made " accord 
 ing to their manner," that is, according to the pattern of the 
 golden candlestick of the tabernacle; and the tables were for 
 the showbread. 2 Cliron. 4 : 7, 19, 20. Of these candlesticks 
 and tables five were set on the right side of the outer sanctuary, 
 and five on the left. In 1 Kings 7 : 48 only -one table is men 
 tioned ; that, namely, on which the twelve loaves were placed ; 
 for the loaves were certainly not divided among the tables. 
 (3.) The addition to the temple of icindows of closed lattice-U ork 
 (the true rendering of 1 Kings 6:4); that is, lattice-work that 
 could not be opened and closed at pleasure, and which served 
 
618 BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 for ventilation. These windows seem to liave been in the upper 
 part of the wall above the three stories of chambers that were 
 built around the temple. See below, No. 7. 
 
 6. In front of the temple was a porch extending across its 
 whole width, twenty cubits, and ten cubits deep. The height of 
 this porch is not given in the first book of Kings, but in the sec 
 ond book of Chronicles (3 : 4) it is said to have been one hundred 
 and twenty cubits high, a measure which is " so entirely out of 
 proportion to the other dimensions of the porch and the general 
 height of the building, that it is commonly supposed there is 
 some error in the text." Imperial Bible Diet., Art., Temple. In 
 the porch in front of the temple (1 Kings 7 : 21 ; 2 Chron. 3 : 17) 
 were placed two pillars of brass " eighteen cubits high apiece, 
 and a line of twelve cubits did compass either of them about." 
 The ornamental work on these pillars is described at length. 
 1 Kings 7 : 15-22. The name of the pillar on the right side was 
 Jachin, he establishes ; that of the pillar on the left side, Boaz, in 
 him is strength. The temple was the dwelling-place of Jehovah ; 
 and these pillars were symbols of the great truth that he estab 
 lishes his people, and that their strength is in him. 
 
 7. Around the temple on three sides the north and south 
 sides and the west end were built three stories of chambers one 
 above another, each story being five cubits in height (1 Kings 
 6 : 10) ; making, with an allowance for the thickness of the floors, 
 some eighteen cubits of elevation, above which the temple itself 
 rose to the height of thirty cubits from its foundation. The 
 cedar beams on which the successive stories rested were not let 
 into the wall of the temple (which would have made them seem 
 to constitute a part of it, and would have been derogatory to its 
 sacred character) ; but they rested on offsets produced by suc 
 cessive diminutions in the thickness of the wall. Hence it hap 
 pened that the breadth of the lower story of chambers was five 
 cubits ; that of the middle story, six cubits ; and that of the up 
 per -story, seven cubits. That they were let into the wall which 
 supported them on the outside, we may infer from the descrip 
 tion of the temple seen in vision by Ezekiel, where this is express- 
 

 
 
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 PLAN OF THE TEMPLE IN THIO TIME OF CHRIST. 
 
 A. The Holy of Holies. 
 
 B. The Holy Place. 
 
 C. The Altar of Burnt-offerings. 
 
 D. The brazen Laver. 
 
 E. The court of the Priests. 
 
 F. The court of Israel. 
 
 G. The gate Nicanor. 
 
 H. TLe court of the Wocie: . 
 
 I. The gato Beautiful. 
 
 J. The court of the Gentiles. 
 
 K. The Eastern or Shushan gate. 
 
 L. Solomon s Porch, or colonnade. 
 
 M. The Royal Porch. 
 
 N. The Outer Wall. 
 
 O. Apartments for various usec. 
 
 slJLJL* 
 
 
 xart_nj\.*xjLJi_fi-jij LTU-IJI 
 
 SIDE VIEW OF THE TEMPL .:, FROM THE SOUTH ; IN PART AFTKK DR. BARCLAY. 
 
THE FIRST AND SECOND TEMPLE. 619 
 
 ly stated. Ezek. 41 : G. The ascent to the chambers* was by 
 winding stairs from the lower story to the middle, and from that 
 to the upper story. 1 Kings 6 : 8. 
 
 Josephus (Antiq. , 8. 3. 2) says that the chambers were thirty in number; 
 that is, thirty for each story, and that the mode of entrance was from one 
 into another. He further says that the chambers of the lower story were 
 five cubits in length, and the same in breadth, and twenty cubits high, 
 which last dimension is manifestly incorrect, as are some other of his meas 
 ures. These chambers were for the use of the priests, the officers who had 
 the supervision of the temple, etc. 
 
 8. The temple had two courts ; the inner (1 Kings 6 : 36) called 
 also the court of the 2^ iests (2 Chron. 4:9), and the upper court 
 (Jer. 36 : 10), as being elevated above the other ; and the outer 
 or f/real court (2 Chron. 4 : 9). The walls of the inner court were 
 built with three rows of hewn stone, and a row of cedar beams, 
 and both courts were furnished with doors overlaid with brass. 
 "With the courts were connected chambers or cells for the use of 
 the porters and other attendants, and for storerooms in which 
 were kept the treasures of the temple, and everything necessary 
 for its service. 2 Kings 23 : 11 ; 1 Chron. 9 : 26 ; 28 : 12 ; 2 Chron. 
 31:5,11; Jer. 36 : 10; etc. 
 
 9. In the furniture of ilj iiuicr court we notice changes cor 
 responding to those made in the sanctuary. The brazen altar 
 of the tabernacle, five cubits square and three in height, was 
 superseded by an altar of brass twenty cubits square and 
 ten cubits in height (2 Chron. 4:1), the ascent to which must 
 have been by an inclined plane (Exod. 20 : 26). In place of the 
 laver belonging to the tabernacle, Solomon made a molten sea 
 of " ten cubits from one brim to the other, round all about, with 
 a height of five cubits, and a line of thirty cubits did compass it 
 about," 1 Kings 7:23; 2 Chron. 4:2. The capacity of this 
 sea was, according to 1 Kings 7:26; two thousand baths (ac 
 cording to 2 Chron. 4 : 5, three thousand baths, which is appa 
 rently an error in the text) ; that is, reckoning the bath as does 
 Robinson, at 8| gallons, 17,750 gallons; or, according to the old 
 
620 BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 reckoning of 7.\ gallons, to a bath, 15,000 gallons. It was orna 
 mented around the brim with knops (gourd like figures) and flow 
 ers of lilies ; and it stood on twelve brazen oxen with their faces 
 turned outward, looking three in a group towards each of the 
 four quarters of the earth. Solomon also made, in correspond 
 ence with the ten candlesticks and ten tables of the sanctuary, 
 ten bases or stands of brass four cubits square with a height of 
 three cubits, on each of which he placed a laver containing forty 
 baths. The bases were ornamented- with figures of lions, oxen, 
 and cherubim, and had each four wheels, for the convenience of 
 moving them from place to place. They were arranged in the 
 court five on the right side of the house and five on the left. See 
 1 Kings 7 : 27-39. 
 
 For the service of the sanctuary a great quantity of water was required. 
 The use of the layers, as distinguished from that of the sea, is thus given 
 (2 Chron. 4:6): "He made also ten layers, and put five on the right hand 
 and five on the left, to wash in them ; such things as they offered for the 
 burnt-offering they washed in them ; but the sea was for the priests to 
 wash in." At the time of the captivity, this sea, with the bases and bra/en 
 pillars, fell into the hands of the Chaldeans, when they were broken in 
 pieces, and the brass of them carried to Babylon. The movable furniture 
 of the temple was transported without injury. 2 Kings, chap. 25 ; Ezra 
 L : 7-11. 
 
 II. THE TEMPLE OF ZERUBBABEL. 
 
 10. The temple of Solomon stood, according to the com 
 monly received chronology, about 417 years from the time of its 
 completion to that of its destruction by the Chaldeans, B. c. 588 
 years. The foundation of the second temple was laid by Zerub- 
 babel and his associates B. c. 535 years, and, after a long 
 interruption, was finished B. c. 515 years, or seventy-three years 
 after the destruction of Solomon s temple. Concerning the 
 plan of this temple we have but little information. The de 
 cree of Darius (Ezra 6 : 3) directs that it shah 1 be sixty cubits 
 high and sixty in breadth. Both these dimensions are reckoned 
 externally. The inner and outer sanctuary did not certainly ex 
 ceed twenty cubits in their interior width; for this was their 
 
THE FIKST AND SECOND TEMPLE. 621 
 
 width in Solomon s temple, and in the temple as renewed by 
 Herod. The width of sixty cubits was made up according to 
 Keil (on Ezra 6:3) as follows : twenty cubits for the interior 
 width of the sanctuary ; five cubits on each side for the width of 
 the temple walls at their foundation ; ten cubits on each side for 
 the width of the chambers built around the tenrple ; five cubits 
 on each side for the width Qf the outer walls of the chambers ; 
 that is : 5 + 10 + 5 + 20 + 5 + 10 -f 5 cubits = 60 cnbits. How much 
 of the height of sixty cubits was occupied by the sanctuary 
 proper we have no means of deciding. According to Josephus, 
 (Jewish "War, 5. 5. 5) the height of the two sanctuaries, as 
 renewed by Herod, was sixty cubits; but this may have had 
 its ground in the Jewish interpretation of this very passage in 
 Ezra. 
 
 11. When the foundation of this temple was laid by Zerub- 
 babel, "all the people shouted with a great shout when they 
 praised the Lord, because the foundation of the house of the 
 Lord was laid." But the old men who had seen the first house 
 in its glory, "wept with a loud voice." To this scene the prophet 
 Haggai refers (chap. 2:3): " Who is left among you that saw 
 this house in her first glory? And how do ye see it now ? Is it 
 not in your eyes in comparison of it as nothing?" But God s 
 promise was (ver. 9): "The glory of this latter house shall be 
 greater than of the former, saith the Lord of hosts ; and in this 
 place will I give peace, saith the Lord of hosts" a promise that 
 was fulfilled in the lower sense when Herod renewed Zerubba- 
 bel s temple with a magnificence surpassing that of Solomon s 
 temple ; and in the higher sense when this temple was honored 
 by the presence of the Son of God, the great Peacemaker be 
 tween God and man. 
 
 The second temple wanted the ark of the covenant and the Uriin and 
 Thtunmini. Of the cloud which was a token of God s presence when the 
 first temple was dedicated (1 Kings 8 : 10, 11), we have no notice in the 
 history of the second temple. It had but one candlestick and table of 
 showbread (1 Mace. 4:49), according to the primitive order of the taber 
 nacle. According to Jewish authorities (Joma, 5. 2}, a stone was set in the 
 
622 BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 inner sanctuary in place of the ark of the covenant, and on this the blood 
 of the sin-offerings was sprinkled. This accords with the report of Poin- 
 pey s visit to the sanctuary (B. c. 63): "A sanctuary with no image of the 
 gods, and empty shrines" (Tacitus, Hist., 5. 9). 
 
 III. THE TEMPLE OF HEROD. 
 
 12. Herod was not satisfied with the quality of the second 
 temple, and, in an oration addressed to the Jews (Josephus, An- 
 fciq., 15. 11. 1), he proposed to replace it by one of surpassing 
 magnificence; "thinking," says Josephus, "that the accomplish 
 ment of this would be, as it was, the most famous of all the works 
 undertaken by him, and would serve for an everlasting memorial 
 of him." The Jew r s very naturally regarded his proposal with 
 coldness and distrust ; being apprehensive that if he should pull 
 down the existing temple, he would not find means to accomplish 
 his plan for the erection of a new house on a scale so vast as 
 that proposed by him. To allay their f oars Herod promised that 
 he would not take down their temple till he had pivpaivd nil 
 things necessary for rebuilding it. This promise he faithfully 
 kept, replacing the several parts of the temple in succession, so 
 that its identity was not destroyed, but it continued to be called, 
 as it really was, the second temple, though renewed in a form 
 more magnificent than that of even Solomon s temple, and with 
 grander dimensions. 
 
 13. We add a brief account of Herod s temple as it appeared 
 to a visitor entering its several parts from without. The entire 
 enclosure of the temple occupied, according to Josephus, a sta 
 dium square ; according to the Talmud, five hundred cubits 
 square, its successive courts lying in the form of terraces, one 
 above another, and the temple proper occupying the highest 
 place. The outermost enclosure, called the conrf <>/ f//c Gentiles, 
 was- surrounded on all sides by a high wall. It had on three 
 sides a double line of porches, and on the fourth, or south side, 
 a triple line. These porches were of surpassing magnificence. 
 Their roofs were of cedar, adorned with x cawed work. Each 
 double porch rested on a triple row of columns, and the triple 
 
THE FIRST AND SECOND TEMPLE. 
 
 porch on a quadruple row. The columns were of the Corinthian 
 order of architectuiv, and consisted each of a single piece of 
 white marble twenty-five cubits in height ; an altitude which was 
 doubled by the addition of pedestal, capital, cornice, and roof. 
 Thus the entire height of the porches was fifty cubits, with a 
 breadth of thirty cubits. From these measures is to be excepted 
 the middle porch on the south side, which was forty-five cubits 
 broad and a hundred high. All the porches were paved with 
 marble of various colors. The outer porch on the eastern side 
 was called Solomons pcrrch. 
 
 It was in the court of the Gentiles that the money-changers were found, 
 and those who sold animals and doves for sacrifice. Matt. 21 : 12, 13 ; 
 Mark 11 : 15-17 ; Luke 19 :45, 46 ;*Jolm 2 : 13-17. "In this court," says 
 Jahii (Archaeology, $343), "appear to have been repositories, of which wo 
 a iv informed by Josephus (Jewish War; 6. 5. 2), in which the treasures, 
 utensils, supplies, etc., of the temple were kept. But these repositories 
 are to be distinguished from the treasury mentioned in Mark 12 : 41, into 
 which the gifts of the temple were cast." * The latter was, according to the 
 Talmudists, in the court, of the women. 
 
 <! 
 
 14. Passing through the court of the Gentiles, the visitor 
 came to the inner court, which was encompassed by a double en 
 closure. First, there was an elegant stone wall, three cubits in 
 height, on all four sides. On this stood at equal distances pillars 
 with inscriptions in Greek and Latin, forbidding to strangers 
 any further approach under penalty of death. Passing through 
 this, one came, by an ascent of fourteen steps, to a level plat 
 form, ten cubits broad; and then, by an ascent of five more 
 steps, to the proper gate and w r all of the inner court. This wall, 
 which encompassed it on all sides, was forty cubits high without, 
 but within only twenty-live cubits high, the whole interior plat 
 form being elevated fifteen cubits. The inner court was further 
 subdivided by a low wall into the cunrt of the women on the east 
 side, and the court of the Israelites, which was four-square, sur 
 rounding the temple on all sides. Between the gates of tliis 
 court were single porches, which, says Josephus, were no way 
 inferior to the porches of the lower court, except in size. Pass- 
 
024: BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 ing through the court of the Israelites, one came to the inner 
 most area, called the court of the priests, surrounded by a low 
 wall, in the midst of which the temple itself was placed. None 7 
 but the priests were permitted to enter this court, not even Herod 
 himself (Pompey s visit to the sanctuary was simply in the exer 
 cise of his military power as a conqueror) ; but, according to the 
 express statement of Josephus (Antiq., 15. 11. 6), the temple 
 proper was rebuilt by the priests in a year and six months, 
 while Herod superintended the construction of the porches and 
 the outward enclosures, a work which occupied his time for eight 
 years. 
 
 15. The gates of the courts leading up to the sanctuary cprre- 
 sponded in magnificence with the general splendor of the temple. 
 The outer wall of the temple area had on the west side four gates 
 (Josephus, Antiq., 15. 11. 5), the southernmost leading over the 
 bridge that connected the temple with Zion (Robinson s Bib. Ees., 
 1, pp. 287, 288). On the north side there was no proper gate, but 
 a secret subterranean passage communicating with the fortress 
 Antonia (Chap. 2, No. 34), designed for the use of Herod and 
 his officers, that he might at all times have command of the 
 temple. According to Josephus (Antiq., 15. 11. 5), the south side 
 "had gates about the middle." At the present day, about thirty 
 feet in front of the Mosk-el-Aksa (Chap. 2, No. 36), a passage 
 leads down by steps under the mosk to a noble ancient gateway, 
 described by Catherwood as forty-two feet in breadth by fifty or 
 sixty feet in length from south to north. It is a double gateway, 
 with a middle row of columns extending through the whole pas 
 sage, and it served for access to the subterranean vaults of the 
 temple area, and thus to the temple itself ; but it was no gate 
 way for common use. The celebrated golden gate on the eastern 
 side, which is similar in its structure, is referred by Kobinson 
 (Bib. Ees., vol. 1, p. 296) to a later age. Both this and the gate 
 way on the south side are now closed up. 
 
 The inner enclosure about the court of the Israelites and that 
 of the women had nine gates, four on the north side, four on the 
 south, and one in front on the east. Of the side gates the 
 
THE FIRST AND SECOND TEMPLE. G25 
 
 tw6 easternmost led into the court of the women, and the re 
 maining six into the court of the Israelites. These gates were 
 all adorned with gold and silver, but the eastern gate, called the 
 gate of Nicanor, surpassed all the rest in splendor. It was of 
 Corinthian brass, fifty cubits in height, with folds of forty cubits, 
 profusely adorned with thick plates of silver and gold. This is 
 , supposed to have been "the gate called Beautiful." Acts 3:2. 
 Ah 1 the gates had large spaces within, with side rooms built like 
 towers. See Josephus, Jewish War, 5. 5. 3. 
 
 16. To -the temple proper there was an ascent from the court 
 of the priests of twelve steps. The porch in front of the sanc 
 tuary was, according to Josephus (Jewish War, 5. 5. 4), one hun 
 dred cubits high and as many broad, having shoulders which 
 projected on each side twenty cubits beyond the breadth of the 
 house. It was entered by an open gateway, destitute of folds, 
 that was seventy cubits high and twenty-five broad. Passing 
 through the porch, one arrived at the entrance which opened 
 into the outer sanctuary fifty-five cubits high and and sixteen 
 broad. The gate, as well as its adjacent wall, was all covered 
 with gold. " It had also above golden vines, from which clusters 
 of grapes hung of the length of a man." The inner sanctuary 
 was separated from the outer by a gateway, with golden doors of 
 the same dimensions as those of the gateway belonging to the 
 outer sanctuary. Before each hung a richly embroidered veil of 
 equal size with the doors. The size of both the inner and outer 
 sanctuaries remained the same as in Solomon s temple; but the 
 chambers built around gave to the temple an entire width of 
 sixty cubits, with an exterior extent of one hundred cubits from 
 east to west, the porch and walls included. 
 
 17. According to Josephus (Jewish War, 5. 5. 6), the altar of 
 burnt-offering that stood in the court of the priests was fifty cu 
 bits square with a height of fifteen cubits, the ascent to it being 
 by an inclined plane. The Talmud reduces its dimensions to 
 thirty-two cubits. Middoth, 3. 1. 
 
 For the magnificent appearance of the temple as seen from a distance, 
 and for the size of the foundation-stones of the temple area, see Chap. 
 
 Oeofc-. 4 Auliq. 27 
 
f>26 BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 2, Nos. 32, 33. The material splendor of the temple was valuable only as 
 a symbol of the spiritual excellence and glory which belonged to the Lord 
 of the temple and to his service. When He who gave to it all its true glory 
 was rejected and crucified, it became only an abomination in God s sight, 
 v.-hicb. he speedily put out of the way for ever "with tumult, with shouting, 
 and with the sound of a trumpet." 
 
THE JEWISH SYNAGOGUE. 627 
 
 CHAPTEK XXXIV. 
 
 THE JEWISH SYNAGOGUE. 
 
 1. THE desolation of Judaea by the Chaldeans, the burning of 
 the city and temple, and the captivity of the people had a gloomy 
 aspect. But these, like all God s judgments upon his cove 
 nant people, had a purifying, not a destroying efficacy. They 
 learned, by bitter experience, what they might have known from 
 the testimony of Moses and the prophets, that idolatry, with the 
 profligacy in public and private life that it brought in its train, 
 would end in national ruin. The pious remnant of Jews, upon 
 their return to Palestine, were anxious above all things that the 
 masses of the people should be thoroughly instructed in the law 
 of Moses; and out of this feeling came the institution of the Jew 
 ish synagogue. But it grew up in such a silent way that it is im 
 possible to give an exact account of its origin. The germ of the 
 institution was probably brought by the returning exiles from 
 the land of their captivity. But the synagogue, in its mature 
 form, is of later date than the restoration. It was the conflict 
 of the Maccabees with Antiochus, who aimed at the destruction 
 of the Mosaic institutions, that gave to the Jewish synagogue, 
 not indeed its existence, but its high position in the national rsti- 
 matiou. Before this eventful crisis it seems to have held but a 
 subordinate place. See Keil, Archiiologie, 1. 30; and Leyivr, 
 in Herzog, Encyclopiidie. 
 
 Before the captivity it was the custom of pious Israelites to resort to 
 the prophets for instruction at stated seasons (2 Kings 4 : 23) ; but there 
 was no established system for the weekly instruction of the whole people in 
 their several cities and villages. "The special mission of the priests uml 
 Levites under Jehoshaphat (2 Chron. 17 : 7-9) shows that there was no 
 regular provision for reading the book of the law of the Lord to the 
 people, and makes it probable that even the rule which prescribed that it 
 should be read once every seven years at the feast of tabernacles (Deut. 
 
628 BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 31 : 10) had fallen into disuse." Smith s Bible Diet. , Art., Synagogue. The 
 attempt of the Jews to trace this institution back to the days of the early 
 patriarchs wants even the shadow of evidence. 
 
 2. The term synagogue is applied both to the entire refit /ions 
 system and to the building in which the worshippers assembled. 
 The building, however, was not essential to the system. Un 
 doubtedly the people assembled originally in private houses, or 
 in the open air, just as was the case with the primitive Christians. 
 But when the system was once established, the erection of build 
 ings for the accommodation of the people followed as a matter 
 of course. We find them, in our Saviour s day, in every city, of 
 Palestine, and in all the villages except the very smallest; also, 
 out of Palestine, wherever the Jews were found in any consider 
 able number. 
 
 Ten men, at least, were required to constitute a legitimate congregation 
 for the performance of public worship ; and such a number might, if able, 
 have a synagogue-building. 
 
 There is no mention made of synagogue-buildings in the Hebrew of the 
 Old Testament. Whatever maybe the meaning of the Psalmist s words 
 (Psa. 74 : 8) : "They have burned up all the assemblies of God " (places of 
 assembly for the worship of God) "in the land," it is generally agreed 
 that the reference is not to synagogues in the later sense of the word. 
 See, on this passage, the commentators. 
 
 3. The structure of the synagogue was in general modelled 
 after that of the sanctuary. The site was chosen, if possible, 
 on the highest ground in the place, in order that no house might 
 overlook it. Where this was not practicable, a tall pole was raised 
 from the roof, to make it a conspicuous object. According to 
 Vitiinga (de Synag., pp. 178, 457), the direction of the synagogue 
 was such that the worshippers upon entering always looked tow 
 ards Jerusalem. At the wall opposite the entrance that is, at 
 the end towards Jerusalem stood the chest containing the sa 
 cred scrolls. It was placed on an elevated base, to which there 
 was an ascent by several steps, and had, in imitation of the sanc 
 tuary, a veil hanging before it. In many synagogues there is an 
 additional chest for the rolls of the Haphtaroth, or selections 
 from the prophetical books. In front of tin s chest was the eight- 
 
THE JEWISH SYNAGOGUE. 
 
 branched lamp, lighted only on great festivals, and also a pend 
 ent lamp kept ever burning. Other lamps, brought by the wor 
 shippers, were lighted at the beginning of the Sabbath ; that is, 
 on Friday evening. 
 
 Farther towards the middle of the building was a raised 
 platform capable of containing several persons, and in the mid 
 dle of this a pulpit, on which the holy books were laid, and 
 where the reader stood. For teaching a sitting posture was 
 taken. Luke 4 : 20 ; John 8:2; Matt. 5:1; 26 : 55. The lower 
 part, in front of the pulpit, occupied by the congregation, was 
 originally divided into right and left by a low partition, the men 
 occupying one side and the women the other; but in modern 
 usage the women are placed in low side-galleries with screens of 
 lattice-work. Almsboxes were placed near the door, after the 
 pattern of the temple. There was also a chest for the trumpets 
 and other musical instruments used on festival days. The sacred 
 books are always hi the form of rolls, the rollers being elabo 
 rately decorated, with embroidered or enamelled cases. 
 
 The chief seats in the synagogue (Matt. 23 : 6) were those near the pul 
 pit, on the raised platform noticed above. They were occupied by the 
 elders of the synagogue, and other persons of distinction. 
 
 The oratories (Greek, proseuchai] were not altogether identical with the 
 synagogues, though they might be sometimes used as such. They were 
 places for social prayer and devotion, mostly without the walls of cities, 
 and generally by the side of rivers, or on the seashore, for the convenience of 
 ablution. " But often the oratory" (says Kobinson, Lex. New Test.) "ap 
 pears not to have been a building, and was probably some retired place in 
 the open air or in a grove." The oratory at Tiberias, which Josephus de 
 scribes as "a very large building, able to contain a great multitude " (Life, 
 chap. 54), is generally thought to have been a true synagogue. In Acts 
 16 : 13 is a reference to one of these oratories. Perhaps also in Luke 6 : 12. 
 
 4. The ancient, like the modern synagogue, had a regular or 
 ganization. 
 
 First of all there was the college of elders, who constituted 
 the local council, and managed the affairs of the synagogue in 
 subordination to the sanhedrim, or grand council of the nation. 
 There were the rulers of the synagogue (Acts 13 : 15), called also 
 
630 BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 pastors and rulers, terms that naturally passed over to the Chris 
 tian congregations. Their presiding officer was called by way of 
 eminence, the ruler of the synagogue. Mark 5 : 35 ; Luke 8 : 49 ; etc. 
 
 The elders had the right of excommunication. John 9 : 22 ; 12 : 42 ; 
 16 : 2. That scourging in the synagogues was customary is put beyond 
 doubt by the Scriptural notices in Matt. 10 : 17 ; 23 : 34 j Mark 13 : 9 ; Acts 
 22 : 19 ; 26 : 11. 
 
 The legate of tlie congregation was, as a rule, the leader of the 
 people in divine worship. He recited the prayers in then. name, 
 proclaimed the festivals, and performed various other services 
 pertaining to the order of divine service. It was required that 
 he should be a ready man, of blameless life, versed in the Scrip 
 tures, practised in prayer, of ripe years, of pleasant voice, not 
 wealthy, the father of a numerous family. Compare the qualifi 
 cations for the office of a bishop enumerated by the apostle, 
 1 Tim. 3:1-7; Titus 1:6-9. 
 
 The angels of the apocalyptic churches are by many supposed to be their 
 presiding officers, so-called in allusion to the legate of the congnyatinn in 
 the Jewish synagogue, whose office we have been considering. Others un 
 derstand the term of their guardian angels in accordance with the system 
 of angelic powers that prevails in the book of Eevclation. 
 
 When, soon after the captivity, the Hebrew had ceased to be 
 the vernacular of the people, it became necessary to have an in 
 terpreter, who stood by the side of the reader, and rendered into 
 the vernacular of the country, a verse at a time, the lesson of the 
 day It does not appear that this office was permanently in 
 vested in any one person. Any member of the synagogue, who 
 had the requisite qualifications, could act as interpreter. 
 
 A lower office was that of the minister or servant (hazzan), who 
 who had the charge of opening and shutting the synagogue, 
 cleansing it, lighting the lamps, handing the sacred rolls to tho 
 reader and replacing them, etc. This is the person referred to 
 in the account of our Lord s visit to Nazareth (Luke 4 : 20): "And 
 he closed the book and gave it again to the minister." In prog 
 ress of time the minister had also the office of schoolmaster, and 
 thus his position became one of much influence. 
 
THE JEWISH SYNAGOGUE. 631 
 
 There were also teii men colled Italian ii, wit of leisure, \\lmsr exact po 
 sition has been of matter of controversy. "By some (Lightfoot, Hoi . U< 1>., 
 in Matt. 4 : 23; and, in part, Vitringa, p. 532) they have been identified 
 with the above officials, with the addition of the alms collectors. lUini- 
 ferd, however (Ugolini, Thes., vol. 21), sees in them simply a body of men 
 permanently on duty, making up a congregation (ten being the minimum 
 number), so that there might be no delay in beginning the service at the 
 proper hours, and that no single worshipper might go away disappointed. " 
 Smith s Bible Diet., Art., Synagogues. 
 
 5. Whatever freedom there may have been in the synagogue- 
 services at the beginning, they soon settled into a fixed order, 
 consisting of devotional exercises, the reading of Scripture, and 
 oral instruction. The devotional exercises were embodied in an 
 elaborate liturgy. This comprised anciently the chanting of cer 
 tain psalms; the recitation of the so-called site ma, consisting of 
 Deut. 6:4^-9; 11 : 13-21 ; Numb. 15 : 37-41 ; with benedictions 
 and prayers, among which is the collection called sltcmoneli esreh, 
 that is, eighteen, because it consists of eighteen so-called bless 
 ings. It is to be understood that the devotional services were 
 varied, in part, according to the various occasions on which they 
 were used. 
 
 "The congregation, having previously washed their hands outside the 
 synagogue, and, being properly assembled, delegated one of their number 
 to go before the ark and conduct public worship. This legate of the congre 
 gation, who, like the rest of the congregation, was arrayed in his fringed 
 garment, and with the phylacteries on his head and left arm, began with 
 reciting the prayer called kaddish, lidy, the people responding to certain 
 parts." Kitto s Bible Diet., Art., Synagogue, where see a full account of 
 this and other prayers. 
 
 After the prayers were ended came the reading of the Scriptures. 
 The minister of the synagogue brought from the chest the scroll 
 of the Law, and a section of it was read to the congregation. 
 It is said that originally the books of Moses were read through 
 in the synagogue once in three years. But afterwards the ar 
 rangement which now prevails was made, namely, the division 
 of the Pentateuch into fifty-four sections (allowance being made 
 for intercalary months), so that it could be read through once 
 
G32 BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 every year. Selections from the writings of the prophetical 
 books were then read as a second lesson. 
 
 The sections of the law which are all indicated in the common edi 
 tions of the Hebrew bible, are called Parsldyoth; the sections of the 
 Prophets, HaplJiarotli. See Companion to the Bible, Chap. 13, No. 6. The 
 custom of reading selections from the prophets is said to have had its ori 
 gin during the persecution of the Jews by Antiochus Epiphanes, when the 
 Jews were forbidden to read the books of Moses. But this is an uncertain 
 tradition. "The transition from the reading of the law to that of the 
 prophets is made by benedictions and responsive doxologies. " Leyrer. 
 
 With the reading of the prophetical sections the oral dis 
 course which followed was naturally connected, as we see in our 
 Saviour s case. Luke 4 : 20, seq. In this department of the syn 
 agogue service much freedom seems to have been allowed. Any 
 priest, elder, or other person skilful in the law, had. liberty to 
 speak, and strangers of distinction were also invited to address 
 the congregation. Matt. 4 : 23 ; 9 : 35 ; Mark 1 : 39 ; Luke 4 : 20, 
 seq.; John 6:59; 18:20; Acts 13:5, and especially ver. 15; 
 14:1; 17:10; 18:19. 
 
 The services were closed by a benediction pronounced by the 
 priest, or, in his absence, by the reader, with, uplifted hands, to 
 which the congregation added their amen. 
 
 The great work of Vitringa on the ancient Jewish Synagogue is a store 
 house of information. Besides this there are many copious treatises by 
 German authors, among whom may be named Zunz, Herzfeld, and Jost. 
 A very carefully prepared summary from the pen of Leyrer, with full ref 
 erences to authorities, may be found in Herzog s Encyclopadie. There 
 are also valuable articles in all the large Bible Dictionaries. 
 
 6. The influence of the Jewish synagogue on the religious 
 character and history of the Jews was immense. To the sys 
 tematic instruction in Moses and the prophets which it provided 
 for the masses of the people must be ascribed, under God, their 
 steadfast adherence to the Mosaic institutions amidst all the" se 
 ductive influences on the one hand, and bloody persecutions on 
 the other, to which they were exposed. If this steadfastness de 
 generated, as we know it did, into bigotry and formalism, this was 
 the fault of fallen human nature, not of the system itself. Under 
 
THE JEWISH SYNAGOGUE. 633 
 
 the training of the Mosaic economy, so powerfully supplemented 
 
 by the synagogue services, a whole nation was at length purged 
 from every vestige of idolatry, so far as its outward form is con 
 cerned, and immovably fixed in its adhesion to the fundamental 
 principle of the Mosaic law: "Hear, O Israel! the Lord our 
 God is one Lord;" and thus, as well as by the education which 
 the types of the Old Testament furnished, the way was prepared 
 for the advent of the Son of God. 
 
 7. The influence of the Jewish synagogue was not confined to 
 the covenant people. It passed over to the Christian Cht i ch, 
 the true heir of all the promises made to the Jews. It was not, 
 like the tabernacle, and afterwards the temple, a single centre 
 for the whole nation, with rites that could be observed nowhere 
 else ; but was distributed, like our Christian sanctuaries, through 
 the whole land, each city and village having its own particular 
 synagogue. It agreed, also, with our Christian sanctuaries in the 
 simplicity of its forms of worship, and in the prominence which 
 it gave to the spiritual services of prayer, praise, and instruction. 
 From the nature of the case, it had neither altar nor priesthood ; 
 and thus, in God s providence, the way was prepared for the 
 Christian system of worship, which can have no altar, because 
 the one offering of Christ, the Lamb of God, has expiated the 
 sins of the world once for all ; nor any earthly priesthood, be 
 cause Christ, the great High-priest of the new dispensation, is in 
 heaven at the right hand of God, making intercession there for 
 the sins of his people. Finally, each synagogue had its regularly 
 organized congregation, with duly appointed officers, and a regu 
 lar order of divine service. In this respect it served as a model 
 to the primitive Christian congregations a model to be followed 
 not superstitiously but intelligently, in accordance with the free 
 spirit of the gospel. 
 
 8. But the worship of the Christian church contains more 
 than either the ritual of the tabernacle, or the order of the syna 
 gogue ; more than either of them separately, or both combined. 
 It has the substance of all that the types of the tabernacle ser- 
 
f>34 BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 vice foreshadowed ; and it adds, to the instructions of Moses and 
 the prophets, which the synagogues enjoyed, the teachings of 
 Christ and his aj>osto. Thus, the Christian sanctuary, with its 
 congregation of believers, is the heir to both the ancient taber 
 nacle and the Jewish synagogue; having the whole worship of 
 God, and in it all that is needful for the believer s edification 
 here, and his preparation for glory, honor, and immortality here 
 after. 
 
 9. We add a brief notice of the so-called great synagogue. 
 
 This wa, according to rabbinic tradition, a grand council of 120 men, 
 appointed to reorganize the religious life of the people. To it is ascrib 
 ed the revision of the sacred text, and the completion of the canon of 
 the Old Testament. Of this body Ezra is said to have been the first 
 president. According to Leyrer (in Herzog), "the rabbinic tradition 
 has for an historic foundation so much truth, at least, as this: that in the 
 time between the cessation of prophecy and the Greek period, there stood 
 at the head of the people, especially in reference to their religious life, 
 which had its centre in Jerusalem, a body of men by whom the traditions 
 were handed down ; and permanent ordinances were established, for the 
 purpose not only of preserving the law in an incorrupt form and restoring 
 the knowledge of it among the people, but also of introducing it into all 
 parts of the national life." Neither the Old Testament, the Apocrypha, 
 Joseplms, nor Philo makes mention of this body, nor any rabbinic writing 
 earlier than Pirke avoth (a division of the Talmud) about the second cen 
 tury after Christ. 
 
THE JEWISH SECTS OF LATER TIMES. 635 
 
 CHAPTEE XXXV. 
 
 THE JEWISH J$ECTS OF J..ATER JIMES. 
 
 1. THE sources of information respecting the Jewish parties 
 and sects, noticed in the New Testament, are chiefly the three 
 following : the New Testament itself, the writings of Josephus, 
 and the Talmud. The Talmud, being the work of Pharisees, 
 may be taken as a full delineation of their religious system, but 
 it does not inform us concerning their position and influence as 
 a political party in the Jewish commonwealth. For this we are 
 dependent on Josephus, who also gives, in several passages, the 
 outlines of their system. It is remarkable that no writings have 
 come down to us from any one of the Sadducees. Aside from 
 the New Testament, we are dependent upon the statements of 
 Pharisees for our knowledge of their principles and practices. 
 The New Testament has to do more immediately with the reli 
 gious and moral character of the two systems and their advo 
 cates, and here its judgment is infallible. The Essenes, of whom 
 Josephus gives an extended account, are not noticed in the New 
 Testament. 
 
 I. THE PHARISEES. 
 
 2. A writer hi Herzog s Encyclopaedia objects to the term 
 sect as applied to the Pharisees, regarding them rather as a party 
 than as a sect. But, as will presently appear, they were both a 
 party, always the leading party in the state, and a sect in reli 
 gion. Their power, moreover, as a party, rested upon their 
 religious tenets as a sect. Their name, according to the received 
 derivation (perislnn, the separated), denoted originally a body of 
 men separated in a religious, not in a political respect. They 
 were the men who separated themselves from all Levitical impu 
 rity, and devoted themselves with peculiar strictness to the ob 
 servance of the Mosaic law. It is thought, with good reason. 
 
G36 BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 that the gerin of this party is to be found in the j l*iif<r<ins (that is, 
 the godly), who appear in the books of the Maccabees as the 
 followers of Judas Maccabseus, and zealous for the law (1 Mace. 
 2 : 42 ; 7:13; 2 Mace. 14 : 6) ; but its full development was after 
 that period, and undoubtedly by a slow process. In considering 
 the character and position of the Pharisees, it is important to 
 distinguish between what was essential to them as a party, and 
 what was only secondary. 
 
 3. The essential character of Pharisaism was zeal for the insti 
 tutions of the fathers, religious and political zeal for the law of 
 Moses in ah 1 its strictness, and zeal for the independence and 
 glory of the Jewish nation. Their zeal, whether religious or po 
 litical, had one end, the restoration of the Hebrew common 
 wealth in. its ancient glory and with its ancient institutions un 
 impaired. Hence they were the popular party, always exerting 
 a predominating influence among their countrymen in the sphere 
 of religious instruction, as well as of political life. They were 
 the acknowledged religious teachers, "being esteemed," says Jo- 
 seplms (Jewish War, 2. 8. 14 j, "the accurate expounders of the 
 law," words which are in harmony with our Saviour s declaration 
 (Matt. 23 : 2) : " The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses 
 seat." In respect to their political influence, Josephus says (An- 
 tiq. 13. 10. 5) : " They possess such power with the multitude that 
 if they utter anything against a king or a high-priest they are at 
 once believed." Of this he gives many examples in his writings. 
 As leaders of the people it was necessary that they should have 
 influence not only with the multitude, but also at the courts of 
 the rulers whom the Eomans imposed upon them. Hence they 
 were versed in all the intrigues and artifices of political life, and 
 knew well how to change their line of policy to suit circum 
 stances. 
 
 4. It may appear strangely inconsistent that a body of men 
 who affected such extraordinary zeal for the preservation of the 
 Mosaic institutions in their purity, should have overlaid them 
 with a mass of traditions for which no authority could be found 
 in the written word. But when the religion of a body of men 
 
THE JEWISH SECTS OF LATER TIMES. <>:J7 
 
 Las taken the direction of ritualism, as it did in the case of the 
 Pharisees, they are urged forward by a strong impulse to multi 
 ply rites and ceremonies; for in the observance of these their 
 religious life consists, and the more they multiply outward forms, 
 the more devout do they seem in their own eyes. The result is 
 the bringing in, one by one, of rites for which no warrant can 
 be found in God s word. Some ground for the justification of 
 these must be found, and the readiest that offers itself is the 
 alleged "tradition of the elders." In the case of the Pharisees, 
 a plausible pretext was at hand in the fact that some acknowl 
 edged duties, daily prayer for example, are not insisted on in the 
 Pentateuch. Moses, they might argue, could not have omitted 
 these ; but he gave them to the primitive body of elders in an 
 unwritten form, and from them they were handed down from 
 generation to generation. 
 
 The declarations of the New Testament concerning the traditions of the 
 elders (Matt. 15 : 2 ; Mark 7 : 3, seq.) are fully sustained by the testimony 
 of Josephus (Antiq., 13. 10. 6): "The Pharisees have delivered to the peo 
 ple from the tradition of the fathers many observances which are not writ 
 ten in the law ;" and the Talmud is a perpetual illustration of them. They 
 made them of equal authority with the written word. Thus their own 
 attention and that of the people was fatally diverted from the weightier 
 matters of the law to these frivolities, and the result was a sham-sanctity 
 consistent with extreme worldliness, falsehood, and the indulgence of the 
 vilest passions. Matt., chap. 23. 
 
 5. Although the essence of Pharisaism did not lie in the 
 theological and philosophical tenets of the party, it is yet interest 
 ing to notice the harmony of these with the general spirit by 
 which it was animated. It was natural that the men who were 
 so strenuous for the letter of the law and the prophets should 
 receive and interpret the scriptural notices of angelic beings good 
 and bad historically, and not allegorically or symbolically ; and 
 it is highly creditable to the early leaders of the sect that they 
 were able to develop so fully and correctly the doctrine of the 
 immortality of the soul, and of a future resurrection, from the 
 germs of these great truths contained in the Old Testament. 
 
638 BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 "The Sadducees say tluit there is no resurrection, neither angel nor 
 spirit ; but the Pharisees confess both." Acts 23 : 8. In accordance with 
 this distinction the apostle Paul declared before the Jewish Sanhedrim, 
 which consisted partly of Pharisees and partly of Saddncecs : "I am a 
 Pharisee, the son. of a Pharisee ; concerning the hope and resurrection of 
 the dead am I arraigned" (Acts 23:6); and again he said before Felix 
 (Acts 24:15): "I have hope towards God which they themselves" (the 
 Pharisees) "also allow, that there shall be a resurrection of the dead, both 
 of the just and unjust." These words certainly affirm, by implication, a 
 substantial agreement with the Pharisees in respect to this article of their 
 religious faith ; nor does the Saviour anywhere intimate that they held it 
 in a perverted form. The representation of Josephus (Jewish War, 2. 8. 
 14) is this : " They say that every soul is imperishable, but that the soul of 
 the good alone passes into another body, while the soul of the wicked is 
 subjected to eternal punishment." And again, Avhen urged by his associ 
 ates to commit suicide, he says, speaking as a Pharisee, of the souls of 
 those who die in a lawful way (Jewish War, 3. 8. 5): "The souls remain 
 pure and obedient, having obtained the most holy place of heaven, whence, 
 after the revolution of ages, they again make their abode in pure bodies ; 
 but the darker .abode of Hades receives those w r ho have perished by their 
 own hands." Either Josephus means by "another body" the new resur 
 rection body ; or, as seems probable, he glosses over the true doctrine of 
 his countrymen, that he may assimilate it to the heathen doctrine of the 
 transmigration of souls. The question of the disciples to our Lord (John 
 9:2): " Who did sin, this man or his parents, that he was bom blind ?" 
 has been thought by some to imply the idea of such a transmigration. 
 But more probably the supposition was that he might have sinned before 
 birth. See Lightf oot on John 9 : 2. 
 
 The doctrine of the immortality of the soul and future retribution is 
 contained in a germinal way in such passages of the Old Testament as the 
 following: "In thy presence is fulness of joy; at thy right hand are 
 
 pleasures for evermore" (Psa. 16 : 11); "Deliver my soul from the 
 
 men of the world who have their portion in this b fe As for me 
 
 I shall behold thy face in righteousness : I shall be satisfied, upon awa 
 king, with thy likeness" (Psa. 17:15). "Thou shalt guide me with thy 
 counsel, and afterwards take me to glory" (Psa. 73 :24); "The wicked is 
 driven away in his wickedness, but the righteous hath hope in his death " 
 (Prov. 14 : 32) ; to which might be added many more of like import. It is 
 stated more explicitly, along with that of the resurrection, in the well- 
 known words of the angel to Daniel : "Many of them that sleep in the 
 dust of the earth shall awake ; some to everlasting life, and some to shame 
 and everlasting contempt." 
 
 It is manifest from the above that we need not betake ourselves, after 
 
THE JEWISH SECTS OF LATER TIMES. G39 
 
 the manner of some, to Parsism, for an explanation of tin- 
 
 tenets of the Pharisees. See Beuss in Herzog s Encyclopedic, Article. 
 
 Phurisaer. 
 
 The statements of Joseplius respecting the Pharisaical doc 
 trine in respect to the divine decrees, on the one hand, and 
 human freedom on the other (Antiq., 13. 5. 9; 18. 1. 3; Jewish 
 War, 2. 8. 14), are loose and confused. This only is manifest, 
 that they believed in the cooperation of the divine will (for which 
 he commonly substitutes the Greek term fate) with man s free 
 agency. They probably held, as does a large part of Christen 
 dom, that God did from eternity " ordain whatsoever comes to 
 pass ; yet so as thereby neither is God the author of sin ; nor is 
 violence offered to the will of the creatures, nor is the liberty or 
 contingency of second causes taken away, but rather estab 
 lished." 
 
 6. The severity with which our Lord denounced the scribes 
 and Pharisees seems at first view surprising, when contrasted 
 with the general mildness of his dealings with sinners. But we 
 must remember that they sat in Moses seat, and were the ac 
 knowledged leaders and guides of the people in religion. It was, 
 therefore, of supreme importance that the hollowness of their 
 system and the hypocrisy of their lives should be fully exposed 
 by the omniscient Saviour for the benefit of all coming ages. 
 Though there were among them honest and good men, like Nico- 
 demus and Joseph of Arimathea, they were as a body the repre 
 sentatives of formalism and hypocrisy, two twin vices that are 
 always found locked in each other s arms. In them was illustra 
 ted the union, so often witnessed since their day, of great punc 
 tiliousness in religious rites and great profligacy of heart and 
 life. The history of Christ s church for eighteen centuries shows 
 how needful it was that the great Master himself should lift the 
 veil, once for all, from such a system, and exhibit it in its naked 
 deformity, that all future generations might see it and abhor it. 
 
 The scribes, so often mentioned in the New Testament, were the learned 
 men of the nation who had been trained up in the knowledge of the Holy 
 
040 BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 Scriptures, and were their recognized expositors. They appear often in 
 connection with the Pharisees and chief priests ; and, as "Winer remarks 
 (Realworterbuch, Art., Schriftgelehrte), "the chief priest and scribes 
 (Mutt, 2 : 4 ; 20 : 18 ; Mark 14 : 1 ; Luke 22 : 2 ; 23 : 10), or the scribes and 
 elders (Matt. 26 : 57), or the elders, chief priest, and scribes (Luke 22 : 66 ; 
 Murk 14 : 43 ; 15 : 1, compared with Acts 4:5), is obviously a designation 
 of the Sanhedrim." The Sanhedrim embraced both Pharisees and Saddu- 
 cees, and so apparently did the body of scribes (Acts 23 : 6-9) , though un 
 doubtedly the larger part of them were Pharisees. It is generally thought 
 that the lawyers, that is, teachers of tlie law (terms used in the gospels only 
 by Luke, with the exception of Matt. 22 : 35), were identical with the 
 scribes. See Winer, as above. 
 
 II. THE SADDUCEES. 
 
 7. The origin of the name Sadducee is uncertain. Some de 
 rive it from a word signifying just (Heb., tsaddik), supposing that 
 the party took to themselves this name in opposition to the Fhai - 
 isees, as being the men who held the written law in its purity 
 and simplicity. The Talmudists refer it to one Sadoc or Zadoc, 
 who is said to have lived about three centuries before Christ. 
 The Sadducees, like their opponents the Pharisees, were both a 
 party in the state and a sect in religion. 
 
 8. The essential feature of Sadduceeism was the rejection of ll 
 unwritten tradition. " The Pharisees," says Josephus (Antiq., 
 13. 10. 6), " have delivered to the people many ordinances from 
 the tradition of the fathers which are not written in the laws of 
 Moses ; x and for this reason the sect of the Sadducees rejects 
 them, saying that we ought to observe as ordinances those things 
 which are written, but not to keep those which come from the 
 tradition of the fathers." See also Antiq., 18. 1. 4. Herein they 
 had truth on their side, and thus the -authority of the Saviour 
 himself. But there is ground for believing that the principle 
 which actuated the mass of them was not zeal for the truth, but 
 rather a worldly spirit, which felt the Mosaic law itself to be a 
 burden, and to which all human additions were therefore dis 
 tasteful. According to Josephus (Antiq., 13. 10. 6 ; 18. 1. 4) the 
 adherents of the Sadducees were few, in comparison with those 
 of the Pharisees, but foremost in dignity ; " the Sadducees draw- 
 
THE JEWISH SECTS OF LATER TIMES. 641 
 
 ing to their party the wealthy alone, and not enjoying the favor 
 of the multitude whom the Pharisees had as their allies." 
 
 It is incorrect to affirm, as some have done, that the Sadducees received 
 only the Pentateuch. This is confounding them with the Samaritans. It 
 is the express testimony of Josephus (Against Apion, 1. 8) that all the Jews 
 receive from their very birth the books of the Old Testament which he 
 enumerates, without addition, diminution, or change ; and are ready, if 
 necessary, to die in their behalf. See further in Winer. According to 
 Josephus (Antiq., 18. 1. 4), when they held offices they yielded a forced 
 compliance to the maxims of the Pharisees, because otherwise they would 
 not have been tolerated by the multitude. This only proves that they 
 were influenced by a worldly temporizing spirit. 
 
 9. It was natural that the Sadducees should carry their 
 antagonism to the Pharisees into the sphere of theology and phi 
 losophy. Hence (1) they maintained that the soul perishes with 
 the body, and, by necessary consequence, denied the doctrine of 
 future rewards and punishments ; (2) they denied the existence 
 of angels or spirits, evidently on the ground that created spirits 
 cannot exist except in bodies; (3) they denied the doctrine of 
 foreordination, as applied to human actions. See Matt. 22 : 23 ; 
 Mark 12 : 18 ; Luke 20 : 27 ; Acts 23 : 8; Josephus, Antiq., 18. 1. 
 4; 13. 5. 9; Jewish War, 2. 8. 14. 
 
 Our Saviour s argument from the Pentateuch : " God is not the God of 
 the dead, but of the living" (Matt. 22 : 32), was directed against the Sad- 
 ducean doctrine that the soul perishes with the body, so that death is the 
 annihilation of the whole man. If the soul lives after the death of the 
 body, the man himself lives, God can be his God, and he can be clothed 
 upon with a resurrection body ; otherwise not. Thus by destroying the 
 ground on which their denial of the resurrection rested, he destroyed the 
 error itself. 
 
 As to the numerous angelic appearances noticed in the Old Testament, 
 the Sadducees probably explained them as manifestations of God himself 
 in human form ; or as simply visions, and not true manifestations of real 
 beings. 
 
 III. THE ESSENES. 
 
 10. For our knowledge of the Essenes we are mainly indebted 
 to Philo (Quod omnis probus liber, 12, seq.) and Josephus, who 
 has given (Jewish War, 2. 8. 2, seq.) a long and highly eulogistic 
 
642 BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 account of them, with various shorter notices. They represented 
 the ascetic tendency of the human mind, which has so often ap 
 peared in the history of the world. Though they were strict in 
 their observance of the Mosaic law, particularly of the Sabbath, 
 they did not, like the Pharisees, multiply outward rites, court the 
 favor of the multitude, and aspire to be their leaders. Like the 
 monks of later ages, they sought to gain preeminent holiness and 
 purity by seclusion from the world, meditation, prayer, the mor 
 tification of the flesh, and the quiet practice of the social virtues. 
 They lived in communities under strict regulations, disparaged 
 the married state (though one section of them allowed it under 
 certain restrictions), and replenished their community by adopt 
 ing the children of others. An entire community of goods was 
 an essential feature of their system. For admission to their 
 number a long and severe probation was required ; and then they 
 bound themselves by awful oaths to observe all the rules of the 
 system, which, according to Josephus, related not to outward 
 ceremonies, but to the substance of religion and virtue the 
 pious worship of God; the maintenance of justice, faith, and 
 truth in their intercourse with men; obedience to rulers, on the 
 one hand, and the moderate exercise of authority, on the other ; 
 plainness of dress; abstinence from theft and unjust gain, etc. 
 They took an oath, among other things, " to preserve the books 
 of their sect and the names of the angels," with apparent refer 
 ence to some kind of angel-worship. 
 
 11. In respect to their theological and philosophical tenets, they 
 held, according to Josephus, that all things are determined by 
 fate ; and that the soul is immortal, attaining to its highest state 
 of perfection by its liberation from the body. Josephus further 
 says that they assigned to pious souls an Elysium like that of the 
 Greeks, and to the souls of the wicked a Tartarus, consisting of 
 a murky and tempestuous cave full of eternal punishments. But 
 here he is with reason suspected of having assimilated his rep 
 resentations to the ideas of his heathen readers. 
 
THE JEWISH SECTS OF LATER TIMES. 613 
 
 IV. THE HERODIANS. 
 
 12. The Herodians (Matt. 22:16; Mark 3:6; 12:13) were 
 apparently the partisans of Herod, that is, Herod Antipas ; and 
 thus the supporters of the Roman dominion in Palestine, in op 
 position to the Pharisees, who held that it was a profane usur 
 pation of power over God s covenant people, to be resisted as far 
 as possible. "The leaven of Herod." (Mark 8:15) is the cor 
 rupt worldly principles of Herod and of his followers, the Hero 
 dians. The question propounded to our Lord, at the instigation 
 of the Pharisees, by a company of Pharisees and Herodians 
 banded together to ensnare him in his words : " Is it lawful to 
 give tribute to Caesar, or not?" (Matt. 22:17), brought out the 
 essential point of antagonism between the two parties, and they 
 felt confident of bringing the Saviour into difficulty on one side 
 or the other. He decided the question against the Pharisees, 
 but in such a way that they could make no use of his answer to 
 his disadvantage. 
 
APPENDIX TO THE THIRD DIVISION. 
 
 ON THE IDOLATRY OF THE HEBREWS. 
 I. REMAKES ON THE ANCIENT SYSTEMS OF IDOLATRY. 
 
 1. THE doctrine of one personal God, who is before nature, above nature, 
 and the free author of nature ; whose eternal power and Godhead arc 
 revealed without the soul by his works, and to whose holiness and supreme 
 authority the conscience within the soul bears witness this scriptural doc 
 trine is in such perfect harmony with unperverted human reason and un- 
 coiTupted human character, that nothing but sin can account for the loss 
 of it, as it was originally revealed to man. " They are without excuse," 
 says the apostle, "because that when they knew God, they glorified him 
 not as God, neither were thankful, but became vain in their imagina 
 tion, and their foolish heart was darkened." But their apostasy from God 
 did not give them independence of God, outward peace, or inward tran- 
 quilh ty of mind. They found themselves surrounded by mighty super 
 human forces, which they could not control, and whose crushing power 
 they were often compelled to feel ; while a guilty conscience filled their 
 souls with fear and dark forebodings of wrath to come. They had forsa 
 ken the true God, but they could not live without gods of some kind. 
 They needed, first of all, superhuman help in the stern conflict of life : 
 they needed, also, expiation of sin to quiet their consciences, and this could 
 only come from deity : they needed, finally, to wring, if possible, from the 
 dark future its awful secrets. Then commenced the process, not in a con 
 scious, but in a blind, unconscious way, of making for themselves gods in 
 accordance with their own darkened understandings and corrupt affections. 
 
 2. The first thing that we notice in this formative process of idolatry 
 is the confounding of God with nature. The forces that surrounded men all 
 lay in nature, and they were not able to rise from them to the free author 
 of nature. The result was the deifying of the powers of nature. When 
 the ancient philosophers attained to the idea of the unity of God, it was 
 either by making him the soul of the universe (Virgil, JEneid, 6. 721, seq., 
 who represents the highest results of western heathen philosophy) ; or, in 
 the way of impersonal pantheism, by which the universe itself was made 
 God. No one of them regained, without the help of revelation, the true 
 idea of a God who is the 1 rcc author of nature, and therefore before nature 
 
APPENDIX TO THE THIRD DIVISION. 645 
 
 and distinct from nature, though continually active in nature. Much less 
 did such a sublime conception enter the mind of the masses. 
 
 3. With the deification of the powers of nature came the loss of the idea 
 of God s unity. Though some of the heathen philosophers regained it in 
 the false ways that have been indicated, the multitude divided the deity 
 into parts, according to the multiplicity in which the forces of nature 
 manifest themselves. In tin s process of multiplying gods, the more cul 
 tivated among the heathen deified the heavenly bodies, the elements, 
 and the generative powers of nature. Their gods were mostly in pairs, 
 male and female. "Every god," says Rawlinson of the Assyrian deities 
 (Herodotus, vol. 1, Essay 10), "is associated with a goddess." They also 
 exhibit a gradation from higher to lower ; and they have charge of par 
 ticular nations ; also of particular departments of nature, and particular 
 employments the heavens, the sea, the underworld, the generation of the 
 races, the harvests, the vineyards, war, hunting, trade, and so on. The 
 rude and barbarous tribes took a low and fragmentary view, deifying any 
 little parcel of nature or art that came to handa tiger, a serpent, a beetle, 
 a stone, a pan, a horseshoe, etc. Of this kind are the fetishes of the Af 
 rican tribes, and to a great extent the gods of the ancient Egyptians also. 
 
 To these nature-gods must be added among many tribes the worship of 
 the spirits of the dead, and of demons conceived of as like spirits. The idea 
 here is that the separation of the soul from the body advances it to a higher 
 sphere of action, and confers upon it mysterious powers over the affairs 
 of men. With this- form of idolatry is often associated the doctrine of 
 the transmigration of souls. Thus the African will reverence a serpent 
 that haunts his hut, under the idea that the spirit of one of his ancestors 
 is embodied in it. With this branch of idolatry are intimately connected, 
 as we shall see, the rites of witchcraft and magic. 
 
 4. By the process of nature-worship which we have been considering, 
 the idea of deity was degraded beyond measure. The gods of the heathen 
 nations were, as we have seen, not before nature and above nature, but ex 
 isted only in nature; and each of them, moreover, represented only a frag 
 ment of the whole force of nature. Thus the deity was robbed of inde 
 pendence, omnipresence, and omnipotence. The gods of the heathen 
 were local, and therefore partial in their interests, as well as limited in 
 power. They were the tiitelary deities of particular nations, and in the 
 wars of men they were found ranged on different sides, opposing and cir 
 cumventing each other ; for heathen gods had not the attribute of omnis 
 cience, any more than of omnipotence. Even Jupiter, "the father of 
 men and gods," was deceived in a notable instance by the artifice of Juno 
 his wife. Iliad, Book 14. But, worse than ah 1 , the deity was robbed of 
 the attributes of holiness and truth, and made as vile as the hearts of tho 
 worshippers could desire. The assemblage of heathen deities comprised, 
 
C40 BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 as all know who have even a superficial acquaintance with mythology, adul 
 terers and adulteresses, liars and thieves. They were destitute of the attri 
 bute of impartial justice, and respecters of persons. They had their favorite 
 cities, the aggrandizement of which they sought at the expense of bloody and 
 unrighteous wars. In one word, a heathen pantheon was a pandemonium. 
 5. Image-worship, which is idolatry in the strict sense of the word, lias 
 always gone hand in hand with polytheism. The devotee, who can think 
 of his god only as inhering in some part of material nature, must embody 
 him in a material form. In the case of low nature-worship, he has the 
 form already at hand in his fetish. He presents to this, though it be but 
 a stone, a pan, or a horseshoe, his daily offering, and seeks from it protec 
 tion and success in all his undertakings. The higher forms of nature-wor 
 ship, though they may begin with the controlling powers of nature the 
 heavenly bodies, the elements, the generative forces of nature have a 
 sure tendency towards the representation of these in images, as we see in 
 the history of the Greeks and Romans, as well as of the Assyrians and other 
 eastern nations. These images varied, according to the culture of the 
 worshippers, from the Apollo and Venus of the Greeks, down to the hide 
 ous and disgusting idols of barbarous tribes. But in all cases they were an 
 infinite affront to God s majesty and glory. "Forasmuch then," argues 
 the apostle (Acts 17 : 29), "as we are the offspring of God, we ought not 
 to think that the Godhead is like unto silver, or gold, or stone, graven by 
 art and man s device." The apology for image-worship offered by the phi 
 losophers, that they did not consider the idol itself as the abode of the deity, 
 but simply as a sensible medium for elevating the worshipper s thoughts 
 to the deity, is only a confession that they saw the absurdity of image- wor 
 ship, and wished to explain it away. With the mass of the people the 
 very office of the idol, whether a living animal like the bull Apis or a dead 
 statue, was to localize their god. They wished to have him at hand in a 
 visible form, to which they could pray and offer their sacrifices and obla 
 tions. This is everywhere the scriptural view of idolatry : He burneth 
 part thereof in the fire ; with part thereof he eateth flesh ; he roast cth 
 roast and is satisfied : yea, he warmeth himself, and saith, Alia, I am 
 warm, I have seen the fire : and the residue thereof he maketh a god, even 
 his graven image : he falleth down unto it, and worshippeth it, and pray- 
 eth unto it, and saith, Deliver me, for thou art my god." Isa. 44 : 16, 17. 
 Such representations as this are drawn from the reality, not from what cer 
 tain men, more enlightened than the multitude, think ought to be the real 
 ity. Rachel, upon her departure from Mesopotamia, stole her father s 
 gods (teraphim, household </(/*. answering to the Penates of the Romans), 
 that she might have gods always with her (Gen. 31 : 30-35); gods, namely, 
 which made their abode in these little images. Such, beyond doubt, was 
 the Roman s conception when he worshipped his Penates. 
 
APPENDIX TO THE THIRD DIVISION. 647 
 
 G. Of the rites of idolatrous worship we cannot speak at length. They 
 consisted mainly in oblations of bread, fruit, wine, etc. ; in bloody sacrifi 
 ces, in the burning of incense, and in the recitation of forms of prayer. 
 The temples of the gods were replenished by the gifts of the devotees. 
 The forms of service varied according to the character and office of the 
 gods worshipped. The worship of Astarte and of the Grecian Venus and 
 Bacchus was connected with horrible impurities and drunken revels. Mo- 
 lech was appeased with the blood of human victims. Such sacrifices seem 
 to have been generally made in great emergencies for the purpose of expi 
 ating the wrath of an offended deity. Thus the king of Moab, in his 
 extremity, offered his eldest son upon the wall of the city as a burnt-offer 
 ing to Chemosh his tutelary god, whose character seems to have been sub 
 stantially the same as that of Molech, the god of the Ammonites. See 
 2 Kings 3 : 21-27. The Chinese worship the spirits of their departed 
 Ancestors, represented by ancestral tablets, by burning before them tapi-rs 
 and sticks of incense, and offering before them bowls of soup, various 
 kinds of flesh, cakes, etc. 
 
 7. The worship that we have been considering had for its end to obtain 
 needed good or avert threatened evils. But the desire to unlock the 
 secrets of the future is one of the strongest impulses of humanity. Divine 
 revelation satisfies this desire in a reasonable way and to a reasonable 
 extent. It reveals to us as much of the future as concerns our duty and 
 our salvation, and teaches us to exercise implicit faith in the all- wise dis 
 posal of God s providence. Thus it brings peace and tranquillity to the 
 believer s soul, as it is written: "Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace 
 whose mind is stayed on thee, because he trusteth in thee." But when 
 men have forsaken the living God, they will substitute other means of pen 
 etrating, if possible, Oie darkness of the future; means which are essentially 
 idolatrous in their spirit, and are forbidden as such in God s word. These 
 means naturally divide themselves into the following classes : 
 
 (1.) The responses of persons supposed to be inspired with a knowledge 
 of the future. There were famous oracles in ancient times, like that of 
 Apollo at Delphi, where the priestess, sitting upon a tripod, fell into a 
 state of frenzy, and made utterances which were believed to proceed 
 from the deity that had taken possession of her. There were also persons 
 not confined to any particular places, who professed to foretell the future 
 by virtue of a superhuman spirit dwelling within them. Such was "the 
 damsel possessed with a spirit of divination, who brought her masters 
 much gain by soothsaying." The responses of these persons, like those of 
 the priestesses, were generally delivered in a state of frenzy, with foaming 
 at the mouth, gnashing of the teeth, trembling, and various distortions of 
 the body. ^Eneid, 6. 46, seq. 
 
 (2.) Dreams and visions , supposed to be revelations made by the gods, 
 
648 BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 and which were actually employed by the true God on many occasions. 
 Dreams did not, as a rule, interpret themselves ; but there was a class of 
 men who made it their business to explain their import, as we see in the 
 case of the wise men at the courts of Pharaoh and Nebueha<lne//ar. 
 
 (3.) Divination, that is, the foretelling of future events by means of 
 certain outward signs. The idea here was that the deity gives indications 
 of the future, through these signs according to certain fixed laws, which 
 must be learned by observation and experience. Hence divination was an 
 art, studied by men called diviners, who were subdivided into various 
 classes. The astrologers had rules for discovering future events from 
 the position of the heavenly bodies ; the haruspices, from the inspection of 
 the entrails of the victims ; the augurs, from" the singing, feeding, and 
 flight of birds. Then there were omens, good or evil, from chance utter 
 ances or chance passages upon the opening of books, from stumbling, 
 from sneezing, etc. It is vain to ask for the reason of these signs. The 
 whole system is one of unreason ; as much so as our modern supersti 
 tions that to see the new moon for the first time over the right shoulder 
 betokens good luck, the breaking of a mirror the death of a near friend, 
 etc. Underlying all these arts of presaging the future is unbelief, and this 
 is the main element of their criminality. He who practises them looks 
 away from the living God for help to unwarranted human devices. They 
 are owls of darkness which the rising sun of faith will banish to their 
 appropriate dens. 
 
 8. Closely connected with divination is sorcery in ah 1 its forms. The 
 essential idea of sorcery is intercourse with spirits by means of certain 
 magic incantations and rites ; that is, incantations and rites that operate 
 in an unknown way, and by means of which supernatural help is supposed 
 to be obtained from these spirits, or supernatural knowledge of the future. 
 Commerce with the spirits of the dead is necromancy; commerce with 
 demons, wifckcraft in the strict sense of the word. So far as the moral 
 character of sorcery is concerned, it is not necessary to determine whether 
 this commerce with spirits is a reality or a cheat, or a mixture of both. It 
 is turning away our faith and expectation from the living God to creatures 
 from which he has not authorized us to seek help. It aims a deadly blow 
 at the very heart of true religion ; and whether it does or does not begin 
 in jugglery and lies, it opens a flood-gate to their entrance. With every 
 system of sorcery there intertwines itself a system of imposture. The 
 rain-makers, medicine-men, and other managers of this black art exercise 
 a cruel tyranny over the benighted people, and multitudes of innocent 
 victims perish under their accusations of witchcraft. In all its varieties 
 sorcery is a vine of Sodom, whoso clusters are wormwood and gall. It ill 
 becomes believers, who sit at God s table and eat <>! the bread that camo 
 down from heaven, to taste, under any pretext) of its poisonous fruit. 
 
APPENDIX TO THE THIKD DIVISION. G4 ( .) 
 
 II. THE PRINCIPAL IDOLS WORSHIPPED BY THE HEBREWS. 
 
 9. First in order of time was the worship of the golden calf in the wil 
 derness, which was in a later age imitated by Jeroboam, the son of Ncbat. 
 That this form of idolatry was derived from Egypt, the country which the 
 Israelites had just left, is admitted on all hands. The Egyptians worshipped 
 the bull Apis, as the abode of deity ; and with his worship, as with that of 
 their other gods, they connected a festival like that instituted by Aaron. 
 See Herodotus, Book 3. 27-29. It is worthy of notice that Jeroboam, 
 who more than five centimes afterwards established the worship of golden 
 calves in his kingdom (1 Kings, chap. 12), had just returned from a resi 
 dence with Shishak at the court of Egypt. 1 Kings 11 : 40. The question 
 has been raised whether these golden calves were intended to be represen 
 tations of an Egyptian god or of Jehovah the God of Israel. The narra 
 tive in Exodus (chap. 32) implies that Aaron, at least, intended the gold 
 en calf to be a representation of the God of Israel ; for he said to the 
 people (ver. 5): "To-morrow is a feast to Jehovah." His apology to 
 Moses (vers. 22, 24) shows that he made the idol against his better judg 
 ment to pacify the people. How the multitude understood the worship of 
 the calf, when they sacrificed to it and feasted and danced before it, is 
 more doubtful. But, taken either way, the act was a horrible affront to 
 the majesty of Jehovah, and in express violation of the second command 
 ment, which forbids alike the worship by images of the true God or of false 
 gods. As for Jeroboam, it is not probable that he cared how the people 
 of his kingdom understood the worship of his two calves, his object being 
 to withdraw them from the worship of Jehovah at Jerusalem. 1 Kings 
 12 : 20-28. To this end he established a feast in the eighth month in imi 
 tation of the feast of tabernacles held at Jerusalem in the seventh month 
 (vers. 32, 33). Satan, says an ancient church father, is the ape of God; his 
 object being to imitate the true worship of God, and true miracles and 
 prophecies, by a delusive show of the same. 
 
 10. The next and most prominent form of idolatry among the Hebrews 
 was the worship of Baal and Axhinrclh, two deities that form a couplet 
 male and female universally worshipped in Phoenicia and among the Ca- 
 naanitish tribes. The plural form Baalim often occurs, and in the case of 
 Ashtoreth, the plural Ashtaroth is universally employed except in the books 
 of Kings, where occurs the singular, Ashlorelh, the goddess of the Zid<mi<nix 
 (1 Kings 11 : 5, 33), and Ashtoreth, the abomination of the Zidon mn* ( 2 Kings 
 23 : 13). These plurals have been commonly understood to mean images of 
 Baal and Ashtoreth ; but this hardly accounts for the universality of the 
 plural form Ashtaroth. Perhaps they are examples of the so-called plural 
 of eminence, as in the case of the Hebrew names for God, Lord, etc. 
 
 11. Baal (always with the article) signifies the Lord, as being the high 
 est of the Phoenician and Canaanitish gods. Whether he originally repre- 
 
 Oeog. A Aini-i. 28 
 
650 BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 sented the sun or the planet Jupiter is a question that has been much dis 
 cussed. It is certain that the Baal hamman of the Phoenician inscriptions 
 is Baal the sun-god. The Hebrew word hammanlm (Lev. 26 : 30 ; 2 Chrou. 
 14 : 4 Eng. version 14 : 5 ; 34 : 4, 7 ; Isa. 17:8; 27 : 9 ; Ezek. 6 : 4, G) sig 
 nifies sun-images. It is several times joined with Asheroth, images of A.^/t- 
 loreth (2 Chron. 34 : 4, 7 ; Isa. 17 :8 ; 27 : 9), and from 2 Chron. 34 : 4 it 
 appears that the sun-images stood above the altars of Baal. All this goes 
 far to show that Baal originally represented the sun, as the great generative 
 power of nature. The word Baal occurs frequently in composition with 
 another word. This denotes sometimes an attribute of the god ; as B<utl~ 
 zebub, Fly-lord, averter of jlies ; Baal-berith, Covenant-lord, as the god in 
 voked in covenants ; Baal-hammdn, Sun-lord. In other cases the compound 
 word has passed into the name of a place ; as Baal-gad, Lord of good for 
 tune, the name of a place at the foot of Mount Hermon ; Baal-hermon, 
 Lord of Hei-mon, a town adjacent to Mount Hermon, etc. The number of 
 these names shows the universality of the worship paid to him by the 
 Canaanitish tribes. 
 
 12. Ashtorelh, in the plural form Aslitarotli, is the corresponding female 
 deity, representing the productive power of nature ; that is, either the planet 
 Venus or the moon, according to the meaning assumed for Baal. The 
 Greek form of her name is Astarte. She is the queen of 1i<-ar,-,i to whom 
 the idolatrous Hebrew women burned incense, poured out libations, and 
 offered cakes (Jer. 44 : 17-19), and corresponds, not specifically, but in a 
 general way, to the Venus of the Greeks and Romans. Ashlaroth-karnaim, 
 that is, the two-horned Axhtaroth, with reference to the horns of the cres 
 cent on her head, was a city of Bashan, so called from the worship of 
 Astarte practised there. 
 
 13. The word Askerah, in the plural Asheroth, occurs in close connec 
 tion with the worship of Baal. Our translators, following the authority of 
 the Septuagint and Vulgate, have everywhere rendered grove and groves, 
 but the incorrectness of this translation is now generally admitted. It is 
 not, however, perfectly clear whether Asherah is identical with Ashtoivth ; 
 or a different, but closely related goddess; or a woodVn statue or pillar of 
 Ashtoreth planted in the ground, and BO called from its upright form. The 
 latter is the more probable view, and it accords with the fact that the 
 destruction of these statues or pillars was effected by cutting them do\vn 
 and burning them. Exod. 34 : 13 ; Deut. 12 : 3 ; Judg. 6 : 25, set]. ; 
 2 Kings 18 : 4 ; etc. 
 
 14. Of the /onus of idolatrous worship offered to Baal and Ashtoreth 
 we have no very definite information. Their worshippers offered sacrifices 
 to them, burned incense, made libations, and in extreme cases cut them 
 selves Avith swords and lances, in the vain hope of thus securing an answer 
 from their god. 1 Kings 18 : 28. The chosen places of worship were high 
 
APPENDIX TO THE TEIKD DIVISION. 051 
 
 hills and shady trees, as wo learn from abundant notices of Scripture. 
 1 Kings 14 : 23 ; 2 Kings 17 : 10 ; Jer. 2 : 20 ; Ezek. 20 : 28 ; etc. This idol- 
 dtroxs worship on the high places must be carefully distinguished from the 
 sacrifices to the true God which were offered on the high places by an 
 irregularity tolerated by even the prophets, and sometimes commanded by 
 God himself. 1 Sam. 9 : 12 ; 10 : 2-5 . 1 Kings 18 : 31, seq. ; eta 
 
 15. We notice next the worship of Moleclt, "horrid king, besmeared 
 with blood of human sacrifice." Moled i (in the Greek form Moloch, called 
 also Milcom, 1 Kings 11 : 5, 33 ; 2 Kings 23 : 13 ; and Malcom, Jer. 49 : 1, 3) 
 signifies king. He was especially the god of the Ammonites (1 Kings 
 11 : 5, 7, 33), for whom Solomon, in compliance with the wishes of his 
 Ammonitish wives, built a high place "in the hill that is before Jerusa 
 lem." 1 Kings 11 : 7. Moloch is generally understood to have represented 
 the element of fire. In some passages of the Old Testament his worship, 
 if not confounded with that of Baal, is closely associated with it. Jer. 
 19 : 5 compared with chap. 32 : 35. The scriptural testimony to the fact 
 that human victims were sacrificed to Moloch is decisive: - They have 
 built the high places of Tophet in the valley of the son of Hinnoni, to burn 
 their soiisaii(l their daughters in the fire." Jer. 7 : 31 ; and compare Jer. 
 19 : 5 ; 32 : 35 ; Psa. 106 : 37, 38. This agrees with the statement of pro 
 fane writers, that the Phoenicians and Carthaginians offered human sacri 
 fices to a god whom they compare to Saturn. The seat of this horrid w< >r- 
 ship among the Jews was Tophet in the valley of Hiimoni. 2 Kings 23 : 10 ; 
 Jer. 7 : 31, where the high pluc<* are artificial mounds or altars ; 19 : 6, 13, 
 14. For this reason Josiah defiled the place, and it became a type of hell. 
 The rabbins toll us that the statue of Molech was a hollow brazen figure of 
 human form, but with the head of an ox. Being heated within like an 
 oven, the babe was placed in its arms, and its cries drowned by the noise 
 of drums and cymbals. Diodorus Siculus (book 20, chap. 14) describes the 
 statue of a Carthaginian god, whom he calls Saturn, thus: "They had a 
 brazen statue of Saturn with his hands extended and inclining downward 
 towards the earth" (that is, manifestly downward in the direction of his 
 body) ; " so that the child being placed upon them rolled off from them and 
 fell into the chasm " (the hoUow body of the image) "that was full of fire." 
 He tells us that on one occasion the Carthaginians, being hard pressed by 
 their enemies, offered to this god at a public sacrifice no less than two 
 hundred of their most noble boys, besides thirty voluntary victims. 
 
 16. The remaining false deities worshipped by the Hebrews require 
 only a brief notice. We give them in alphabetical order. 
 
 Bel (Isa. 46 : 1 ; Jer. 50 : 2 ; 51 : 44), the chief god of the Babylonians, 
 was substantially identical with the B<i<d of Phoenicia and the Canaanites. 
 
 Chemosh (Numb. 21 : 29 ; Judg. 11 : 24 ; 1 Kings 11 ; 7, 33 ; 2 Kings 
 23 : 13 ; Jer. 48 : 7-, 13, 46) was the abomination of the Moabites. It was to 
 
652 BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 this god that the king of Moab offered his son (2 Kings 3 : 27). He is once 
 called the god of the Ammonites (Judg; 11 : 24), and seems to have been 
 worshipped with the same rites as Molech. His name appears on the 
 Moabitish stone recently discovered. 
 
 Dagon (Judg. 16 : 23 ; 1 Sam., chap. 5 ; 1 Chron. 10 : 10), that is, FisJt- 
 gcxl, was an idol worshipped in the Philistine cities under the form of a 
 fish with the head and arms of a man. There are at Kouyunjik like fig 
 ures, for which see Layard s Babylon and Nineveh, p. 343. Such a figure 
 corresponds well with the account of the mutilation of Dagon in the pres 
 ence of the ark of God (1 Sam. 5:4): "The head of Dagon and both the 
 palms of his hands were cut off upon the threshold ; only Dagon (that is, 
 the fishy part of the idol) "was left to him." According to Diodoras 
 Siculns (2. 4), the city of Ascalon worshipped under the name of Derceto 
 a female deity with the face of a woman, but the body of a fish. 
 
 Gad and Meni are mentioned by Isaiah (chap. 65 : 11) as deities for 
 whom the apostate Jews spread a table, after the fashion of heathen wor 
 ship : "But ye who forsake Jehovah, who forget the mountain of my holi 
 ness, who spread a table for Gad" (that is, Fortune], "and who fill a drink- 
 offering to Meni" (that is, Allotment], "I will even allot you to the sword," 
 etc. Gesenius regards them as representatives of the planets Jupiter and 
 Venus, both of them stars of good fortune. 
 
 Nebo (Isa. 46:1) is supposed to have been the planet Mercury, wor 
 shipped in Assyria and elsewhere. Several places bear the name of Nebo, 
 probably from the worship of the god there celebrated ; as Dent. 32: 49 ; 
 34 : 1 ; Numb. 32 : 3 ; Ezra 2 : 29, etc. It also enters into the composition 
 of several proper names ; as Nebuchadnezzar, Nebuzaradan, etc. 
 
 Remphan occurs in Acts 7 : 43 as the name of a heathen deity. But 
 this is taken from the Septuagint version. The original (Amos 5 : 26) may 
 be translated : "Yea, ye took up the tabernacle of your king, the pedestal 
 of your images, the star of your god which ye made for yourselves : 
 that the particular god, who is apparently Molech, is not named. Those 
 who retain the rendering of our version, Chiun your ima/j^x, understand by 
 Chiun (transformed by the Septuagint into Kemphan) the planet #///>/. 
 
 T<immuz in Ezekiel 8 : 14 is supposed to represent Adonis, the favorite 
 of Venus, whose premature death and subsequent resurrection the women 
 celebrated with a yearly festival beginning with lamentations, and ending 
 with revelling and licentious orgies. 
 
 17. For further information on this dark and perplexed subject the 
 reader must be referred to the commentaries. It is a dark domain where 
 unreason rules ; "a land of darkness, as darkness itself ; and of the shadow 
 of death, without any order, and where the light is as darkness." 
 
GEOGRAPHICAL INDEX 
 
 OF 
 
 MODERN ARABIC NAMES. 
 
 THE CORRESPONDING SYNONYMS (HEBREW, GREEK, ROMAN, 
 ETC.) ARE GIVEN IN ITALICS. 
 
 A. 
 
 Abil, Abel-beth-maachah PAGE 283 
 
 AinFaluj----- 134, 137 
 
 Ain el-Hudherah, Hazeroth 252 
 
 Am Jsil fid, fountain of Jezreel - 44 
 
 AiuJidy, En-yedi 39, 167 
 
 Ain el-Mndauwarah, Capernaum ? 144, 223 
 
 Am Shems, Beth-shemesh 12G, 132 
 
 Ain Shems, On, Hdiopolis 241 
 
 Ain es-Sult:\n 152, 153 
 
 Ain et-Tabigkak 144 
 
 Aiu et-Tin --- 143 
 
 Ain el-Weibeh 33, 253 
 
 Ajlfm, Eglon - 128 
 
 Akabah, sea of, jElanit!cgulf~-36, 134, 
 
 135, 248 
 
 Akir, Ekron 125 
 
 Akku, Accho, Ptolemais 116, 124 
 
 Akka, plain of - 37, 41, 116 
 
 Akrabeh, Acmbatta 204 
 
 El-Aksa, mosque 82, 86, 87 
 
 E1-A1, EtniHi 187 
 
 Amman, Kabbah, Philadelphia 268 
 
 Am was. A /// nnt "N ? 133 
 
 Anal), Anab 114 
 
 Anata, Anathoth 102 
 
 Aujar 283 
 
 Arabah 33, 146, 161, 248, 260 
 
 Arair, Aroer 188 
 
 Arsuf, ApoUonia ?- -. 121 
 
 Askulfm, Askelon 126 
 
 Asuan, > ;/< nc -- 244 
 
 El-Asy, Orontes 282 
 
 Awaj, Pharpar 285, 286, 288 
 
 El-Azariyeh, Bethany - 102 
 
 B. 
 Bahr Lut, Sea of Lot, i. e., Dead Sea -166 
 
 Banias, Paneas 35, 135, 136 
 
 Barada, Abana 286, 28& 
 
 Bathanyeh 174 
 
 Batihah --- 144 
 
 Beirut, Berytus 298 
 
 Beisan, Beth-shan 44, 149, 156, 213 
 
 Beitm, Beth-el 64, 106 
 
 Beit Jibrin, Eleutheropolis --67, 129, 130 
 
 Beit Lahrn, Beth-lehem 109 
 
 BeitUr 39, 108 
 
 El-Belka .- 182 
 
 Bir Eyub, En-rogel 91 
 
 Bir es-Seba, Beer-sheba 114 
 
 Birket el Hanimam 91 
 
 Birket el-Mainilla 92 
 
 Birket er-Rani, Phiala 138 
 
 Birket es-Sultan 92 
 
 El-Buka a, Ca-le-Syria 278, 280 
 
 El-Bureij 137 
 
 Busaireh, Bozrah of Edom 262 
 
 Busrali, Bozrah of Bashan, Bostra- 179 
 
 D. 
 
 Dahar el-Kudib 277 
 
 Debbet er-Ramleh 249 
 
 Debfirieh, Daberath 49 
 
 Ed-Deir, Jabesh-yilead 185 
 
 Deir Dubbau 130 
 
 Deir Dmvan 107 
 
 Deir el-Ghuzjil 284 
 
 Dera 180 
 
 Denial-all 137 
 
 Dhiban 188 
 
654 
 
 GEOGRAPHICAL INDEX. 
 
 Diarbekr 270 
 
 Difneb, Daphne 135 
 
 Ed-Duhy 42, 44, 51 
 
 E. 
 
 Edbra, Edrei 180 
 
 Endor, Endor 52 
 
 Esdud, Ashdod, Azotus 126 
 
 Esfieb 53 
 
 F. 
 Fusail, Phasaelis 155 
 
 G. 
 El-Gbfib 282 
 
 El-Ghor 146, 147, 159, 161 
 
 Gbuzzeb, Gaza 128 
 
 H. 
 
 Haifa, Sucaminum 116, 117 
 
 Haleb, Aleppo 290 
 
 Hamah, Hamath 284 
 
 El-Haram, of Jerusalem 76, 81-83 
 
 El-Haram, of Hebron - 112 
 
 Hawaii, Haran 274 
 
 Hasbeiya 137, 283 
 
 Hattin - 50 
 
 Haurfm 42, 174 
 
 Hesbfin, Heshbon 187 
 
 El-Huleb, waters of Merom 50 
 
 El-Hideb, plain of 138 
 
 Hums, Emesa 34, 282, 284 
 
 Hunin 35, 136 
 
 I. 
 Iskanderun, gulf of, Issus 29, 276 
 
 J. 
 
 Jaulan, Gaulonitis 42, 173 
 
 Jeba, Geba 104 
 
 Jebeil, Gebal, Byblus 298 
 
 JebelAjlfm 181 
 
 Jebel Attarus 188, 205 
 
 Jebel ed-Deruz - 174 
 
 Jebel Fureidis, Frank mountain --- 210 
 
 Jebel Hauran 175, 183 
 
 Jebel Heisb 174 
 
 Jebel Jelad, Mount GUead 181 
 
 Jebel Jermiik 41 
 
 Jebel Musa 251 
 
 Jebel en-Nusairiyeb, JSargylus - 281, 282 
 
 Jebel esb-Sbeikb, Hermon 279, 280 
 
 Jebel esh-Sburky, Anti-Lebanon- 41, 278 
 
 Jebel Simnin 277 
 
 Jebel et-T&r, Tabor 42 
 
 Jenin, Gincea - 46, 51 
 
 Jerasb, Gerasa 185 
 
 Jezireb 27(5 
 
 El-Jib. Gibeon 107, 198 
 
 Jilj ilia, Giltjal, of Epbraim- 65 
 
 Jiljuleh, Gilyal, of tbe Mediterrane 
 an plain 66, 122 
 
 Jisr Jtoi-it Yakob, 139, 140 
 
 Jisr el-Mejamia- 149 
 
 K. 
 
 El-Ka a 249 
 
 Kabul, Oabul 117 
 
 Kaisariyeb, Ccvsarea - 119 
 
 Kalab Sherghat 312 
 
 Kana el-Jelil, Cana of GalUee 35. 49 
 
 Karun, Pasitigris 318 
 
 Kedes, Kedesh 50 
 
 Kefr Kenna 49 
 
 Kefr Saba, Antipairis 120, 124 
 
 KefrSehvan 88 
 
 Kerak 213, 266 
 
 Keramles 312 
 
 Kerkhab, Choaspes 318 
 
 Kersa 145 
 
 Khfibur, Chebar - 274 
 
 Khan Minyeh 143 
 
 Khasm Usdurn--- 162, 163 
 
 Kborsabucl 312 
 
 Khu/iieh - 261 
 
 Koyunjik 312 
 
 Kubbet es-Sukhrab 82, 86 
 
 El-Kiids, the Holy, i. e., Jerusalem- 70 
 
 Kunawat, Kenath 180 
 
 Kureiy at, Kiriatha im? 1 S S 
 
 Kurmul, Carmel of Judah 113 
 
 Kuriwh - 274 
 
 Kuril Surtabeb 68, 147, 149 
 
 Kuryet el-Enab, Kirjatli-jearim ---.- 109 
 
 L. 
 
 Lebbaii, Lebonah 65 
 
 Ledtlfm 135, 137 
 
 El-Lejab, Argob, Trachoniiis--174, 175, 
 176, 178, 214 
 
 Lejjiin, Megiddo 45, 51, 124 
 
 El-Lis&n 161 
 
 Litany, Leontes 41, 280 
 
 Lud.l! Lod, Lydda 1T>. 1-J! 
 
 M. 
 
 Main, Maon 188 
 
 El-Makhrucl - 117 
 
 Mai-din 276 
 
 Mar Saba-- KIN. il 
 
 Mcjdd, in Galilee, Magdala 143 
 
 Mejdel, in Syria 2.s:t 
 
 Mi rj Ay fin-- - 137, 283 
 
 Merj el-Buttauf 36, 43, 50 
 
 M( rj . 1-Gliuruk 55 
 
 Merj Ibn Amir, plain of Esdrae- 
 
 lon 43 
 
 Merj Ibn Omeir 109, 133 
 
GEOGRAPHICAL INDEX. 
 
 Mosul - 270, 312 
 
 Mu^heir 275 
 
 El-Mnhiakah 54 
 
 Muklnnas, Mii-lmxtah 105 
 
 El-Mukhua 55, 56 
 
 El-Mikuttu. A"/*/,.*,/ ^5 
 
 N. 
 
 N:\bulns. S/Kr/,<m 55 
 
 Nahr el-Akhdar 199 
 
 Nahr 1 1-Amvaly, Bostrenus 291 
 
 Nahr el-Hasbany 137 
 
 Nahr el-Jalud 150 
 
 Nahr el-Kasimiyeh 281 
 
 Nahr el-Kebir, Eleutherus 277 
 
 Nahr Naman, Belus 116 
 
 Nahr Rubin 128 
 
 Nahr ez-Zerka, Jabbok 150, 184 
 
 En-Nasirah, Xazarelh 48 
 
 Nehy Harun, Mount Hor 202 
 
 Neby Ismail 49 
 
 NebY Sainwil, Mizpeh ? - 107 
 
 NebyYunus 312 
 
 Neiu, Xain 52 
 
 Nimrud 312 
 
 0. 
 
 Oorfa- 
 
 R 
 
 Er-Rahah 249, 
 
 Er-Rani, Ramah 
 
 Er-Ramleh - 122, 124, 
 
 Rasht -i ya - 
 
 Has el-Abyad 35, 11G, 
 
 lias el-Feshkhah 39, G7, 
 
 Ras el-Mersed 39, 1GO, 
 
 Ras ni-Nakurah 41, 
 
 Ras Sasafeh 
 
 Ribleh, Riblah 34, 
 
 R iha. ,J> rli-Jut 
 
 Ruad. An;i<l. ,1/v/i/o.v 
 
 Rnhaibeh, Rehoboth?- 
 
 Ruinnianeh, 
 
 250 
 103 
 5 
 
 283 
 2 . U 
 1GO 
 ir.i 
 lie. 
 252 
 2S4 
 l.VJ 
 
 133 
 51 
 
 S. 
 
 Sabkhah, plain of 161 
 
 Safod ----- 41, 50 
 
 Saida. S;,l>n - - 297 
 
 Sakut. Sucmif, ? 117. 156 
 
 Salim. Mulr-m? 58, 64 
 
 Es-Salt. Hi.nntl.-.iH.KHl 182, 186 
 
 San. ;:-/. y i/;.s- 210 
 
 Sebnstioh, Snni<iri<i ti2 
 
 St-ffurioh. Sei>)>]iuris 4!) 
 
 Seilfm, M.Hoh -- <!4 
 
 Sehvau, Siham 87 
 
 Semua, Eshtemoa 114 
 
 Serbal-- :5J 
 
 Esh-Sherif. tl y,,blr, i. c., Haram- 82 
 
 Esh-Shukif .......... - ........ - 281 
 
 Esh-Shurkiyeh, Goshen ........... 235 
 
 Shuweikeh, Shochoh ............. 114 
 
 Es-Sik ................. ......... 261 
 
 S. .ba ........................... 104 
 
 Solam, Sliunem ------------------ 51 
 
 Sabribeh ....................... 136 
 
 Es-Snlah. Iforinfih? .............. 1 ( J7 
 
 Sukkot, Succoth ? ....... .......... 156 
 
 Sulkhad, Salcah .............. 173, 179 
 
 Sur, Tyre ................ ------ 
 
 SuratVnd. Z>tri ///c</A. Farepta ------ - S 
 
 Surah, Znr-ih .................... 132 
 
 T. 
 
 Taammk, TaanrifJi ............. -!">. "-0 
 
 Tiiiyibeh, Ophrafi ? ............ 68, 105 
 
 Taiitfira, Dor .............. ----- 121 
 
 Tarabulus, Tripolis .............. 298 
 
 lYima. T> ma ....... ......... 271 
 
 T.-kua, Tekoa ................... 110 
 
 Tell Basta. Pi-bwth, Bubasti* ---- 211 
 
 Tell Dothan, Dothan ............ 
 
 Tell Dibbin, Ijon ................ 283 
 
 Tell Hum----- ................... 144 
 
 Tell el-Kady, Dan ............ 135, 206 
 
 Tell Kaimon, Jokneam ........... 200 
 
 Tell Khuraibeh .................. 50 
 
 Tell Main, 3faon .............. 69, 113 
 
 Tell Mutsellim .................. 51 
 
 Tell es-Safieh, Gath? ............. 126 
 
 Tell Zif. Ziph .................. - 113 
 
 El-Tellul .................. ----- 285 
 
 Tibneh, of Dan, Ttnumlh ...... --- 132 
 
 Tibnin .......................... 35 
 
 Et-Tih ....... - .............. 2-19, 2.V2 
 
 Tubiikat Fahil. Pdl<i ----- ........ 186 
 
 Tnbar iyeh, Tiberias .............. 142 
 
 Tubas. 1I..1,.- ..... --- ........... 64 
 
 Tui ileh. TpM ----- ............. 262 
 
 Tuh-il el-Ful, Gibeah ............. 103 
 
 Tulluzah, Tirzah ? ............... 64 
 
 U. 
 Um el-Gemal, Beth-gamul ........ 180 
 
 Urn Keis, Gatlara ...... ---145, 184, 185 
 
 Urn Lakis, Lachish - .............. 1 2S 
 
 Umgheir ........................ 275 
 
 W. 
 Wsuly Beit Hanina .............. 74 
 
 WadyFeirin ................... 256 
 
 Wady Farah .................. - - 68 
 
 WadyFaria ................ -147. 14!) 
 
 Wady (Miunnulel ............ 250, 256 
 
 Wady Ham am -- ................ - 145 
 
 Wadyllesban ................. -- 7!*4 
 
656 
 
 GEOGRAPHICAL INDEX. 
 
 Wady Jelioshafat, valley of Jehosha- 
 
 pJiat - 73 
 
 Wady el-Jeib 260 
 
 Wady Kadisha 278 
 
 Wady el-Kelt, brook Cherith? 39, 68, 
 
 152, 155 
 
 WadyKerak 1G8, 2G5 
 
 Wady Khnreitun 68 
 
 Wady el-Leja 250 
 
 Wady Leimun 222 
 
 Wady Mahamvat 164 
 
 WadyMojib, Arnon---33, 160, 1G7, 184 
 
 Wady el-Mukatteb 254 
 
 Wady Miisn, Petra - - 261 
 
 Wadyen-Nar 68, 168 
 
 Wady es-Safieh - 168 
 
 Wady es-Seba 114 
 
 Wady Sebayeh 252 
 
 Wady esh-Sheikh 251, 256 
 
 Wady es-Sumpt, valley ofElah--67, 131 
 
 Wady Surar 67, 132 
 
 Wady et-Teim 134, 137, 280 
 
 Wady el- Ward 
 
 Wady Zurka Main 
 Wady Zuweirah - - 
 
 101 
 
 164, 167, 184 
 162 
 
 Y. 
 
 Yabes, Jabesh 185 
 
 Yafa, Japhia 41) 
 
 Yafa, Japho, Joppa 121 
 
 Yalo, Ajalon 109, 133 
 
 Yarm uk, Jarmuth 132 
 
 Yarinuk, river Hieromax --150, 173, 184 
 
 Yebiia, Jabneh - 128 
 
 Yeheniiam, Gehenna 73 
 
 Yeshfia, Eshtaol 132 
 
 Yutta, Juttuh 114 
 
 Z. 
 
 Zanua, Zanoah 132 
 
 Zekweh 283 
 
 Zerin, Jezreel 44, 47, 51 
 
 Zib, Achzib, Ecdippa 117 
 
INDEX OF PLACES AND SUBJECTS. 
 
 N. B. In this Alphabetical Index thp titles of the several chapters are given. 
 For an analysis of their contents the reader is referred to the Table of Contents 
 at the beginning of the volume. 
 
 A. 
 Abana ...................... PAGE 
 
 Aim vim ......................... 
 
 Abel-beth-maachah .............. 
 
 Abib, mouth of .................. 
 
 Abilene ......................... 
 
 Abrahamic covenant .......... ! .">. 
 
 Absalom, so-called tomb of ....... 
 
 Acacia. See Bhittim-woocL 
 Accho, Acre. Akka ............... 
 
 Accursed thing .................. 
 
 Aceldama ....................... 
 
 Aeli/ib, Gr. Ecdippa ............. 
 
 Adoraim - ----- - .................. 
 
 Adramyttiuni .................... 
 
 Adullam ........................ 
 
 Adultery ...... - ...... ............ 
 
 JEgean sea ...................... 
 
 JElanitic gulf ---- ................ 
 
 Agriculture ................ -335, 
 
 " animals used in ...... 
 
 " implements of ........ 
 
 laws concerning ...... 
 
 Ai ..................... - ....... 
 
 Ajalon. valley of ---- "- ............ 
 
 Akabah. gulf of ................. 
 
 Akka. plain of ................... 
 
 Akra ........................... 
 
 Akrabbim. See Scorpion Cliffs. 
 Aleppo ......................... 
 
 Alexander the Great ............. 
 
 Alexandria ...................... 
 
 Almond .................. - ..... 
 
 Alphabet, origin of -------------- 
 
 Altar of burnt-offering ........ 554, 
 
 of incense ................. 
 
 Amanus, mount .............. 276, 
 
 A malek ...................... 
 
 Ambuscades ................ ---- 
 
 Ammon ......................... 
 
 286 
 
 183 
 283 
 448 
 290 
 535 
 96 
 
 116 
 Gil 
 99 
 117 
 114 
 307 
 132 
 427 
 300 
 157 
 248 
 
 342 
 340 
 335 
 107 
 ion 
 248 
 116 
 77 
 
 290 
 4!)4 
 2;5<> 
 363 
 2! :; 
 <;-2"> 
 562 
 282 
 256 
 523 
 267 
 
 Ammonitis 204 
 
 Amorites 267, 327 
 
 Amphipolis 305 
 
 Anab 114 
 
 Auathoth 102 
 
 Ancient divisions of Israel 191, seq. 
 
 Animals, domestic 2-Ji 
 
 wild 221 
 
 Ankle-bands and chains 404 
 
 Anointing --- 575 
 
 Anti-Lebanon 278 
 
 Antioch in Syria 284 
 
 " in P isidia 303 
 
 Antipatris 120 
 
 Antouia, fortress of 85 
 
 Anysis - - 240 
 
 Appendix on Arabic names 322, seq. 
 
 " the Canaanitish tribes-325, seq. 
 
 " Grecian and Roman 
 
 games 443, seq. 
 
 " Roman citizenship 531, seq. 
 
 Apples of Scripture 217 
 
 " of Sodom 218 
 
 Apollonia 305 
 
 Arabah----- 146, 161, 192, 248, 260 
 
 Arabian Peninsula 247, seq. 
 
 Arabia Petrjca. See Arabian Pe 
 ninsula. 
 
 Arabic feast - 415 
 
 Aradus. See Arvad. 
 
 Aram 29, 273 
 
 Ara r a t 321 
 
 Araxes 3:20 
 
 Arbela. See Beth-arbel. 
 Argob. See Trachonitis. 
 
 Arimathea - 104 
 
 Ark of the covenant 549 
 
 Armenia --297, 309, 317. 320 
 
 Armor, defensive 520, seq. 
 
 Arms, offensive 516, seq. 
 
 Army- - 515 
 
 28* 
 
G58 
 
 INDEX OF PLACES AND SUBJECTS. 
 
 Ar Moab 
 
 265 
 
 Arnoii 167, 184, 265, 
 
 207 
 
 Aroer - 
 
 188 
 
 Arpad - 
 
 313 
 
 Arrow - 
 
 519 
 
 Arts, domestic and mechanical 
 
 541 
 
 Arvad 
 
 298 
 
 Ashdod - 
 
 126 
 
 Asher, tribe of 
 
 201 
 
 Ashernh 
 
 C50 
 
 Ashes, in mourning -- 
 
 441 
 
 Ashkenaz 
 
 321 
 
 Ashtaroth Karnaim 
 
 180 
 
 Ashtorcth and Ashtaroth 
 
 649 
 
 Asia Minor and Greece 299, 
 
 seq. 
 
 Asia, province of 
 
 299 
 
 Asia, seven churches of 301, 
 
 seq. 
 
 Asida-ans - -- 
 
 636 
 
 Askelon 
 
 126 
 
 Asplmltic lake. See Dead Sea. 
 
 
 Ass - 
 
 379 
 
 Assos -- 
 
 30f> 
 
 Assyria 
 
 309 
 
 Assyrian empire 309, 
 
 seq. 
 
 Astrologers 
 
 648 
 
 Atbara 
 
 235 
 
 Athens 
 
 305 
 
 Atonement, great day of 
 
 582 
 
 Atropatcne 
 
 317 
 
 Attalia 
 
 303 
 
 Augur 
 
 648 
 
 Aulon --- - 
 
 146 
 
 Auranitis 
 
 173 
 
 Aveh 
 
 313 
 
 Aven, plain of 
 
 284 
 
 Avenger of blood 
 
 509 
 
 Avim 
 
 383 
 
 Azekah 
 
 131 
 
 Azotus. See Ashdod. 
 
 
 Azzah. See Gaza. 
 
 
 B. 
 
 
 Baal 
 
 649 
 
 Baall >oc 
 
 283 
 
 Baal-gad 
 
 191 
 
 Bashan, descried cities of 177 
 
 Batanasa. See Bashan. 
 
 Bath -- .|i; 7 
 
 Battering-ram 526 
 
 Battle, order of- - 523 
 
 Battle-axe 518 
 
 Battlements of roofs 391 
 
 Beans - 343 
 
 Bear 221 
 
 Beard, usages respecting 102 
 
 Beasts, exposure to - 445 
 
 Healing to death . 511 
 
 Beer-sheba - 114 
 
 Bees 
 
 224 
 
 Beheading 511 
 
 Behemoth >>( , 
 
 Bel- 
 
 Baal-meon 187 
 
 Baal-peor - 184 
 
 Babylon 315 
 
 Babylonia 314 
 
 Badgor of Scripture 223, 5 16 
 
 Ba-tis- 296 
 
 Bakeries - 411 
 
 Balm. See Balsam. 
 
 Ballista - - - 525 
 
 Balsam 154, 365 
 
 Bargvlns, mount 281 
 
 Baris- 85 
 
 Barley --- 311. 3-H 
 
 Bashan 38, 173, soq., 204 
 
 651 
 
 Belka- 182 
 
 Bells 573 
 
 Belus - 116 
 
 Benjamin, tribe of-- 197 
 
 Berytus-"- - - 2 .)S 
 
 Bethany- 101 
 
 Beth-arbei 145 
 
 Beth-barah -- - 157 
 
 Heth-el - - - - 106 
 
 Bt-lliesda, so-called pool of 85 
 
 Beth-gamul - - - - - 181 
 
 Belli-horoH - 108 
 
 Beth-lehem - -- 109 
 
 Befchphage - 102 
 
 Beth-rehob - % ->*> 
 
 Bethsaida --- 144 
 
 Beth-slum 156 
 
 Beth-sliemesh - - 132 
 
 Beth-shemesh, of Egypt- 241 
 
 Betogabra. See Eleulheropolis. 
 Betrothal. See Espousal. 
 
 Bezetha - 79, 86 
 
 Birds of Palestine 222 
 
 Bithyuia 304 
 
 Bitumen : 165 
 
 Blue 407 
 
 nine Nile 235 
 
 Boards of (he tabernacle "">!: 
 
 Bonnets 40 I. ."".7: . 
 
 Hooks, ancient - 
 
 - -{55 
 
 B<">ths 
 
 606 
 
 Bottle --- 
 
 ---362, :!7:; 
 
 Bottle in the smoke 
 
 ;\~,-2 
 
 ]} mv 
 
 51 S 
 
 Bozrah of Bashan 
 
 179 
 
 of Edom 
 
 262 
 
 Bracelets 
 
 .|o | 
 
 Hivad 
 
 -- 110 
 
 Breastplate of judgment-- 
 
 - r,70 
 
 " military 
 
 521 
 
 
 
 -400, .".7:: 
 
1NDKX OF PLACES AND SUBJECTS. 
 
 659 
 
 Bricks- 393 
 
 Bubastis. Hoe Pi-be:-eth 
 
 Bullal.. 220 
 
 Bulls of Bashan - 225 
 
 Burial - - - "- 439 
 
 * Burning at funerals 440 
 
 " as a penalty 508 
 
 on the altar 582 
 
 Butter - - 376 
 
 By bins. See Gebal. 
 
 C. 
 
 Cabul 117 
 
 Csesarea of Palestine 118 
 
 Philippi- 136, 279 
 
 Cakes baked in the embers 411 
 
 Calf-worship - 649 
 
 Callirrhoe 167 
 
 Calneh or Calno - 317 
 
 Camel - - 370 
 
 Canaan, land of 30 
 
 Cauaanites-- 327 
 
 extirpation of the 529 
 
 C.ma of Galilee - 49 
 
 Candlestick, golden -553, 564 
 
 Cauneh. See Calueh. 
 
 Capernaum 143 
 
 Capital punishment 506 
 
 Caravan - 464 
 
 Caravanserai 466 
 
 Caivhemish - 274 
 
 Carmel, mount - 52 
 
 " of Judah 113 
 
 Carob-tree 218 
 
 Casius, mount 281 
 
 Catapult- - 525 
 
 Cauls 404 
 
 -- 69, 383 
 
 Cedar of Lebanon - 278 
 
 Cenchrea 305 
 
 Cereal and leguminous plants -342, seq. 
 Chaboras. See Chebar. 
 Chain. See Necklace. 
 
 Chaldfca 314 
 
 Chald&an empire 315 
 
 Chambers of houses 388 
 
 of the temple 618, 621 
 
 Chamberlain - 490 
 
 Changes of raiment- - 407, 416 
 
 Chariot --- 519 
 
 Chebar 274, 318 
 
 Cheese 377 
 
 Cheesemongers valley. See Tyro- 
 poaon. 
 
 Cherith, brook of 152, 155 
 
 Cherubim 550, 563 
 
 Chief priest - - 497 
 
 Chiefs of tribes 473 
 
 Chnrneys. absence of 392 
 
 Chinneroth. See Sea of Galilee. 
 
 Chittim, isles of 300 
 
 Chi.m - 652 
 
 Choaspes 318 
 
 Chorazin - -- 144 
 
 Chrysorrhoas. See Abana. 
 
 Churning - 377 
 
 Cilicia 304 
 
 Circesium. See Carchemish. 
 
 Cisterns 66, 91, 378 
 
 Cities of the Plain, overthrow of- 168, seq. 
 
 " of refuge 509 
 
 ." oriental 394 
 
 Clauda - - 307 
 
 Clean and unclean, distinctions 
 
 of 590, seq. 
 
 Clean animals 591 
 
 Climate - - - - 206 
 
 Climate, soil, and productions of 
 
 Palestine -- -206, seq. 
 
 Clothing, materials of- - 406 
 
 Cloud of God s presence 565 
 
 Cnidos - 307 
 
 Coat of many colors 397 
 
 Coele-Syria 280 
 
 Colosse 303 
 
 Commanders, military 488 
 
 Commerce, routes of 464 
 
 Compensation in kind 503 
 
 Concubine 419 
 
 Congregation 474 
 
 Consanguinity, laws of - 425 
 
 Cony of Scripture - 221 
 
 Coos ----- - - 306 
 
 Corban 611 
 
 Corinth- T 305 
 
 Corporal punishment - 503 
 
 Council. See Sanhedrim. 
 Countries north and northeast of 
 
 Palestine- - 273, seq. 
 
 Countries southeast and east of Pal 
 estine 259, seq. 
 
 Countries southwest and south of 
 
 Palestine 228, seq. 
 
 Court of the tabernacle - 549 
 
 Courts of houses 385 
 
 of the temple 619, seq. 
 
 Crete - -- 307 
 
 Crisping-pins. See Purses. 
 
 Crocodile 238 
 
 Crucifixion - ~>11 
 
 Cubit 466, 468 
 
 Curtains of the tabernacle "> 1 ."> 
 
 Cush - ---- 246 
 
 " of Gen. 2:13 --- 318 
 
 Cushan-rishathaim - - ll \ 
 
 Cymbal - i-V.i 
 
 Cyprus 303 
 
 Cyrus, river - 317. 320 
 
INDEX OF PLACES AND SUBJECTS. 
 
 D. 
 Dabareh 49 
 
 Dagger. See Sword. 
 
 Dagon - - 652 
 
 Dalmanutha 143 
 
 Dalmatia - - 306 
 
 Damascus -- - 279, 285 
 
 Dan, city of- 136 
 
 " tribe of- - 198 
 
 Daphne. See Tahpanhes. 
 
 David, tomb of-- 81 
 
 Day, Hebrew 450 
 
 Dead Sea -- --36, 134, 157, seq., 265 
 
 Dead body, uncleanness from 594 
 
 Death-penalty - 505 
 
 Dedan, Cushite - 297 
 
 Dedan, Jokshanite 262, 297 
 
 Dedication, feast of 608 
 
 Delta of Egypt-- 233 
 
 Demoniacal possessions < 462 
 
 Demon-worship -- 645 
 
 Derbe ..-.*.. 303 
 
 Dial - 451 
 
 Dibon or Dimon- 188 
 
 Dichotomy - 511 
 
 Divan -- -- 388, 394 
 
 Divination- 648 
 
 Divorce 426 
 
 Dog--- 222 
 
 Domestic relations and usages-419, seq. 
 
 Dor 120 
 
 Dothan - - - 48, 64 
 
 Dreams- - 647 
 
 Dress and personal ornaments -396, seq. 
 
 Dulcimer - 459 
 
 Dumah 271 
 
 E. 
 
 Ear-drops 404 
 
 Ear-rings - 405 
 
 Eastern empires " 309, seq. 
 
 East Sea. See Dead Sea. 
 
 Ebal, mount - 56, 58 
 
 Eboda -- 256 
 
 Ecbatana - 317 
 
 Eden, garden of 314 
 
 Edom, land of 259, seq. 
 
 Edrei- 
 Eglon 
 
 180 
 128 
 
 Egypt and Ethiopia - 228, seq. 
 
 Ekron - 125 
 
 Elah, valley of --- 131 
 
 Eliim 318 
 
 Elders - 473, 497 
 
 Eleutheropolis 129 
 
 Eleutherus 277 
 
 Elim -- 250 
 
 Elislmh, isles of 296, 300 
 
 Eloth - 248 
 
 Elusa 256 
 
 Embalming - - - 244. 460 
 
 Embroidery - 452 
 
 Eiiu-sa 284 
 
 " plain of 282 
 
 Emmaus 133 
 
 En-gedi - 1(17 
 
 Endor 52 
 
 En-rogel - 91 
 
 Ephah 467 
 
 Ephesus - 301 
 
 Ephod 569 
 
 Ephraim, city of 105 
 
 " mount 55 
 
 tribe of- 199 
 
 Ephratah - 1 09 
 
 "Epiphania. See Haiuath. 
 
 Epistle 456 
 
 Erech - 317 
 
 Esdraelon, plain of 43 
 
 Eshtaol - 132 
 
 Eshtemoa - - 114 
 
 Espousal 422 
 
 Esseues 641 
 
 Etam or Etliam 94 
 
 Ethiopia 246 
 
 Ethnarch 495 
 
 Eulrcus. See Ulai. 
 
 Euphrates 274, 276, 314, 320 
 
 Excision 508 
 
 Ezion-geber- 248 
 
 F. 
 
 Fair Havens - 307 
 
 Families of a tribe .- 473 
 
 Family relations 419, seq. 
 
 Fasts, national - <;<> .) 
 
 Fathers houses 472 
 
 Feast of harvest. See Pentecost. 
 
 " of ingathering. See Taber 
 nacles, feast of. 
 
 " of the passover. See Pass 
 over. 
 
 " marriage- - 423 
 
 " oriental - 416 
 
 Fennel :m 
 
 Ferguson s plan of the taberuai 1. 548 
 
 Fetishes -- r.ir, 
 
 Fig 216, 361 
 
 Fines- 503 
 
 Firstborn 429, 589 
 
 First-fruits 589 
 
 j. ish.-s 223 
 
 Fishing-- -- 382 
 
 Flocks and herds 367, seq. 
 
 Flowers of Palestine 219 
 
 Flute - - 459 
 
 E< >( id and meals -- 408, seq. 
 
 Fountain of Elisha 152 
 
INDEX OF PLACES AND SUBJECTS. 
 
 G61 
 
 Fountain of the virgin 88 
 
 Fountains of Palestine 215 
 
 sealed 94 
 
 Freedom, loss of- 505 
 
 Fringes 407 
 
 Fruit-trees 21 G, 359, seq. 
 
 I rvhmpaii 412 
 
 Fuller s field 100 
 
 Funeral rites 440 
 
 Furlong 467 
 
 G. 
 
 Gad, tribe of-- - 194 
 
 " a deity C-VJ 
 
 Gadara - 185 
 
 Gadarenes 145 
 
 Gulatia - 304 
 
 Galeadites - 204 
 
 Galilee, mountainous region of-41, seq. 
 
 " sea of 140, seq. 
 
 Games, Grecian and Komaii - -443, seq. 
 
 Gardens and orchards 217, 364 
 
 Garments, modern Arabic - -- 400 
 
 Gate, Beautiful- - 625 
 
 " Golden 624 
 
 Gates of cities - 499, 524 
 
 " ofhouses - 384 
 
 Gath - - 12i) 
 
 Gaulonitis -- 173 
 
 Ga/a - 40, 127 
 
 Geba 104 
 
 Gebal - 298 
 
 Gennath, gate 78, 80 
 
 Gehenna - 73, 94, seq. 
 
 Genuesareth, land of 141 
 
 Gennesareth, sea of. See Sea of 
 Galilee. 
 
 Gerar 133 
 
 Gerasa 185 
 
 Geraseues. See Gadarenes. 
 
 Gergesenes 145 
 
 (Jeii/.im, mount 56, 58 
 
 Girshonites, charge of the "">> 
 
 Gibbeting 507 
 
 Gibeah of Benjamin 103, 105 
 
 " ofPhinehas 103 
 
 Gibeon --- 107 
 
 Gifts --- 43!) 
 
 Gihon, pools of 92 
 
 Gilboa 51 
 
 Gilead 38, 181, seq. 
 
 Gilgal of Ephraim - 65 
 
 " of the Jordan valley 155 
 
 of the Mediterranean plain- 122 
 
 51 
 
 Girdle -- 397 
 
 " military 521 
 
 " priestly - 573 
 
 Girgashites 328 
 
 - - - 405 
 
 Gleaning - 34* 
 
 Glorious land - 31 
 
 Goad 342 
 
 Goats .- ^ 373 
 
 Goats-hair curtains ~>\~> 
 
 Goat-skin bottles 373 
 
 Gog and Mago;. 
 
 321 
 
 Goiner - 321 
 
 Goshen, land of 234 
 
 Government after the captivity -492, seq. 
 
 ( n-aiiaries - 347 
 
 Grapes, treading of 351 
 
 Greaves --- 521 
 
 Greece 299 
 
 Guitar. See Lute. 
 
 H. 
 
 Habor 275, 313 
 
 Hagarenes or llagarites 271 
 
 Hair, plucking off, in mourning 441 
 
 Halah 275, 313 
 
 Halak, mount 191 
 
 Haiuath, entering in of 33, 277, 281 
 
 city of - 284 
 
 Hanes 240 
 
 Hanging - 507, 511 
 
 Harani of Jerusalem 82 
 
 " ofHebron 112 
 
 Haran 274 
 
 Harem, royal - 491 
 
 Harod, fountain of - 45 
 
 Harosheth of the Gentiles - - - 50 
 
 Harp 457 
 
 Harrow 341 
 
 Haruspices - 648 
 
 Harvest, times of-- 212 
 
 Hauran - - 174 
 
 Havilah 250, 257 
 
 Hazeroth - -- - -J.VJ 
 
 1 fa/e/< )ii-tamar - - 1< 7 
 
 Head-drees--- in-J 
 
 of tribes- 17:5 
 
 Heave-offering - 582 
 
 Hebrew divisions of time 417 
 
 Hebrews, division by tribes I 1 
 
 laud of the 31 
 
 Hebron Ill 
 
 Helbon - 290 
 
 Helena, tomb of - 96 
 
 Heliopolis of Egypt. See On. 
 
 " of Syria. See Baalbec. 
 
 Hellas- JOr, 
 
 Helmet 520 
 
 Heptanomis - 233 
 
 Haracleopolis -- - - 2 JO 
 
 Hennon 134, 174, 279 
 
 Herodians 643 
 
 Heroopolitau gulf. See Suez, gulf of. 
 
G(52 
 
 INDFX OF PLACES AND SUBJECTS. 
 
 Heslibon- - - 187 
 
 Hierapolis - - 303 
 
 Hieromax 149, 184 
 
 Highlands west of the Jordan --41, seq. 
 
 High places 650 
 
 Hinnom, valley of 73, 94, seq. 
 
 Hippicus, tower of - - 78 
 
 Hippopotamus 238 
 
 Historical survey 534, seq. 
 
 Hittites 327 
 
 Hivitos 328 
 
 Holy Land 31 
 
 " of holies--- 549 
 
 " sepulchre - 82 
 
 Homer 4G7 
 
 Honey of grapes - 350 
 
 " of bees -366 
 
 Hor, mount 253, 262 
 
 " of the north 34 
 
 Horeb - 251 
 
 Horites :w:i 
 
 Hormah 197 
 
 Horn-- 459 
 
 Horns as ornaments 406 
 
 Horse - 380 
 
 Hospitality, oriental 417 
 
 Hours---- 451 
 
 House, oriental, plan of 384 
 
 Houses and their appointments, 383, seq. 
 
 Huleh, lake - - 138 
 
 Hundred, military 510 
 
 Hunting 381 
 
 Huts of the poor 383 
 
 Hyena 221 
 
 Hyssop 218 
 
 I. 
 Iconium -- 303 
 
 Idolatrous rites 647 
 
 Idolatry of the Hebrews 644, G52 
 
 Idumrea, province of 204 
 
 Ijoii 283 
 
 lilyricum 306 
 
 Image-worship 646 
 
 Imprisonment 502, 510 
 
 Inauguration, kingly 487 I 
 
 " priestly 574, seq. 
 
 Incense, sweet 556 
 
 " symbolism of 564 
 
 India----- - 322 
 
 Ink 454 
 
 Inns - 465 
 
 Insects of Palestine 224 
 
 Ionium. See Javan. 
 
 Irrigation 338 
 
 Ir-shemesh - 133 
 
 Jssa-liar, tribe of 200 
 
 Is -iiis. gulf and plain of - 2S2 
 
 Israel. Imd of - 31 
 
 Italy 320 
 
 Itunea - -173, 204 
 
 Iveh---- 313 
 
 J. 
 
 Jabbok 150, 184, 267 
 
 Jabesh-gilead 185 
 
 Jabneel or Jabneh 128 
 
 Jackal - 221 
 
 Jacob s well 61 
 
 lames, tomb of 96 
 
 Janmia. See Jabneel. 
 
 Japhia 49 
 
 Japho. See Joppa. 
 
 Jiirmnth 132 
 
 Javau -- 297, 300 
 
 Javelin 517 
 
 Jebusites - - - - - :12S 
 
 Jehoshaphat, tomb of - 96 
 
 valley of --- 73 
 
 Jericho - 152, seq. 
 
 Jerusalem, history of 70 
 
 position of- 72, seq. 
 
 Jezreel, valley of 44 
 
 Jokneam 200 
 
 Joppa-- 121 
 
 Jordan and Dead Sea, valley of-l:M, seq. 
 
 " circuit of 140, 170 
 
 " river 148, 151 
 
 sources of 135, seq. 
 
 Joseph s tomb - (i2 
 
 J( isliua, office of - - 478 
 
 Journeyings of the Israelites 557 
 
 Jubilee, year of 337, 450, 599 
 
 Judah, tribe of 196 
 
 Judea, mountainous section of- -66, seq. 
 
 " Roman province of 204 
 
 Judges, extraordinary 477 
 
 " ordinary 475 
 
 " tombs of the 90 
 
 Justice, administration of 498, seq. 
 
 Juttah - v 114 
 
 K. 
 
 Kadesh and Kadesh-barnea- 2">:> 
 
 Kaiiah, torrent of - !!> .) 
 
 Kedar--- - 271 
 
 Kedesh of Xaphtali 50, 258 
 
 Kenat h 1 SO 
 
 K.Miites -- 2.~>7 
 
 Keiak - 2(\(\ 
 
 Kidron, valley of --- 72 
 
 Kingly form of government --482, seq. 
 
 King s councillor 490 
 
 " friend 4!M) 
 
 Kings, tombs >f the 96 
 
 Kir-heres or Kir-harcseth. See Ke- 
 
 rak. 
 Kiriathaiin 188 
 
lM>r,K OF PLACES AND SUBJECTS. 
 
 663 
 
 Kirjath-arba .................... 113 
 
 Kirjath-jearim- - ................. 109 
 
 Kir Mal>. See K<rak. 
 Kneading-tronghs ............... 410 
 
 Kohathitcs, charge of the ........ 558 
 
 Kur. See Cyrus, river. 
 
 L. 
 Lachish-- ...... ---- .......... - 
 
 Ladder oi 1 Tyre-- ........ - ....... 
 
 Land of promise" ---- ............ 
 
 Laodicea ........................ 
 
 Laver --------------- ----- ---- 
 
 Leaven. as a symbol ------------- 
 
 Lt-banou and Anti-Lebanon ------ 
 
 " chain of- ............. --- 
 
 Lechaium --------- .............. 
 
 Lentiles .............. ---------- 
 
 Leontes ---- ..................... 
 
 " chasm of the- ..... 134, 277, 
 
 Leopard -- ....... ------ ^ -------- 
 
 Leprosy--- ...... --------- ic.l. 5M3. 
 
 " in houses and garments 
 Levi, tribe of .......... ---------- 
 
 Leviathan ........ - ....... ----- 
 
 Levirate --------- ........... ---- 
 
 Levitts, as a class ------------- f>>~ 
 
 organization of ---------- 
 
 " provision for the- - ....... 
 
 Levitical cities ------------------- 
 
 Levy of men - - 
 
 " of troops ------ .......... -- 
 
 Libya ........ - ....... ---------- 
 
 Lion ---------------------- ----- 
 
 Lip, covering of the ........ - ..... 
 
 j i if showbread ----------- - 
 
 L x-iists ------------------------- 
 
 " as food .................. 
 
 Lod. See Lydda. 
 Lord s Supper, relation -of the. 
 the Passover -- ...... -- ..... - 
 
 Lnd and Lndim ----------------- 
 
 Lunacy -------- ....... -- ..... - 
 
 Lute - ..... --------- .......... -- 
 
 Luz. See Beth-el. 
 
 Lycaonia ------ .................. 
 
 Lydda -------------------------- 
 
 12S 
 
 110 
 
 31 
 
 303 
 
 G03 
 27i 
 ill 
 305 
 3-42 
 41 
 280 
 I ll 
 .V.ir. 
 4(12 
 iMl 
 
 421 
 
 58(5 
 587 
 589 
 
 514 
 
 2!!G 
 .221 
 441 
 552 
 
 22 4 
 
 4!3 
 
 296 
 
 4 >s 
 
 303 
 
 122 
 4.18 
 303 
 
 518 
 Macedonia ------- ....... - ....... 304 
 
 Machierus. fortress of ..... ------- 205 
 
 MagdaLi ------------------------ 143 
 
 Mahonaim -------- ............ -- 18f> 
 
 Malta -------- ........ ---------- 307 
 
 Maimv ---- ..... - -------------- 113 
 
 Lystra -------------------------- 
 
 M. 
 
 Maachah. See Abel-beth-Maachah. 
 
 Manasseh, halt tribe east 105 
 
 half tribe west 
 
 Manna - 
 
 Mantle - \VM 
 
 Maon - 69, 113 
 
 Maivslmh-- - 131 
 
 Marriage dowry 422 
 
 " cousummation of - 423 
 
 " institution of 534 
 
 Mars hill 305 
 
 Masius, mount 274 
 
 Masters and servant-; 430, seq. 
 
 Mattock --- 341 
 
 M,. :l ls 413, seq. 
 
 Me.lel.,1 188 
 
 and Persians -31, 
 
 Media -- 317 
 
 Medical art lf ,0, secj. 
 
 Mediterranean plain 37, IK!, seq. 
 
 Megiddo 15. 51 
 
 Melita. S,e Malta. 
 Memphis. See Xoph. 
 
 Meni d52 
 
 Men/il or public lodging-place 418 
 
 Merantes, charge of the 558 
 
 Meivy-sea t .">.")( i 
 
 Meroe - - - 247 
 
 Merom. See Huleh. 
 
 Meshech -- 297, 321 
 
 Mesopotamia 2 73 
 
 Metempsychosis 24i 
 
 Michmash 105 
 
 Midianites and other Arabian 
 
 tribes 2< 
 
 Mi-dol 
 
 Miletus 302 
 
 Military affairs ."> i 
 
 Milk- 376 
 
 " of goats 373 
 
 Mill - 40S 
 
 Millet --- 343 
 
 Mines, military .V2i 
 
 Minni 321 
 
 Mishor- 181, 193 
 
 Mitre, --- ":! 
 
 Mityl-ne : 3<i.; 
 
 Mixed garments -iuii 
 
 Mizpah and Mizpeh-- 107 
 
 Moab ! 
 
 MoabiTis - - - - 204 
 
 Molech r,:,l 
 
 Months, Hebrew 447, seq. 
 
 Moph. See Xoph. 
 
 Moresheth-gath 132 
 
 Moriah-- -- ---77 
 
 Mortar ins 
 
 Mosaic covenant - -H , .) 
 
 economy .":; 
 
 M"oschi. 8e >! 
 
664 
 
 INDEX OF PLACES AND SUBJECTS. 
 
 Moses, offices of- 477 
 
 Mosque el Aksa 86 
 
 " of Omar 86 
 
 Mountainous belt of Palestine 36 
 
 Mount, military 525 
 
 Mourning, forms of - 441 
 
 Mourners, professional - 442 
 
 Mufflers - - 404 
 
 Mummies 244 
 
 Murder, primitive law against 535 
 
 Music and musical instrumeuts-457,seq. 
 
 Must - 352 
 
 Myra - - 307 
 
 Mysia 304 
 
 N. 
 Nabathoeans. See Nebaioth. 
 
 Niiin - - 52 
 
 Naming of children 428 
 
 Naphtali, mount 41 
 
 tribe of 201 
 
 Natural history of Palestine-- -215, seq. 
 
 Navigation, ancient-- 464 
 
 Nazareth 40, 48 
 
 Nazarite G12, seq. 
 
 Neapolis 304 
 
 Neat cattle 376 
 
 Nebaioth 271 
 
 Nebo; a deity (i52 
 
 " mount - 183 
 
 Necklace 403 
 
 Necromancy - 648 
 
 Nile 235 
 
 Nineveh - 312 
 
 No-Amon. See Thebes. 
 
 Nomadic life 3G7, seq. 
 
 Noph 242 
 
 Nose-jewels 405 
 
 Nuts 217 
 
 Nyanza lake 235 
 
 O. 
 Oak 
 ( )blai ion - 
 
 Officers, Hebrew 
 
 of the king 488, 
 
 " of the Sanhedrim 
 
 Oil- 
 
 " holy anointing 
 
 " ritual use of - 
 
 " mill 
 
 " cistern - 
 
 ( Hive, culture of the -----216, 356, 
 
 Olives, mount of 
 
 Omer 
 
 On 
 
 Olio 
 
 Ophel - 
 
 Ophir 
 
 218 
 581 
 474 
 seq. 
 497 
 358 
 556 
 
 358 
 
 seq. 
 100 
 
 4 .7 
 
 241 
 
 216 
 
 --77, 86 
 248. -J .i i 
 
 Oplu-ah 105 
 
 Oracles, responses of 647 
 
 Oratorios - 629 
 
 Orchoe. See Erech. 
 
 Organ 459 
 
 Ornaments, female 404 
 
 Orontes 280, 282 
 
 Ovens, forms of 412 
 
 " public 411 
 
 Oxen for the tabernacle service 559 
 
 P. 
 Padan-arain 273 
 
 Painting the eyebrows 405 
 
 Palsetyrns 294 
 
 Palestine, different uses of the term 
 
 30, seq. 
 
 general view of 29, seq.. 
 
 boundaries ideal and ac 
 tual 31, seq. 
 
 form and dimensions 35 
 
 general divisions 3(5, seq. 
 
 direction of the valleys-- 38 
 
 routes of travel 38 
 
 peculiar situation 40 
 
 military strength 40 
 
 Palm-tree 359, seq. 
 
 Palmyra 4(>5 
 
 " desertof 276 
 
 " ruins of 291 
 
 Pamphylia, buy of 303 
 
 Paneas 136 
 
 Pantheism 644 
 
 Paphos 303 
 
 Papyrus - 218, 238, 454 
 
 Parental power 429 
 
 Partliia 317 
 
 Paschal Limb. See Passover. 
 
 Passover 601, seq. 
 
 Patara -- 306 
 
 Pathros and Pathrusim 233 
 
 Patriarchal form of government, 469, sea. 
 
 " its chief element- 471 
 
 " its advantages and de 
 fects 171 
 
 " bond of union under it 480 
 
 Paul s three missionary tours- -:>():>. srq. 
 
 Peaee-oiVerings 57.".. .".7 1 . i 
 
 Pella - 186, 2(1.1 
 
 Pen 454 
 
 Penalties, Hebrew 502, seq. 
 
 foreign 510, seq. 
 
 Pentecost 604 
 
 Peor 183 
 
 Penes 37. 20:. 
 
 P.Ttiinie-boX -s 404 
 
 Perga 303 
 
 IVrgamos - : 5<> 2 
 
 Peri//ites : - -; 
 
INDEX OF PLACES AND SUBJECTS. 
 
 665 
 
 IVrsiii 318 
 
 Pi-tni - - - 2C,i) 
 
 Pharisees - 6:J."i, s.-q. 
 
 Pharpar 285 
 
 Phasaelis 155. 
 
 Pin-nice in Crete 307 
 
 rhiiila, lake 137 
 
 Philadelphia of Ammon -- 268 
 
 of Asia Minor 302 
 
 Pliil;e, islaml of 233 
 
 Philippi 304 
 
 Philistines 124 
 
 Phoenicia 291, seq. 
 
 Phoenicians, arts and sciences -293, seq. 
 
 " relations to Israel 294 
 
 Phrygia 303 
 
 Phut , 296 
 
 Phylacteries 407 
 
 Physicians 460 
 
 Pi-beseth 240 
 
 Pigeons 222 
 
 Pillars of Hercules - 292 
 
 " of the court 549 
 
 " of the tabernacle 542 
 
 Pins of the tabernacle 548 
 
 Pipe. See Flute. 
 
 Pisgah 183 
 
 Pistacia 218 
 
 Pithoui - 241 
 
 Pits used in hunting 381 
 
 Plants, cereal and leguminous 342 
 
 " furnishing clothing 216 
 
 " odoriferous 218 
 
 Plough and ploughing 340 
 
 Poetry of the Hebrews 539 
 
 Polygamy 419, 42G 
 
 Polytheism 645 
 
 Pomegranate -217, 3<>2 
 
 Pomegranates, artificial 217, 274 
 
 Pool of Hezekiah 91 
 
 " ofSiloam 87 
 
 Pools of Gihon 92 
 
 " of Hebron Ill 
 
 " of Solomon 93 
 
 Poor, provisions for the 347 
 
 Porch 385 
 
 Pottage 343 
 
 Potter s field 99 
 
 Presbytery. See Sanhedrim. 
 
 Priest, idea of- 567 
 
 Priests, as a class 584 
 
 " marriage of 425 
 
 Priesthood, sacrifices, and obla 
 tions 567, seq. 
 
 Priestly garments 569, seq. 
 
 Princes - * 473 
 
 Procurator 495 
 
 Prophets, tombs of the 96 
 
 Provinces, Roman - 495 
 
 Psaltery -l^s 
 
 l ) sei)liiinis. tower of 78 
 
 Ptolemais - 116 
 
 Purifications 594, seq. 
 
 Purim. feast of-- 608 
 
 Pilule, Tyrian 293 
 
 Purses 405 
 
 Puteoli 308 
 
 Pyramids 245 
 
 Q. 
 
 Quails 222 
 
 Quarries in Jerusalem 89 
 
 Quicksands 307 
 
 Quiver , 519 
 
 R. 
 
 Raamses or Rameses 241 
 
 Rabbah of Ammon 268 
 
 ." ofMoab 2i;r, 
 
 Rachel s tomb 110 
 
 Rains of Palestine 207, seq. 
 
 Ramah of Benjamin- 103 
 
 " of Samuel 104 
 
 Ramathaim-zophim 104 
 
 Raniath-mizpeh 104 
 
 Ramotlr-gilead - 182, 186 
 
 Ramoth-negeb 104 
 
 Reception-room - 387 
 
 Recorder - 489 
 
 Red Sea 247 
 
 " passage of the 2-19 
 
 Regions east of the Jordan 173, seq. 
 
 " remote from Palestine -320, seq. 
 
 Rehoboth- - 1 .33 
 
 Remphan - 652 
 
 Rending of garments 441 
 
 Rephaim, valley of 101 
 
 Resurrection 637 
 
 Retaliation 504 
 
 Reuben, tribe of 194 
 
 Revenues, royal - 491 
 
 Riblah - 284 
 
 River of Egypt 31 
 
 Roads of Palestine 38 
 
 Robe - 398 
 
 Robe of the ephod 572 
 
 Roll - * ---455 
 
 Roman citizenship 531, seq. 
 
 " divisions of Palestine -203, seq. 
 
 Rome 320 
 
 Roofs 389, seq. 
 
 Rosh -- 321 
 
 S. 
 
 Sabbath 534, 598 
 
 Sabbath day s journey 467 
 
 Sabbatical year 336, 599 
 
 Sabeans. See Sheba. 
 
GOI5 
 
 INDEX OF PLACES AND .SUB JECTS. 
 
 Sacklmt - 459 
 
 Siickclotb --407, 441 
 
 Sacrifice, idea of 568 
 
 Sacrifices, different kinds of - - 577, seq. 
 
 Sadducees 640, seq. 
 
 Salumis - 303 
 
 Sale-all 179 
 
 Salmone - - 300 
 
 Salt as a symbol 413 
 
 " mountain 163 
 
 " Sea. See Dead Sea. 
 
 " valley of 163 
 
 Salutations, oriental 434 
 
 Samaria, city of 02, seq. 
 
 " mountains of 52, seq. 
 
 " Roman province of - 201 
 
 Samaritans 59, seq., 492 
 
 Samaritan temple 00 
 
 Samos 300 
 
 Samothrace - -804 
 
 Sanctuary, inner and outer 542 
 
 Samlals - - - 400 
 
 loosing of 401, 424 
 
 Sanhedrim 496 
 
 Saivpta. See Zaivphath. 
 
 Siirdis - 302 
 
 Satrap - --- 494 
 
 Scapegoat - - 583 
 
 Scarlet - - 407 
 
 Sciences and arts 447, seq. 
 
 Scopus -- --- 100 
 
 Scorpion cliffs- 191 
 
 Scourging - 503 
 
 Scribes of New Testament 497 
 
 " royal 489 
 
 Scythopolis. See Beth-shan. 
 Sea of Galilee and Lower Jor 
 dan : 140, seq. 
 
 Seal. See Signet, 
 
 Seasons of Palestine 200, seq. 
 
 " sacred 598, seq. 
 
 Seba 247 
 
 Sects, Jewish -- 035, seq. 
 
 Seed-time 343 
 
 Seir, mount--. 253, 259 
 
 Sela. See Petra. 
 
 Seleucia 285 
 
 Semechonitis, lake 50 
 
 Senir 296 
 
 Sepharvaim 317 
 
 Sepphoris- - 49 
 
 Serpents 222, seq. 
 
 Servants, bond and hired 430, seq. 
 
 rights of 431 
 
 Servitude, Hebrew 431, seq. 
 
 " foreign 434 
 
 Shadfif- - 339 
 
 Shalem 58, 64 
 
 Sharon 117, seq. 
 
 Sheath -.-- f,17 
 
 Shel.a 271 
 
 Shechem 56, seq. 
 
 Sheep - 371 
 
 " care of 372, seq. 
 
 Shekinah 502, 500 
 
 Shekel .-- 466 
 
 Shenir. See Senir. 
 
 Shephelah 123, 191 
 
 Shepherds 307 
 
 Shield 521 
 
 Shiloh 04 
 
 Shinnr 314 
 
 Ships of the ancients 464 
 
 Shipwreck of St. Paul 448 
 
 Shittim-wood 543 
 
 Shochoh --114, 131 
 
 Shoe. See Sandals. 
 
 " military -- .V21 
 
 Shovel 342 
 
 Showbread 552, 504 
 
 Shunem 51 
 
 Shur 257 
 
 Shushan 318 
 
 Siddim, vale of 170 
 
 Sidon 297 
 
 Siege of cities --524, seq. 
 
 Sieges, remarkable 527, seq. 
 
 Signet 402, 456 
 
 Siloani 87 
 
 Silk - 406 
 
 197 
 238 
 240 
 577 
 250 
 
 251 
 
 322 
 
 212 
 434 
 519 
 302 
 549 
 seq. 
 seq. 
 648 
 192 
 517 
 646 
 582 
 402 
 388 
 405 
 506 
 511 
 393 
 $94 
 352 
 156 
 
 Simeon, tribe of 
 
 Simoom 
 
 Sin, Egyptian city of 
 
 Sin-offering 575. 
 
 Sin, wilderness of 
 
 Sinai 
 
 Sinim, land of - 
 
 Sirocco - -- 
 
 Slaves, fugitive 
 
 Sling 
 
 Smyrna - 
 
 Sockets 542, 
 
 Social intercourse, forms of 434, 
 
 Soil of Palestine 212, 
 
 Sorcery 
 
 South country 133, 
 
 Spear-- 
 
 Spirit-worship 
 
 Sprinkling of blood 
 
 Stntr ------- 
 
 Stairs 
 
 Stomacher 
 
 Stoning-- 
 
 Strangulation - - 
 Straw for bricks 
 Streets, oriental 
 Strong drink 
 Snocoth 
 
TNDKX OF PLACES AND SUBJECTS. 
 
 667 
 
 Rue/, gulf of - 2-48 
 
 Susiana. See Klani. 
 
 Summer-house - 392 
 
 Swearhi j-. form of 614 
 
 Swine, wild- - 221 
 
 Sword-- ^517 
 
 Sycammum "117 
 
 Sycamore 217, 3G2 
 
 Syene - 243 
 
 Symbolism of the tabernacle- -560, seq. 
 Synagogue. Jewish r,-j 
 
 " buildings 628 
 
 officers of 629, seq. 
 
 " services 631 
 
 the great - 634 
 
 Syria, ancient - - 29 
 
 " proper --- 27 . seq. 
 
 Syria-( ilieia. gates of- 2$2 
 
 T. 
 Taanach 45, 51 
 
 Tabernacle, Mosaic 542, seq. 
 
 " materials of ">(;", 
 
 " removal of 557, seq. 
 
 " symbolism of 560, seq. 
 
 Tabernacles, feast of 606 
 
 Table of showhread 552 
 
 Tal.le-laiul east of the Jordan- -181, 193 
 Tablets. S > Perfume-boxes. 
 
 Tal (lets for writing 454 
 
 Tabor - - - 42 
 
 Tadmor. See Palmyra. 
 
 Tahpaiihes - - 240 
 
 Tak-iit - 4r,5 
 
 Tammuz- - 652 
 
 Tanis. See Zoaii. 
 
 Tappuah 114 
 
 Tares-- 348 
 
 Tarshish or Tartessus 296 
 
 Task-masters 430, seq. 
 
 Taurus - --- 27(1 
 
 Tekoa 110 
 
 Tema - 271 
 
 Ternan --- 262 
 
 Temperature of Palestine 210, seq. 
 
 Temple - 84, 540, 615 
 
 " of Herod 622, seq. 
 
 " of Solomon 015, seq. 
 
 of Zerubbabel - 620, seq. 
 
 Ten tribes 493 
 
 Tents --- 368 
 
 Terraces - 340 
 
 Tin-bins 233 
 
 Thebes 242 
 
 Thebez - 04 
 
 Tlu-ssalonica - - 305 
 
 Thousands -47:5. " 1 
 
 Threshing and threshing-floors -342, seq. 
 ThyatiiM- - 302 
 
 Tib.-rias -- 1 ,-2 
 
 Sea of See Sea of Galilee. 
 Tibaivni. See Tubal. 
 
 Tigris-- -- 274, 314, 320 
 
 Timbrel - 459 
 
 Time, Hebrew divisions of- 447 
 
 Timnath 132 
 
 Timnatb-heres - r,r, 
 
 Tires 404 
 
 Tirshatha 494 
 
 Tithes - - - 588 
 
 Trad. and commerce 463, seq. 
 
 Togarmah -297, 321 
 
 Tombs around Jerusalem 96, seq. 
 
 " Egyptian - 245 
 
 Tophel - 262 
 
 Tophet - 94 
 
 Torrent of Egypt - 32 
 
 Tower of a vineyard 349 
 
 Tracbonitis 173, seq., 204 
 
 t Palestine 216, seq. 
 
 Tripolis - 2 .S 
 
 Troas 304, 306 
 
 Trogyllium 306 
 
 Tubal 297, 321 
 
 Tunic -- --- - 396 
 
 " priestly 572 
 
 Tyre--- - 294 
 
 " old. See Palaetyrus. 
 
 Tyropceon-- -- - 75 
 
 ancient bridge over 83 
 
 U. 
 
 riai - - 318 
 
 Undergirders 
 
 Unicorn 2:2~> 
 
 Unleavened bread, feast of - - >lll 
 
 Urim and Thummim -- - ~>71 
 
 t p.per Jordan and Huleb 135, seq. 
 
 Ur of the Chaldees 275, 314 
 
 Uz r laud of -- - 272 
 
 V. 
 Valley of the Jordan and Dead 
 
 36, 134, seq. 
 
 Veil of the sanctuary. See Cur 
 tains. 
 
 Veil of the temple, rending of 584 
 
 Veils 40.J 
 
 Verandah 386 
 
 Vetches 343 
 
 Victors, rights of 528, seq. 
 
 Vines, culture of 21 r>. :! i 
 
 Vineyards and their appointments- : 1 . 
 
 Vintage - 350 
 
 Visits, oriental - 438 
 
 Vows and devoted things 610, seq. 
 
 " affirmative - 610 
 
 " negative 612 
 
608 
 
 INDEX OF PLACES AND SUBJECTS. 
 
 W. 
 
 Walls of cities 524 
 
 Watches, military 451 
 
 Wave-offering 582 
 
 Week - - - 450 
 
 " of weeks -- 450 
 
 " of years 450 
 
 of Sabbatical years 450 
 
 Weights and measures 466, seq. 
 
 Wellof Harod - 45 
 
 " ofNehemiah 91 
 
 Wells 377 
 
 " at Beer-sheba 115 
 
 in and around Jerusalem 90 
 
 Wheat 215, 341 
 
 Wheat harvest 344 
 
 White as a symbol 407 
 
 Wife, choice of 420 
 
 Wilderness of Judah 69, 192 
 
 " of Paran 252 
 
 of Sin 250 
 
 of Sinai - 248,252 
 
 ofZin - 253 
 
 Wimples. See Mantle. 
 
 Windows 388 
 
 Windows of Palestine 208, seq. 
 
 Wine - 350 
 
 " bottles for 352, 374 
 
 " on the lees 355 
 
 Wine, vinegar of 356 
 
 various terms for 353, seq. 
 
 Winepress 350 
 
 Winnowing 346 
 
 Winter-house 392 
 
 Witchcraft - 648 
 
 Woman, her relation to man 437 
 
 Writing, art of - 453, seq. 
 
 Y. 
 Year, Hebrew 447, 449 
 
 Z. 
 
 Zagros, mountains 309, 317 
 
 Zanoah - - 132 
 
 Zarephath -- 298 
 
 Zulmhm, tribe of 200 
 
 Zechariah, tomb of - 96 
 
 Zephath. See Hormah. " 
 Zidon. See Sidon. 
 
 Zion - 81 
 
 Ziph - 113 
 
 Ziz, cliff- - 167 
 
 Zoan 240 
 
 Zoar, site of- 169 
 
 Zobah - 290 
 
 Zophim, field of 183 
 
 Zorah - 132 
 
 Zurka Main - 167 
 
INDEX OF SCRIPTURAL TEXTS 
 REFERRED TO IN THIS VOLUME. 
 
 GENESIS. 
 Oh. 1:5, seq. PAGE 450 
 1 26 27 ^^ 
 
 19-Q 
 
 106 9n-i 
 
 . 367 
 
 
 r.Q 
 
 21 - 6 
 
 428 
 
 12 : 10-20- - - 
 19-14 
 
 232 
 
 - - - 403 
 
 21:10 
 21-14 
 
 432 
 
 114 374 
 
 2-9 9. 
 
 4_r:n rrno 
 
 2.0 14 
 
 014 
 
 10. If 
 
 .- 37Q 
 
 21 19 
 
 377 
 
 9-11 
 
 orn 
 
 iq-1 
 
 fiQ 
 
 21:21 
 21:22-34--- 
 91-30 31--. 
 
 252. 421 
 125 
 378 
 
 2. i q 
 
 q-io 
 
 iq-1 4 10 
 
 
 3 -on 
 
 428 
 
 13-3 
 
 106 170 
 
 q -91 
 
 406 
 
 13 *7 - 
 
 325 
 
 
 -114 seq 367 
 
 > ..) i 
 
 
 13-10 
 
 170 seq 
 
 92 3 
 
 - 37Q 
 
 4. i 
 
 498 
 
 13-10 19 . 
 
 146 
 
 99-15 18 
 
 470 
 
 4-q 4 
 
 534 
 
 14-1 9 
 
 315 
 
 Ch 23 
 
 111 {97 
 
 4:19 
 
 4. 91 
 
 - 419 
 
 14:3, 10--- 
 U. r 
 
 -166, 169, seq. 
 180 
 
 23:2 
 9q-7 19 
 
 113. 441 
 j-> i 
 
 4 ..)<: 
 
 534 
 
 
 130 383 
 
 
 4(16 
 
 7:4,10 
 
 7-11 > t 
 
 450,598 
 
 448 
 
 14:7 
 U-13 
 
 167, 257 
 
 97q 
 
 93 "17 19-- 
 
 
 Cli "24 
 
 491 opn 
 
 8-3 6 13 -- 
 
 448 
 
 14:14 -- 
 14:15 
 14:20 
 15-2 
 
 - 432 
 289 
 
 --- 588 
 
 - 989 
 
 24:3 
 94-3 37 
 
 30 
 
 8:4 
 
 8-10 12 
 
 321 
 
 450 598 
 
 94-4. 
 
 WJR. 
 
 8 .on 91 
 
 
 24*10 - 
 
 97q 
 
 8:22 - 
 
 0. .~ f\ 
 
 206, seq. 
 
 .-,,)- 
 
 15:8-21 
 
 470 
 
 q97 eqn 
 
 24:16 - 
 
 403 
 
 9:20-27 
 
 K)..> 
 
 429 
 297 
 
 15:18 
 
 1 "> 1 ( ) 91 
 
 .......31, 195 
 
 396 393 
 
 } >> _- - !< ,< 
 
 04 --n qq . 
 
 417 
 
 10-.-) 
 
 300 
 
 16:1, seq. 
 16:7 
 17.7 8 
 
 420, 428 
 --- 250 
 
 24:02 
 >4 (;"> 
 
 69 
 403 
 
 10:6 
 10-7 
 
 296 
 
 >71 297 
 
 25-2 
 
 
 10:10 
 lO-ii 12 
 
 314, 317 
 
 Q1Q 
 
 17:12 
 
 17-90, 
 
 428 
 
 4^9 
 
 25:3 
 25:4, 13,15 
 
 271. 2 . 7 
 971 
 
 1f). iq 14 
 
 
 1 0-1 o 
 
 417 
 
 
 10-15 19 
 
 q9=; 
 
 18-9 
 
 4q4 
 
 9 " 9n 
 
 970 .)- ( 
 
 10:16- 
 10-19 
 
 328 
 
 qO 
 
 18:4 
 18-6 
 
 400 
 
 410 4fiH 
 
 25 -21 26 - - 
 
 ing 
 
 25 23 
 
 
 10:21, 
 10-28------ 
 
 97q 
 
 18-8 
 
 
 25-25 
 
 qon 
 
 271 
 
 18-19 
 
 428 
 
 25-31 34 
 
 - 42Q 
 
 Ch 11 
 
 974 314 
 
 18 -19 
 
 469 
 
 25-34 
 
 Q4Q 
 
 11:3 
 
 11:15-26--- 
 11-31 ._ ._ 
 
 394 
 - 273 
 
 074 ipn 
 
 19-1 
 
 439 
 
 26-7 
 
 4nq 
 
 19-1 11 
 
 417 
 
 
 lie: 
 
 19-9 
 
 400 
 
 Of, .1 - 
 
 070 
 
 12:3 
 12:6 
 12 (j 10 
 
 479 
 
 ---5(5, 58, 325 
 qp,7 
 
 19:17, seq.- 
 10-Q.n } 
 
 146 
 113 
 
 >iiit 
 
 )!* **) QQ 
 . * , OO - - 
 
 oi;.-{i qr: 
 
 133 
 
 -114, seq., 378 
 41 9 v^pn 
 
 
 
 
 
670 
 
 INDEX OF SCRIPTURAL TEXTS. 
 
 Ch. 27 429 
 
 27:3, seq. 381 
 
 27:9-14 373 
 
 27:29 430 
 
 27:36 428 
 
 27:40 264 
 
 28:1 421 
 
 28:2-5, seq. 273, seq. 
 
 28:6-9 325, 419, seq. 
 
 28:10-22 106, 114 
 
 28:20-22 588, 610 
 
 Ch. 29 419, 422 
 
 29:2, seq. 378 
 
 29:6 375 
 
 29:13 434 
 
 29:24, 29 420, 423 
 
 no . ore 4-^*3 
 
 29:27, 28 450, 598 
 
 29:31 428 
 
 Ch. 30, seq. 428 
 
 30:1 428, 438 
 
 30:3, 4, 9 420 
 
 30:37-42 374 
 
 30:43 379 
 
 31:18 - 274 
 
 31:20, 24 .-- 373 
 
 31:27 - 456 
 
 31:30-35 646 
 
 32:2 186 
 
 32:10 402 
 
 32:22-32 150 
 
 32:28 -- 428 
 
 33:1-7 435 
 
 33:16,17 156, seq. 
 
 33:18, 19 58, seq., 149, 
 
 274, 368 
 
 Ch. 34 58 
 
 34:2 327, seq. 
 
 34:4, 8 421 
 
 34:12 422 
 
 34:20,27 58 
 
 35:1-7 106 
 
 35:1, 27-r 368 
 
 35:4 58 
 
 35:9, 26 274 
 
 35:16, 19 109 
 
 35:27 Ill 
 
 36:6-9 259, 263 
 
 :ir,:l-2 < 256 
 
 36:24 220, 279 
 
 317.3 f 397 
 
 : >7: 12-17 58, 111,368 
 
 37:25 , 365 
 
 37:25-28, 36-269,465, 488 
 
 37:29,34 407,441 
 
 38:6 421 
 
 38:8 424 
 
 3H-.14 403 
 
 38-24 
 
 429 
 
 riv. r 
 
 
 39-20- -- 
 
 5.7 
 
 qqq 
 
 
 411 
 378 
 239 
 402 
 342 
 seq. 
 422 
 435 
 465 
 365 
 241 
 465 
 400 
 435 
 413 
 441 
 416 
 440 
 274 
 234 
 230 
 367 
 380 
 230 
 471 
 274 
 429 
 327 
 429 
 
 429 
 
 430 
 349 
 379 
 223 
 375 
 614 
 seq. 
 440 
 460 
 
 241 
 
 49Q 
 
 7-18 21 
 
 
 40*15 31 
 
 8*3 
 
 4.1 
 
 Ch 41 
 
 8-29 son 
 
 
 41:14 -- 
 41:22, 23 
 
 41 -42 403 
 
 8:26 
 9:32- --- 
 
 n. r 
 
 230 
 343 
 
 4.OQ 
 
 41:45 341, 
 42:6 --- 
 42-27 
 
 12:2 
 12:3 
 
 19 (; 
 
 -448, seq. 
 473 
 
 43:11 363, 
 43-13 
 
 12-7 13 
 
 Rfifi 
 
 19-11 
 
 308 409 
 
 43:21 - 
 43-24 
 
 12:13, seq.-~- 
 
 -601, seq. 
 235 
 
 43-28 
 
 12-35 36 
 
 );) 
 
 43-33 
 
 19-37 
 
 934 
 
 44-13. 
 
 12*39 
 
 CAQ 
 
 45-22 - 407 
 
 13-9. 
 
 KOQ 
 
 46 -4 
 
 13.4 
 
 448 QPH 
 
 46*15 
 
 13-rr 
 
 
 46-20 
 
 13-6 7 
 
 601 <jpn 
 
 4(5.34 
 
 13-9 16 
 
 407 
 
 47-3 
 
 13-13 . 
 
 589 
 
 47:17 
 47-22 -- 
 
 13:20--- 
 14-2 
 
 234 
 --234 240 
 
 48 -5 g 
 
 14*7 
 
 -. o 
 
 48-7 100 273 
 
 U.ii >Q Kpn 
 
 CMC 
 
 48:14, 18-20 
 48:22 - 
 Ch. 49 
 49:3, seq. 195- 
 49:3, 4 
 
 4.0 . o 
 
 14:24 
 15:1, 20 
 15:14--- 
 15:20, 21 
 15:22--- 
 1 ( \ i 
 
 451 
 456 
 30 
 137 
 250 
 
 OCA 
 
 40-11 . 
 
 16*12 
 
 
 40-14 
 
 1 1; >*{ 
 
 600 
 
 49:17 -- 
 49-24 
 
 17:8-16 
 17-14 
 
 257 
 --453 610 
 
 49*26 ... 
 
 Qh 18 
 
 508 
 
 49*30 31 112 
 
 18-13 
 
 472 
 
 rco-1 
 
 18:21-26 
 10-1 s;pn 
 
 476 
 
 250 605 
 
 50*2 26 
 
 EXODUS. 
 
 Ch 1-11 
 
 iq.rt q 
 
 - 469 
 
 1 q q cpn 
 
 566 
 
 fli 20 
 
 ")08 
 
 2. i n 
 
 90-10 
 
 431 
 
 2. 1 rr i ( 
 
 378 
 376 
 417 
 422 
 422 
 584 
 seq. 
 477 
 232 
 
 461 
 
 436 
 
 430 
 
 ic.r. 
 
 90-18 91 
 
 566 
 
 2:16-- - 
 
 2-90 
 
 20:19 
 20* 26 
 
 477 
 
 2:21 
 3:1 269, 
 3:5 11. 
 3.3 17 325 
 
 Ch. 21-419, seq. 
 21:15, 17 
 21:20, seq. 
 22; 1 seq 
 
 , 431, seq. 
 506 
 
 -503, seq. 
 
 crno 
 
 3-0 in 
 
 99.3 
 
 505 
 
 3 21 99 
 
 22:13- 
 22:26, 27 
 90*00 
 
 -500, seq. 
 432 
 399 
 
 589 
 
 4:6 - 
 4:18 
 4:22 
 
 i ) i . 
 
 >:i .-.-- 
 
 - 379 
 
INDEX OF SClUPTlTvAL TEXTS. 
 
 G71 
 
 J> ? 1 i 17 1 so coo 
 
 34: IK, seq. COO, seq. 
 31:22. 2:; INI 
 
 > i Of 41 " 
 
 Ch. 14 
 
 U-33 ~> \ 4(1 50 1 
 
 .>.]- (\l\-\ oaf. 
 
 23:Hi cn.7 seq. 
 
 i - . - -.ri i 
 
 5 j >- _ . 453 
 
 
 23 -23 
 
 35:2, seq. 59!*. 
 
 ;-.]> .--> 
 
 Ch. 16 -577, 582, seq. 
 
 
 94-4 453 471 
 
 S5-18 "ils 
 
 1 1 ; . 1 4f o 
 
 24"16 18 
 
 36-8 14 -- "i!") 
 
 16-14 16 550 561 
 
 Ch. 25 -- 542 
 
 25 * 4 373 
 
 38:8 556 
 
 3S- 10 54 ) 
 
 16-18 1Q - 552 
 
 16:25-- - 577 
 
 1f..o<) 31 f.(i) 
 
 25:8 530, 542, 5G1 
 25 : 10, seq. 549, seq. 
 95-21- 5fi 1> 
 
 38:27 - 514 
 39:3 570 
 
 30-94 of. --217 
 
 17-4 9 508 
 
 17. Q . 577 
 
 95-93 ;pn 559 
 
 
 17 -10 -- 508 509 
 
 95-31 <JPO 553 <?pfi 
 
 40-9 17 447 
 
 17-10 11 5R8 
 
 95-oo 3i;o 
 
 JO-l i 90 5fiS 
 
 Ch 1 8 508 
 
 
 40 -q 11 04 or; 5f"i 
 
 18-18 l->5 
 
 Ch ^0 407 
 
 }()>> 9g 551 
 
 18*22 23 - -- Io7 
 
 9(5-1 14 545 qpri 
 
 40:38 566 
 
 LEVITICUS. 
 
 Chs 1 7 577 <;pn 
 
 1 8 90 508 
 
 9/1.3 opn t "i 
 
 1 q c 508 
 
 9ft- 15 SO 543 <spn 
 
 1<i. q 10 US 
 
 2(j 7----- - 373 
 
 19 -19 920 406 
 
 Ch 27 407 
 
 1-49 - - 58 9 
 
 19-20 47 504 
 
 97-1 8 554 spn 
 
 1:9 578 
 
 2:4, 5, 7 412 
 
 2.13 ETO1 
 
 19 -28 - - 44 
 
 97. If, ^40 
 
 Ch 20 508 
 
 97-10 548 
 
 90-2 fi 500 
 
 97-90 358 
 
 9-14 580 
 
 90 2 97 50fi 
 
 rh 98 - 407 
 
 3.9 ig 291 577 
 
 20-3 5 508 
 
 28 * 1 sen - 568 seq 
 
 Ch 4 r;09 
 
 20-9 499 506 
 
 oo.o 007 
 
 4:8, seq.- 577 
 
 20 -10 - -- 427 
 
 98-11 91 453 
 
 90-io 21 50fi 
 
 9si-->1 471 
 
 5-1 fi 578 
 
 20 1 4 508 
 
 90. qi 300 
 
 5:11 581 
 g-10 400 
 
 91 . i a 1 19 t;Qf; 
 
 28:33, seq:- -217, 363, 573 
 98-3fi 175 
 
 91-11 G13 
 
 19-13- . . 538 
 
 21:7. 13, 14- ----425. seq. 
 21:17, 23---- 585 
 Ch 23- 600 
 
 Ch *>0 574 spn 
 
 6:12, 26-30 577, seq. 
 Ch 7. 577 se q 
 
 o< ) ?() 37 576 
 
 2! ::!!>, 41 451 
 29 *4() 358 
 
 7 20 seq - - - 508 seq 
 
 23:3 600 
 23-5 47i 
 
 "i i-) 45 5H3 
 
 Ch 8 - - 581 
 
 23*5 8 li() 
 
 30-1 . 552 
 
 
 
 30-7 10 57* 
 
 8-80 V~t <spn 
 
 >} . i - 01 fi).-; 
 
 30-8 451 
 
 .77-") 
 8:25 221 
 
 8-26 - 577 
 
 2:5:27, Beq.--r 609 
 23:32 600 
 
 ; ) 5i seq -- -- din; 
 
 30:17 - 554, seq. 
 30 1 7 2,1 5 s "i 
 
 30 - 92 33 4s 
 
 0-1 57C> 
 
 94 9 
 
 ^ 
 
 9:19 221, 577 
 
 10-1 3 10 11 5S8 
 
 94-5 ~,7i 
 
 or-oV G ^ - > - > 
 
 >4-1() 1 > 502 
 
 
 10-0 11 35** 585 
 
 94-14 <spn 5OI 
 
 31 1 4 15 50A 508 
 
 10-10 50O 
 
 
 31 -15 Ii0l) 
 
 Cli 1 1 501 cpn 
 
 5-5 17 T>14 
 
 31-18 453 
 
 11-5 291 
 
 0-,-s- se q 337 
 
 Ch 39 . 437 g49 
 
 11:21. 22 225, 366, 413 
 ll:21.M (1 ..39,40--594,seq. 
 Cli l -) 1 ^ 
 
 
 32:15. 1(> - 
 
 33i2---- 325, seq. 
 34:11 --325, aeq. 
 
 25:10 - 434 
 
 o -.)() 99 44(i 
 
 12:6-8 595 
 Ch. 13 461, 585l 
 
 ISt*4K.. . 441 
 
 25 ::!:. seq. --432, seq., 5n5 
 
 >{ j u \ it "^n 
 
 >r, -:i:\ .S4.. . 18Q 
 
672 
 
 INDEX OF SCRIPTURAL TEXTS. 
 
 Ch. 27 611 
 
 27:26 589 
 
 27:30, seq.- - 588 
 
 NUMBERS. 
 
 Ch. 1 -- 514 
 
 1:2, 4 472 
 
 1:16 473, seq. 
 
 1:44 - 471 
 
 Ch. 2 557 
 
 Ch. 3- 472, 558, seq. 
 
 3:6-10 569 
 
 3:24, 30, seq. 472, seq. 
 
 3:41 430 
 
 3:45 568 
 
 4:8-- 550 
 
 4:18, 20 559 
 
 4:23 585 
 
 4:28, 33,, 560 
 
 4:31, 32 - 543 
 
 Ch. 5 585 
 
 5:1-4 - 557 
 
 Ch. 6 612, seq. 
 
 6:3 352, 355, 356 
 
 6:4-9--- 631 
 
 7:6-9 559 
 
 7:8--"- 544 
 
 7:89-- - - 563 
 
 Ch.-8- 568 
 
 8:24 585, 586 
 
 9:3, 5,11 451 
 
 0:fi, seq. UO 2 
 
 9:15 5G5 
 
 9:17,22 566 
 
 Ch. 10 -- 558 
 
 10:1 557 
 
 10:1-10 600 
 
 10:3, 4 473, seq. 
 
 10:10--- 447 
 
 10:11 - 250 
 
 10:12, 33--- 252 
 
 10:29- ---- 257 
 
 Ch. 11 496 
 
 11:3, 34, 35 252 
 
 11:5 238, 382 
 
 11:8 408 
 
 11:13-21 631 
 
 11:16, 17 496 
 
 11:26 497 
 
 12:10 461, 590 
 
 12:16 252, sea. 
 
 13:3, 21, 26 252, seq. 
 
 13:22 ---.- Hi 
 
 13:23 210,349 
 
 13: 29 ---30, 257, 325, 327 
 
 14:43, 45 257, 325 
 
 Ch. 15 581 
 
 15:32-36 -502, 50<> 
 
 15:37-41 407, 631 
 
 lg-40 
 
 -,-,] 
 
 QO . 1 A 
 
 J.OU 
 1 R1 
 
 Ch 17 
 
 qftq 
 
 Q9-q 
 
 
 n-2 
 
 479 
 
 q9 . o 
 
 os 
 
 n-4 
 
 Cftq 
 
 q9 .qq 
 
 1 Q1 
 
 
 589 
 
 qo . qq 40 
 
 9ft7 
 
 IS- 17 
 
 
 
 
 18-19 
 
 41 S 
 
 q9-49 
 
 1 SO 
 
 18-20 
 
 202 
 
 qq-9 
 
 
 18:20, seq. -- 
 iq .9 
 
 587 
 
 Q1O 
 
 33 -8 seq 36 
 
 Zfifl 
 
 qq . q ft q7 
 
 9t;q 
 
 19:7 595 
 
 19:11, seq. 594 
 20:1, 13, seq. 253 
 20-14 21 ;cl 
 
 33:41^4 
 33:50-56 
 34:1-12 
 
 . 251 
 --32, 610 
 --32, 33 
 
 20:22-29--- 
 91 -1 3- 
 
 202, 569 
 610 
 
 34-3 12 
 
 T (T 
 
 
 9S4 
 
 91 -4 
 
 219 203 
 
 34 *1 1 
 
 
 21:4, 11 ---- 
 21:6, 8 
 21:21-35---- 
 21-24 
 
 254 
 223 
 
 --- 327 
 194 267 
 
 34:27 
 
 Ch. 35- -470, 471, 
 :!.->:! 8 
 
 ---- 453 
 509, 589 
 202 
 100 
 
 21: 26- -180, 
 21-32 
 
 183, 187, 327 
 181 
 
 q-Vqi qq 
 
 
 DEUTERON 
 PV> 1 1 
 
 >MY. 
 -123, 252 
 
 21-33 35 
 
 180 
 
 fVi 22 
 
 266 
 
 99-91 
 
 q7q 
 
 1-1 9 10 4fi 
 
 22-24 20 
 
 350 
 
 
 180 
 
 22 -36 
 
 265 
 
 1:7 
 
 
 PVi 9^ 
 
 9ftft 
 
 1-11 
 
 -17-"., -I7i I 
 499 
 
 23:9 
 23*13 14 
 
 : 40 
 
 183 seq 
 
 1:10, 17 
 
 1-44-- . 
 
 oq - 98 
 
 - -- 183 
 
 2-4 spn 
 
 91Q 
 
 PV> 24 
 
 266 
 
 9-S 
 
 948 
 
 24 -2 seq 
 
 184 
 
 2-g 
 
 265 
 
 24-20 
 
 257 seq 
 
 2-12 20 
 
 325 
 
 94-91 
 
 91H 
 
 9.19 99 
 
 1 *3O 
 
 24 -24 
 
 300 
 
 2-14- 
 
 
 25:3, 5 
 
 184 
 
 506 seq 
 
 2:19 - 
 
 2:22, 23-125, 127, 
 9 30 
 
 -194, :!27 
 
 ISO 
 
 Ch. 26 
 26 38 41 
 
 479 -~,i i 
 
 479 
 
 q-4 r 11 
 
 
 20 02 
 
 902 
 
 q-4 1Q 19 iq 
 
 ueq., :TJ7 
 ---- 173 
 
 is::. ! .:{ 
 ---- 453 
 186, 193 
 
 27:14-- 
 97-18 9*3 
 
 253 
 
 47S 
 
 3:9 - 
 
 3: 10-- -173, 180, 
 3:13 
 
 3:17- ---in. li (;. 
 4:13 
 4.43 i8i 
 
 27:21 
 
 Ch. 28 
 28:3-10 
 
 OQ -4 8 
 
 572 
 
 r,si 
 579 
 -- 451 
 
 90 . 7 
 
 
 4 -4ft 
 
 90-11 
 
 447 
 
 4 *48 
 
 188 
 
 90-11 14 
 
 600 
 
 4-40 . 100 
 
 is:}, UK* 
 431 
 
 98 >i6 25 
 
 602 
 
 1-14 
 
 Ch. 29 
 29:7-^ 
 Ch. 31- 
 
 11 .0 
 
 .--581, CJOG 
 -- 609 
 
 --- 270 
 
 5:28 
 6:8, 9 
 
 7-1 
 
 .... 477 
 ---- 407 
 325 328 
 
 7-1 fi 
 
 529 
 
 31:25-47--- 
 f!h 39. .. 
 
 270 
 
 .32. 335. 367 
 
 7-9. 4 
 
 425 
 
 7:12 26 .. 
 
 . 32 
 
INDEX OF SCRIPTURAL TEXTS. 
 
 678 
 
 8.7 91 ^ 
 
 22 18 -- 504 
 
 7-1 11 ,;ll 
 
 8.1": o*>S 
 
 90 -iq 98 9Q ^03 
 
 7 6 441 
 
 q.i n 097 
 
 99.9-1 94 Kf\c 
 
 7 1 (i 18 
 
 9:23 253 
 
 1 n . o 909 c:7 
 
 22:22 427 
 
 90.4 9po 970 
 
 7:21-23 :} .)! 
 
 7-94 9fi 1 ^ mo 
 
 11 -10 --237 339 
 
 23* 15 16 ... 434 
 
 Til 8 .- *>23 
 
 n. 1 1 01 5 330 
 
 23-17 18 99 2 611 
 
 Q.oq ^(17 
 
 n. 1 6 47.-: 
 
 93 91 93 fii 9 
 
 8.QA or:. CQ 
 
 n. oq on co 
 
 93-94 9^ ^48 
 
 PVi 1 0ft 
 
 19-3 6,50 
 
 24-1 .. 453 
 
 9-1 37 123 325 seq 
 
 19-17 18 431 588 
 
 24-14 42fi 
 
 9-4 . . 374 
 
 1 > 9 31 - - ^9Q 
 
 24-6 410 
 
 0.7 17 Q97 c pn 
 
 Ch 13 499 506 610 
 
 24-7 432 506 
 
 9-10- 180 
 
 IQ./; IQ rr7 
 
 94.0 cos: 
 
 10-9 1 08 
 
 13 9 10 - 506 
 
 94-13 399 
 
 10-3 132 
 
 Ph 14- 591 SPO 
 
 94-19 29 348 
 
 10-5. 1 28 
 
 U-1 44 ? 
 
 > "-1 3 ^00 509 504 
 
 1 ^ fi *V27 
 
 14-21 413 
 
 95-4 345 
 
 10-7 39 
 
 14-28 29- -- 588 
 
 25-5 10 401 494 470 
 
 10-11 109 
 
 15 1 11 336 599 
 
 26-1 11 - fWfl 
 
 10-12 108 
 
 1^-7 8 439 
 
 9fi-5- 273 
 
 10-40 37 193 
 
 ir.io 50=C 
 
 pu 97 r.w 
 
 10-40 41 101 ! )> 
 
 1 "> 1 9 18 4^9 4^3 
 
 97.9 c 4-0 
 
 n. o i fi 37 
 
 1 6 1 - - - - 448 seq 
 
 28 -26 440 
 
 11-9 193 141 
 
 16 1 17 - 431 
 
 31*10 13- 431 538 6 9 7 
 
 11*3 --30 35 390 393 
 
 1(5:3-8 601, 602 
 if*, n 10 60^ 
 
 31:12 474 
 
 ^1 99 4~, 
 
 11:5 50 
 
 n. u 1 07 
 
 1P>-1^ 15 4^0 p,0(; 
 
 qi . 90 qo 474 
 
 U-1fi 17 T>3 191 1Q9 
 
 16 16 17 480 600 seq 
 
 39-13 35(j 
 
 11-17 34 137 283 
 
 16 "18 - 475 seq 470 
 
 39-14 215 376 
 
 11-19 397 398 
 
 16 19 - - 499 
 
 32 33 - 223 
 
 11-21 _, 69 
 
 n. ft 7 506 
 
 39 .49 1 83 (VV2 
 
 TVi^ 19 19 32 
 
 1 7 fi ^00 
 
 ^9-51 9-"S 
 
 19-15 1 73 
 
 n.o iq 477 
 
 PVi ^^ 1Q7 
 
 19-9 5 181 
 
 n . 1 9 CT09 
 
 qq-9 9^:9 
 
 1 9 . q 1 03 
 
 n-14 90 90 380 486 491 
 
 33-13 i7_ 199 
 
 12-4 igo 
 
 Ph 18-1 2 909 ^87 
 
 33 1 fi - 61 4 
 
 12-7 34 137 283 
 
 18-17 90 477 488 
 
 qq-17 995 
 
 12-78 1 91 
 
 19*3 13 509 seq 
 
 33-18 201 
 
 12-8 37 123 326 
 
 19-15 91 500 
 
 33.90 21- 195 
 
 12-11 _ 132 
 
 20 -5 8 9 47 s * 
 
 33-22 198 
 
 12-21 51 
 
 90-10 14 439 528 
 
 33-93 24 201 
 
 12 "23 66 120 122 
 
 90-lfi 18 590 610 
 
 qq-90 q^4 
 
 Ph 13 Rpn 478 
 
 90 1 7 *39fi 
 
 04-1 ici 103 j--o 
 
 13-15 34 
 
 9O . 1 n 90 ^97 ^9Q 
 
 04 . q 14fi 154 ^9 
 
 13-5 41 284 
 
 01 .1 q 50fi 51 ^ ^97 
 
 34-10 12 478 
 
 13-9 193 
 
 01 -3 349 
 
 
 13 9 11 16 seq - 180 181 
 
 91-10 490 
 
 Tf\CTTTTA 
 
 13-10 15 31 194, 267 
 
 91-10 14 49 
 
 PV, 1.4 397 
 
 13-17 26 30-- - 187 
 
 91-19 44-1 
 
 1-10 475 
 
 13-91 969 
 
 91 -15 17 41 Q 49<) 
 
 3-2 -- 47^ 
 
 13-25- 188 268 327 
 
 21 -18 91 506 
 
 3 -10 325 328 
 
 13-96 -104 107 
 
 91-10 4^Q 
 
 q . 1 5 1 48 
 
 13-27. 156 
 
 91 . 99 03 ro7 
 
 q-1f> 151 166 
 
 14-6 253 
 
 99 r; 407 
 
 PVi ^ 1 ^ 
 
 14 - 15 -- 113 
 
 2 >-g . 3qi 
 
 5-15 401 
 
 Clis 1517 124 196 
 
 2-2:10 342 
 
 ->> 1 1 4Or 
 
 6:17-19 610, seq. 
 
 n. f)(\ 1 trq 
 
 15:1,3 - - 2.-.: 1 , 
 
 1 5 5 1 66 
 
 
 29 
 
 
674 
 
 INDEX OF SCRIPTURAL TEXTS. 
 
 1 *; 4 47 
 
 32 
 
 23 11 13 - - 32 425 
 
 7- 1 
 
 - -ti, ^<i 
 
 AK 
 
 -i r, . rt 11 
 
 102 196 
 
 Ch 24 58 
 
 7-3 
 
 r i r~. 
 
 1 r. 7 
 
 
 24-2-- 97^ 
 
 7-19 
 
 m l/ V 
 
 15.7 8 
 
 91 
 
 24-11 325 39g 
 
 
 451 
 
 ir, : s 
 
 15 -9 63 
 
 ---- 73 
 _ 70 
 
 24:30 66 
 24 -32 58 G2 
 
 7:24 -- 
 
 f!h S 
 
 ---55, 157 
 47 970 
 
 
 128 
 
 24-33 103 
 
 Q. 1 Q 
 
 470 
 
 15:11-15, 22, 
 15-13 
 
 23 198 
 
 JUDGES. 
 Ch. 1:2 572 
 
 1*3 17 22 25 479 
 
 u-4 r. 
 
 156 1 fX7 
 
 113 
 
 
 47 
 
 15:33,34--- 
 15-38 
 
 -37, 123, 133 
 107 
 
 8:24-27 
 8-26 
 
 270 
 
 407 
 
 15-44. 
 
 - 117 
 
 1:4, 5 325 
 
 1-8 21 70 
 
 Pli 
 
 --58, 484 
 
 15.57 
 
 103 
 
 q.n 
 
 i 5-62 
 
 
 1-9 37 193 
 
 9:27 
 
 9-53 . . _ 
 
 350 
 . 64 
 
 15-63 
 
 70 328 
 
 1-10_ 113 325 
 
 Chs. 16, 17-- 
 17.7 10 11 
 
 199 
 
 too 
 
 1:12 - 422 
 
 1 - 14 15 423 
 
 10*3 4 
 
 370 
 
 10-26 - 
 
 507 
 
 17-11 
 
 51 
 
 1:10 154,258, 359 
 1-19 327 516 520 
 
 Ch. 11 
 11-4 
 
 515 
 268 
 
 
 55 328 
 
 17-16 
 
 220 
 
 1-23 106 
 
 11:11, 29, 34--- 
 11:12-28 195 
 n-17 - 
 
 107 
 
 , 267, 327 
 950 
 
 17>16 18 
 
 516 520 
 
 1 27 51 
 
 18 1 8 10 
 
 
 
 18:1-9 
 
 18-7 
 
 106 
 
 1:31, 32 ----116, seq., 201 
 1 : 34, 35 198 
 Ch. 2 530 
 
 9-1 *> 90 93 .9 
 
 U-24 
 
 
 909 
 
 n-33 
 
 9(17 
 
 18:11 15 
 18-13 99 
 
 198 
 
 Iftfi 
 
 11:34 
 19-1 A 
 
 -437, 45G 
 
 484 
 
 ix- K; 
 
 101 
 
 ;() 55 6(> 
 
 19-13 14 
 
 - 379 
 
 18:15-19 --- 
 
 18 19 
 
 91, 102 
 1G6 
 
 3-1 5 396 
 
 1 > 1 -, 
 
 957 
 
 3:3 284, 326, 328 
 3-7 49^ 
 
 13-o 7 
 
 cig 
 
 18-23 
 
 10K 
 
 13-4 
 
 
 18-26 
 
 107 
 
 3-8 273 
 
 13-25 
 
 133 
 
 18-1 9 
 
 
 3-8 10-- 276 
 
 Ch 14 
 
 
 19 8 29 3G 
 
 104 
 
 3 "12 30 266 208 
 
 14 8 - - - 
 
 3(i6 
 
 19*10 1C 
 
 900 
 
 3:13 ---154, 359 
 3:16------ 517 
 3:20, 24 392 
 
 3 27 - 514 
 
 14-12 13 
 
 407 41 fi 
 
 19-19 
 
 4Q 
 
 15:3-5 
 15:4 
 15-8 
 
 132 
 221 
 
 101 
 
 19:17-23 
 
 200 
 
 19-21 
 
 51 
 
 3 31 342 
 
 16*3 
 
 197 
 
 1 24 39 
 
 34 901 
 
 4-9 6 7- ^0 
 
 16- 91 
 
 400 
 
 i o 9r> 
 
 1 00 901 
 
 4.0 990 590 
 
 in- 93 
 
 659 
 
 19-27 - 
 
 117 
 
 4-5 . . _. 103 500 
 
 
 133 
 
 1 O . oo 
 
 198 
 
 4. c i o ^14 
 
 17-fi 
 
 480 
 
 1 40-47 
 
 198 
 
 4-11 950 
 
 Ch 18 
 
 
 19:41 
 1 46 
 
 133 
 
 4:19-- 374 
 
 18-98 90 
 
 989 
 
 Chs. 19-21- -103, 
 19-11 1*1 
 
 479, 484, 
 499 
 103 
 
 19" 50 
 
 66 
 
 ^1O ^70 
 
 on- 5 7 
 
 41 
 
 5-14 057 
 
 20:7 - 
 90 7 o 
 
 ---50, 55, 58 
 510 
 
 5:14^18 479 
 
 r . f rr -i /? 900 
 
 19- 1 f> 
 
 417 
 
 90-1 
 
 
 20 8 
 
 -180, 181, 186 
 
 909 rroq 
 
 ^10 21 - 4^ 48 r >1 
 
 2Q-16 -- 
 
 519 
 
 Ch. 21- 
 21 1 1 
 
 
 90-18 93 
 
 570 
 
 
 K.OQ QQQ 
 
 21*8 12 
 
 186 
 
 21-18 
 
 Iflfl 
 
 Pli C\ 970 
 
 21 19 23 
 
 64 65 
 
 21:21 
 21- 28 
 
 -- 58 
 - 49 
 
 6:2 383 
 
 5.4 257 
 
 21:21 
 KUTH. 
 
 nil 1-17 
 
 437 
 p.i 4 
 
 21 29 
 
 51 
 
 6- 5 ^70 369 
 
 21:32 
 
 99 -Q_. 
 
 50 
 
 . 181 
 
 6:25, seq. 650 
 
 r:-.Q QC: .__957 470 mn 
 
 9-4.- 
 
 
INDEX OF SCRIPTURAL TEXTS. 
 
 G75 
 
 2-14 
 
 356 
 
 13-20 
 
 342 
 
 3 3 
 
 358 
 
 13-92 . 
 
 .- ^17 
 
 q-7 
 
 q48 
 
 Ch 1 4 
 
 v> I 
 
 q- 1 >*, 
 
 qoo 
 
 U-1 18 
 
 10^ 
 
 4:1, 11 --- 
 4-7 
 
 -439, 499 
 401 424 
 
 14:3 
 14*14 
 
 569 
 
 - 342 
 
 4.11 
 
 10Q 
 
 U.orr 07 
 
 994 Qf,6 
 
 4 1 q 1 r 
 
 498 
 
 14:47-52- 
 Ch 15 
 
 --263, 266, 268, 
 483, 488 
 482 
 
 4-18 22 
 
 ._ 9fift 
 
 I. SAMUEL. 
 
 Pll 1 ^ OQ 
 
 1 t^.o Q 
 
 610 
 
 1 x.(\ 
 
 - 9^8 
 
 1-1 _ 
 
 104 
 
 15-7 
 
 250 * "i7 
 
 j-2 
 
 - 420 
 
 15*12 
 
 113 
 
 i .7 
 
 441 
 
 1 ^ -27 
 
 QQq 
 
 1 .11 
 
 p.i 9 
 
 1 "",-qq 
 
 ^Ofi 
 
 Ch 2 
 
 CK 
 
 15 - 34 
 
 - 10S qpn 
 
 2-1 
 
 4or 
 
 Ch 16 
 
 - 4H7 
 
 2-11 
 
 10-1 
 
 16-1 1*3 
 
 482 
 
 2-19 
 
 399 
 
 16-2 5 
 
 651 
 
 2-99. 
 
 - "i^n 
 
 16*10-- - 
 
 __ 47Q 
 
 4-4 .- _ 
 
 KCq 
 
 16*13 
 
 104 
 
 4-19 
 
 44.1 
 
 in- 16 2*3 
 
 4^6 4^8 
 
 19-18 
 
 (!K 
 
 16-90 
 
 4Q1 
 
 4. 13 
 
 "499 
 
 Ch 17 
 
 -- 126 131 524 
 
 Ch 5 
 
 126 652 
 
 17*5 7 
 
 522 
 
 Ch 6 15 
 
 seq., 132 
 
 19-r 
 
 17*18 
 
 077 x-\(\ 
 
 fv -I 17 
 
 17-98 
 
 1 00 "379 
 
 fi-7 
 
 049 
 
 17-Q4 oft 
 
 Qtjl 
 
 7-1 2 
 
 109 
 
 17-40 
 
 -- 402 
 
 7.5 19 i(j 
 
 107 
 
 17.44 4(5 
 
 438 
 
 7*17 
 
 104 
 
 18-4 
 
 QQ7 QQO 
 
 tj-2 
 
 
 18-fi 
 
 4ftO 
 
 8-4 
 
 104 
 
 18-6 7 
 
 .. 4*57 
 
 g.jO ig 
 
 }x-> K-, 
 
 18*10 
 
 4^H 
 
 8:12 
 
 8.1Q 
 
 516 
 411 
 
 18:11 
 18 -1Q 
 
 517 
 
 K-lft 
 
 8. 1 rr -17 
 
 4Q1 
 
 1ft -99 9 r 
 
 499 
 
 0.9 
 
 400 
 
 1Q-Q 
 
 4"". 8 
 
 9:12 
 
 q i tc 17 
 
 651 
 4Q1 
 
 19:10 
 
 IQ-iq 
 
 --- 517 
 
 070 
 
 0-16 
 
 407 
 
 10-10 
 
 1 04 
 
 10 -1 seq 
 
 482 487 
 
 10-24 
 
 409 
 
 10-9 .. . 
 
 104 
 
 90-1 
 
 1(1-1 
 
 10-5 
 
 4 s fi 4^9 
 
 90 -q 
 
 rri7 
 
 10-17 25 107 
 
 482, 487 
 472, seq. 
 
 20*5 
 
 448 
 
 10-19-- 
 
 20 -^18 
 
 41 q 
 
 10-25 
 
 90-41 49 
 
 4qr 
 
 10-26 
 
 10^ 
 
 91 .q n 
 
 rt-q 
 
 10-27 
 
 401 
 
 riu 99 
 
 484 
 
 Ch 11 
 
 186 ^Ti 
 
 99. Q 4 
 
 107 2fifi 
 
 11-1 11 
 
 one 
 
 99 -fi 
 
 10q 
 
 11:4 
 11:11- 
 
 103 
 4-~1 K-I ( 
 
 22:7 
 22:9, 20-- 
 23:2, 4, 6, 
 90 . i q 
 
 - 516 
 569 
 
 Q 19 t *79 
 
 19-17. 
 
 Oil 
 
 13:2, 15, seq.--- 
 13-6- -.. 
 
 ---- 103 
 
 q8q 
 
 
 90.94 97 
 
 HO 1T3 
 
 13:13. 14-- 
 
 .- 489, 
 
 r,li 94.. 
 
 . r>Q 
 
 24:1, :* -- 1G7 
 
 24:4 309 
 
 24:8 435 
 
 Ch. 25 113,372,373 
 
 25:1 - 104 
 
 25:2 69 
 
 25:6,41 400,435 
 
 26:7, seq. 517 
 
 26:20 381 
 
 Ch. 27 126 
 
 27:8 250 
 
 Ch. 28 52 
 
 28:3 104 
 
 28:6 572 
 
 28:14 399 
 
 Ch. 29 45, 47 
 
 29:2 516 
 
 Ch. 30 369 
 
 30:1 69,257 
 
 30:4 441 
 
 30:14 488 
 
 30:27 104 
 
 31:1-6 47 
 
 31:8-10 439, 440 
 
 31:8-13 47, 156, 186 
 
 II. SAMUEL. 
 
 Ch. 1:2 435 
 
 1:6 517 
 
 1:21 --- 51 
 
 Ch. 2 Ill 
 
 2:4 - 487 
 
 2:5 521 
 
 2:8, 9 18G 
 
 2:13 108 
 
 2:23 518 
 
 Ch. 3 Ill 
 
 3:9, 35 614 
 
 3:31 407 
 
 4:12 112,439,507 
 
 5:1-3 487 
 
 5:7 - 70 
 
 5:11 294 
 
 5:18, 22 101 
 
 Ch. 6 70, 109 
 
 6:2 563 
 
 6:5 458, 460 
 
 6:14 437 
 
 6:16 - 388 
 
 6:17-19 581 
 
 Ch. 7 - 483 
 
 7:2 540, 615 
 
 8:2 266 
 
 8:3, seq.-- 289, 290 
 
 8:13 163 
 
 8:13, 14 263 
 
 8:16-18 488-490 
 
 9:6 435 
 
 Ch. 10 269 
 
676 
 
 INDEX OF SCRIPTURAL TEXTS. 
 
 10-G 
 
 282 
 
 1*40 "" 
 
 459 
 
 12:26-30-106,136,480,649 
 Ch. 13 106 
 
 H- 1 1 7 r i t ~ 
 
 10-0 14 
 
 
 Ch. 2 
 9- "" 
 
 506 
 
 108 "-|91 
 
 n-1 
 
 9r>8 
 
 11-2 
 
 390 
 
 2-23 -- 
 
 614 
 
 14-10 508 
 
 11:14, 15- - 
 12-5 
 
 456 
 
 -- 484 
 
 2:27 
 2:28-34 
 2:32 
 3-1 
 
 59 
 108 
 488 
 
 - 232 
 
 14:11 -222, 440 
 14-93 r*".i 
 
 12-20-- 
 
 358 
 
 14-25 26 70 939 
 
 12: 26-31 -268, seq 
 13-18 
 
 ,507,529 
 397, 399 
 441 
 
 1 ft-17 99. 103 
 
 3.4 15 
 
 108 
 
 1ft. 18 90 98Q 
 
 13-19- 
 
 3. 16 
 
 
 1ft. Of) 141 983 
 
 13-23 
 
 105 
 
 4:3, seq., 21 
 4-12 
 
 488-401 
 
 1ft -91 qq (\A 
 
 13-29 
 
 220, 379 
 358, 441 
 500 
 
 51 
 
 1ft- 4 . ooo 440 
 
 14-2 HI 
 
 4-22 23 
 
 485 
 
 1ft. 8 opn q9 fi4 
 
 14-4 
 
 4*24 - 
 
 m483 
 
 1 ft . o CM ft 
 
 14-4 22 
 
 435 
 
 
 204 
 
 
 14:8-11 
 15- 1 
 
 ---- 485 
 40 
 
 5:6 
 5-11 
 
 293, 452 
 ._ 357 seQ 
 
 16:34 153 
 
 17 3 6- -- -- 155 
 
 15:2 
 
 15*7 12- 
 
 ---- 500 
 111 
 
 18-16 ----- 
 
 1 8 
 
 485, 489 
 
 9Qfi 
 
 17-8 9,4 2 ( )8 
 
 1 8 ^ 370 
 
 
 488 
 
 h. 6 ---616, seq. 
 
 -1 q7 AAO 
 
 18:28 - 650 
 
 18-31 Kpn r> ">1 
 
 1"v19 q7 
 
 400 
 
 15-18 22 
 
 489 
 
 -7 
 
 90 
 
 18*41-46 208 398 
 
 15 30 3 9 
 
 -100, 441 
 490 
 
 *23 31 33 
 
 -- 357 
 
 18*44 46 
 
 16*16 17 - -- 
 
 :27 
 :38-- 
 Ch 7 
 
 551 
 450 
 
 (\1(\ cprt 
 
 ig -19 340 399 
 
 17-17 
 
 91 
 
 Ch. 20 289 
 
 90-21 9^ 40 
 
 n. is 
 
 386 
 
 
 408 
 
 7-7 
 
 46 500 
 
 20-31 407 
 
 17-93 
 
 370 
 
 7-13 14 
 
 903 
 
 91 -8 4**ifi 
 
 n. 94 97 
 
 186 
 
 7-18 90 49 
 
 917 3fi3 
 
 91 -91 "^OK 
 
 n-27 
 
 268 
 
 7-46 
 
 157 170 
 
 21-24 2" 440 
 
 n-98 
 
 343 
 
 7-48 
 
 553 
 
 Ch 22 63 186 289 
 
 17:29 
 
 18-9 
 
 376 
 
 8:2 
 
 8-10 11 
 
 -- 450 
 
 565 621 
 
 22:10 439, 499 
 99 1 1 40(5 
 
 18-3 f> 24 33 
 
 1S7 
 
 8*62 66 
 
 581 
 - 32 
 
 117 
 
 22:31-34, 37, 38 40 
 22:34 521 
 22*47 - -- 263 
 
 10.0 
 
 379 
 
 8:65 
 0-11 iq 
 
 18-11 
 
 307 
 
 1 8- 93 
 
 14ft 107 
 
 8-18 
 
 901 46 C 
 
 22-48 -- 20fi 
 
 10-94 
 
 402 
 
 8-96 98 
 
 248 297 
 
 II. KINGS. 
 Ch 1-1 266 
 
 90-8 10 
 
 108 308 
 
 PVi 10 
 
 491 
 
 20:9- 
 
 9O 1 4 pn 
 
 -402, 436 
 983 
 
 10-11 
 
 207 
 
 10-1 -^ 
 
 491 
 
 1-2 389 
 
 90-1 *"> 
 
 527 
 
 10:22 
 
 296, 297 
 379 
 
 1:8 397 
 19 5ift 
 
 9O-93 9ft 
 
 488-4QO 
 
 Pli 91 
 
 507 
 
 10:26 
 10-97 
 
 220, 516 
 --37 123 362 
 
 Ch. 2 65,66, 4S4 
 2*4 5 18 22 !">:> 
 
 91 -9 
 
 327 
 
 91 -ft 
 
 103 
 
 10-28 20 
 
 232 380 
 
 2*8 13 14 151 3i> ( > 
 
 91 1 8 99 
 
 
 11:1, seq.-- 
 11:5, 33--- 
 
 -419, 420, 425 
 649, 651 
 100 651 
 
 2-19 22 152 
 
 Ch. 23 
 
 93-4 
 
 524 
 
 486 
 
 3:4, 5, 21-27 266, 491, 
 647, 652 
 3.9 263 
 
 
 1 01 
 
 n-1 q 
 
 nan 
 
 93 -90 
 
 381 
 
 n-1 rt 16 
 
 
 3-11 415 
 
 94- 1 7 
 
 
 n-IP. 
 
 252 270 
 
 3-15 45(? 
 
 I. KINGS. 
 Ch 1 A< * n 
 
 n-93 94 
 
 900 
 
 q.9ft ._ 9f,(; 
 
 11:29 
 11:40 
 Chs. 12 
 12:11,14--- 
 12:15 
 
 65 
 649 
 58, 649 
 504 
 65 
 
 Ch. 4 52 
 
 4:1 432,507, 
 4 - 23 448 C ^7 
 
 1:3 -- 
 
 1:9, seq. 
 1:33 
 
 52 
 --91, 488 
 379 
 
 4:29 398, 402, 4:56 
 Ch. 5 (> > 
 
INDEX OF SCBIPTUBAL TEXTS. 
 
 677 
 
 5-q 21 - 
 
 40 
 286 
 
 596 
 
 162 
 63 
 64 
 
 289 
 
 >)- 
 
 19-12 13 
 
 313 
 
 5C.3 
 527 
 70 
 
 15-27 
 
 li;i 
 
 399 
 
 r > 1 9 
 
 l i 1 ~i 
 
 15-98 
 
 4cq 
 
 
 19-32 
 
 16 4 6 41 
 
 49 456 
 
 5:27 461, 
 Ch 6 - 
 
 19.35 
 
 !<! 39 42 - 
 
 108 
 
 19*37 
 
 18:3, 5, 6, 
 
 1 S 1 9 
 
 10 289, 290 
 
 IfiQ 
 
 n.tt 7 
 
 90 11 
 
 6:8-12 
 
 20:12 
 
 315 
 99 
 
 487 
 
 489 
 
 r. i 
 
 100 
 651 
 
 619 
 
 651 
 
 4S 
 
 18:12, 13- 
 18 15 17 
 
 263 
 
 I ll 1 
 
 (5.31. 
 
 Ch. 91 
 
 18-17 
 
 4 XX 
 
 
 Ch. 22 
 
 )> > 
 
 19:3-5 
 iq.p. 
 
 402 
 
 97q 97fi 98^ 
 
 r- 1 
 
 8:13, 14 - 
 
 263 
 264 
 
 460 
 
 487 
 508 
 999 
 
 22:14 - 
 
 23 3 
 
 20 1 - 
 
 
 20-3 
 
 _ 
 
 8:28! 29 186, 289, 
 f h o 
 
 93 . jo 73 95 
 
 Pli 9*3 
 
 487 
 
 9q . 1 1 
 
 9 i-3 spn 
 
 ">8fi 
 
 9*1 seq 398 
 
 23:13 649, 
 
 23:28-32-- 
 
 586 
 
 CKO 
 
 9:8 
 
 <) . i o Sfi 
 
 { ", 1 
 
 448 
 
 
 388 
 40 
 44 
 
 93-30 
 
 40 
 284 
 32 
 502 
 315 
 128 
 620 
 527 
 284 
 488 
 70 
 315 
 492 
 189 
 107 
 
 296 
 180 
 197 
 187 
 271 
 195 
 369 
 296 
 276 
 539 
 478 
 104 
 
 619 
 
 101 
 
 195 
 516 
 435 
 901 
 
 Ch 94 
 
 l ( - - s ") 
 
 9-K5 .. 
 
 94- 7 
 
 24:3 
 94 fi 
 
 569 
 ion 
 
 g- 17 
 
 9-24 
 
 519 
 
 507 
 40 
 
 417 
 
 289 
 
 488 
 
 346 
 
 266 
 289 
 
 166 
 
 24S 
 
 21:12 
 
 01-11 
 
 Ch 25 
 
 
 Q SK 
 
 )-..)- qi 
 
 101 
 
 Pli 1 
 
 94 1 7 
 
 27: 28- ---37, 123, 217, 362 
 07- oq no 
 
 10*1 14 
 
 Cli 9j V 7 
 
 10:15, 16 
 10-1(5 26 
 
 25:1 
 
 25-6 7-- 
 
 27:32, 33-- 
 28-12- 
 
 490 
 
 R1Q 
 
 10-99 
 
 95-8 
 
 29*16 
 
 <:i : 
 
 ](!;) 33 .. 59 
 
 95-9 
 
 II. CHRONICLES. 
 Ch. 1:14 220 
 1:15 -37, 123, 362 
 2 -4 MV 
 
 n. 4. 1 9 487 
 
 25*11- 
 
 12:17 
 13:7- 
 
 25:12 
 25:19 
 
 1 3 24 95 
 
 I. CHRONICLES. 
 
 2-7 
 
 ! "i-> 
 
 U. 7 Of59 
 
 9-10 
 
 q~7 
 
 
 2:16 
 
 n 3 
 
 ---- 363 
 
 14:22 
 
 14*27 98 -- 
 
 t >" "<> ri 
 
 3:3 
 
 q . 1 1 > 
 
 ir,s 
 
 )(-q 
 
 1-1-5 
 
 rt -8 
 
 l.Vii; 310 
 
 529 
 383 
 
 289 
 
 289 
 310 
 516 
 60, 
 492 
 232 
 275 
 
 310 
 275 
 310 
 100 
 
 489 
 4<)0 
 
 5-10 seq 
 
 Ch 4 
 
 ( )l( ) vfii 
 
 ]-,.-,><) 59 
 
 5:11, 11) 
 5-18 ?3 173 19^ 
 
 4:17 
 4-10 
 
 146 
 
 ~ " { 
 
 15:37- - 
 
 Ch 16 
 
 5:23 
 5:26 
 
 5:12-13--- 
 5:13 
 
 7.9 
 
 407, 457 
 f-jse 
 
 16-5 (5 248 
 
 16 -7 9 . _ 289 
 
 
 16:9 
 
 Ch 17 passim 59 
 
 fi 33 ss 
 
 0.4. 
 
 901 4i;" 
 
 6:73 
 8:12 -- 
 9:26 
 
 9 -39 
 
 8-17 18 
 
 > Iv 
 
 313, 
 17:4 - 
 17-n 
 
 9:10, 21--- 
 9:27 
 n-i\ 
 
 296,297 
 ---37, 123, 362 
 
 17-10 
 
 10-10 
 
 n.Q 
 
 i->r. 
 
 18-4 
 
 n.A 7 
 
 n. 1 o 9q 
 
 41 Q 
 
 18-9 12 
 
 
 1 ! 3 
 
 -.1 -. 
 
 18-11 -. .. 
 
 n .-,)) 
 
 H-fi 
 
 n i 
 
 18-13 seq 
 
 12:8-15 
 
 1 O 1 I 
 
 13:11 
 iq-iq i r 
 
 - 553 
 
 PTOQ 
 
 18-17 
 
 18-18 37 
 
 19-18 
 
 13 19 
 
 105 
 
 19:2-- 
 
 1-?:3-> 40--. 
 
 13">1-- 
 
 . 419 
 
678 
 
 INDEX OF SCRIPTURAL TEXTS. 
 
 14:5 650 
 
 14:8 515 
 
 14:9-15 131, 232, 246 
 
 15:9 - 202 
 
 15:14 459 
 
 16:2-4 289 
 
 36:4 283 
 
 10:8 - 246 
 
 1(1:12- 460 
 
 16:14 -- 410 
 
 Ch. 17 - 310 
 
 17:7-9- 587, 627 
 
 19:8-- 586 
 
 19:11 --- 475 
 
 20:1, 2, 20 ---39, 111, 167 
 
 20:16 167 
 
 20:36 - 297 
 
 21:8-10-- 264 
 
 21:11 69 
 
 21:19 440 
 
 Ch. 23 587 
 
 25:11, 12 264, 529 
 
 25:23 80 
 
 26:6 -126, 128 
 
 26:10 37, 123 
 
 26:15 525, 527 
 
 26:16-21 -487, 596 
 
 27:4 69 
 
 28:3 --- 73 
 
 28:15 154, 359 
 
 28:16-21-- 289, 310 
 
 28:18 37, 123 
 
 29:15, 16 587 
 
 29 : 25-30 540, 587 
 
 Ch. 30 492 
 
 30:6 493 
 
 30:16-20 602 
 
 30:22, 25-30 587 
 
 31:5, 11--- --- 619 
 
 32:3, 4, 30 --90, 92, 94,525 
 
 33:11--.-.-- - 502 
 
 34:4_7_ -60,95,202,492,650 
 
 34:8- 489 
 
 35:3, 15 587 
 
 35:11, 13 - 602 
 
 35:22 43 
 
 35:23, 24 40, 48 
 
 EZRA. 
 
 Ch. 1 319 
 
 1:7-11 620 
 
 2:26 103 
 
 2:29 652 
 
 2:33 122 
 
 2:41 540 
 
 2: (53 194. 572 
 
 3:7 121 
 
 4:2, 10 59, 60, 310 
 
 5:14 
 g-1 2 
 
 494 
 --318 455 
 
 2:12 
 
 3-8 
 
 399 
 227 
 98 
 499 
 4(55 
 398 
 460 
 501 
 357 
 406 
 381 
 381 
 453 
 223 
 
 347 
 380 
 41)9 
 402 
 222 
 402 
 213 
 
 380 
 225 
 341 
 
 227 
 
 :;s2 
 
 347 
 
 15!) 
 
 381 
 
 225 
 222 
 581 
 375 
 :(74 
 225 
 459 
 347 
 381 
 423 
 386 
 610 
 
 222 
 J63, 
 
 290 
 
 Ml 
 
 6-3 
 
 --620 621 
 
 3*13 14 
 
 (5-7 
 
 494 
 
 5-4 4SO 
 
 6 - 11 
 
 r:f)8 
 
 6-15 20 S77 
 
 7-fi 
 
 480 
 
 12-18 
 
 7- 7 
 
 vtft 
 
 1S-4 
 
 7-25 26 
 
 498 
 
 13-26-- 
 
 9-3 
 
 - -402 441 
 
 15-33 
 
 9. q c 
 
 QOQ 
 
 16*15 
 
 NEHEMIAH. 
 
 Ch 1 -^18 4^H 
 
 18-8 10 
 
 19-6 
 
 19-24 
 
 2-1 
 
 448 449 
 
 2Q-14 16 22 9 
 
 Ch 3 
 
 80 
 
 20 17 
 
 3-15 
 
 81 87 
 
 21-18 
 
 S-22 
 
 1 4fi 
 
 94 -^ 
 
 
 409 
 
 29" 7 
 
 6:2- 
 6 15- 
 
 122 
 4^0 
 
 29:14- 399, 
 30 ! 
 
 7:1 
 7-30 
 
 540 
 103 
 
 31:36 
 37-17 
 
 7-37 
 
 - - 122 
 
 38-3 
 
 7 65 70 
 
 404. 
 
 qo-ec 8 
 
 8:7 
 
 8- 
 
 474 39:9-12 
 
 4-04 SO 1 
 
 8- 1/117 
 
 fiOn Lm-1 r; O4 
 
 8-15 
 
 101 
 
 Ch 41 
 
 8:16 
 
 9-5 
 
 390 
 
 41:1, 7-- 
 
 41*24 
 
 10 ! 
 
 4 ( )4- 
 
 PSALMS. 
 Ps i 1*3 
 
 10-33 
 
 .. .. 553 
 
 11-22 23 
 
 540 
 
 11-29 
 
 1S2 
 
 1-4 
 
 n-SS 
 
 1 0S 
 
 Psa. 5, title 
 9:15 
 
 10-0 
 
 13:35 -- 
 
 19-SO 
 
 122 
 
 on 01 
 
 1S-98 
 
 en 
 
 i ft- 1 1 
 
 ESTHER. 
 Ch I l -- CK)0 
 
 17-15 . .. 
 
 ig-10 
 
 22:12, 13, 16, 20, 21-- 
 99 1 (\ 
 
 1-9 ^ 
 
 SI 8 
 
 2:16 
 S-7 
 
 450 
 44ft <?pn 
 
 22:25-31 -332. 
 >q-i 2 
 
 S-10 19 
 
 AM Xrtf* 
 
 23-4 
 
 4-1 S 
 
 441 
 
 
 7:10 
 8:2 -- 
 
 8:8, 10 
 
 8. (i 
 
 508 
 403 
 456 
 S99 4.4Q 
 
 32:2--- 
 35:5 
 :55:7 
 
 4^-8 IS 14 
 
 u. ir: 
 
 40 S 407 
 
 52-8 357 
 
 9:24, 26 -- 
 10-1 
 
 4QO 
 
 56:12,13 ---- 
 
 JOB. 
 Ch. 1:4 
 1:15 
 1:20 --- 
 
 9-S-. 
 
 ---- 428 
 271 
 
 en . a 11 i .- 
 
 Tsa. 60, title 1C.:?. . 
 273, 
 (50-8 30 
 
 -399. 441 
 
 - i ll 
 
 Ps-i (iS tJtlp 
 
 C..S-10--. 
 
INDEX OF SCRIPTURAL TEXTS. 
 
 117!) 
 
 oo.y, iu 
 
 (u;-i i 14 
 
 610 
 175 
 439 
 300 
 403 
 
 (n-, 1 -o 
 
 403 
 
 I":; 
 402 
 366 
 381 
 475 
 381 
 499 
 353 
 504 
 402 
 381 
 638 
 102 
 384 
 389 
 !!-- 
 341 
 339 
 499 
 353 
 223 
 499 
 217 
 415 
 lisii 
 408 
 373 
 221 
 376 
 406 
 439 
 
 364 
 407 
 382 
 344 
 341 
 410 
 
 369 
 364 
 217 
 209 
 145 
 49 Q 
 
 7.3 
 
 217 
 
 fiK 1 " 1 fi 
 
 >..)> 
 
 fi.O 
 
 354, 363 
 
 CM . 1 o 
 
 4..0 
 
 8-r: 
 
 7 -* 10 
 
 5.3.. . 
 
 g-6_ 
 
 402 
 
 7-j. i; 
 
 Rfi. 
 
 ISAEAH. 
 
 rii 1-13 
 
 4 ix 
 
 7 5- >) l 
 
 63N 
 628 
 227 
 406 
 353 
 354 
 362 
 228 
 202 
 189 
 :,.;:: 
 600 
 
 oi ^ 
 
 6-6 7 
 
 74 -X 
 
 7-9q 
 
 71.10 11 
 
 8.q 
 
 2- 7 
 
 Kin 
 
 7V 1 10 
 
 n.o. 
 
 2-19 21 
 
 383 
 
 715.0 
 
 1 f ) - 1 Q 
 
 3-18 24 
 
 404, 405 
 
 ^QO 
 
 70.04. 
 
 1O -J. 
 
 q-99 
 
 TS: 17 
 78:51 
 
 7S-(I7 
 
 12:27 
 14:32 - 
 
 in .qi 
 
 5:1, seq.- 349, seq. 
 
 ej.fi Q n 
 
 5-10 
 
 342 
 
 7M-1 -i 
 
 n.iq 
 
 5-11 
 
 416 
 
 80 1 376 
 
 19-13 
 
 5-12 
 
 459 
 
 01 . q 4.4.8 
 
 1 q 94. 
 
 ^94 
 
 q47 
 
 81 1 fi 
 
 0(1- 1 
 
 g-4 
 
 565 
 
 QQ.fi 
 
 271 
 30 
 270 
 30 
 
 )",i) 
 
 91 -1 
 
 6-11 12 
 
 188 
 
 83:7--- 
 83:9 
 
 87-4 
 
 2-2: -2-2 439, 
 23:30 -- 
 ^::5i>- -- 
 91-7 
 
 B-1S. 
 
 1 i J 
 
 7:1_9 
 
 7:3 92, 
 7-14 
 
 289 
 
 Kin. l-J.x 
 
 .J0<| 
 
 SO 97 
 
 01 .-> 
 
 381 
 
 00 .5 
 
 I.V.I 
 225 
 360 
 
 3S(i 
 
 :57(i 
 300 
 459 
 563 
 376 
 500 
 3SD 
 227 
 228 
 
 quo 
 
 9 ~> 1 1 
 
 7-15 22 
 
 57,; 
 
 <>1:13 
 
 1)2:3 
 
 <!). ID 
 
 26:15 
 
 27:15 
 07-99 
 
 7:19 
 7-9S 
 
 366 
 S41 
 
 8-1 3 
 
 -428, 455 
 87 
 
 <)> 1 o 
 
 97-97 
 
 8-(j 
 
 n.) . i q 
 
 qr. 9f 
 
 8-7 8 
 
 289 
 
 ~ . 7 
 
 qrj.qq 
 
 8*10 - - -- 
 
 j-)i> 
 
 07 1 
 
 q-i . 99 
 
 q.i 
 
 2flO, 
 
 OX- (\ 
 
 qi . 9q q-i 
 
 0-4 
 
 - 970 
 
 00-1 
 
 ECCLESIASTES. 
 PVi 9-4. K 
 
 g-(j 
 
 429 
 
 1 oo . q 
 
 9. 10 
 
 362, : .::{ 
 qiq 
 
 1 (11 -X 
 
 Ph 10 
 
 i oj. 1 1 
 
 9:8 - 
 9:12 381, 
 n. i 
 
 in. i 
 
 r;01 
 
 1 0-t 9fi 
 
 10:9 
 
 10-99 
 
 317 
 493 
 
 105:23 
 
 1 1 \- . o<i 
 
 11 4 
 
 1Q-9(J 
 
 970 
 
 106:22 -- 
 
 1i 1C,- 57 ^X 
 
 228 
 651 
 401 
 399 
 607 
 352 
 381 
 74- 
 
 12:1-7 363, 
 
 CANTICLES. 
 
 Ch 1*5 
 
 10:28, 29 103, 
 H-8 
 
 in-,. 107 
 
 1ns- ) ^0 
 
 11-11 
 
 233 
 
 111 ) Oil 
 
 14.99 31 30 
 
 l-J .i. 223 
 
 o,;7 
 
 "Pen 11. 1 1 X 
 
 1:14 154,167, 349, 
 2:3, 5 
 
 9-10 1 S 
 
 fh 1 T - 
 
 II .i : S3 
 m-7 
 
 1 x. i 
 
 V.") >*;*; 
 
 15.9 
 
 1^8 
 
 125:2-- 
 
 9-14 . 
 
 Ch 16 
 
 267 
 
 i .)( i 
 
 70 
 390 
 135 
 
 loo 
 
 21 ; i 
 
 222 
 381 
 564 
 381 
 459 
 91.1 
 
 q . 1 1 
 
 16-1 
 
 262 
 
 io)-fi 7. 
 
 4..q --91 7 
 
 363 
 296 
 
 423 
 94 
 364 
 397 
 403 
 364 
 363 
 400 
 
 lf,-7 11 
 
 266 
 
 io i -X 
 
 4.0 
 
 IQ-S 9 
 
 :M<) 
 
 1 {> C, 
 
 1.1 A 11 
 
 16-10 
 
 -350 351 
 
 m-7 
 
 4. 1 O 
 
 17-5 
 
 102 
 
 
 
 17.0 
 
 (-o 
 
 liU.O 
 
 jin.rr 
 
 :l^-Io 
 s:.q 
 
 19:5 
 
 19:8 - 
 10-13 
 
 32 
 382 
 242 
 . 126 
 
 397 
 
 141-0 
 
 5-7 
 
 1 JO . q 
 
 (\ 9 11 
 
 1-H:9 
 
 1 17- 1 I.. 
 
 6:7 
 7:1-- 
 
 20:1 
 
 20:2 4 
 
G80 
 
 INDEX OF SCKIPTURAL TEXTS. 
 
 2i-ii 16 17 - 
 
 271 
 391 
 92 
 98 
 403 
 300 
 295 
 458 
 189 
 300 
 416 
 650 
 32 
 317 
 56 
 361 
 402 
 341 
 346 
 456 
 232 
 240 
 223 
 374 
 346 
 95 
 232 
 381 
 189 
 380 
 343 
 176 
 225 
 118 
 100 
 489 
 
 51-22 23 
 
 353 
 
 19-0 7- - - 
 
 - -y-t, 001 
 *>" 
 
 22-1 
 
 53-7 
 
 M51 
 
 19-13-- - 
 
 qn-i 
 
 22:9 
 
 99 - 1 f! 
 
 56:10 
 
 58 5 
 
 999 
 
 90-9 
 
 
 441 
 
 Of) 1 X 
 
 490 
 
 
 58:7 
 58-11 
 
 439 
 
 21:12 
 22-19 
 
 5(10 
 
 400 
 
 2M-1 12 
 
 23-11 
 
 59:5 
 59-17- 
 
 222, 223 
 
 qnn 
 
 22-24-- 
 
 40M 
 
 23 -1C 
 
 25*10-- 
 
 410 
 
 4*1 12 
 
 Chs 60 62 
 
 
 2V 20 
 
 ml On 
 
 24:15 
 
 60:6, 7 
 01:10 
 (52-3 
 
 270 
 
 399, 423 
 , 402 405 
 
 25:27 
 
 9V MO 
 
 353 
 
 27-9.. 
 
 95-34 
 
 t 1 1 
 
 27-12 
 
 (33-1 
 
 OKI 
 
 26 6 9 - 
 
 RS 
 
 97 . oo 
 
 65:3 
 05:11 
 66:15-17, 23, 
 (3(3-19 
 
 95 
 052 
 
 94 or 
 
 29:22 
 31-4 13 
 
 511 
 
 -- 4M7 
 
 28:1, 7 
 
 98-4 
 
 01 . r 
 
 rrrr 
 
 90 . r 
 
 MOO 
 
 31 15-- - 
 
 103 104 
 
 28 24 
 
 60 -23 
 
 AAQ 
 
 32 2 
 
 - 503 
 
 28:25, 27- ---343, 345, 
 
 JEEEMIAH. 
 
 r*v 1-1 i ny 
 
 M9-7 9 
 
 KIM 
 
 09 . 94 
 
 V>7 
 
 MO-1 7 
 
 M9 M^ 
 
 7M <; r i 
 
 30 4 - 
 
 I ll 12 
 
 
 32-44.. . 
 
 -37 69 l ^3 
 
 30 6 222 
 
 2 10 
 
 971 MOO 
 
 33 .4 
 
 ->- 
 
 MO- 14 
 
 2:13 
 2:16 
 2:20 
 2:21 
 9.94.. 
 
 379 
 
 33:13 
 M4 T 20 
 
 M7 (i ( ) I - M 
 
 MO 24 M42 
 
 240, 242 
 651 
 349 
 
 440 
 
 30:33 
 
 01.1 q 
 
 30:2 
 30:22 
 37-13 
 
 -- 392 
 80 
 
 31-4 
 
 V9-1O 18. 
 
 3*19 
 
 Ml 
 
 
 .1 1 1 
 
 09 1 4 
 
 4- 90 27 - 
 
 ISO 
 
 Ch 38 
 
 503 
 
 09.90 
 
 4 - 30 
 
 40^ 
 
 MS -ft 
 
 91 M78 MSfi 
 
 33:9 - 
 34-6 7 - -- 
 
 5:20, 27 
 ( > 9 - - 
 
 381 
 
 Oh 40 
 
 107 
 
 40-1 
 
 103 
 
 or. o 
 
 6*20 
 
 441 
 
 40*4 
 
 
 Mft-9 
 
 7.10 14 
 
 
 lj 4j 
 
 107 
 
 3(5-3 
 
 7. 29 
 
 441 
 
 41-2 3 
 
 
 M7 1 ft 
 
 563 
 527 
 451 
 369 
 376 
 347 
 300 
 340 
 543 
 271 
 247 
 646 
 271 
 652 
 
 10 .) 
 IN 
 347 
 :;22 
 423 
 : ,-,:, 
 132 
 
 KAK 
 
 7.0-1 
 
 04 or pr-t 
 
 41-19 
 
 108 108 
 
 37:33 
 
 7:33 
 
 8-17 
 
 440 
 
 223 
 
 1M 7 ) 
 
 940 
 
 44-1 15 
 
 233 240 
 
 40:11---- 
 
 in 94 
 
 8:22 
 9:17, 18 
 ]() 5 
 
 ---365, 460 
 
 .J JO 
 MftO 
 
 11-17 1 ( ) 
 
 - rr>o 
 
 10:9-- 
 4ft 1 1 
 
 
 41 "3 
 
 ]()<) 
 
 )- (07 
 
 111: I I. 19. 2--) 
 16:18 
 Ch. 47 
 
 47-4 
 
 ))() 0|-> 
 
 41:15 - 
 
 41 1 9 
 
 11:10 
 12:5 -- 
 13:1 
 iq. 18 
 
 ;!,-,<; 
 149 
 
 M (7 
 
 42 
 
 -- 129 
 19K 
 
 42:11 
 4M- M 
 
 
 Ch 48 - --- 
 
 187 9(j7 
 
 44:16, 17 
 
 4V 14 947 
 
 13:22, 26 
 U-4 
 
 441 
 
 441 
 
 48-7 1M 40- 
 
 
 48-1 1 
 
 355 
 
 47- 1 
 
 14:3-6 
 
 U.f. 
 
 --- 209 
 
 48:21 
 48-23 24 
 
 181 
 179 
 
 47-9 
 
 1 r .q 
 
 OO^ 1 1 
 
 48 31 36- 
 
 o,; ( ; 
 
 IT- I I 
 
 1 ft -4 
 
 AA(} 
 
 48 M*2 - - 
 
 
 l!:l-2. - 
 
 50:1- --- 
 
 ri 1 , 
 
 10:0 
 17:S 
 17:-2<i-- 
 19:1, 10, 11- 
 
 1M-9 ft._ 
 
 --- 441 
 :JM, :{i;r, 
 ,M7. 1 _>: . 
 374 
 
 . 7.M 
 
 iS- ll i 
 
 ..-350, :J51 
 
 (V) 
 
 49:1, 3 
 40-9 3.. 
 
 -- 207 
 19.-,. i,:,l 
 
INDEX OF SCRIPTUKAL TEXTS. 
 
 681 
 
 3:17:0 
 
 49:7, 8, 16, 20 
 49-28 
 
 262 
 
 271 
 651 
 523 
 177 
 149 
 523 
 518 
 321 
 316 
 346 
 
 Ch. 26 129. 187, 527 
 26:4, 5, 14 295 
 
 8-2 
 
 318 
 
 8:9 - 
 
 8- 91 
 
 31 
 
 i 300 
 
 Kt \ . 9 
 
 .-(). 1 1I 
 
 26:S 527 
 26:1(5 399 
 27-6 7 IS 204 SOO 
 
 10-S 
 
 ;-,s 111 
 
 10-5 
 
 
 tt(\ . 44 
 
 1 ] 1 1 ; . . 
 
 31 
 
 r >1 -1 t 
 
 7- (5 90 99(5 297 
 
 11 !(> 
 
 300 
 
 K-I . 90 
 
 97.9 298 
 
 n-41 
 
 9 ~<7 
 
 r,l:27 - 
 
 r.i . -M 
 
 27:17---216, 297, 357. 365 
 27-18 990 
 
 HOSEA. 
 Ch 1 
 
 49S 
 
 M.QQ 
 
 27:21 271 
 
 97.00, 01 7 
 
 r i 1 --14 
 
 4- 1 rr 
 
 1 ~)~i 
 
 tto.j. ft 7 -19 iq 
 
 609 
 
 351 
 
 409 
 
 563 
 11 \ 
 125 
 |.V, 
 425 
 527 
 343 
 411 
 551 
 650 
 65 9 
 
 9 7. on 441 
 
 4-11 
 
 QKK 
 
 LAMENTATIONS 
 ( ii i -15! 
 
 29*4 5 38 440 
 
 5*1 
 
 42 
 
 09 . i o 940 944 
 
 5.0 
 
 103 
 
 )c|. 14 . _ 233 
 
 7-4 fj 
 
 411 
 
 
 99- 18 295 
 
 7-8 
 
 410 
 
 5-13 
 
 30:5-- 296 
 
 30:6 240, 244 
 30:13-16 2-12 
 30*15 17 18 240 
 
 8:9 
 9:6 
 9:8 
 9-10 
 
 ---. 380 
 212 
 381 
 361 
 
 EZEKIEL. 
 
 Ch i 551 
 
 1 "1 S - - 
 
 SO- 17 941 
 
 10*11 - -- -- 
 
 - 341 
 
 1:9, 23 - 
 2:9, 10 
 3-13 _ 
 
 Si in S1S 
 
 10-14 
 
 145 
 
 32:4 - 440 
 39-26 297 
 
 12-1 
 
 -232 357 
 
 12-12-- - 
 
 273 
 
 4-1 2 - 
 
 Ch 34 - 376 
 
 13:3 
 
 U. c, 
 
 347 
 356 
 
 4:!) - 
 
 4.9 17 
 
 S4-9 4 S76 
 
 S4-9 r "> S79 
 
 JOEL. 
 Ch 1*5 
 
 355 
 
 4-10 
 
 qtc.r; 11 1 r: 9f!S 9Qfi 
 
 6-4 6 
 
 36-35 - - 190 
 
 8-14 
 
 37*16 19 202 
 
 1-17 SO - 
 
 225 
 
 9.0.. 
 
 398 
 343 
 563 
 551 
 400, 
 KM; 
 427 
 
 232 
 527 
 439 
 381 
 31 
 651 
 441 
 366 
 527 
 402 
 268 
 353 
 405 
 271 
 593 
 269 
 267 
 262 
 129 
 
 38:2, 3, 6 297, 321 
 
 QQ. rr O9f> 
 
 9-S 
 
 ---- 224 
 
 Ififi 
 
 9-4 
 
 2* "?0 
 
 Ch 10 
 
 38:15 321 
 
 on - 1 7 90 440 
 
 2:23 
 
 Q.O 19 
 
 2 IT, 
 73 
 
 10-14 _ . 
 
 16 -.10-13 ---216, 397, 
 404, 
 
 1 p. . OQ 40 
 
 40 " 468 
 
 3-946 SO 
 
 129, 294 
 271 
 
 40 -if; Qfn 
 
 q.o 
 
 4S-1S 17 "vvi 
 
 S-18 100 
 
 385, 543 
 263 
 
 r*ii 17- 
 
 4S* 24 ^81 
 
 q. 19 
 
 n-1 "> 
 
 44 . 1 o 400 
 
 AMOS. 
 
 no 
 
 n-17 
 
 44.90 rqo 
 
 l,S-7 K; 
 
 44.98 . . 587 
 
 Jl| | S 
 
 4^-1^ 17 - ^70 
 
 :6-8 
 .9 
 
 )() j. 
 
 >)().(; 15. 
 
 4(5 1 448 
 
 
 Pli 47 Sfi^ 
 
 1 1 
 
 
 21-12 - 
 
 47*1 11 161 
 
 19 
 
 262 
 
 21-17 
 
 47-16 18 166 174 
 
 14 
 
 268 
 
 21:22 
 21-26 
 
 48:28 32 
 
 DANIEL. 
 
 Ch. 1:6,7 428 
 2.0 4 014 
 
 2. i q 
 
 
 2.10 
 
 40 ^44 
 
 
 3. n 
 
 
 )! $) s . ,. , 
 
 3:15 
 
 4- 1 
 
 392 
 
 roc 
 
 23-40 - 
 
 ){ (0 
 
 o.r; rjii 
 
 4 4 
 
 155 
 
 94-17 *- )9 441 
 
 Pli *} 4^0 ^11 
 
 5:5 107, 115, 
 5-10 15 
 
 155, 284 
 499 
 
 25:5 268, 
 
 25 -8 11 
 
 3:6, 15 451 
 
 K . 9 i qon 
 
 .- . 1 9 
 
 i i ) 
 
 25-12 13 
 
 5:29 403, 407 
 Ch 6 511 
 
 v 1 6 
 
 449, 
 
 25:15-17 --- 
 
 
 - - 65 
 
 20 * 
 
 
682 
 
 INDEX OF SCRIPTURAL TEXTS. 
 
 6:2- 
 g-4 6 394 
 
 126 
 41 G 
 257 
 440 
 448 
 441 
 115 
 r:q 
 
 2:8-11 
 2*13 15- 
 
 267 
 313 
 
 G21 
 
 450 
 31 
 405 
 455 
 574 
 609 
 450 
 
 6:10, 19, 28, 
 10-1 8 
 
 30 511 
 
 g.g 
 
 HAGGAI. 
 Ch 2 - 3 9 
 
 n-97 
 
 
 g-io 
 
 19-8 Q 
 
 1 9tt 
 
 3.5 
 
 U.fi 
 
 "3t* 
 
 8-10 
 
 ZECHARIAH. 
 
 rvi i 7 
 
 MATTHEW. 
 
 Cll 1 19 /<orr 
 
 8-14 
 
 q.q 
 
 
 125 
 347* 
 
 262 
 263 
 353 
 347 
 
 2-12 
 
 9-9 10 
 
 3-5 
 
 1 -91 
 
 49ft 
 
 Q. 13 
 
 
 2*4 
 
 
 OBADIAH. 
 y s 3 9 
 
 6:11 
 
 2:16-18--- 
 
 104, 495 
 
 fin 
 
 
 q-4 
 
 99^ -Ififi ^Q7 
 
 10 14 
 
 7:7 69, 
 
 8 4 
 
 123 
 402 
 G09 
 129 
 380 
 300 
 354 
 
 909 
 
 3:11 
 q. 10 
 
 400 
 
 q^7 
 
 1 (j 
 
 18 
 
 Q.1Q 
 
 3. i q 17 
 
 1 r > > 
 
 19 - 37, 
 
 JONAH. 
 Ch. 1:3 
 
 q. q 
 
 123 
 
 121 
 312 
 399 
 213 
 
 441 
 132 
 
 593 
 
 527 
 473 
 381 
 
 277 
 347 
 442 
 441 
 
 29 G 
 
 382 
 3.-.;} 
 56 
 252 
 
 391 
 129 
 
 /1HH 
 
 9:5, G 127, 
 
 4 1 q 10 oo 
 
 140 
 
 4- 1H 
 
 
 9. 13 
 
 
 PQO 
 
 9:17 
 
 i o r> 7 
 
 4:24 
 
 T- 1 
 
 ., 462 
 coo 
 
 3-6 
 
 11-3 
 
 119 
 
 5-25 
 
 510 
 
 4-8 
 
 12-11 - - 43 
 
 , 51 
 
 399 
 376 
 
 5 38 
 
 505 
 
 MICAH. 
 CYi 1 -8 
 
 13:4 
 
 iq-7 
 
 6:1-4 - 
 
 6-17 
 
 --- 4159 
 
 qro 
 
 MALACHI. 
 Ch 2 - 7 
 
 538 
 
 400 
 400 
 
 299 
 443 
 63G 
 128 
 621 
 608 
 203 
 179 
 180 
 
 636 
 128 
 121 
 299 
 299 
 360 
 121 
 
 496 
 
 ri:5 
 496 
 
 fi-98 9Q 
 
 91 Q 
 
 l.li 
 
 fi-qO 
 
 9 10 41 9 
 
 1- 14 117 
 
 7-6- 
 
 >>) 
 
 q-7 .-441 
 
 
 7 24 27 
 
 OQO 
 
 4-4 
 
 8.11 10 
 
 414 41 fi 
 
 JUDITH. 
 pi, 10-4 
 
 4. iq 
 
 8-oQ 07 
 
 140 
 
 5 1 
 
 8 .00 
 
 (u lot: 
 
 5:2 --109, 
 
 5-8 
 
 16:9 
 
 I. MACCABEES. 
 Ch. 1:8--- 
 1-14 
 
 8.90 04 
 
 
 9-12 
 
 -- 460 
 
 (!. i c: 
 
 9-15 
 
 423 
 
 7- 1 
 
 9:17 
 9 23 24 
 
 q.-:o 
 
 7-14 1 77 "379 
 
 449 
 
 NAHUM. 
 rh 1 -4 
 
 2:42 
 4:15 
 4:49 
 
 4 . rro rq 
 
 9:35 
 10:17 
 10:27 
 
 10-98 
 
 632 
 
 504, 630 
 392 
 
 1-10 
 
 9-7 
 
 r. i r 17 99 
 
 H- 1 K 17 
 
 442 
 
 3. K 
 
 
 n-90 94 
 
 140 144 
 
 3. o 997 
 
 5-4. 
 
 19-1 
 
 348 
 
 3:9 
 
 HABAKKUK. 
 
 PVi 1-10 
 
 5:58 ----- 
 
 7 . 1 q . 
 
 12:4, 7--- - 
 12-42 
 
 553 
 271 
 
 10- 6Q 
 
 
 
 10-7 i 
 
 iq.94 o pri . 
 
 343 
 
 1 IKt 
 
 12:39 - 
 
 13:51 
 14:5, 34 
 
 II. MACCABEES. 
 r*ii 1-10 
 
 14:3 
 14:15-21-- 
 14-25 
 
 510 
 
 2:1*;--- -- 
 2:18 -- 
 
 3:3 - ---- 
 
 3. 1 9 
 
 140 
 
 140 451 
 
 14.34.. 
 
 141 
 
 15. 1 
 
 415 
 
 ZEPHANIAH. 
 Ch. 1:5 
 
 9.4 7 
 
 1 rr .0 
 
 - 637 
 
 i K . A a 
 
 429 
 
 2.q 
 
 15:32, seq. 
 
 140 143 
 
 t 1 ~> 14 
 
 137 
 
 9. r . . _ 1 QK 
 
 i- 1 U- 
 
 17:1-- 
 
 - 43 
 
INDEX OF SCRIPTURAL TEXTS. 
 
 G83 
 
 17:15 
 
 462 
 0.4^9 
 
 7:1 
 
 7- 
 
 415 
 f>o,7 
 
 9:10 
 
 10-4- -- 
 
 144 
 436 
 144 
 153 
 466 
 415 
 392 
 S98 
 451 
 511 
 208 
 213 
 510 
 414 
 414 
 423 
 416 
 218 
 222 
 414 
 362 
 442 
 I.",:} 
 379 
 623 
 641 
 414 
 71 
 640 
 387 
 98 
 392 
 497 
 CH) 
 511 
 512 
 H-2 
 540 
 440 
 133 
 512 
 101 
 
 157 
 583 
 1-2:5 
 416 
 623 
 157 
 422 
 .-,7.-. 
 56 
 61 
 541 
 141 
 140 
 632 
 497 
 
 \it 
 
 "i X ( 
 
 40q 
 
 7:9 13 
 
 U.I 1Q 
 
 -429, 612 
 143 
 
 10:13 15 140, 
 10-30 37 
 
 Ifi . OK 
 
 4.-> 
 
 1!): .) 
 
 427 
 
 .|.-,1 
 640 
 
 w. 1 ~ 
 
 643 
 137 
 43 
 
 10-34 
 
 8:27 
 9-2 
 
 n. 00 
 
 JO: >. o, o 
 
 90 1 K 
 
 ! { _ 
 
 On-^Q Q4. 
 
 1 V 
 
 Q.ylQ AO 
 
 - -- 95 
 
 I-).-;- 
 
 21:1-9 
 
 91 1 9 1 . 
 
 379 
 
 K9. 
 
 9:43-48 
 9 -40 
 
 95 
 
 KQ-I 
 
 12:38--- --- 
 12 46 -- 
 
 01 . 00 
 
 QIC) 
 
 10-46 52 
 
 153 
 
 12-54 
 
 99 ! 1 i 
 
 41 R 4 2S 
 
 ll l 10 
 
 -- 379 
 
 19-55 
 
 99 1 fi 17 
 
 fi4Q 
 
 n.i9 14 
 
 QfM 
 
 12-58 
 
 99 9. i9 
 
 A4.1 
 
 U-1 =: 17 
 
 fi9, 
 
 1Q-95 
 
 ))!-, 
 
 640 
 
 J9-13 
 
 543 
 
 14-7 
 
 Ph 9. 
 
 no 7 
 
 12-18-- 
 
 641 
 
 14-$ 
 
 90.9 
 
 f)OC 
 
 19-S9- 
 
 414 
 
 U- If. 17--. 
 
 03-5 
 
 407 
 
 12:41---- 
 10. i 9 
 
 623 
 
 04 
 
 15:16 
 
 16-91 
 
 90 . f\ 
 
 J.1 d. A9Q 
 
 90 . 01 
 
 "><U fi ^0 
 
 13-9 
 
 630 
 
 16- 9 2 23 
 
 24:17 -- 
 
 94. J.1 
 
 392 
 
 4/Ul 
 
 13:35 
 14-1 4^ 
 
 451 
 
 407 f40 
 
 17:6 
 18-1S 
 
 >>4 . KJ1 
 
 ^11 
 
 14-g 
 
 358 440 
 
 18 "35 seq 
 
 9n-10 
 
 414 
 
 14-15 68 -- 
 
 385 387 
 
 19 -20 38 - 
 
 9 s ;-! 10 
 
 490, 
 
 U. 9fi Q9 _ 
 
 98 
 
 19 45 46 
 
 9 ^ iO 
 
 41 (\ 
 
 14 TT 
 
 49fi 
 
 20-97 
 
 9<i 9> 
 
 41 ~ 
 
 1 -V1 
 
 4.Q7 f\A() 
 
 0*46 
 
 o/?.qn o 
 
 no 
 
 1 .^.91 
 
 r:ii 
 
 91 .94 
 
 96-^7 ^P. fiQ 7^ 
 
 QQ7 
 
 15:23, 36, 44---- 
 15-38 
 
 ---- 512 
 584 
 
 22:2, 66 
 
 22:12, 55, 61 
 22-39 40 
 
 26:47, 57, 59 496,497 
 
 9ft- ~^ 9Q 
 
 15 "46 
 
 440 
 
 9fi ^7 
 
 fUO 
 
 16*1 
 
 440 
 
 22-55-- 
 
 of? . 71 
 
 oo~ 
 
 LUKE. 
 Ch. 1:13 
 1*15 
 
 428 
 61 2 
 
 22 63 66 496 
 
 97 .9 
 
 r;i i 
 
 90-10 
 
 97.04. 40 
 
 .-;i9 
 
 23:26-- 
 23-36 
 
 97 . rr-i 
 
 ^S-i 
 
 MAKK. 
 pi-i 1 (\ 
 
 -366, 397 
 400 
 
 1 .QO fitC 
 
 ft9 
 
 23-48 
 
 i .crq 
 
 JOQ 
 
 9Q.CCC 
 
 9 -7 
 
 A(\(\ 
 
 94-1 
 
 1-7 
 
 2:21 
 2:24 
 2-3(; 
 
 428 
 595 
 493 
 
 24:13 
 24:40--- - 
 24-50 51 
 
 1:9-11 
 1-17 
 
 152 
 - - 38 9 
 
 1 -,^ 
 
 632 
 
 3-1 -- 
 
 290 
 
 JOHN. 
 Ch l-8 - 
 
 2:3 
 2-99 
 
 390 
 352, 374 
 
 r:r:*} 
 
 3:16 
 
 Q.91 90 
 
 400 
 152 
 
 2..)- na 
 
 4-17 90 
 
 455 
 630, 632 
 640 
 
 1:29 351, 
 
 9- 1 10 
 
 3. a 
 
 ftlQ 
 
 4 . 9fj r.9q 
 
 4.1 0,7 41 _ 
 
 140 
 
 4 - 23 
 
 2-9 
 
 K.-l r 
 
 OQ -|v>^ 
 
 4 26 
 
 OQfl 
 
 2*13 17 
 
 rc.i 17 140 
 
 145, 462 
 140 
 
 4.90 
 
 4!) 
 141 
 
 3:23 
 } *?0 
 
 ">) i-t 
 
 K.I 
 
 5:26 
 
 5. 01 
 
 460 
 40. t 
 
 5:18 
 
 /?. 19 
 
 390 
 
 (\i)Q 
 
 0.04 
 
 A .r; 
 
 S.qcr 
 
 (>i i 
 
 6. 47 jo 
 
 qoQ 4-90 ^T 
 
 V ls *}Q 
 
 1 1 
 
 7:11-16 
 
 7.00 
 
 rr9 4 . 91 9Q 
 
 O^!*x.^l, AO-- 
 
 414 fi>1 
 
 6-K 
 
 lAQ 
 
 
 144 
 
 7: 1; 
 
 s--)-; )-, 
 
 358 
 140 
 
 (\. in 
 
 ft.jQ 
 
 -140, 451 
 .- 111 
 
 fi- V) 
 
 i; -,->:{-- 
 
 8:26-37-- --98 
 
 145. 185 
 
 7:3 >-- 
 
684 
 
 INDEX OF SCRIPTUEAL TEXTS. 
 
 7:35-- 
 8:2 
 
 8:5 
 
 9. O 
 
 463 
 629 
 427 
 638 
 630 
 376 
 608 
 451 
 102 
 440 
 496 
 105 
 361 
 380 
 630 
 401 
 414 
 601 
 435 
 603 
 630 
 428 
 604 
 , 98 
 497 
 632 
 511 
 512 
 513 
 440 
 512 
 141 
 397 
 
 101 
 
 299 
 463 
 228 
 355 
 625 
 385 
 497 
 640 
 
 510 
 496 
 
 KfM 
 
 9:3642 121 
 
 q . q7 AAf\ 
 
 Ch.27 307 
 
 07.9 epn ^07 
 
 Pli 10 110 
 
 97*17 *}OS 4.fiJ. 
 
 10 g O 18 23 121 
 
 27-37 38 - 464 
 
 9 .00 
 
 10-25 26 436 
 
 Ch 28-- 507 
 
 10-1 qpo - 
 
 11*25 9 6 - 285 
 
 28-16 10 11 r >10 
 
 10-99 21 385 
 
 12-46 -"i 1 
 
 ROMANS. 
 Ch. 8:29 430 
 
 12:1- - 584 
 
 1 9 r > fi04 
 
 11:9 - 
 11" 18 -- - 
 
 12:21-23 - 119 
 13:1, seq. 303 
 13:1-4 285 
 13-5 (532 
 
 n-44 - 
 
 n-47 
 
 n. .-,( 
 
 1 q 1 5 629 612 
 
 i -I i o ion 
 
 -i 9 . i q 
 
 U. 1 f.qo 
 
 I. CORINTHIANS. 
 Ch. 1:5-7 305 
 4 9 - - i 1 ~i 
 
 19-14 1 (\ 
 
 14-1 Rpn 101 104 
 
 1 2 42 
 
 14:16--- 535 
 Ch 15 - -- -- - 304 
 
 1 q 4 upn 
 
 
 ifj.oq on 456 
 
 Ch 5 305 
 
 1 1 9 Pi 41 ^ 
 
 i V 15 in 98^ 
 
 5-7 Q ftA ) 
 
 U-27 
 
 
 Ch 6 305 
 
 15-1 7 
 
 16*1 seq - 302 304 
 
 9-9 10 - 345 
 
 lfi-9 
 
 16 "6 299 
 
 9. 24 27 - 445 
 
 1 C, 91 
 
 16-13 629 
 
 q. or: 4(19 
 
 17:23 
 
 Kj-15 417 
 
 10-7 8 305 
 
 18-12 72 
 
 16-19-40 305 531 
 
 11-21 305 
 
 18:3, 22 
 
 1 8 90 
 
 17:10 --- 632 
 
 17- 1(5 . 305 
 
 12:12 - (iiil 
 13-1 3--- - r> 
 
 19:23, 24, 29-31 
 1 o q i q 
 
 17:29 646 
 18:19 632 
 
 10.10 01 qo^ 
 
 14:33, 40 -- 557 
 15-32 _ j ii; 
 
 II. CORINTHIANS. 
 Ch. 11:24 - :.:il 
 11-25 510 
 
 19 "39 40 
 
 18-22 23 119 285 
 
 90-20 25 97 
 
 18:23, seq. 305 
 
 ig-g -{DC, 
 
 91 -1 
 
 91 -7 
 
 19 -24 - - 301 
 
 12-21---- 305 
 
 ACTS. 
 Ch 1-12 
 
 20 -2 - -- 299 
 
 GALATIANS. 
 Ch. 3:13 513" 
 3-16 469 
 
 20:3-6, 9, 10, 13, seq. 306 
 20:9 389 
 20-J6, 17 302 
 20 24 - 444 
 
 2.011 
 
 4-1 5__ 537 
 
 2:10 
 
 3.iq 
 
 20:28 376 
 21-7 H6 
 
 EPHESIANS. 
 Ch. 6:12 445 
 (j-iq 17 522 
 
 q-9 85 
 
 21:8 --- 119 
 
 21-23 24- - 614 
 
 q- 11 
 
 4- 1 
 
 21 - 3 40 - 86 
 
 6-14 398 
 
 
 90 . c: 406 
 
 PHILIPPIANS. 
 Ch 1-30 444 
 
 K. 19 
 
 99.10 610 
 
 5:17-40 
 5:21 
 
 5-d.O 
 
 99-24 30 510 531 519 
 
 23: 6-9 --497, 638, 640, 641 
 
 3.9 222 
 
 3. 13 14 444 
 
 7:16 - 
 7-43 
 
 56 
 652 
 506 
 63 
 127 
 247 
 126 
 290 
 197 
 119 
 TOO 
 
 23:23--- --- 119 
 23-26 30 456 
 
 COLOSSIANS. 
 
 7-58 -- 
 
 23-31-- 1-20 
 
 Ch. 1:15 430 
 
 8:5-25 
 8:26 
 3:27 
 8:40 119, 
 Ch. 9 
 
 <)-qO 
 
 Ch. 24 119 
 24:15 ---- 638 
 24:27 510 
 Ch. 25 119 
 
 ort.n 19 4.07 f ^*} 
 
 4:13, 16 303 
 
 4-14 460 
 
 I. TIMOTHY. 
 Ch. 3:1-7 - 630 
 
 -. . i ( ) 426 
 
 Ch. 26 119 
 )(>.7 471 
 
 5:10 401 
 
 5:17, 18 345 
 
 P.-19.. - 111 
 
 <!:> ;-; 
 
 9<; 1 1 . . t\:\i\ 
 
INDEX OF SCRIPTURAL TEXTS. 
 
 685 
 
 II. TIMOTHY. 
 
 Ch. 2:5 444 
 
 4:7, 8 402, 444 
 
 4:10 306 
 
 TITUS. 
 
 Cb. 1:6-9- 
 
 630 
 
 HEBREWS. 
 
 Ch. 2:11 567 
 
 4:15 567 
 
 5:1, seq. 567 
 
 5:3 575 
 
 7:23, seq. 567 
 
 7:27 --- 375 
 
 8:3 567 
 
 9 : 7, seq. 559, 561 
 
 9:12, seq. - 567, 582 
 
 9:22-24 - -- 562 
 
 10:1 560 
 
 11:9 - 31 
 
 11:35 511 
 
 11:38 383 
 
 12:1 444 
 
 12:23-- -- 430 
 
 l _ :-24 582 
 
 13-11 575 
 
 13:15 ---568, 
 
 i->. .;M 
 
 584 
 
 :57<; 
 
 471 
 402 
 
 1 -1 5 .. 
 
 430 
 397 
 301 
 402 
 302 
 302 
 407 
 303 
 563 
 564 
 455 
 564 
 407 
 565 
 353 
 351 
 407 
 564 
 565 
 216 
 410 
 423 
 407 
 440 
 423 
 365 
 999 
 
 JAMES. 
 
 PTi 1 -1 4fi. 
 
 2*5- 
 
 2. in 
 
 2. 10 
 
 1 -19 
 
 
 I. PETER. 
 
 3*4 18 -- - 
 
 fc ig 
 
 Ch 4 seq 
 
 i 9 _ . 
 
 
 1 . 1Q 
 
 398 
 
 584 
 583 
 402 
 
 534 
 604 
 
 ,59 
 
 
 1.10 
 
 fi 1 KPfl 
 
 9 ^ 5fi8 
 
 7. q i Q Qftl 
 
 2-94 .352 
 
 J 10-- 001, 
 8-35 
 
 5*4 
 
 
 II. PETER. 
 Ch 2*5 - - 
 
 14-19 90 
 
 
 15.7 
 
 I. JOHN. 
 
 Pli .-94 
 
 
 18-19 
 
 18-O9 
 
 JUDE. 
 
 Vj 1 41 5 
 
 
 19:8-14- - 
 
 19-17 18 
 
 REVELATION. 
 Ph i K_ _ 
 
 01 -0 
 
 Ph 99 
 
 99-15.. 
 

 
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