n 
 
 mm
 
 Kev. S. Rudnitzky 
 o7 8t. Clements A 
 
 Oxford England
 
 v
 
 X 

 
 AN 
 
 HISTORICAL GEOGRAPHY 
 
 r^ '"■JF\?('' "^"Y^
 
 AN 
 
 HISTORICAL GEOGRAPHY 
 
 '^■^z' 
 
 BY 
 
 EDWARD WELLS, D.D. 
 
 RECTOR OF COTESBACH IN LEICESTERSHIRE. 
 
 OXFORD, 
 
 AT THE CLARENDON PRESS. 
 MDCCCXIX.
 
 :i':^. 
 
 
 •X. V'
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 AN the sacred Scriptures there are distinguishable 
 these two general parts, a Doctrinal and an Histo- 
 rical. By the Doctrinal part are understood those 
 instructions, which teach us what we are to believe 
 and practise, in order to our eternal salvation. By 
 the Historical part is meant the account given us 
 of transactions and events ; either in reference to 
 nations, especially that of the Jews ; or in reference 
 to single persons, as Abraham, DaviH^ ^ ?. 
 
 8V> , ' — f! '^•*< -i , J u ^ 
 
 
 s^> - t ^ ^ 
 
 Of these two j_>..:s of Scripture, trte Doctrinal, 
 being of infinitely the highest concern, requires 
 therefore our far greatest study and application. 
 However this hinders not, but that we may, and 
 very commendably too, spend some time and 
 thoughts on the Historical part of Scripture ; it be- 
 ing but reasonable to think, that what the wisdom 
 of God has judged fit to make part of his word, we 
 may judge iit to make part of our study. 
 
 a 4 
 
 2107673
 
 I 
 
 It is lierc to be further remarked, that 1 have not 
 contented myself with, giving a bare geographical 
 account of places ; but have also taken notice of such 
 famous persons, or actions, or other circumstances, 
 as the places are memorable for in history, or at least 
 deserve our present observation. And this I have 
 done to the end that this work might be useful in 
 more respects than one ; and not only more useful, 
 but also more pleasant and entertaining to the rea(]er. 
 On this historical account, as also by reason of the 
 historical method I have made use of both in this 
 and the other Part, I have given to this work the 
 name of an Historical Geography of the T"' -^v Testa- 
 ment. 
 
 I have purposely avoided, as much as I could, all 
 critical disquisitions, this work being chiefly design- 
 ed for the service of such as are not wont to find any 
 great pleasure in criticisms, at least, of this nature ; 
 and are not much skilled in any other but their na- 
 tive English tongue. For which last reason, I have 
 likewise made use of the English translation of Jose- 
 phus by Sir Roger L'Estrange, where I have had oc- 
 casion to cite any passage out of the said Jewish 
 Historian. 
 
 With respect to my Geography of the Old 
 Testament, I need say no more of the design of this 
 work in general, and the method observed therein, 
 than that they are of a like nature with the design
 
 XIU 
 
 and method of my Geography of the New Testa- 
 ment. 
 
 The most observable difference between one work 
 and the other is this, that in my Geography of 
 the Old Testament I have found it requisite to have 
 frequent recourse to the Hebrew language, and to 
 make use of some terms of the Hebrew Gramma- 
 rians ; which because it is likely some readers may 
 not be acquainted with, I judged this the most pro- 
 per place to explain them in. 
 
 It is observable, that none of the letters of the 
 Hebrew alphabet are vowels, there being originally 
 no characters for these, as is probable, forasmuch 
 as in the old Hebrew text no vowels are expressed. 
 The characters, whereby the vowels are expressed 
 in the present Hebrew Bibles, as also those whereby 
 the consonants are expressed, were taken from the 
 Chaldeans, and learnt by the Jews, and brought into 
 use among them, during the Babylonish capti- 
 vity. So that what is now-a-days called the Hebrew 
 text is in reality no other than the Hebrew text 
 expressed in Chaldee characters, whether conso- 
 nants or vowels. The true old Hebrew characters 
 are those now-a-days called the Samaritan charac- 
 ters ; among which, as I said above, there are none 
 for vowels. 
 
 Lastly, it is only further observable, as to our 
 present purpose, that the Hebrew letters arc distin-
 
 XIV 
 
 guished into radicals and serviles. For the Hebrew 
 Grammarians call their primitive words, Radixes, 
 or Roots, as being those from which the derivative 
 words do as it were spring or arise. Hence such 
 letters as go to make up the radix or primitive word 
 are called in respect thereof Radical letters. But 
 such other letters as, being added to the radix, serve 
 to form any derivative word from it, are thence 
 called Servile letters. Now the letters, which most 
 usually serve to this purpose, are contained in this 
 word "•J^iD^i!l Heemanti, whence they are called the 
 Heemantic letters. 
 
 What has been here laid before the reader will 
 enable him to have a competent understanding of 
 whatever (if I remember aright) is said in the follow- 
 ing Treatise, with reference to the Hebrew tongue, 
 and will particularly be of great use in understand- 
 ing how to trace out the etymology or derivation of 
 names, and thereby the original of nations. For 
 from what has been observed it is evident, that in 
 the etymology of names from the Hebrew tongue, 
 the letters of the radix are chiefly, if not solely, to 
 be regarded. 
 
 As to what particularly concerns the first Part of 
 my Geography of the Old Testament, it is requisite 
 only to observe to the reader, that, in the account 
 of the situation of the Garden of Eden, I have taken 
 a great deal from the learned Huet, Bishop of Sois- 
 sons in France, as having, I think, wrote best on
 
 XV 
 
 that subject. In the account of the original plan- 
 tations of mankind after the flood, I had received 
 great help from our learned countryman, Mr. M ede, 
 and the learned Frenchman, Monsieur Bochart. As 
 to the description of Noah's ark, it is taken from 
 the famous mathematician, Bishop Wilkins's tract, 
 inserted by Mr. Pole into his Synopsig Criticorum. 
 
 As the first part of my Geography of the Old 
 Testament contains the geography of Genesis, so 
 the second Part contains the geography of the re- 
 maining books of Moses, as also of the three fol- 
 lowing books, Joshua, Judges, and Ruth, and con- 
 sequently completes the geography of the Octa- 
 teuch. For under this single name are usually com- 
 prehended the eight first books of the Old Testa- 
 ment, as the five first books are comprehended 
 under the like name of the Pentateuch. 
 
 The method, as well as design, of the second 
 Part being in the main the same with that of the 
 first, I need here take notice but of the following 
 particulars. 
 
 ^n drawing up the second Part, I judged it proper 
 to take notice therein, solely, or principally, of such 
 places, as conduce to the better understanding of 
 the sacred history. For this reason I have not trou-
 
 XVI 
 
 bled the reader with such cities, or towns, as are men- 
 tioned only in Joshua, in reference to the several 
 tribes they belonged to, but no where else in re- 
 ference to any historical transaction or occurrence. 
 There being also several other places, which are but 
 once or twice mentioned in the sacred history, and 
 that but barely, so as no light is afforded thereby 
 (or from any other authors) as to their situation, I 
 have likewise judged it better to pass most of them 
 quite over in silence, than to name them only to tell 
 the reader, that no tolerable account could be given 
 of them. For the same reason I have not crowded 
 the map of the Holy Land with multitude of places 
 of no use to be known, but have inserted therein only 
 such as are remarkable in reference to the sacred 
 history. 
 
 To take off the dryness of bare Geography, I have 
 studiously laid hold of such opportunities as came 
 in my way, to take notice of any curiosity, either 
 natural or artificial. And I have ventured to en- 
 large upon the Pyramids, as being some of the no- 
 blest pieces of human art and labour, either ancient 
 or modern. 
 
 There remains only to observe, that, in order to 
 adjust the geography of these sacred books, I have, 
 upon consulting the Samaritan or old Hebrew Pen- 
 tateuch, learnt the true original reading of several 
 texts, particularly of Deut. x. 6, /. whereby the con- 
 trariety of the present reading of the said text (in the
 
 [ xvii ] 
 
 common Hebrew and our English Bible) to Numb, 
 xxxiii. 30. is quite taken away, as is shewn pages 
 2773 281,283. of this volume ; and in like manner, 
 the present corrupt reading of Exod. xii. 40. in the 
 common Hebrew and our English Bible, is correct- 
 ed from the Samaritan Pentateuch, as it is shewn in 
 the Chronological Account hereto belonging. 
 
 VOL. I.
 
 CONTENTS 
 
 OF 
 
 VOL. I. 
 
 HISTORICAL GEOGRAPHY of the OLD TESTAMENT. 
 
 PART I. 
 
 Chap. I. 
 
 Of the Places of the Antediluvian World, mentioned in 
 sacred History ; viz. the Garden of Eden, the Land of 
 Nod, and the City of Enoch. p. i. 
 
 Chap. II. 
 
 Of the Mountains of Ararat, tvhereon the Ark of Noah 
 rested, zipon the abating of the Flood: together with 
 some considerations concerning the Place where the Ark 
 was made, the Wood it was made of, and the Form it 
 was made in. p. 29. 
 
 Chap. III. 
 
 Of the first Plantations or Settlements after the Flood. 
 
 p. 49. 
 Sect. I. 
 
 Containing what relates to the first Plantations or Settle- 
 ments after the Flood, in general. p. 49. 
 
 Sect. II. 
 
 Of the first Plantations of the Descendants of Japhet, eldest 
 Son of Noah ; and also of some of the Colonies thereof in 
 after-ages, particularly of the Ancient Britons. p. 57.
 
 XX CONTENTS. 
 
 Sect. III. 
 
 Of the first Plantations or original Settlements of the De- 
 scendants of Shem, or Sem. p. 92. 
 
 Sect. IV. 
 Of the first Plantations of the Descendants of Ham. p. 99. 
 
 Chap. IV. 
 Of the Land of Shinar, and the City and Tower of BaleL 
 
 p. 109. 
 
 Chap. V. 
 Of the Conquests and Kingdom of Nimrod. p. 115. 
 
 Chap. VI. 
 Of Chaldea, Ur of the Chaldees, and Haran. p. ia8. 
 
 Chap. VII. 
 
 Of the Land of Canaan, from the first Plantation thereof 
 after the Flood, to Abraham's coming thereto; as also 
 of the Inhabitants of the adjacent Countries, at the time 
 of Abraham's coming into Canaan. p. 134. 
 
 Chap. VIII. 
 Of the Sojourning of Abraham . P • 1 43 • 
 
 Chap. IX. 
 Of the Sojourning of Isaac. p. 177. 
 
 Chap. X. 
 Of the Dwellings of the Ishmaelites, p. 179. 
 
 Chap. XI. 
 
 Of the Dwellings of Abraham's Children, hy Keturah. 
 
 p. 182.
 
 CONTENTS. xxi 
 
 Chap. XII. 
 
 Of the Dwellings of the Descendants of Lot, the Moabites 
 and Ammonites. P* 184. 
 
 Chap. XIII. 
 
 Of the Land of Edom, or Dwelling of Esau. p. i85. 
 
 Chap. XIV. 
 
 Of the Sojourning of Jacob. p. 189. 
 
 A Chronological Table of such remarkable Particulars as 
 are contained in the Book of Genesis. p. 199. 
 
 PART II. 
 
 Chap. I. 
 
 Of the Land of Egypt, and the several Places thereof men- 
 tioned in the Old Testament. p. 209. 
 
 Chap. II. 
 
 Of the Journeyings of the Israelites, from their setting 
 
 forth from Rameses in Egypt, to their encamping near 
 
 the river Jordan, on the east side thereof. p. 248. 
 
 Sect. I. 
 
 Of the Journeyings of the Israelites from Rameses to the 
 Red Sea. p. 248. 
 
 Sect. II. 
 
 Of the Israelites passing through the Red Sea, and of other 
 particulars relating to the same Sea. p. 252. 
 
 Sect. III. 
 
 Of the Journeyings of the Israelites from the Red Sea, till 
 they came to Mount Sinai, with a Description of the said 
 Mount. p. 257.
 
 xxii CONTENTS. 
 
 Sect. IV. 
 
 Of the Journeyings of the Israelites from Mount Sinai to 
 their coming to Kadesh, in or near the Wilderness of 
 Paran, and otherwise called Kadesh-larnea. p. 269. 
 
 Sect. V. 
 
 Of the Journeyings of the Israelites from their leaving 
 Kadesh-barnea, to their coming to Kadesh in the Wil- 
 derness of Zin. p. 273. 
 
 Sect. VI. 
 
 Of the Journeyings of the Israelites from Kadesh in the 
 Wilderiiess of Zin, to the Plains of Moab near Jordan. 
 
 p. 280. 
 
 Chap. III. 
 
 Of the Country leyond Jordan^ i. e. 071 the East of Jordan, 
 which ivas divided by Moses between the two Tribes of 
 Reuben and Gad, and one half of the Tribe of Ma- 
 nasseh. p. 291. 
 
 Chap. IV. 
 
 Of the Conquest of the Land of Canaan, under the conduct 
 of Joshua. p. 305. 
 
 Chap. V. 
 
 0/ the Division of the Land of Canaan, and the Levitical 
 Cities, and Cities of Refuge ; as also of the more remark- 
 able Mountains, or Hills, lying rottnd or within the 
 whole Land of Israel. p. 327. 
 
 Chap. VI. 
 
 Of the remarkable Places mentioned in the Book of Judges, 
 and not before spoken of. P* 35i« 
 
 A Chronological Account of the sacred History contained in 
 the Books of Exodus, ^c. to Ruth. p. 365.
 
 AN 
 
 HISTORICAL GEOGRAPHY 
 
 OLD TESTAMENT. 
 
 PART I.
 
 '^ 
 
 c; 
 
 T Condfi- dfUASctt^!
 
 AN 
 
 HISTORICAL GEOGRAPHY 
 
 OLD TESTAMENT, 
 
 CHAP. I. 
 
 Of the Places of the Antediluvian IVorld, mentioned in 
 sacred History ; viz. the Garden of Eden^ the Land of 
 Nod, and the City of Enoch. 
 
 jc\S the sacred History is very short in other particulars ^^ 
 relating to the antediluvian world, (that is, to the state of of the an- 
 the world before the Flood,) so is it in reference to its ^'^'^''"^'^" 
 
 ^ ^' . world, 
 
 geography ; all the places thereof mentioned by Moses mentioned 
 
 being either the Garden of Eden, with such places asVJ^^'^'^^'* . 
 
 belong to the description of its situation, or else the land 
 
 of Nod, and the city of Enoch built therein. I shall speak 
 
 of each. 
 
 2. 
 To begin then with the Garden of Eden. As it wasj^esitua- 
 
 by far the most remarkable place of the antediluvian ''f'" of «he 
 .1 .... (. .. , -11 Garden of 
 
 eartn, so its situation is more tully and particuJarJy set Eden de- 
 down by Moses, in these words; (Gen. ii. 8. and lo. toj^.^^edby 
 14. inclusively.) And the Lord God planted a garden 
 eastward in Eden. — And a river wenj out of Eden to water 
 
 VOL. I. B
 
 2 The Geograplnj of the Old Testament. 
 
 PART I. the lyfirden ; and from thence it ivas parted, and became into 
 ~ four heads. The name of the first is Pison: that is it which 
 ^ compasseth the whole land of Havilah, ivhere there is gold ; 
 and the gold of that land is good : there is bdellium and the 
 onyx-stone. And the name of the second river is Gihon: 
 the same is it that compasseth the whole land of Cash. 
 And the name of the third river is Hiddekel : that is it 
 ivhich goeth before Assyria. And the fourth river is Eu- 
 phrates. 
 3, From this account we learn, first, in what country the 
 
 The word terrestrial Paradise was situated ; namely, in the country 
 
 £)(icn im- 
 
 posed as a of Eden. The word Eden in the Hebrew language, ac- 
 
 proper cordiuff to its primary and common acceptation, denotes 
 name on '-' f •' . 
 
 several pleasure or delight. Whence the same word came, in a 
 
 why^^' ^" secondary acceptation, to be imposed as a proper name on 
 
 several places of" a more than ordinarily pleasant and 
 
 delightful situation. 
 
 4_ Such was that spoken of by the Prophet Amos, i. 5. / 
 
 The Eden, u'Hl break also the bar of Damascus, and cut off the inha- 
 
 Beih-Eden, bitant from the plain of Aven, and him that holdeth the 
 
 |"^'{!'"p^'^ sceptre from the house of Eden: agfd the people of Syria 
 
 phet Amos, shall go into captivity unto Kir, saith the Lord. The Eden 
 
 wha.t, and \^q^q mentioned was (as the learned Bishop of Soissons, 
 where. _ ^ _ r 7 
 
 P. D. Huet, thinks) a valley situated between the moun- 
 tains of Libanus and Anti-libanus, and so in that part of 
 Syria, whereof Damascus was the metropolis. This 
 valle}^, adds he, deserved the name of Eden, or rather of 
 Beth-Eden, that is to say, house of pleasure, by reason of 
 its fertility and pleasantness. This induced some to be- 
 lieve, that the earthly Paradise stood here ; and they were 
 the more persuaded of it, because they found in the 
 neighbourhood a town called Paradise, mentioned by 
 Pliny and Ptolemy^. They sought also here the place, 
 where Adam was created, and that where Cain killed his 
 brother Abel, and persuaded themselves that they had 
 found them here. To this account of Bp. Huet it maybe 
 
 ^ riin. lib. V. cap. 23. Ptoltni. Asis Tab. 4.
 
 Of the Garden of Eden. 3 
 
 added, that this seems to be the place '^ Mr. Maundrell CHAP. I. 
 takes notice of, in his journey from Damascus towards 
 Tripoli; where he tells us, that having travelled four 
 hours and a half from Damascus, he came to a small 
 village called Sinie, just by which is an ancient structure 
 on the top of an high hill, supposed to be the tomb of 
 Abel, who, as the same Author tells us, is said by some 
 to have been murdered by his brother in this place. The 
 tomb is thirty yards long ; and yet it is here believed to 
 have been but just proportioned to the stature of him, 
 who was buried in it. Here, adds Mr. Maundrell, we 
 entered into a narrow gut, between tvi'o steep rocky 
 mountains, the river Barrady running at the bottom. On 
 the other side of the river were several tall pillars, which 
 excited our curiosity to go and take a nearer view of 
 them. We found them part of the front of some ancient 
 and very magnificent edifice, but of what kind we could 
 not conjecture. Now these two accounts of the two 
 forementioned ingenious writers, being laid together, will, 
 I think, afford great light for the right and clear under- 
 standing of the Eden, or rather Beth-Eden, mentioned in 
 the forecited place of the Prophet Amos. For it is not 
 unlikely, that this whole little valley, lying thus between 
 two steep rocky mountains, and having the river Barrady 
 running along the bottom of it, might formerly have 
 the name of Eden given to it. But however this was, 
 whether it had the very name of Eden, or no ; it is not 
 to be doubted, but it was esteemed a pleasant place, and 
 that this was the inducement to build here the fore- 
 mentioned edifice, which, by reason of such its pleasant 
 situation, was called Beth-Eden. And, since this edifice 
 appears by its present ruins to have been so very magnifi- 
 cent, it is most highly probable, that it was a royal struc- 
 ture, and no other than a. pleasure-house (or Buon Retiro^) 
 of the kings of Syria, being at the distance of four or 
 
 ^ Journey from Aleppo to Jeru- '^ The King of Spain has a seat 
 
 saiem, [). 133. so named. 
 
 B 3
 
 4 The Geography oj the Old Testament. 
 
 PART I. five hours riding from Damascus, the capital city of that 
 kingdom, and so at a very convenient distance for such a 
 seat of pleasure or retirement. Hence the ruin of th& king 
 of Syria is elegantly, as well as appositely expressed, by 
 God's C2itti7ig off hi7n that holds the sceptre from Beth- 
 Eden, this being the place where the said kings of Syria 
 were wont chiefly to please and recreate themselves. But 
 of this enough. 
 5 Besides the Eden thus mentioned by the Prophet Amos, 
 
 A village there is also a village called Eden near Tripoli in Syria, 
 
 near Tripoli , -_ -i i i-i • i i i 
 
 in Syria, O" the mount Libauus, where some likewise have placed 
 called tj-ig earthly Paradise. This village is also taken notice of 
 by Mr. Maundrell, who tells us, that having gone for 
 three hours cross the plains of Tripoli, he arrived at the 
 foot of Libanus ; and from thence continually ascending, 
 not without great fatigue, came in four hours and an half 
 to a small village called Eden, and in two hours and an 
 half more to the Cedars. 
 6. Further, it is not to be questioned, but from the He- 
 
 Several brew word Eden has been derived the word Adena, or 
 
 places call- ^ ' 
 
 ed Adena, Adana, which we find in Greek and Latin authors, given 
 
 or Adana, . i , rr>i 
 
 a word pro- ^^ a proper name to several towns. Ihere was a town 
 bablyde- in Cilicia of this nanie, pleasantly situated in a fruitful 
 the He- soil. There is also a famous port in Arabia, on the 
 brew Eden. ef)|;rance of the Red Sea, called Adena or Aden; which 
 (to use Bishop Huet's expression) for having been the 
 most delightful place of a very delightful country, I mean, 
 of Arabia Felix, has been called itself Arabia Felix, as 
 comprehending in it all the beauties of that country. 
 And besides this Adena, there was another in the middle 
 of the same country, bearing the same name with the 
 first, for the same reason. Whence it is no wonder, that 
 the Arabians inhabiting that province, believed that Para- 
 dise was amongst them. 
 7- The instances already brought are sufficient to shew, 
 
 whereby ^^^^ the word Eden was imposed as a proper name on 
 Moses dis- several places. And it is certain, that none of the fore- 
 
 lintuishes 
 
 the situa- mentioned places was the Eden, wherein the earthly
 
 Of the Garden of Eden, $ 
 
 Paradise was seated ; and that for this reason, because the CHAP. I. 
 
 marks, whereby Moses describes the situation of the jj^j^ of the 
 
 earthly Paradise, are not to be found in any of the said earthly 
 , , _ 11-1 Paradise. 
 
 places. We are therefore to proceed, and enquire where 
 the said marks are to be found ; and in order thereto it 
 must be considered, what are the marks themselves, or 
 what in short they amount to, which is this, viz. that 
 the Eden, wherein God planted the garden of Paradise, 
 lay on a river or single channel, which out of Eden was 
 parted into four heads or rivers, by name Pison, Gihon, 
 Hiddekel, and Perath or Euphrates. If therefore these 
 four rivers can be found, having somewhere a single chan- 
 nel common to them all, then we may rest assured, that 
 on that single channel, or river, lay the country of Eden, 
 wherein was seated the earthly Paradise. 
 
 We are therefore, in the first place, to find out the 8- 
 true situation of the four rivers here specified by Moses, scdption of 
 I shall take them in the same order they are mentioned 'he river 
 by Moses, and shall therefore begin first with Pison ; the 
 situation whereof is thus described by the said sacred his- 
 torian : The name of the first (namely, river) is Pison : that 
 is it which compasseth the whole land of Havilah, where 
 there is gold ; and the gold of that land is good: there is 
 bdellium and the onyx-stone. 
 
 From hence it is evident, that, in order to find out 9. 
 the river Pison, we must first find out the land of Havilah J'^^',^J^ °^ 
 here mentioned. And in doing this, we cannot follow said by Mo- 
 better guides than the sacred writers. We read then cashed by 
 of a country called Havilah in two other places of Scrip- the river 
 ture, viz. Gen. xxv. 18. and i Sam. xv. 7. In the former where 
 of these two places Moses informs us, that the Ishmaelites'^'^^^^'^' 
 (or posterity of Ishmael) dwelt from Havilah unto Shur, 
 that is before Egypt, &c. In the latter we are informed, 
 that Saul smote the Amalekites from Havilah until thou 
 contest to Shur, that is before Egypt. In both which 
 places by this expression, from Havilah unto Shur, is 
 probably meant the whole extent of that part of Arabia, 
 which lies between Egypt to the west, and a certain 
 
 B 3
 
 6 The Geography of the Old Testament. 
 
 PART I. channel or river (which empties itself into the Persian 
 
 "" Gulf) to the east. For that Shur was the western ex- 
 
 tremity of this part of Arabia, is evident from Exod. 
 XV. 22. where we read, that Moses hroiight Israel from the 
 Red Sea, and they ivent out into the wilderness of Shur. 
 So that Shur was that part of Arabia, which came up 
 to the bottom of the Red Sea or Arabian Gulf, and so 
 joined on to Egypt. And as it thus clearly appears, 
 that Shur was the western extremity of that part of 
 Arabia we are speaking of; so it seems no less clear, that 
 Havilah was the eastern extremity of the same ; and that 
 not only from the import of the forecited expression, 
 but also forasmuch as, in common authors, we find here 
 placed, a people whose name, though somewhat varied 
 by various authors, yet in all the several variations of 
 it retains visible footsteps of the name of their fore- 
 father Havilah, or, as it is written more agreeably to 
 the original Hebrew word, Chavilah. Thus by Era- 
 tosthenes are placed in these parts the Chaulothaei, by 
 Festus Anienus the Chaulosii, by Dionysius Periegetes 
 the Chablasii, and by Pliny the Chavelaei ; all retaining 
 in their name most of the radical ^ letters of the word 
 Chavilah. So that from hence may safely be concluded, 
 that this eastern tract of Arabia, lying near and on 
 the bottom of the Persian Gulf, was formerly and in 
 the time of Moses known by the name of Havilah. 
 Hereupon many learned men amongst the modern writers 
 have acknowledged this to be the situation of Havi- 
 lah, as Steuchus, Beroaldus, Grotius, Hornius, and Bo- 
 chartus. 
 10- But yet this is not enough for our purpose. Before 
 
 that ?ood we can be assured, that this is that Havilah which was 
 gold, in the washed by the river Pison, we must be assured also, that 
 vilah, as there is, or at least formerly was therein gold, and that 
 seated ac- good p old i as also that there is or was therein Idellium" 
 
 cording to 6 & ■' a i r i • i 
 
 our hypo- and the onyx-stone. And of these particulars we may 
 
 thesis. 
 
 ^ What a radical letter is, see in the Preface.
 
 Of the Garden of Eden. 7 
 
 be well assured without great difficulty. For authors, chap. i. 
 both sacred and profane, do very much commend the ' 
 
 gold of Arabia. Diodorus ^ writes, that in Arabia was 
 found natural gold, of so lively a colour, that it was very 
 much like the brightness of the fire; and so fixed, that 
 it wanted neither fire nor refining to purify it. It will 
 appear hereafter, that Ezekiel had regard to these parts, 
 when he says to the city of Tyre: The merchants of 
 Sheha and Raamah, they were thy merchants: they traded 
 in thij fairs with the chief of all spices, a?id with all 
 precious stones, and gold. Haran, a?id Cannech, arid Eden, 
 the merchants of Sheha, Asshur, and Chilmad, were thy 
 vierchants, &c. Ezek. xxvii. 22, 23. There was a great 
 communication between all these nations through the 
 Euphrates and the Persian Gulf; and we must parti- 
 cularly observe, that the Prophet expressly names Eden 
 among the countries or places lying in these eastern 
 parts, and some of which lay in the neighbourhood of 
 Havilah. So that there being both an Eden and an 
 Havilah situated in these easterly parts, there are further 
 grounds to conceive, that these were no other than the 
 Eden and Havilah mentioned by Moses in the description 
 of the situation of the earthly Paradise. Moreover, Arabia 
 thus abounding with gold, and that very fine gold, no 
 doubt but it very much dealt in it with the neighbouring 
 provinces, situated along the Euphrates, which was then 
 very populous, if not the most populous country in the 
 world : and the province of Havilah, lying between those 
 countries, besides the gold of its own, had, we may rea- 
 sonably suppose, a great deal also from the neighbouring 
 provinces, by the traffic and intercourse of merchants. 
 And thus much for the gold oMlavilah. 
 
 The sacred text informs us, that the same country was U. 
 remarkable for (what is called in Hebrew) ledolach, or ^^.'^^^^^J^^ 
 (as it is usually rendered) bdellium; which word is very '^^'''o^'"^^ 's 
 variously translated by interpreters. But of all these va- interpreted. 
 
 ^ Lib. ii. cap. 14. et lib. iii. cap. 3. 
 B 4
 
 8 The Geography of the Old Testament. 
 
 PART I. rious opinions, the most probable, and which most divide 
 the Jearned, are, that which takes bedolach for an aro- 
 matical gum, and that which takes it for pearls. The 
 place of the book of Numbers, (viz. Numb. xi. 7.) which 
 is wont to be quoted in defence of this last opinion, seems 
 to be so plain and decisive, that no good exception can 
 be made against it. For Moses, intending to describe the 
 manna, says, that it was like the seed of coricmder, and the 
 colour thereof as the colour of bedolach. Now it is evident 
 from another description of the same manna, which is to 
 be found Exod. xvi. J4. 31, that it was white, (according 
 to the translation of the Seventy Interpreters, and followed, 
 ver. 31. in our common translation,) which is apposite to 
 pearls, as also is the roundness of manna, but in no wise 
 to the bdellium gum. Hence it is, that the Talmudists, 
 (as Mons. Bochart ^ has learnedly observed,) mentioning 
 this description of manna, as it is in the book of Numbers, 
 instead of saying, that it was of the colour of bdellium^ 
 said, that it was of the colour of pearls. But we need 
 take no part in this dispute : it will be enough for our 
 purpose to shew, that whether the Hebrew word bedolach 
 be taken for pearls, or for bdellium gum, both are to be 
 found in the land of Havilah. 
 12. For, as for pearls, it is most certain, that there is no 
 
 Bedolach^ placc in the world, that produceth so fine ones, and in so 
 
 taken for ^ . , , . 
 
 pearls, to great a quantity, as the sea about Baharen, an isle m 
 
 be found in ^j^^ Persian Gulf, ten leagues off from Catif ; that is to 
 
 our land of . 
 
 Havilah. say, the sea that lies next the land of Havilah. We shall 
 not load this treatise with a vast number of citations, 
 to shew how great a quantity of pearls there is in the 
 Persian Gulf, and how much they are valued both by 
 ancient and modern authors. Nevertheless, (to borrow 
 Bishop Huet's expression,) that the reader may not think 
 we desire to be trusted for want of money to pay him, 
 we will name some few of those whose authority cannot 
 be excepted against. Nearchus, one of Alexander's cap- 
 
 ^ Hieroz. part ii. lib. v. c. 5.
 
 Of the Garden of Eden. 9 
 
 tains, that conducted his fleet from the Indies as far as chap. i. 
 the Persian Gulf, speaks of an island in that Gulf, abound- 
 ing in pearls of great value. IsidorusS of Charax, who 
 lived a little after, says the same thing. Pliny h, having 
 commended the pearls of the Indian seas, adds, that such 
 as are fished towards Arabia in the Persian Gulf, deserve 
 most to be praised. And in another place he takes notice 
 of the island of Tylos, as being the place of that fishing, 
 which many suppose to be the island of Baharen. Arrian, 
 the author of the Periplus of the Red Sea, sets a greater 
 value upon the pearls of Arabia, than upon those of the 
 Indies, ^lian ' describes exactly enough, how they were 
 fished, and how much they were valued. Origen'^ affirms, 
 that Indian pearls far exceed all others in value, and that 
 amongst all Indian pearls, those of the Red Sea are of the 
 greatest value : by which words we may see, that he made 
 the Persian Sea a part of that of the Indies ; of which 
 more hereafter, when we come to speak of the Red Sea. 
 The Rabbi Benjamin, a Navarrer, who lived five hundred 
 and fifty years ago, being at Catif, informed himself about 
 the fishing of pearls, that is made there every year, and 
 about the manner observed in making of it, and inserted 
 it in the history of his travels, which he has left us. Tei- 
 xeira a Portuguese, another traveller, has yet more exactly 
 described this fishing. He says, the pearls of that sea are 
 finer and weightier than those of other places. Add 
 hereto the testimony of the other modern travellers, 
 Balby, Linscot, Vincent le Blanc, Tavernier, and Theve- 
 not. Besides the fishing of Baharen, this last writer hath 
 also described that of Carek, another isle in the same gulf, 
 and nearer the land of Havilah. Many other places of this 
 sea afford pearls ; as doth the vviiole coast of Arabia from 
 Mascate to Catif. 
 
 Those that maintain, that hedolach is the bdellium, a 
 
 8 Isidor. Charac. apud Athen. ' iElian. de Animal, lib. x. c. IS. 
 
 lib. iii. et lib. xv. c. 8. 
 
 *• Plin. lib. vi. c. 28. et lib. ix. k Origen in Matt. xiii. 45. 
 
 c. 35.
 
 lo The Geography of the Old Testament. 
 
 PART 1. gum, may also find some in Arabia. Dioscorides ' ex- 
 
 ~ pressly testifies it; and he sets a greater value upon the 
 
 BeJolach, bdelUum of the Saracens, than upon that of the Indies. 
 
 taken tor a jgj^^Q^^jg m and Svlvaticus" are of the same opinion. 
 
 gum, to be •' _ , , / 
 
 found like- And Galen °, comparing the bdellium of Arabia with that 
 slme'rand^ of Scythia, that is to say, with the bdellmm of the Indies, 
 of Havilah. (for part of India was called Scythia or Indoscythia,) 
 gives some advantages to the first, which he denies to 
 the second. Pliny P prefers the bdellium of Bactriana 
 to that of Arabia; but he values that of Arabia above 
 all the rest. He will have that tree to grow in the 
 sands of the Persian Gulf, which the flux of the sea 
 covers with its tides ; and I do not know, says the 
 learned Bishop Huetius, whether it be not the same, 
 which Straboq describes without naming it, upon Ne- 
 archus's information, when he says, that it grows in 
 the islands that are before the Euphrates ; that it smells 
 as frankincense; and that out of its broken roots drops 
 the sweet-smelling juice. Now let the place of Arabia, 
 from which it came, be which it will, at least a great 
 deal of that, which was to be transported into the coun- 
 tries along the Tigris and Euphrates, and into the rest 
 of the northerly Asia, was carried into the land of Ha- 
 vilah. And upon this account Arrian' says, there was 
 made a great sale of spices, and all Arabian drugs in the 
 city of Diridotis, which is the same with Teredon, tbe 
 ruins whereof are yet now to be seen on the confines of 
 the land of Havilah. 
 14. It remains now to speak of the schoham, which the 
 
 Precious sacred text tells us was in Havilah, and which is coni- 
 stones, and ' 
 
 particularly monly rendered the onyx- stone. A great variety of opi- 
 gjo^g^^Q be nions might be produced; to shew that nothing certain 
 found in can be affirmed of the stone schoham: and so it will be 
 
 the same 
 
 country. 
 
 1 Diosc. lib. 1. c. 77. P Plin. lib. xii. c. 9. 
 
 ■" Isidor. Etym. lib. xvii. c. 8. <i Strab. lib. xvi. p. 767. ex edit. 
 
 " Sylvat. Pandect, in bdellium. Casaub. 
 
 ° Galen, de Simpl. Medic, lib. ^ Arrian. Indie, p. 357. ex edit. 
 
 Gronov.
 
 Of the Garden of Eden. li 
 
 enough to make it evident, that Arabia was formerly CHAP. i. 
 very abounding in precious stones. The first proof shall 
 be taken from the place of Ezekiel already quoted ; 
 where the prophet, among the chiefest commodities that 
 came from Sheba and Raamah, places in Arabia on the 
 easterly coast, not far from Havilah, and whose inha- 
 bitants dealt v/ith the Tyrians, reckons the most precious 
 spices, precious stones and gold. Nearchus, who had 
 sailed the Persian Gulf, affirmed (as Strabo tells us) that 
 there were many islands in that gulf, in which there were 
 extraordinary fine precious stones. The same Strabo ^ says, 
 that the riches of Arabia, which did consist in precious 
 stones, and excellent perfumes, (the trade whereof brought 
 them a great deal of gold and silver, besides the gold 
 of the country itself,) made Augustus to send ^lius 
 Gallus thither, in order to make those nations his friends, 
 and draw to himself their riches, or to subdue them. 
 Diodorus* describes at large the advantages of Arabia, 
 and especially its precious stones. He says, that that 
 region affords some of all kinds, that they are very much 
 to be valued by reason of the variety and brightness of 
 their colours ; and he enquires into the natural causes 
 of it. Pliny, who employed all his last book in clearing 
 this subject, and pretty curiously marketh the countries 
 of precious stones, assures us, that those, that are most 
 valued, come out of Arabia. Though now they are 
 more scarce there than they were then, (for mines 
 of precious stones, as vi^ell as those of metals, are ex- 
 hausted by length of time,) yet travellers, naturalists, 
 and lapidaries do still find some here. But after all, if 
 any one will restrain the Hebrew word schoham to signify 
 in this place the onyx-stone, he will have Pliny on his 
 side, who says, that the ancients are persuaded, that the 
 onyx-stone was no where else to be found but in the 
 mountains of Arabia. 
 
 ' Strab. lib. xvi. p. 780. ex edit. ' Diod. lib. ii. p. 131. et seq. ex 
 
 Casaub. edit. Rbodumaniu.
 
 1 2 The Geography of the Old Testament. 
 
 PART I. It appears then, that in the forementioned extremity 
 of Arabia there was a land or country called Havilah, 
 The v ^^^ ^^^^ there was in the same gold^ and that good 
 Pison is gold; as also the hedolach and schoham, whether they 
 or channel ^^ taken to denote pearls and precious stones in general, 
 which Qr else to denote particularly the bdellium gum and the 
 
 wssncs the 
 
 eastern part ow^ic-^^one. If therefore there can be further found, a 
 ofHavi?"h "^^^^ which ejicompasses (i. e. with a winding stream 
 and so washes) all one side of the land of Havilah, and also 
 ftsei'fTnto ^^^^ communication with three other rivers by one com- 
 the Persian mon channel ; we shall then have found, concurring in 
 this place, all the marks whereby Moses describes the 
 river Pison, and therefore need not question, but the 
 river thus washing this land of Havilah, is the very 'river, 
 to which Moses gives the name of Pison in his de- 
 scription of the Garden of Eden. Now it is evident from 
 the map hereunto belonging, that the channel or river 
 above mentioned, (§. 9. and 10.) as bounding Havilah 
 eastward, and emptying itself into the Persian Gulf, is 
 such a river, having all the forementioned particulars 
 concurring in it ; and therefore it may very reasonably be 
 conceived to be the river Pison of Moses, 
 ig. But, though the concurrence of the several marks given 
 
 The same by Moses be abundantly sufficient to satisfy us, that we 
 proved have certainly found out the true Pison, yet we cannot 
 from other q^^^. One or two Other considerations, which are men- 
 tions, be- tioned by the learned Bishop of Soissons, and tend further 
 sides the ^^ confirm this point. It must then be remembered, 
 
 marks r 
 
 given by that Moses (as has been before observed) wrote his his- 
 
 firstfro'm^ tory in Arabia Petraea, or some place near adjoining; 
 
 its being and Consequently of the four rivers he mentions, this 
 
 river to the channel, as will appear from the sequel of this chapter, 
 
 P'^ce, y^QS the nearest him ; so that natural order required that 
 
 ses wrote, he should name this first. And by the same consideration 
 
 may the method, observed by Moses in mentioning the 
 
 other three, be naturally accounted for, as shall be shewn 
 
 as we go along. 
 
 Again, the etymology or derivation of the word Pison
 
 Of the Garden of Eden. 13 
 
 helps also to distinguish the river so called. For most of chap. i. 
 the Hebrew grammarians agree, that it is derived, either |T 
 from the verb U?^D pusch, which signifies, to run out, to ^e Secondly, 
 full, to increase, to multiply ; or from HIDp pascha, which J^^^j^^ 
 
 signifies, to spread itself; because tides are so violent and "^^^f^^j^e 
 so high at that end of the Persian Gulf, that trenches were wordPison. 
 not a sufficient defence against their irruptions into the 
 neighbouring grounds, that are very soft and low. So 
 that all that coast is full of lakes, marshy places, and 
 sands, as Strabo " observes. In Moses's time then, when 
 the industry of men might have as yet opposed nothing 
 to those attacks, it is credible the overflowings were 
 much greater than they are now. No name therefore 
 could be given more suitable to that channel, that was 
 apt so often to overflow, than the name of Pison. The 
 author of the apocryphal book called Ecclesiasticus made 
 an allusion to this etymology, where he says of God, 
 that he flleth all with wisdom like the Phison. Ecclus. 
 xxiv. 25. 
 
 Lastly, Schickard a German professor, and who under- ^^■ 
 stood extraordinary well the easterly languages and affairs from the 
 of the East, seems to have had a glinipse of the truth, '^°"'^.""'"S 
 when he^ wrote, that he is sure the Pison is to be looked several 
 for in Arabia, and that all the rivers of Paradise run into 
 the Persian Gulf, and that their mouths are very near 
 one another. Steuchus speaks yet more expressly of 
 it, saying, that the Pison comes from the Euphrates, 
 and runs towards the Arabians of Havilah. Father 
 Kircher, in the geographical map he inserted in his de- 
 scription of the tower of Babel, describes the running 
 of the four rivers, Pison, Gihon, Tigris, and Euphrates, 
 and gives the name of Pison to the same western channel 
 as we do. To mention but one writer more, Mons. 
 Bochart, who designed to declare his mind more plainly 
 and at large upon this point, in his treatise concerning 
 
 " Strab. lib. xvi. p. 767. ex edit. " In his Commentary on the 
 
 Casaiib. Tarichofthe Kings of Perbia. 
 
 learned 
 men.
 
 The river 
 Gihon how 
 
 14 The Geography of the Old Testament. 
 
 PART I. the earthly Paradise, leaves us to guess at his opinion, 
 
 when he says by the by, in his book concerning the beasts 
 
 of holy Scripture, that the Pison is that branch of the Eu- 
 phrates, of which Teixeira, in the book of his travels from 
 the Indies into Italy, says, that it runs into the Persian 
 Gulf towards Catif near Baharen. Now Catif is a town 
 on the easterly coast of Arabia, that gave to the Persian 
 Gulf the name of the Elcatif Sea, as it is now called by 
 some. And Baharen is an island of the same Gulf, (as has 
 been before hinted,) about ten leagues off from Catif. So 
 that it may be very probably supposed, that Mons. Bo- 
 chart looked on the same westerly channel, as we do, to 
 be the Pison. So that there does not lie so much as the 
 objection of novelty against the truth of our opinion. And 
 thus much for the river Pison. 
 
 19. Proceed we now to the second river, concerning which 
 Moses says thus : And the name of the second river is 
 
 described Gihon : the same is it that compasseth the whole land of 
 y OSes. Qy^gj^^ Here it may be observed, that Moses has not af- 
 fixed so many marks on the Gihon, as on the Pison ; and 
 that probably for this reason, because the Pison being 
 known, the situation of the Gihon would be much m.ore 
 easily discovered. For the Pison being known to be the 
 first river in respect to the place where Moses was writing; 
 it is but natural to suppose, that the Gihon, as being the 
 second, was the river next to it, and consequently the 
 easterly channel of the two, into which the Euphrates, 
 after its conjunction with the Tigris, is again divided. 
 
 20. And that it is so, we shall further make out, by shewing 
 The land of that the mark given by Moses to know the Gihon, does 
 by Moses to agree to this easterly channel. Moses then marks out the 
 be washed Gihon'bv tellina; us, that it is that river, which compasseth 
 
 by the Gi- J fc> ' ' / 
 
 hon, where the wliole land of Cush. If then it can be shewn, that the 
 situated, ^^^q of Cush did formerly belong to the country washed 
 by the forementioned easterly channel ; it will (at least in 
 conjunction with what is else offered) amount to a reason- 
 able proof, that the said easterly channel is the very Gihon 
 nientioned by Moses. To what other provinces the name
 
 Of the Gardeii of Eden. 15 
 
 of Cush did of old appertain, shall be shewn, when we chap. I. 
 come to speak of the peopling of the world by the three 
 sons of Noah and their posterity : it will be sufficient to 
 our present purpose, to make out that the country ad- 
 joining to the easterly mouth of Euphrates, and which by 
 the Greeks and Latins was called Susiana, had formerly 
 the name of Cush, and hath it still at present. All the 
 journals of travellers do then inform us, that Susiana is 
 now called Chuzestan, which carries in it plain footsteps 
 of the original word Cush, or, as it is wrote by some, Chus 
 or Chuz. Benjamin of Navarre says, that the great pro- 
 vince of Elam, whereof Susa is the metropolis, and which 
 the Tigris waters, is called so. That province of Elam is 
 Elymais, which extends itself as far as the coast of the 
 Persian Gulf, at the east of the mouth of the Euphrates. 
 The Nubian geographer and some other Arabians call it 
 Churestan : but it is probably an oversight of the copiers, 
 who did not distinguish the letter r from z of the Ara- 
 bians, which only differ by one point. The inhabitants of 
 the land call it absolutely or plainly Chiis, if we will be- 
 lieve Marius Niger y. The same region is called Ciithah 
 in the book of Kings, (2 Kings xvii. 34.) according to the 
 variety of dialects; and it was partly from thence, that 
 Salmanassar transported a colony into Samaria, to fill the 
 room of its inhabitants and of the ten tribes, which he 
 had turned out and sent into other places. This new 
 colony, which was afterwards known under the name of 
 Samaritans, kept also the name of its origin, and was 
 called the Cutheans. The word Cuthah or Cuth un- 
 doubtedly came from the word Cush or Crts, the last letter 
 of which is often changed by the Chaldeans into a f or thy 
 as Dion 2 hath observed. So they said Theor for Sor, At- 
 tyria for Assyria. There are yet many other marks of 
 the word Cash found in the same province. We find 
 there the Cosseans, neighbours to the Uxians, according 
 
 y Mar. Nig. Comm, 5. Geo- ^ Dion. Xipliil. Traj. p. 347. ex 
 
 t;raplj. Asia;. edit. Sylburg.
 
 i6 
 
 The Geography of the Old Testament, 
 
 PART I. 
 
 21. 
 
 The river 
 Gihon dis- 
 covered by 
 the marks 
 given by 
 Moses. 
 
 22. 
 
 Moses's de- 
 scription of 
 the river 
 Hiddekel. 
 
 to the position of Pliny, Ptolemy, and Arrian^. Some 
 "have imagined, that those Cosseans had given their name 
 to the province of Chuzestan; but it is more true, that 
 both the name of Chuzestan, and that of the Cosseans, 
 come from the same root, to wit, from Cush, and not one 
 from the other. The name of Cissia and of the Cissians 
 came also from thence; being a little province of Susiana, 
 and used sometimes to denote all the Susians. The poet 
 -^schylus^i takes also notice of a city of that name situated 
 in the same land ; and, what is remarkable, he does distin- 
 guish it by its antiquity. He calls also Memnon's mother 
 (that is to say, Aurora) Cissia; of which more when we 
 come to speak of the city Shusan or Susa. It shall only 
 be here observed, that when the Grecians feigned, that 
 Memnon was the son of Aurora, they meant that he came 
 from the East ; according to a common expression of the 
 Hebrew tongue, and very familiar to the Prophets, who 
 call the people of the East, sons of the East. Not to add, 
 that many interpreters think, that Nebuchadnezzar or 
 Belshazzar is by Isaiah called, in the same sense, Lucifer, 
 son of Aurora, or of the morning. 
 
 Since then the easterly mouth of the Euphrates does 
 thus agree to the description given by Moses of the 
 Gihon; since it lies exactly the second in order, according 
 to the method taken by Moses for mentioning the four 
 rivers relating to the Garden of Eden ; and since the pro- 
 vince it washes or runs along the side of, was formerly 
 called Cush ; on these considerations we may rest very 
 well satisfied, that the said easterly channel or mouth of 
 the Euphrates (or, which comes to the same, of the Ti- 
 gris) is the very Gihon described by Moses. 
 
 Go we on then to the third river, of which Moses writes 
 thus; And the name of the third river is Hiddekel: that is 
 it which goeth before Assyria. Now the Hebrew word 
 
 » Plin. lib. vi. c. 27. Ptol. Jib. 
 vi. c. 3. Tab. 5. Asiae. Arrian. Ex- 
 ped. Ale;c. lib. vi). 
 
 ^ iF.schyl. Pers. et C'hoeph. 421. 
 et in Strab. lib. xv. p. 728. ex edit. 
 Casaiib.
 
 Of the Garden of Eden. 17 
 
 Hiddekel is by the Seventy Interpreters rendered the Ti- CHAP. i. 
 gris ; and that the river, called by Moses Hiddekel, is in 
 truth no other than that river, which by the Greeks and 
 Latins is commonly called Tigris, will appear from the 
 following considerations. 
 
 And first, the name of Hiddekel, which Moses gives this , '^^• 
 
 I'll •••IT 'he river 
 
 river, that of Diglath, which they give it in the Levant or Hiddekel is 
 East, and that of Tigris, which the Europeans give it, are '["^ ^^'"'^ ^^ 
 one and the same, varied by different nations. This may Tigris; 
 surprise those, who are ignorant of the art of etymology, ^^otcj ft^st 
 which is very useful, if not absolutely necessary in good from the 
 literature. We shall not stand here to produce authorities [ogy'ofj^e" 
 from other instances, for the change of the several letters word Ti- 
 of one of these words into those of the other. It will be 
 sufficient to our purpose, to observe in short, that taking 
 away the aspiration of the word Hiddekel, the word 
 Dekel remained, which the Syrians disguised, and made 
 Diklat out of it: Josephus and the Chaldaean paraphrasts, 
 the Arabians and the Persians turned it into Diglath ; 
 other modern orientals into Degil and Degola; Pliny, or 
 those who informed him, into Diglito; and the Greeks, 
 who gave to all strange words the turn and genius of their 
 own tongue, instead of Diglis called it Tigris; induced 
 probably so to do, by the information they had received 
 of the swiftness of this river, which was aptly denoted by 
 the name Tigris. And this is the more likely, because we 
 meet with other instances of the same nature, as not only 
 will appear by and by in reference to the name of the 
 river Euphrates, but has also been formerly observed (in 
 the first part of my Geography of the New Testament) in 
 reference to the name of the holy city Jerusalem, turned 
 by the Greeks into Hierosolyma. But that the Diglito 
 and Tigris is but one and the same river, is clear from 
 Pliny <^; only he is mistaken, when he says, that the 
 Tigris is called Diglito at the beginning of its stream, 
 when it runs slowly, but is called Tigris, when it be- 
 
 ^ Plin. lii). vi. c. 'tl. 
 VOL. I. C
 
 i8 The Geography of the Old Testament. 
 
 PART I. comes swifter. For it is called Tigris at the very head, 
 as Strabo assures us; and the names of Tigris and Dig- 
 lito are in reaHty but one and the same name, varied ac- 
 cording to the diversity of dialects or languages, as has 
 been shewn. 
 
 24. Secondly, the method observed by Moses in reckoning 
 kei is prov- "P the fouf fivcrs further proves, that the Hiddekel is no 
 ed^to be the other than the Tigris. For, as in respect of the place where 
 from the Moses was Writing, the Pison was the nearest to him, and 
 served1)°^" SO in natural order was to be named first ; and then the 
 Moses in Gihon second, as being the channel that presented itself 
 Jj^pt^e ftfyj'^ext : so having passed over this channel or river, and 
 rivers. turning to the left hand, to come back to the place where 
 
 Moses was writing, we meet with the Tigris in the third 
 place ; which therefore it was but natural for Moses to 
 mention third, and which therefore we need not doubt 
 but is the same with the Hiddekel mentioned third by 
 the sacred historian. 
 
 25. Lastly, the mark, whereby Moses describes the situation 
 Lastly, the ^f ^^^ Hiddekel, does plainly confirm, that it is the same 
 
 same is ^ _ _ ^ ^ •' .... 
 
 proved with the Tigris. For Moses describes its situation thus ; 
 
 thaTthe'^' T^^at is it ivhich goes before Assyria. The word Assyria 
 
 mark given maybe taken, either properly to denote only that one pro- 
 
 the Hidde- vincc, which was first so called, and whereof Nineveh was 
 
 kel does a- ^\^q capital citv ; or else in a larger sense, so as to com- 
 gree to the , ^- •' . , , . i i • n 
 
 Tigris. prebend many great provmces belongmg to the kings of 
 
 Assyria, and which made up the Assyrian empire. The 
 word was not taken in the latter or larger sense, till long 
 after Moses, who therefore could understand by the name 
 of Assyria, only a small province about Nineveh. Now 
 the river Tigris does run along before Assyria so taken, 
 and considered in respect of the place where Moses was 
 writing : insomuch that going from the parts where Moses 
 was, directly to Assyria, there is no coming into it with- 
 out crossing first the Tigris, as running along before it, or 
 running along on that side of Assyria which lay next to 
 the parts where Moses wrote. Wherefore the peculiar 
 mark, whereby Moses points out the situation of the Hid-
 
 Of the Garden of Eden. 19 
 
 dekel, thus exactly agreeing to the Tigris, it seems past all CHAP. I. 
 doubt, that t^e former is the very same river vi^ith the 
 latter. It is true, that the clause, wherein the situation of 
 the Hiddelcel is described by Moses, is rendered in our 
 Bible-translation otherwise than I have rendered it, namely 
 thus ; That is it ivhich goes toward the east of Assyria, or, 
 as it is in the margin of our Bible, eastward to Assyria. 
 And though even in this sense the description may be 
 capable of being somewhat tolerably accommodated to 
 the Tigris, yet the other sense is much to be preferred, as 
 being more agreeable to the plain or primary import of 
 the Hebrew word, and so followed by that great Hebri- 
 cian, Arias Montanus. And not only so, but the Seventy 
 Interpreters also, and the authors of the Vulgar Latin and 
 Syriac translation, render the Hebrew word, over against 
 or along the side of Assyria, not restraining it to the eastern 
 side. 
 
 We are now come to the last of the four rivers, which 26. 
 Moses only names, without affixing any mark of distinc- fourth 
 tion on it ; and that for these two reasons, partly because "^er, the 
 the three other being discovered and known, this last could 
 not but be easily known also; partly because its largeness 
 and neighbourhood rendered it sufficiently known in the 
 places and amongst the nations to whom he wrote. On 
 these considerations, Moses only tells us in short, that the 
 fourth river is Perath, or Euphrates. For the Grecians 
 changed Perath into Euphrates, adjusting this word, as 
 well as other strange words, to the genius of their own 
 tongue; and at the same time probably alluding to the 
 pleasantness d, or at least fruitfulness, of the adjacent 
 country, washed by the said river, and thought to be ren- 
 dered so pleasant or fruitful by the waters thereof. Or 
 possibly, not minding any such thing, they made Eu- 
 phrates out of Perath, as out of Tabor they made Ataby- 
 
 '' The Greek word iu(p^aiviiv sig- Virgil in liis first book of Geor- 
 
 nifies to rejoice, or to make fruit- gics, 
 
 /'?//; agreeable to the Latin ex- Quid laetas taciat segetes r 
 
 pression, Jttum facere. Whence 
 
 c a
 
 20 The Geography of the Old Testament. 
 
 PART 1. rius. We shall only observe further, that this river was 
 
 naturally the fourth in order, according to the method 
 followed by Moses in naming the four rivers relating here- 
 to; and that both it and the Tigris join together into one 
 channel, which is afterwards divided again into two chan- 
 nels, the westerly one of the two being the river Pison, the 
 easterly one the river Gihon. 
 27- Having thus discovered the four rivers mentioned by 
 
 try of Eden Moses, in reference to the earthly Paradise, or Garden of 
 was situat- Eden, it will be not difficult to assign the very situation of 
 common the country of Eden, wherein God planted the Garden of 
 
 channel of paradise. For it is evident, from the words of Moses, that 
 the four _ ' ^ ^ ' 
 
 rivers. it lay OH the single channel, which is common to all the 
 
 four rivers. For the sacred text says, that a river ivent 
 out of Eden, to water the Garden; aiidfrom thence it was 
 parted, and became into four heads. Which words mani- 
 festly imply, that in Eden the river was but one, that is, 
 that it was but a single channel; hut from thence, \. e. 
 out of Eden, it was parted, and became four heads. 
 28. The Hebrew word CD'^tTt^l rashim, which is rendered 
 
 In what T 
 
 sensetheri-in our translation heads, is, by the Seventy Interpreters, 
 may be said r^n*^^''^*^ "^PX""'* beginnings ; and so the word is elsewhere 
 to become xxsqA. in holy writ. Either signification is applicable enough 
 to the subject before us. For if it be taken in the former 
 sense, then the sacred text may denote, that the single 
 river, which was in Eden, out of it was divided intoyb?^r 
 heads, or principal channels ; by this expression excluding 
 some smaller or otherwise less considerable channels, as 
 being not the old, main, natural streams, but made after- 
 wards by the industry of man. For that there were such 
 made canals in these parts, is certain ; and it is not cer- 
 tain, but some of them might be made afore the time of 
 Moses. Of the several channels, that did or do now 
 carry the water of the Euphrates into the Tigris, it is sup- 
 posed by learned men, that that only, which runs where 
 stood the great city of Babylon, is natural. 
 29- If the original word be taken in its other sense, then 
 
 sense the the great river or single common channel, with its four 
 
 Hebrew
 
 Of I he Garden of Eden. 2 1 
 
 branches, must be considered, not in respect to the running chap. i. 
 of its waters, but in respect to its own disposition. And it^^^^^^^j"^ 
 would be very properly spoken, to say of one, who coming dered by 
 out of the garden had taken boat on this river, that hav- interpret- 
 ing sailed a while, he came to the beginning or entry of ^'■^" 
 the Euphrates or Tigris ; or (on the other side) of the 
 Pison or Gihon. The river or single channel must be 
 looked upon as an highway, crossing over a forest, and 
 which may be said from thence to divide itself into four 
 ways, whether the division be made above or below the 
 forest. 
 
 What has been said might well suffice to shew, that, 30. 
 according to the marks given by Moses, the country oi ^^^^°^^l^ 
 Eden, wherein God planted the Garden of Paradise, did situation of 
 
 ,. , . • 1 1 1 1 • 1 • the country- 
 
 he Upon the river or smgle channel, which is common to of Eden is 
 
 the four rivers so often mentioned; and that on both sides ^^^j''^'"^'' 
 
 by further 
 or it. considera- 
 
 But, besides the marks given by Moses, there are some prsT'from 
 other considerations, which tend to prove that the coun- 2 Kings 
 try of Eden, referred to by Moses, was seated in the parts ^^^ " xxx^vli. 
 we assign it. We read in 2 Kings xix. 1%. and Isaiah 12. 
 xxxvii. 12. that Sennacherib King of Assyria designing to 
 terrify Hezekiah, who had rebelled against him, boasts 
 that he had destroyed the countries of Gozan, of Haran, 
 of Rezeph, and of the children of Eden which were in 
 Telassar. The learned agree, that Gozan is the Gauzanitis, 
 a province in Mesopotamia ; that Haran and Rezeph are 
 Charrae and Rescipha, two cities in the same land of Me- 
 sopotamia; that Telassar is Talatha, a city in Babylonia, 
 placed by Ptolemy at the bottom of the common channel 
 above mentioned ; and consequently that the Eden here 
 mentioned is the same country where Moses placed Para- 
 dise, extending itself from Mesopotamia; or the joining of 
 the Euphrates and Tigris as far as to Telassar, or the part- 
 ing of the foresaid united streams again into two other 
 streams, called the rivers of Pison and Gihon. For when 
 it is said in the forecited texts, that Sennacherib destroyed 
 the children of Eden that were in TelassaVy thereby is 
 
 C3
 
 a a The Geography of the Old Testament. 
 
 PART I. plainly denoted, that Telassar lay within the borders of 
 
 Eden; and therefore Telassar or Talatha being placed by 
 
 Ptolemy just above the parting of the Pison and Gihon, 
 
 the province of Eden must extend likewise as low as 
 
 that. 
 
 31. But there is still one more sign, which will help us in 
 
 from" he' some degree to distinguish and know the situation of the 
 
 natural earthly Paradise. Such is the fruitfulness of the country, 
 
 coodncss of 
 
 the soil in and the goodness of its soil, which seems still to keep some 
 these parts, remainders of that blessing God poured upon it : for that 
 plentifulness was partly natural, and partly supernatural. 
 Moses informs us, that God, in order to make Paradise, 
 catised to grow out of the grojmd^ every tree that is pleasant 
 to the sight and good for food, Gen. ii. 9. And in another 
 place, (Gen. xiii. 10.) having a mind to express the plea- 
 santness and fertility of the soil of Sodom before its deso- 
 lation, he compares it to the Garden of the Lord; whether 
 he only meant a garden of an extraordinary beauty, ac- 
 cording to an Hebraism very ordinary in the sacred writ, 
 as some think ; or the earthly Paradise, according to the 
 most common opinion. But besides the ornaments, where- 
 with the hand of God did adorn the terrestrial Paradise in 
 an extraordinary manner, we cannot reasonably think, 
 that God should make choice of a barren and unfruitful 
 soil, wherein to plant the Garden of Paradise, rather than 
 of a country, which, considered only in its own natural 
 state, is fruitful and pleasant. Now not only Mesopotamia 
 and Ccfilesyria, but also Babylonia, (which extended itself 
 to the Persian Gulf,) and a good part of Syria, were for- 
 merly esteemed the most pleasant and fruitful countries in 
 the world. And to keep to the country of Eden, begin- 
 ning at the confluence of the Tigris and Euphrates, (which 
 •■ is near the city of Apamea, according to Ptolemy,) and so 
 going downwards towards the Persian Gulf, the country 
 on each "side is every way as beautiful and fertile as any 
 other country in Asia. We do not say, that those delights 
 are found there, which the hand of God did spread to 
 form Paradise ; nor all those that the labour of men can
 
 Of the Garden of Eden. 23 
 
 procure : but we say, that the soil is extraordinary good, chap. i. 
 and that nature hath made it capable ot" all kind of cul- 
 ture; though it be true, that it very seldom rains there, 
 and that its plentifulness is merely owing to the goodness 
 of its soil, and to the river that waters it. This we learn 
 both from the old and new historians and geographers ; 
 modern travellers particularly assuring us, that the Grand 
 Seignior has no better country, than that which lies be- 
 twixt Bagdat and Bassora ; that is, in the country for- 
 merly called Eden. And if there be some parts thereof, 
 which lie now untilled and barren, it must be imputed to 
 the want of people there at present, or else to the idleness 
 of the inhabitants. 
 
 Having by the concurrence of all the marks laid down 32. 
 by Moses, and also by other considerations already men- ^|^^^ para-' 
 tioned, (to which some more will be still added, as we disc was 
 proceed,) put it beyond all rational doubt, that the coun-^^g jQ^gg^i^j 
 try of Eden referred to by Moses did lie on the river or country of 
 single channel so frequently mentioned, it necessarily fol- on the ri- 
 lows, that the Garden of Paradise did lie on the same^^'''°''^°"^" 
 
 men chan- 
 
 river. For the sacred text expressly tells us, that Goc? nel. 
 planted the said Garden in Eden, and also that the river or 
 single channel did luater the said Garden. 
 
 It is next to be considered, whether Moses has not 33. 
 given us some intimation, in what par/ of the said country ^^^^^'g^^^ 
 of Eden the terrestrial Paradise was planted. And this he '^^^^ P'^"'^^ 
 
 . . in the east- 
 
 may be probably thought to have done, by his telling us, erly pan of 
 
 that God planted the Garden eastward in Eden. It is true ^}}f '^""^ "^ 
 
 . . . . Eden, 
 
 indeed, that it is not certainly to be determined, whether 
 
 Moses would, by the expression eastward, only give us to 
 understand, that Paradise was easterly in respect to him- 
 self, when he was writing, and in respect to the promised 
 Land ; or whether he meant, that it was in the easterly 
 part of the land of Eden. But Moses having said, that 
 Paradise was planted in the land of Eden, and this being 
 so near Arabia Petraea, where probably the Israelites then 
 were ; as they could not be well ignorant of its situation, 
 it seems to have been sufficient to have said, that Paradise 
 
 C4
 
 24 The Geography of the Old Teslavient. 
 
 PARTI, ivas in the land of Eden, to let them know, that it was 
 easterly in regard to the place they were then in, and to 
 the promised Land. Wherefore it remains, that Moses, 
 by saying the Garden was planted eastward in Eden, de- 
 signed to mark out to them, in what part or place of 
 the land of Eden Paradise was seated. And indeed it 
 seems not likely, that Moses, having undertaken to de- 
 scribe exactly the situation of this Garden, (of which he 
 in the series of his narrative gives so precise and uniform 
 marks.) after he had said, that it stood in the land of Eden, 
 should neglect to express the par/ of that land, wherein it 
 stood. Seeing then Paradise lay in the easterly part of the 
 land of Eden, and the river that watered it ran through 
 that province, before it entered into Paradise; it must ne- 
 cessarily follow, that Paradise was situated on one of the 
 turnings of this river, that goes from west to east, and pro- 
 bably at the easterly end of the southerly branch of the 
 lowest great turning, taken notice of in Ptolemy, and ex- 
 pressed in the map hereunto belonging, 
 j^' I proceed to observe, that it is rationally conceived, that 
 
 den of E- the Garden of Eden was the original of those curious 
 jj^"j^^j Qf^ gardens, which the princes of the East caused to be made, 
 the curious and by which they would represent the Garden of Eden. 
 fhe' princes Such an One was that golden garden valued at five hun- 
 of the East, J^ed talents, which Aristobulus King of the Jews pre- 
 
 and of the ' i , • , r. r i 
 
 poetical fie- sented unto Pompey, and which Pompey afterward car- 
 tions con- ^.j^j jj^ triumph, and consecrated unto Jupiter in the ca- 
 
 cerning the . . ' '■ 
 
 Fortunate pitol. This garden was called re^TrwA^ and TspTrvov, which 
 
 Eiysian *" strictness of speech is Eden, pleasure. And it is ob- 
 
 Fields, the servable, that the conformity, between the very words, 
 
 the Hespe- Garden of Eden, and Garden of Adon, seems to shew, that 
 
 rides, &c. jq ^j^q Garden of Eden was owing the rise of those gardens 
 
 consecrated to Adonis, which the Greeks, Egyptians, and 
 
 Assyrians planted in earthen vessels and silver baskets, to 
 
 adorn their houses withal, and to carry them about in 
 
 their processions : though mythologists have by their 
 
 fictions obscured the truth of the matter, and do refer the 
 
 original of the Gardens of Adonis to those lettuces,
 
 Of the Garden of Eden. 25 
 
 wherein Venus put his body newly killed. In short, there chap. i. 
 is no doubt to be made, but the Garden of Eden planted 
 by the hand of God, and that, in some respects, in a super- 
 natural manner, hath been the pattern, out of which the 
 poets have formed their Fortunate Islands, the Elysian 
 Fields, the Meadows of Pluto, the Gardens (not only of 
 Adonis already mentioned, but also) of the Hesperides, of 
 Jupiter, and Alcinous. 
 
 What we have to add further in reference to the situa- 35, 
 tion of the country and Garden of Eden, falls in with ^f Enoch 
 what we have to offer concerning the situation of the land ^"'^ '^e 
 of Nod, and the city of Enoch. The learned Bishop of Huetius's 
 Soissons has observed, that Ptolemy, in the description of °P'"'°". 
 
 ' _ •' ^ ^ concerning 
 
 Susiana, places there a city called Anuchtha; and also its situa- 
 that the syllable tha, which endeth that word, is a termi-^'°"' 
 nation pretty ordinary to the feminine nouns in the Chal- 
 dee tongue, and so is no part of the name itself. It then 
 only remains Anuch, which is without difficulty the same 
 as Enoch, or, as it is more agreeable to the Hebrew word, 
 Anoch. And from hence the learned person afore men- 
 tioned infers, that this Anuchtha, mentioned by Ptolemy, 
 is the same with the city of Enoch, mentioned by Moses ; 
 especially since Anuchtha is by Ptolemy placed on the 
 east of Eden, which agrees very well to what Moses saith 
 of the land of Nod, wherein the city of Enoch was built, 
 namely, that it was on the east of Eden, Gen. iv. 16. 
 
 Now, though this conjecture seems very plausible, in- 36. 
 somuch that I could not at first but readily embrace it ; whTch"at-"' 
 yet upon further deliberation there appeared some diffi- tenxj Hue- 
 culty, which seems to make the truth of it questionable, niom°^' 
 and which in the upshot would not give me leave to ac- 
 quiesce in the foresaid conjecture. For, first, thougli 
 Anuchtha be no other than the city of Enoch, or Anoch ; 
 yet it is far from being certain, that there was no other 
 city of that name, but that which was built by Cain, and 
 called so by him from his son Enoch, or Anoch. It is 
 most certain, that there was another Enoch, or Anoch, he- 
 sides the son of Cain ; namely, the son of Jared, and fa-
 
 26 The Geography of the Old Testametil. 
 
 PART I- ther of Methuselah, a person most remarkable for his 
 piety in the antediluvian ages; insomuch that Moses par- 
 ticularly says of him, that he walked with God, and was 
 not ; for God took him: Gen. v. i8, 2i, 24. By which 
 words is to be understood, as we learn from Heb. xi. 5. 
 that this Enoch was translated that he should not see death. 
 It is then possible, not to say probable, that the city, men- 
 tioned by Ptolemy, might take its name from Enoch, not 
 the son of Cain, but the son of Jared, and a descendant of 
 Seth, the brother of Cain ; and that it might be so named 
 from him in respect to the illustrious character he bore for 
 his piety, this being a very ancient and usual way of pay- 
 ing a veneration to the memory of persons. At least, it 
 might take its name from some other Enoch or Anoch, 
 different from both the former, and living many genera- 
 tions after; namely, after the Flood. And indeed, from 
 the consideration of the Flood there do arise some ob- 
 jections, which make it still more questionable, whether 
 the Anuchtha of Ptolemy could be the city of Enoch 
 built before the Flood ; or at least could be known to be 
 the same, and so could retain, even after the Flood, the 
 name it had before. 
 37- But there is still behind another consideration, which 
 est obfec-' weighs most with me, as overthrowing what seems most 
 tion against to favour the learned Huetius's opinion. For he espe- 
 opinion. cially observes, that the Anuchtha, so often nientioned, is 
 placed by Ptolemy on the east of Eden, exactly agreeable 
 to the situation of the land of Nod according to the sacred 
 text, Gen. iv. t6. But the word there rendered, on the east, 
 is the very same, which is also rendered by some after the 
 same manner, in the description Moses gives of the course 
 of the Hiddekel or Tigris. Which interpretation, as 
 the learned Huetius rejects in that place relating to the 
 river Hiddekel, so he should likewise reject in this place 
 relating to the land of Nod : because it may be fairly pre- 
 sumed, that Moses used the word in the same sense in both 
 places. Hereupon the Seventy Interpreters judged it but 
 reasonable to keep the same interpretation in bolh texts,
 
 Of the Garden of Eden, 27 
 
 and accordingly rendered the original word, in this place, chap. i. 
 as in the former, by the Greek word denoting, over-against, 
 or on the side of Eden, not restraining it to the eastern side 
 any more than to the western. And on the same account 
 Arias Montanus also in his version renders the Hebrew 
 word, (as in relation to the course of the Hiddekel, so) in 
 reference to the situation of the land of Nod, by the same 
 Latin word, denoting before ; which, as I have above ob- 
 served, I take with him to be the plain and primary im- 
 port of the original word. 
 
 This being so, what the learned Huetius in other cases 
 particularly, and that reasonably too, insists upon, must 
 likewise be remembered in the case before us ; namely, 
 that Moses in penning his history had regard to the place 
 where he penned it. Whence it follows, that when 
 Moses saith, that the land of Nod lay before Eden, he must 
 thereby be reasonably understood to mean, that it lay be- 
 fore Eden in respect of the place where he was writing, 
 and consequently on the ivest of Eden, namely, between 
 Eden and the parts of Arabia Petraea, or else the parts of 
 Syria adjoining to the Lacus Asphaltites, or Dead Sea. 
 
 On these considerations I cannot but incline to the opi- 38. 
 nion of the learned Grotius, who supposes Cain to have^^p°,|"^^ 
 been doomed by God to withdraw into the deserts of Ara- concerning 
 bia, which joins on to Eden westward, and so properly lay js^od. 
 before Eden, in respect to the place where Moses wrote. 
 Indeed, since one part of Cain's punishment was banish- 
 ment, and since, banishment being designed as a punish- 
 ment, it is more proper, and so more usual, for persons ba- 
 nished to be sent, not into a pleasant and fruitful country, 
 as is Susiana, wherein Ptolemy places Anuchtha, but into 
 some unpleasant and unfruitful country ; these considera- 
 tions do, I think, much favour the opinion of Grotius, that 
 Arabia Deserta was the country, into which Cain was 
 sentenced to withdraw. And to the barrenness of this 
 part of Arabia may perhaps appertain the curse pro- 
 nounced by God against Cain, Gen. iv. 11, 12. And now 
 art thou cursed from the earth, which hath opened her month
 
 i8 The Geography of the Old Testament. 
 
 PART I. to receive thy brother's blood from thy hand. IVheji thou 
 
 ■"""""""" tillest the ground, it shall not henceforth yield unto thee her 
 
 strength. In short, if the reader sees cause to prefer Gro- 
 
 tius's opinion, then he must of consequence look on the 
 
 land of Nod to be Arabia Deserta, or at least to be seated 
 
 therein, and so to be part of it. If he prefers Huetius's 
 
 opinion, that the Anuchtha mentioned by Ptolemy is the 
 
 same with the city of Enoch built by Cain, then he must 
 
 of consequence look on the land of Nod to be seated in 
 
 Susiana. 
 
 ^g. I shall only observe further, that as to the name itself. 
 
 It is uncer- j.|^gj.g ^^g ^^ remainders of it to be found. Indeed it is 
 
 tain, whe- 
 ther the not certain, that the word Nod should be taken for a pro- 
 
 is°to be° P^*" "S^n^^ • "syj ^t ^s actually rendered by some inter- 
 taken for a preters as an appellative, denoting a fugitive, or one that 
 namror an ^•^ banished, which very well expresses the condition 
 appellative, wherein Cain was, as appears from Gen. iv. 12. 14. A fu- 
 gitive shalt thou be, &c. In a word, it is not to be doubted, 
 but, if the word Nod is to be understood as a proper 
 name, the land of Nod was so called, as being the land 
 wherein the fugitive Cain lived. 
 40. And thus much for the places of the antediluvian earth. 
 
 The con- nientioned in sacred history. 
 
 elusion. •'
 
 Of the Mountahis of Ararat. 39 
 
 CHAP. II. 
 
 Of the Mountains of Ararat, whereon the Ark of Noah 
 rested, upon the abating of the Flood: together with some 
 considerations concerning the Place where the Ark was 
 made, the Wood it was made of, and the Form it was 
 made in. 
 
 -L HE short account of the antediluvian world, given in l. 
 the six first chapters of Genesis, is followed, in the seventh ^°f^'^ 
 
 , . , , . . ^""k* upon 
 
 and eighth chapters of the same book, with an account the abating 
 of the Deluge or Flood : upon the abating whereof the "Js^ted on°'^' 
 sacred historian tells us, that the Ark rested upon Methemoun- 
 mountains of Ararat, Gen. viii. 4. It is therefore to bej^^arat. 
 enquired, which are the mountains of Ararat ; and then, 
 in what particular place of the said mountains the Ark 
 did so rest. 
 
 As to the first query, it may not be unuseful to take 2. 
 notice, in the first place, of a palpable error, concerning ,j^g'gj|^^ ° 
 the situation of these mountains, which occurs in some 'hat the 
 verses, which go under the name of Sibylline Oracles, of Ararat 
 Ihere we are told, that the mountains of Ararat lay^erein 
 in Phrygia; which is no ways reconcileable to the sa- near the* 
 cred text. The learned Bochart has happily lis;ht on the '^"^ "^P^" 
 
 ^^ J ° mea, sur- 
 
 ground of this mistake ; which arose in all likelihood named Ci- 
 from the situation of a city in Phrygia, called Apamea 
 Cibotus. The word Cibotus is a Greek word, denoting 
 in that language an Ark; and it is the very same word, 
 which the Seventy Interpreters make use of to denote the 
 Ark of Noah. Now from the city Apamea having the 
 surname of Cibotus given it, the author of those verses 
 (falsely attributed to the Sibyls) inferred, that the Ark of 
 Noah rested there on an adjoining hill, and that this was 
 the occasion, that gave the surname of Cibotus to Apa- 
 mea. But the inference is by no means conclusive, foras- 
 much as there might be other reasons for imposing that
 
 30 The Geography of the Old Testament. 
 
 PART I. surname on the city forementioned, namely this, (as is ob- 
 served by the learned Bochart,) that the city was inclosed 
 in the shape of an Ark by three rivers that surround it. 
 In like manner, the same learned person observes, that the 
 port of Alexandria was called Cibotus from the bay that 
 environed it. 
 
 3. Let us now proceed to discover the true mountains of 
 The moun- Ai-ai-at. It is then, I think, universally agreed by the 
 rarat lay in learned, that the word Ararat does in the sacred Scrip- 
 
 rmenia. j.^,.gg denote the country called by the Greeks, and from 
 them by other western nations, Armenia. Whence the 
 most received opinion is this, that the mountains of Ararat 
 amount to the same as the mountains of Armenia, and so 
 lie within the country of Armenia. 
 
 4. But some contend, that though Ararat be taken in 
 have the Scripture to denote Armenia, yet the mountains of Ara- 
 mountains rat may extend =1 beyond the country of Ararat. That 
 
 of Ararat to ... , „ "^ . ,.,,,. . , 
 
 extend be- flighty ndge oi mountams, which, begmnmg m the 
 
 yondAr- Lesser Asia, runs as far as the Old India, (now-a-days 
 menia. ' ^ ^ ' ^ •' 
 
 called the East Indies,) by the ancients commonly called 
 
 Mount Taurus, might very well, say these, be called 
 by Moses the mountains of Ararat, because that was 
 the first country of the Greater Asia, by which they 
 passed, and where they were of greater note than they 
 had been formerly. Just as some hills with us in Eng- 
 land are called Malvern hills, because they are highest 
 near that village, though they extend themselves into 
 other lordships. Hence the favourers of this opinion do 
 not scruple to extend the mountains of Ararat as far 
 as to Mount Caucasus, in the confines of Tartary, Persia, 
 and India. 
 
 5. Having laid before the reader the two opinions, which 
 Twoopi- (Jivide the learned, as to the situation of the mountains of 
 
 nions con- i i t i i • t 
 
 cerningthe Ararat thcmsclves, 1 proceed now to shew, m ivriat part 
 part of the ^^ these motmtains the Ark of Noah is supposed to have 
 
 mountains _ _ ^ '' 
 
 ofArarat, rested, according to each opinion. And from what is 
 
 where the 
 
 Ark rested. 
 
 See Heyliii's Cosinogi^. p. 78. edit, A. D. 1665.
 
 Of the Mountains of Ararat. 31 
 
 alleged on both sides as to this matter, the judicious chap. II. 
 reader will be able to infer, which opinion is best 
 grounded, and therefore preferable. 
 
 As to that opinion, which takes the mountains of„ "•. 
 Ararat to be situated withm the country of Ararat ornionis, 
 Armenia, the followers of it (some very few excepted) ^^^^ ^^\^i, 
 do agree, that the Ark of Noah rested in that part of on the 
 the mountains of Ararat, which in Greek and Latin j^^'^^^^i^j, 
 writers is styled the Gordiaean mountains, (or, with some 
 variation, the mountains of the Cordyaei, Cordueni, Car- 
 duchi, Curdi, &c.) and which lies near the spring of the 
 Tigris, at most not very far from it. For the proof 
 hereof many testimonies of the ancients might be brought, 
 some of which tell us, that the relicks of the Ark were 
 in that place ; and also that in the neighbourhood there 
 was a town called Cemain or Thamana, so called from 
 those eight persons, which came out of the Arkj for 
 the Hebrew word for eight is t?2U7 shemen ; as also that 
 the very place, where the said persons came out of the 
 Ark, was by the Armenians distinguished by a word im- 
 porting the same, as by a proper name. Further, it is 
 probably supposed, that Noah built the Ark in the coun- 
 try of Eden, (of which more anon;) and since the Deluge 
 was not only caused by rains, but also by the overflowing 
 of the ocean, as the Scripture tells us, Gen. vii. 11. saying, 
 that the fountains of the great deep were broken up; this 
 overflowing, which came from the Persian Sea, running 
 from the south, and meeting the Ark, of course carried 
 it away to the north towards the Gordiaean Mountains. 
 And the learned and ingenious Bishop Huetius has ob- 
 served, that, considering the figure of the Ark, which 
 made it not so fit for speedy sailing, and also its heaviness, 
 which made it draw much water, the space of an hundred 
 and fifty days, which was the time the Deluge lasted, was 
 but a proportionable time for the moving of the Ark, 
 from the place where it was made, to the Gordiaean 
 Mountains. So that both the situation of these moun- 
 tains in respect to the course of the waters of the Deluge,
 
 32 The Geography of the Old Testament. 
 
 PART 1. and also its distance from the place where Noah lived and 
 built the Ark, do jointly conspire to render this hypothesis 
 still more probable. 
 7' Let us now see, what place for the resting of the Ark 
 
 toTheoth^r'^ assigned by those, who will have the mountains of 
 opinion, Ararat to extend beyond the country of Ararat or Ar- 
 rested on menia; and that is the top of Mount Caucasus in the 
 M^*°''°^ confines of Tartary, Persia, and India. Among the ar- 
 Caucasus, gumcnts made use of for this opinion, the chief both in 
 fines ^of°" authority and weight is acknowledged, by ^ some of its 
 Tartary, defenders, to be that which is drawn from the sacred 
 India.* text, Gen. xi. 2. where it is said, that, as they went from 
 the' East, they found a plain in the land of Shinaar y and 
 they dwelt there. If then they came from the East, as 
 the text plainly says,, it rhight well be, that they came 
 from those parts of Asia on the south of Caucasus, which 
 lie east of Shinaar, though somewhat bending to the 
 north ; but it is impossible, say the defenders of this 
 last opinion, that they should come from the Gordiaean 
 Mountains in the Greater Armenia, which lie not only 
 full north of Shinaar, but many degrees to the west. 
 To this is added an old and constant tradition among 
 the inhabitants of the region near Caucasus, formerly 
 called Margiana, that a great vineyard in this country 
 was of Noah's planting, after that he was descended 
 from the adjacent mountain, according to what we read, 
 Gen. ix. 20. 
 g Such are the two opinions concerning the place, where 
 
 Theformer Noah's Ark rested; and such are, at least, the chief ar- 
 seems the gumcnts, on which each is founded. The reader sees, 
 most pro- j]^-^{ gach lays claim to a tradition, as one of its sup- 
 
 bable ; and , ... , . 
 
 as such is ports. It is then to be considered, which tradition carries 
 
 feTelve!}^ in it greatest evidence, as to matter of fact. Taking it 
 
 for granted, that there was such a vineyard in Margiana, 
 
 as is mentioned by one side ; yet this will by no means 
 
 amount to an evident, or indeed any proof, that the 
 
 ^ See Heylin's Cosni. \>. 7.
 
 Of the Ark of Noah. ^-^ 
 
 Ark rested in the neighbouring mountain of Caucasus, CHAP. ii. 
 because that the said vineyard might have been planted 
 by another beside Noah. But, supposing it true, that 
 in the more early ages of the world, after the Flood, 
 there were to be seen on the Gordiaean Mountains the 
 remainders of a large vessel, which by the make of them 
 might reasonably be conjectured to have been relicks of 
 the Ark ; this seems to carry in it some good evidence, 
 that the Ark rested there; because it cannot be well 
 conceived, why any such vessel should have been built 
 there, or how it should have come thither, if not built 
 there, but by the waters of the Flood. Again, since 
 the Ark is reasonably supposed to have been built some- 
 where in Eden, or the parts adjoining, (of which more 
 by and by), it is to be considered, whether Mount Cau- 
 casus is not at too great a distance for such a vessel, 
 as the Ark was, to be carried to, in the space of the 
 flood's rising. Further, it is to be considered, that the 
 waters of the Ocean, breaking in upon the land in these 
 parts from the south, must naturally carry the Ark 
 northward; whereas the place of Mount Caucasus as- 
 signed for that, which the Ark rested on, is not only 
 further northward, but also a great deal more eastward, 
 than that of the Gordiaean Mountains is westward, in 
 respect of the place whence the Ark was carried. Fur- 
 ther, it may be rationally conjectured, that the waters of 
 the Caspian Sea, as well as of the main Ocean, d'd at 
 that time overflow ; and therefore ran from the Caspian 
 Sea itself, as otherways, so southwards and eastwards ; 
 and consequently by their thus running must naturally 
 keep off" the Ark from coming to Mount Caucasus, at 
 least that part of it, where the Ark is said to have 
 rested. This will clearly appear to any one, that views 
 the situation of the Caspian Sea, and the forementioned 
 part of Mount Caucasus in the map hereunto belonging, 
 or any other of the same parts. But now the overflowing 
 of the Caspian Sea, from the north or north-east, meeting 
 with the overflowing of the Ocean from the south, would 
 
 VOL. I. D
 
 34 Tlie Geography of the Old Testament. 
 
 PART I. give some resistance thereto, and thereby retard the motion 
 of" the Ark, and so make it move more slowly northward 
 than otherwise it would have done; and not only so, 
 but would also, as coming from the north-east, naturally 
 turn the motion of the Ark somewhat westward, and 
 so as it were tend to direct it to the Gordiaean Moun- 
 tains. So far is the westerly situation of these mountains 
 from being an argument against the Ark's resting thereon ; 
 whereas the situation of Mount Caucasus near the Cas- 
 pian Sea makes it truly impossible (without a miracle 
 or supernatural means ; which the divine wisdom thinks 
 not fit to make use of, where there is no necessity,) for 
 the Ark to have been brought thither, upon the sup- 
 position of the overflowing of the Caspian Sea, which 
 seems to be no other than what reason requires to be sup- 
 posed. Once more, if the Malvern Hills, though they ex- 
 tend themselves into other lordships, are so called, because 
 they are highest near that village ; then in parity of reason 
 it is to be supposed, that the mountains of Ararat, though 
 they extend themselves to other countries besides Ararat 
 or Armenia, yet were so called, because they were highest 
 in Ararat or Armenia. And if so, then it is most likely, 
 that the Ark rested in Armenia ; because it is most likely, 
 not to say plain, from Scripture, that the Ark rested on 
 the highest part of the mountains of Ararat. As for the 
 objection hereto drawn from Gen. xi. 2. it will be shewn 
 then to be of no force, when we come to speak of the 
 land of Shinaar. Upon the whole, therefore, the former 
 opinion, that the Ark rested on the Gordiaean Moun- 
 tains, is most probable ; and, as such, is most generally 
 received. 
 9. To what has been offered concerning the mountains of 
 
 The place Ararat, whereon the Ark rested, it will perhaps be not 
 
 where the ' . 
 
 Ark was unacceptable to the reader, to add somewhat concernmg 
 
 proba'bw^n *^^ place OY Country, wherein the Ark is probably con- 
 
 the land of jectured to have been made by Noah ; though the said 
 
 place is no where so much as mentioned in Scripture. It 
 
 is then probable, that when Adam and Eve were turned
 
 Of the Ark of Noah. 35 
 
 out of the Garden of Eden, they were still permitted to CHAP. 11. 
 continue in the country of Eden. And it is further pro- "-~-^— 
 bable, that upon the increase of mankind, though other 
 families were obliged to move off into other parts, yet the 
 eldest son always remained where the first settlement was 
 made, namely, in the country of Eden. Whence it ra- 
 tionally follows, that Noah, as being the eldest son in a 
 lineal descent from Seth, did live in the said country ; and 
 consequently that there it was that he built the Ark. And 
 this opinion is further confirmed, not only from the si- 
 tuation of this country in respect to the Ocean, whence 
 the waters of the Flood chiefly came, and in respect to the 
 mountains of Ararat, whither by the said waters the Ark 
 was carried ; but also from the testimonies of ancient 
 writers, and likewise from the sort of wood, of which the 
 Ark was made. 
 
 The wood is in Scripture called Gopher- wood. Gen. vi. JO- 
 14. What sort of wood this is, the learned Fuller, our^ooj^of 
 countryman, seems to have been very happy in his con- which the 
 jecture. He has observed, that from the Greek word made, pro- 
 xu7roipi(T(Tos, cyparissus, take away the termination, and ^^^'^ ^^^ 
 there will remam xvirup, cypar, which has all the radical monly call- 
 letters of the word gopher, and differs but little from it in ^'^ Cypress- 
 ° ' . wood. 
 
 sound. Now, as from the Hebrew word ^D)l, gopher, is 
 derived the Greek word KVTrocpta-a-os, cyparissus, so from 
 this is derived the Latin word cypressus, and from it 
 our English word cypress; so that by what is called 
 gopher-wood in Scripture, we may reasonably understand 
 what we call cypress-wood. Nor is the opinion of our 
 learned and ingenious countryman founded barely on 
 etymology, but it is also confirmed by other consider- 
 ations. As first, that cypress is a very lasting or durable 
 wood, not apt to breed worms or rot. This is taken 
 notice of by several authors : I shall here insert but one 
 passage observed by the learned Bochart, which occurs 
 in the second book of Thucydides, where mention is made 
 of Aapvaxej xuTrapjVo-jvaj, cypress-arks, or coffins, wherein 
 the Athenians were wont to put the bones of those that 
 
 D 2
 
 36 The Geography of the Old Testament. 
 
 PART I. died in the wars for their country. And the Scholiast 
 
 observes upon the place, that the said boxes or coffins 
 were made of cypress, because it was not liable to rot. 
 Now, upon this account it is very likely that the Ark of 
 Noah was made of the same wood; forasmuch as some 
 relicks of it remained for several thousand years after, as 
 is attested by a great number of ancient writers. Secondly, 
 the cypress-wood is not only durable, but (which makes 
 more for our purpose) fit for shipping. Testimonies hereof 
 are cited by the learned Bochart out of Plato, Plutarch, 
 Vegetius, &c. Lastly, Babylonia and the parts adjoining 
 did abound with cypress. Hence the fleet of Alexander 
 the Great, that was made at Babylon, was made all of it of 
 cypress-wood ; as we learn from the historian Arrianus j 
 who adds, that there was in those parts want of other 
 wood fit for shipping. But now it has been above shewn, 
 that the country of Eden lay in Babylonia and the parts 
 adjoining, on the other side of the common channel of 
 the Euphrates and Tigris ; whence those considerations do 
 mutually strengthen one the other; namely, the Ark 
 being made of gopher or cypress-wood strengthens the 
 opinion, that it was made in the country of Eden, and 
 consequently, that Noah lived there afore the Flood ; and 
 on the other hand, the probability (on other accounts 
 above mentioned) of Noah's living in Eden before the 
 Flood, does add strength to the opinion, that the Ark was 
 made of gopher-wood. 
 11. Having acquainted the reader with the probable con- 
 
 The struc- jectures there are, both concerning the place where, and 
 make of the wood of which the Ark of Noah was made; I shall 
 and its ca- ^^^ ^" *^® ^^^* place some observations of the learned and 
 paciousness ingenious Bishop Wilkins, concerning the structure or 
 all the fis^'*'^ of the Ark, and its suitableness to the end, for 
 creatures which the Ark was built. Concerning: the structure of 
 
 said to be . , . ^ • ^ 
 
 therein the Ark Moses gives us this account. Gen. vi. 15, 16. 
 
 w?h*'"h*' ''^'^"'^ ^^ the fashion thoti shalt make it of: the length of the 
 
 necessaries. Ark shall be three hundred cubits, the breadth of it fifty 
 
 cubitSy and the height of it thirty cubits. Ji ivindow shall
 
 Of the Ark of Noah. 
 
 11 
 
 Multiply 
 
 by 
 
 Product 300. 
 
 thou make to the Ark, and in a cubit shall thou finish it chap. ii. 
 above; and the door of the Ark shall thon set in the side 
 thereof: with lower, second, and third stories shall thou 
 make it. Now Bishop Wilkins agrees with Buteo (who 
 had before wrote a particular tract of the Ark) in sup- 
 posing the cubit here mentioned to have been a foot 
 and a half long. According to which proportion, the 
 length of the Ark was four hundred and fifty feet, the 
 breadth seventy-five feet, and the height forty-five. So 
 that the Ark was six times as long as it was broad ; and 
 ten times as long as it was high ; and the whole capa- 
 city thereof was four hundred and fifty thousand solid (or 
 cubical) cubits; or one 
 million five hundred 
 and eighteen thousand 
 seven hundred and fif- 
 ty cubical feet: which 
 was space abundantly 
 enough to contain all 
 that was to be con- 
 tained in the Ark. For 
 it appears from the 
 sacred text, that the 
 Ark consisted of three 
 stories ; and the whole 
 height of the Ark 
 being thirty cubits or 
 forty-five feet, it may 
 be well supposed, that 
 the height was equally 
 
 divided among the three stories; and so each story was 
 ten cubits or fifteen feet high, only deducting one cubit, 
 or a foot and a half, for the slope of the roof or cover of 
 the upper story. It is also rationally agreed among in- 
 terpreters, that the lowest story was allotted to four-footed 
 animals, as most commodious for them ; the middle story 
 for their provender, or what they were to live upon ; and 
 the upper story, partly to birds and what they were to eat, 
 
 D 3 
 
 Multiply 
 
 Cubits 
 Multiply length 300-\ 
 by breadth 50 i 
 
 Product 15000 
 Mult, by height 30 
 
 Feet. 
 
 450 
 
 75 
 
 33760 
 45 
 
 Capacity 450000^ 
 Solid cubits 
 
 L 1518750 
 Cubical feet.
 
 38 The Geography of the Old Testament. 
 
 PART I. and partly to Noah and his family, together with their 
 utensils. Now, that each story was spacious enough to 
 receive what was to be put therein according to the fore- 
 mentioned order, may be clearly demonstrated after this 
 manner. 
 12. In the first place there shall be exhibited a table. 
 
 The parti- therein shall be comprehended these followine; particulars. 
 
 culars con- '^ _ ° ^ 
 
 tained in I. The several sxirts oi four-footed animals, that were to be 
 inc table!^ taken into the Ark. a. The number of each sort, viz. two 
 of each sort of unclean, and seven of each sort of clean, 
 3. The several sorts of meat or food they commonly eat, or 
 live upon. 4. The proportion (as well as it can be guessed 
 at) of the other animals to the size of a beef, or else sheep 
 or wolf. 5thly and lastly, The room to be allowed for 
 stables, or places to hold the said animals. Where note, 
 that the number of feet set down in the table are to be 
 understood only as to length ; the breadth c being speci- 
 fied below, in reference to the general partitions of the 
 Ark. All these particulars shall be exhibited under one 
 view in the following table, though not just in the same 
 order they are here mentioned. 
 
 « See §. 16, 19, and 20.
 
 ,'Vl,i.OTy (■/(■• .Ip, 
 
 . I niaiujhl o/' the Inside of the AHK. 
 
 •iu;i /,> r/ic .tfvtnr/ Cie,iliir,:r t/ienin eonl„meii. aii^ to M<- /(■«■. 
 
 r/i< F,;,J l/,ex l,x,;/,„ 
 
 . i Draiu/ht of Ihc Out side of the ,\RK .
 
 THE TABLE. 
 
 39 
 
 
 
 r- y 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 I 
 
 P 
 
 ^ Beasts which live 
 on hay. 
 
 O o 
 
 ft! i~t 
 
 .^2" 
 
 !r GO 
 
 5- 
 
 Beasts which live 
 
 on fruits, roots, 
 
 and insects. 
 
 o O 
 
 ^^ 
 
 ft. -. 
 -a o 
 
 • 3 
 
 
 
 Name. 
 
 
 Feet. 
 
 
 Name. 
 
 
 Feet. 
 
 
 ! Horse 
 
 3 
 
 20 
 
 2 
 
 Swine 
 
 4-) 
 
 
 
 5 Ass 
 
 2 
 
 12 
 
 2 
 
 Baboon 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 > Camel 
 
 4 
 
 20 
 
 2 
 
 Ape 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 } Elephant 
 
 8 
 
 36 
 
 2 
 
 Monkey -\ 
 
 
 
 
 ' Beef 
 
 7 
 
 40 
 
 2 
 
 Pigritia f i 
 
 
 
 
 " Urusf 
 
 7 
 
 40 
 
 2 
 
 Porcupine ( 
 
 '' 
 
 20 
 
 
 ' Bisons f 
 
 7 
 
 40 
 
 2 
 
 Hedgehog 1 
 
 
 Bonasus f 
 
 7 
 
 40 
 
 2 
 
 Squirrel \ 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 ^ Bubalus t 
 7 Sheep 
 
 7 
 
 n 
 
 40 
 
 2 
 2 
 
 Guinea-pig -' 
 
 Ant-bear '^ 2 
 
 
 
 ^ Strepsiceros f 
 
 1^ 
 
 30 
 
 2 
 
 Tatu, or Armadillo 2 
 
 
 
 7 Broadtailed Sheep ^ 
 ' Goat 
 
 iJ 
 
 
 2 
 
 Tortoise 
 
 2J 
 
 
 
 
 21 
 
 20 
 
 
 7 Ibexf 
 
 1 1 
 
 30 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 7 Rupicapraf 
 
 If 
 
 
 
 ^J 1 
 
 
 7 Gazellus f 
 
 iJ 
 
 
 
 
 o 5^ 
 
 t^ C/3 
 
 
 7 Alcis t 
 7 Red-Deer 
 7 Fallow-Dcer 
 
 4 
 3 
 
 30 
 30 
 20 
 
 5- 
 
 Animals which 
 live on Flesh. 
 
 p g 
 
 
 
 7 Rein-Deer i^ 
 
 3 
 
 20 
 
 ;i 
 
 
 r^-^ 
 
 r-^-v 
 
 
 7 Roe 
 
 ^b) 
 
 36 
 
 
 Name. 
 
 
 Feet. 
 
 
 2 Rhinoceros 
 
 
 2 
 2 
 2 
 2 
 
 2 
 
 Lion 
 Bear 
 Tiger 
 Pard 
 Ounce "^ 
 
 4 
 
 10 
 
 
 2 Camelopardalis f 
 2 Hare ") 
 2 Rabbet i 
 2 Marmotto<^ J 
 
 
 30 
 
 4 
 3 
 3 
 
 2 
 
 10 
 
 8 
 8 
 6 
 
 
 
 92 
 
 514 
 
 2 
 
 Cat -J 
 
 Civet-Cat J 
 Ferret 
 
 2 
 
 6 
 
 
 ' 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 Pole- Cat 
 
 
 
 
 =• Ovis lati-cauda. '' Rangifer. 
 
 2 
 
 Marten 
 
 
 
 *- 
 
 Mus Alpinus. * Tamendua. 
 Lynx. fPutorius. 8 Lutra. 
 
 2 
 
 Stoate f > 
 
 3 
 
 6 
 
 
 Taxus. ' Lupus Aureus. These 
 
 2 
 
 Wees el 
 
 
 
 
 ire the Latin names, set down in the 
 
 2 
 
 Castor or Beaver 
 
 
 
 
 able in the Synopsis Criticorum, as 
 
 2 
 
 Otter 
 
 
 
 
 inswering to the English names here 
 
 2 
 
 Tina- 
 
 2 
 
 6 
 
 
 used. The Latin names with this 
 
 uu^ 
 
 2 
 
 6 
 
 
 mark t are such as we have no cer- 
 
 2 
 
 Wolf 
 
 
 
 
 tain names for in English, except what 
 
 2 
 
 Fox -^ 
 
 
 
 
 ire made from the Latin, as Ure, Bo- 
 
 2 
 
 Badger '^ 
 
 2 
 
 6 
 
 
 nase. Bubal, &c. 
 
 2 
 
 2 
 
 Jackall ' I 
 Caraguya ^ 
 
 
 
 
 27 
 
 72 
 
 
 
 
 
 '
 
 40 The Geography of the Old Testament. 
 
 PART I. In the foregoing table there is not inserted the mule, 
 
 ~ because it is not a distinct species, but a mungrel breed. 
 
 Why some And although it be very likely, that the urus^ bisons, hona- 
 
 animais are^^^ and huhalus are not distinct species from the cominon 
 
 omitted in ' . , . . . 
 
 the forego- hos OX beef, but dift'er chiefly in this, that the latter is 
 ingta e. j-^^-j^g^ whereas the others are all wild; as also that the 
 several differences reckoned up under the sheep and goat, 
 (as the strepsiceros, and broad- tailed sheep under the for- 
 mer ; the ibex, rupicapra, gnzellus, and aids under the 
 latter, are not distinct species from the sheep and goat,) 
 yet they are set down in the table, as if they were distinct 
 species, the better to take away all pretence for cavilling; 
 and whereas they are clean, there are seven of each sort 
 supposed to be received into the Ark. As to the phoca, 
 {sea-calf or seal,) the morsus, the crocodile, the senembi, 
 and sea-tortoise, these, according to the testimony of 
 most approved authors, can live a long while in waters, 
 and therefore are not mentioned in the foregoing table, as 
 taken into the Ark : not but that there will remain abun- 
 dantly room enough for them, as will appear by and by, 
 was it requisite to suppose them taken into the Ark. As 
 to the serpentine kind, the snake, the viper, the ccscilia, or 
 sloe-worm, the lizard, the frog, the toad, and what they 
 live upon, there will be room enough left in the lower 
 part of all the Ark ; namely, between the floor on which 
 were the four-footed animals, and the bottom-boards or 
 planks, of which the very bottom of the Ark was made; 
 since betwixt these it is likely there was the distance of 
 three or four feet at least. As for the smaller creatures, 
 (as the mouse, rat, mole, and insects,) they might be in 
 several places of the Ark ; nor is there need to assign any 
 peculiar places for them to abide in, when they might 
 easily find places for themselves. 
 14. From what has been said, it appears that no reasonable 
 
 amt of objection can be made against the foregoing table, as if it 
 flesh might were defective in its catalogue of animals or animalcules, 
 beasts that Contained in the Ark. In the next place shall be con- 
 live on sidered the provision requisite to subsist the forementioned
 
 Of the Jrk of Noah. 41 
 
 creatures, contained in the Ark. And though it be pro- chap. ii. 
 bable from comparing Gen. i. 29,30. with Gen. ix. 3. that flesh dur- 
 before the Flood brutes as well as men lived on the fruits ing their 
 of the earth ; yet, to take away all grounds of cavilling, ^rk/" 
 it shall be supposed, that those creatures, which are raven- 
 ous now, were so from the beginning ; and therefore it 
 shall be considered, what kind of meat was suitable for 
 them, and how much would suffice them for the time 
 they were in the Ark. Now it is well known, that such 
 beasts as chew the cud do not eat so much as such as are 
 ravenous, and do not chew the cud. And out of the fore- 
 going table it appears, that it may be rationally supposed, 
 that there were but twenty pair of ravenous creatures, that 
 live upon flesh, taken into the Ark; which upon a fair 
 estimation may be reckoned equal to twenty-seven wolves, 
 as to the proportion both of their bodies and also their 
 stomachs. However, for greater certainty, they shall be 
 supposed equal to thirty wolves. It shall also be supposed 
 that six wolves every day devour a whole sheep; and 
 surely it will be easily granted, that this is no short, but a 
 plentiful allowance. According to this calculation it will 
 follow, that thirty wolves devour five sheep every day; 
 and so, that the quantity of five sheep was to be given 
 
 every day, for a whole year, 
 to the ravenous creatures in 
 Days ma year - - 363 ^^^^ ^^j^^ supposed tO be 
 Sheep each day - - 5 , . , , . 
 
 equal m stomach to thirty 
 
 In a year 1825 wolves : whence, the quan- 
 
 tity of flesh, given to the 
 
 said animals in the said time, 
 will amount to the quantity of one thousand eight hun- 
 dred and twenty-five sheep. 
 
 This being laid down and granted, there will be abun- 15. 
 dantly room enough in the lower story of the Ark, for to sto^y of the 
 receive all the four-footed beasts, that were to be kept in ^^^ ^apa- 
 the Ark, for the preservation of their kind ; and also for ing all the 
 one thousand eight hundred and twenty-five sheep, to be |^°"^'^°°^^^ 
 given to the ravenous beasts for to eat, at the above-men- were to be 
 
 there.
 
 42 The Geography of the Old Testament. 
 
 PART I. tioned rate of five sheep a day. And though nothing could 
 be well objected, should the room allowed to the four- 
 footed beasts be but strait, (as is usual in ships that go long 
 voyages ;) yet there is no need for it, and therefore we 
 shall allow room abundantly enough for them in any 
 posture ; namely, to stand or lie, or turn round in, and 
 also for to hold their dung a whole year round. 
 16. That the lower story of the Ark was sufficient for all 
 
 '^^ 'Vb"^" these uses, will plainly appear from the diagram or draught 
 thediag;ram hereunto belonging : wherein at the two ends of the Ark 
 belonging: there is a partition, marked A A, which is fifteen feet 
 whereby is broad. And, whereas the Ark was seventy-five feet broad, 
 in eight cach of the partitions of the ends may be divided into five 
 partitions Jesger partitions, each fifteen feet square ; and consequently 
 of the Ark each capable of holding thirty-six sheep. For a place five 
 "Sn'ed feet square is sufficient to 
 i288 sheep, hold very well four sheep : „ 
 
 forasmuch as the san)e will Length 5 
 
 contain twenty-five square Breadth 5 
 
 feet: and so each of the four „ ~ 
 
 1 •!! 1 1 square 2a 
 
 sheep will have somewhat 
 
 above six square feet to it- 
 
 tc. -n 1 Slieep sou. f. f. squ. 
 
 self. But now the same pro- ^, ^ \^^ .^^ 
 
 portion, that twenty-five ^ 
 
 square feet bear to four 
 
 sheep, does a place of fifteen feet square bear to thirty-six 
 sheep : and therefore each of the lesser partitions is very 
 capable of holding the number of sheep we assign to it. 
 And consequently, when 
 
 each end of the Ark can Feet. 
 contain five such lesser par- Length - - 15 
 , J .,, Breadth - - 15 
 titions, each end will con- 
 
 tain five times thirty-six Square 225 
 
 sheep. But because there "_ 
 
 must be room allowed ei- Sh. Sq. f. Sh. Sq. f. 
 
 ther for a pair of stairs or As 4 to 25, so 36 to 225. 
 
 ladder, therefore one of the For 25 x 36 = 900, & 4) 900 (225. 
 five lesser partitions at each
 
 Of the Ark of Noah. 43 
 
 end shall be allowed for that purpose : and then there will chap. ii. 
 
 remain but four of them at ■ 
 
 each end for to hold the 
 
 sheep. And these eight, ^^^^^P - - . . 35 
 
 , , ,. , . . , Partitions - - _ 8 
 holding thirty-six sheep a- 
 
 piece, will hold in all two 288 
 
 hundred and eighty-eight 
 
 sheep. 
 
 Besides these partitions at the ends, there are in the dia- ^^' 
 
 gram five spaces, marked BB, three running the breadth for going to 
 
 of the Ark, (namely, one at each end, and one in the'^lf^^"^^ 
 
 ^ •' . stables or 
 
 middle,) and two running the length of the Ark; which apartments 
 are left for going conveniently to the several stables or blasts. 
 apartments, wherein the several four-footed beasts were 
 kept; and which we supposed to be seven feet broad, each 
 of them. 
 
 The four greater partitions on the sides, marked CC, ^8. 
 and designed for stables or lesser partitions for the said the^owl°^ 
 beasts, are each eighteen feet broad, and about two hun- ^^°'^>' f'- 
 dred feet long. The two greater partitions in the middle, six greater 
 marked DD, are each twenty-five feet broad, and also P^"'^'""^* 
 about two hundred feet long. 
 
 Now let us assign the two ig. 
 
 greater partitions in the _ _ Feet- The^pam- 
 
 middle to the sheep. Since „ , , ^ signed to 
 , r ^ , c c ^ Breadth ... 35 (^e sheep. 
 a place 01 twenty-nve reet "^ 
 
 square will hold very well an Square feet 623 
 
 hundred sheep; and since the 
 
 two greater middle parti- Sheep. Sq. f. Sheep. Sq. f. 
 
 tions are divided into sixteen ^' ^ '"^ ^^' '° ^^ *« 623 
 
 1 .■.- f.u . u- For 23 X 100 = 2500: 
 
 lesser partitions or that big- a ^ .-. ^.-^^ /^^. 
 '^., . ° And 4) 2300 (625. 
 ness, all these lesser parti- 
 tions will hold sixteen hun- Sheep assigned to carni-i 
 dred sheep; to which if vorous animals /1825 
 
 there be added the former ^'Se?&ct^'^' '"" } r 
 two hundred eighty-eight 
 sheep, the sum of all the 
 sheep will be one thousand 
 
 1832
 
 44 The Geography of the Old Testament. 
 
 PART I. eight hundred eighty-eight. ^^^^ 
 
 : Which sum does exceed the SubLct - - 1832 
 
 number of sheep assigned to 
 
 be given to the other beasts ^^^''f •"' _^ 
 
 that live on flesh, and also 
 
 the sheep that were to be kept for store or breed, by 
 fifty-six : so that more than the number of sheep, requi- 
 site to be in the Ark, might be very viell contained in 
 the said partitions of the low^er story. 
 20. Proceed we then to the stables or apartments for the 
 
 The p^arti- ^fj^gp beasts ; to which purpose we assign the four larger 
 signed to partitions on the sides, marked CC ; each of which, as has 
 four°fomed ^^^^ already said, is eighteen feet wide, and two hundred 
 animals, feet long : and consequently 
 contains each of them three 
 thousand six hundred square 
 feet. Whence all four of the 
 said larger partitions, taken 
 together, will contain four- 
 teen thousand and four hun- 
 dred square feet in all. And 
 this is abundantly room e- 
 nough for to contain all the 
 other beasts that were in the 
 Ark, besides the sheep al- 
 ready accounted for. For it appears from the foregoing 
 table, that the number of feet allowed to each sort of 
 beasts therein mentioned, amount in all to six hundred 
 and six feet in length. And the breadth of the said four 
 side-partitions is supposed 
 
 eighteen feet. Which two P^ 
 
 numbers multiplied toge- Sum 1st. - - - 514 
 ther produce ten thousand Sum 2d. - - - 20 
 nine hundred and eight. Sum 3d, - - - 72 
 But it has been shewn afore, In all 606 
 
 that the square feet, con- 
 tained in all the said four 
 partitions together, amount 
 
 
 
 Feet. 
 
 Length - 
 
 - 
 
 - 200 
 
 Breadth - 
 
 - 
 
 18 
 
 
 Square 
 
 feet 3600 
 
 Sq. feet in each 
 
 _ 
 
 - 3600 
 
 Four partitions 
 
 - 
 
 4 
 
 
 In all 14400 sq. f.
 
 Of the Ark of Noah. 
 
 45 
 
 Leiigtli in all 
 Breadth 
 
 Feet. CHAP. II. 
 
 606 
 
 18 
 
 Square feet 10908 
 
 to fourteen thousand and 
 four hundred : which is 
 three thousand four hun- 
 dred and ninety-two square 
 feet, above what is required 
 by the proportions allotted 
 in the table. Or thus : the 
 length of each of the four 
 side-partitions is two hun- 
 dred feet; therefore the 
 length of all four together 
 will be eight hundred feet. 
 But the length allowed in 
 the table for each sort of 
 beasts put together amounts 
 in all but to six hundred and 
 six feet : so that there re- 
 mains near two hundred 
 feet (namely, wanting but 
 six) over and above, what is 
 required in length by the 
 tables. Which said number 
 of feet in length, being mul- 
 tiplied into the breadth of the said partitions, viz. eighteen 
 feet, will produce three thousand four hundred and ninety- 
 two square feet, (as before,) not taken up by the beasts 
 mentioned in the table ; and so to spare for any beasts, 
 either not mentioned there, through oversight, or else 
 not yet known to us in these parts. Upon the whole, 
 therefore, it seems very clear, that the lower story of the 
 Ark was abundantly capable of receiving very conve- 
 niently all the four-footed beasts yet known, and very 
 likely such also as are unknown. 
 
 We are then in the next place to shew, that the second _. 
 story was sufficient to contain all that was requisite for one portion of 
 whole year's subsisting the rest of the creatures, that did [^ye^u'pjj^* 
 not live on flesh, but hay, fruits, &c. To this end it is to hay, and 
 be observed, that all the creatures that live upon hay, J^"/„ f^^^ 
 
 the Ark. 
 
 From 
 
 14400 
 
 Take 
 
 10908 
 
 Remains 
 
 3492 
 
 
 Feet. 
 
 Length of each partition 
 
 200 
 
 partitions 
 
 4 
 
 Length of all 800 
 
 From 
 
 - 800 
 
 Take 
 
 - 606 
 
 Remains 
 
 - 194 
 
 
 Feet. 
 
 Length - - . 
 
 194 
 
 Breadth - - _ 
 
 18 
 
 Square feet 3492 
 
 21,
 
 46 The Geography of the Old Testament. 
 
 PART I. upon a fair estimation, are supposed in the table to be equi- 
 valent to ninety-two beeves. But to take away all pre- 
 tence for cavils, we shall suppose them equivalent to an 
 hundred beeves, besides the one thousand eight hundred 
 and twenty-five sheep, designed for the subsisting of the 
 carnivorous (or flesh-eating) animals. Now it was above 
 supposed, that all the carnivorous animals were equivalent 
 to thirty wolves ; and that a whole sheep was eaten every 
 day by every six, that is, five sheep every day by all the 
 thirty wolves, or all the carnivorous animals. Hence, five 
 sheep being to be spent every day, provision need be made 
 only for the subsisting of half the number of those sheep, 
 that were to be given to the carnivorous animals, that is, 
 only for nine hundred and 
 
 twelve sheep; or (which 2) 1825 (9121 
 
 comes to the same, suppos- 
 ing five sheep equivalent to one beef) for one hundred and 
 eifirhty beeves, and a little 
 
 T W U T.U U ^) 912 (182iL 
 
 over. To which if the hun- ,j,^ s^g^ 
 
 dred beeves (to which all ^dd 100 
 
 the animals living on hay 
 
 , , . Sum 280 
 are supposed to be equiva- 
 
 lent) be added, there will 
 
 be in all two hundred and eighty beeves (omitting the 
 odd two over) to be provided for. But we can afford 
 to suppose the number to be just three hundred beeves: 
 for which provision was to be laid up in the second story 
 of the Ark. 
 22. For it has been observed by the curious in these matters, 
 
 '^'^^Thav ^^^^ thirty, or at most forty pound weight of hay is suf- 
 sufficient ficient to keep one beef one day, allowing but twelve 
 b^asts^dur- ounccs to the pound. However, we shall allow to each 
 ing their beef forty pound weight of hay. It has also been ob- 
 Ark." served by the curious, that a solid cubit (i. e. a foot and 
 half in length, breadth, and depth) of hay well settled to- 
 gether, as it is used to be when it has been put up in rick 
 for some time, will weigh forty pound, of twelve ounces 
 to the pound. So that for the three hundred beeves
 
 109500 
 
 Of the Ark of Noah. 47 
 
 there were to be laid up, D.^.^^fayear - - 365 CHAP. 11. 
 for the whole year, one hun- cubitsofhay - - 300 
 dred nine thousand five hun 
 dred solid cubits of hay. 
 
 But now the second story 2^. 
 
 of the Ark, being ten cubits high, three hundred long, story of the 
 and fifty broad, will contain one hundred and fifty thou- i'^'^^ '^^P^", 
 
 1 1- 1 1 • 1 • r 1 /- 1 ble to hold 
 
 sand solid cubits, that is, forty thousand and five hundred a sufficient 
 above what were sufficient to hold the hay to be laid up, fo" ^"foT °^ 
 
 when well pressed together. . such beasts 
 
 ■nrrv r .1 -n i Length 300 Cubits. as live not 
 
 Wherefore there will be ^ j , ,^ „„ ti^^u 
 
 . . ^ . , Breadth 50 o" n^sh. 
 
 room enough left m the se- . 
 
 cond story, as for other ne- 15000 Sq. Cubits, 
 
 cessaries requisite to the fa- 
 
 Height 10 
 
 brick of the Arkj so also j50000 Sol. Cubits, 
 
 for to lay up such fruits, ^^^^ ^.^^^^ 
 
 roots, corn, or seeds, as were l&Ve 109500 
 
 requisite for to keep such 
 
 other animals as live not ^^"^^'"^ ^^ 
 
 upon hay ; and likewise for 
 
 such passages as were requisite, and for holes to put down 
 the hay to the beasts in the lower story. Upon the whole 
 therefore it appears, that the middle story of the Ark was 
 likewise large enough to hold all that was requisite to be 
 put therein. 
 
 There remains now only the upper or third story of the 2^; 
 Ark to be considered. And it is very clear, that half of or upper 
 that was sufficient to hold all the species or kinds of birds, ^^^ °^ ^^^ 
 (though they were twice as many more species as are ble to hold 
 reckoned up of beasts in the foregoing table,) together ^is family, 
 with what they were to live upon. For the far greatest with all 
 part of birds are but of a small bulk; and might commo- birds, and 
 diously enough be kept in rows of boxes, set one above "^cessaries 
 another. And it is certain, that the remaining room of 
 the upper story was abundantly sufficient to hold Noah, 
 and those that were with him, and all the materials they 
 had need of. 
 
 Upon the whole therefore it appears, that the Ark was
 
 48 The Geography of tfie Old Testament. 
 
 PART I. capacious enough to hold all that God ordered to be con- 
 ~ tained therein ; and also what was requisite for their sub- 
 Upon the sistence during their stay in the Ark. For though it be 
 whole, the ^gj-y lively, that there may be, in countries unknown to 
 bleofcon- US, sonle other kinds both of four-footed creatures and 
 that'it^vvas ^'^ds, besides those mentioned in the table; yet it appears 
 to contain, there is room enough left for them, over and above what 
 is allotted to those set down in the table; and that, sup- 
 posing we allow (otherwise than Bishop Wilkins does in 
 the table) the hound, and greyhound, and some few other 
 sorts of dogs, to be different species originally. For the 
 room remaining vacant is, as has been before observed, 
 two hundred feet, wanting but six, in length, and eighteen 
 feet in breadth ; which together make a space of three 
 thousand six hundred square feet. 
 26. To conclude : Bishop Wilkins rightly observes, that 
 
 of th"sa- ^^^^ ^^^ most skilful mathematicians and philosophers been 
 cred Scrip- get to consult, what proportions a vessel, designed for such 
 confirmed, ^n use as the Ark was, should have in the several parts 
 of it, they could not have pitched upon any other, more 
 suitable to the purpose, than those mentioned by Moses. 
 Insomuch that the proportion of the Ark, from which 
 some weak and atheistical persons (for all atheism, or, 
 which comes to the same in the case before us, deism 
 is at the bottom founded on weakness of understanding) 
 have made some poor efforts to overthrow the authority 
 of the sacred Scriptures, does very much tend to con- 
 firm and establish the truth and divine authority of them : 
 especially if it be duly considered, that in those early 
 times men were less versed in arts and sciences ; at least 
 that the Ark was in all probability the first vessel, of 
 any bulk, that was made to go upon the water. Whence 
 the justness of the proportion observed in its several parts, 
 and the exactness of its capacity to the use it was de- 
 ' signed for, is reasonably to be ascribed, not to bare human 
 invention or contrivance, but to the divine direction, ex- 
 pressly given to Noah by God hinjself, as the sacred his- 
 torian acquaints us.
 
 First Plantations after the Flood. 49 
 
 CHAP. in. 
 
 Of thejirst Flantatiojis or Settlements after the Flood. 
 We are, according to the method observed by the sa-'^'heme- 
 
 .... , 1 r- 1 • f,thod ob- 
 
 cred historian, to proceed next to the rirst plantations or served in 
 mankind after the Flood. And because what is said in *^'* ^^^P" 
 
 ter. 
 
 reference hereunto will extend itself to a considerable 
 length, I have therefore judged it convenient, to distin- 
 guish it into four several Sections : whereof the first shall 
 contain what relates to the said plantations in general. 
 The second shall contain an account of the plantations of 
 Noah's posterity by Japhet. The third, an account of 
 the plantations of the descendants of Shem, the second 
 son of Noah. And the fourth and last, an account of the 
 plantations of the descendants of Ham, the younger son 
 of Noah. 
 
 SECT. I. 
 
 Containing ii'hat relates to the first Plantations or Settle- 
 ments after the Flood, in general. 
 
 -L HE sacred historian, having informed us how the world l • 
 ■was dispeopled by the Flood, proceeds to inform us next, nai^phma- 
 how it was repeopled by the posterity of Noah ; which he t'o^s after 
 does, by acquainting us, after what method the three were made 
 branches of Noah's posterity did distinctly plant or settle "°^ ^y 
 
 1 , ^ , , ,. , chance, or 
 
 themselves at the first, in three distinct tracts of the earth, confusedly. 
 For that the first plantations were made, not by "lerej)!''^^^'^'^'' * 
 chance, or confusedly, but after a regular method, is evi- mannerand 
 dent from the sacred history : wherein we are told, first, ""^ "^' 
 as to the sons of Japhet, the eldest branch of Noah's 
 posterity, that It/ these were the isles of the Gentiles divided 
 in their lands; every one after his tongue, after their fa- 
 milies, in their nations, Gen. x. 5. In like manner Mose& 
 
 VOL. I. E
 
 so 
 
 The Geography of the Old Testament. 
 
 PART I. 
 
 concludes the account he gives us of the sons of Ham, the 
 
 youngest branch of Noah's posterity, with these words: 
 
 These are the sons of Ham j after their families ^ after their 
 t07igues, in their lands, in their nations, ver. 20. And in 
 the same manner, the account given us of the descen- 
 dants of Shem is concluded by Moses thus : These are 
 the sons of Shem, after their families, after their tongues, 
 in their lands, in their nations, ver. 31. From the fore- 
 mentioned texts may be well inferred, as the learned 
 Mede^ has observed, that this great division of the earth 
 we are speaking of was performed orderly, and was not a 
 confused and irregular dispersion, wherein every one went 
 whither he listed, and seated himself where he liked best. 
 An orderly sorting is plainly denoted by those expressions 
 used in each of the forecited texts, viz. after their families y 
 after their tongues, in their lands, in their nations. 
 2. For it is to be observed, that though the words,families 
 
 Nations ^^^ nations, may elsewhere be promiscuously used; yet 
 lies, how to being here conjoined and compared, they must needs have 
 stoocTwh'en^ distinct signification. What that is, the particle [in] 
 taken com- does insinuate. For in this expression, after their families, 
 in their nations, families are plainly subordinate to nations, 
 as parts to a whole, or specials to a more general. Fa- 
 milies therefore are parts of a nation; and a nation is an 
 offspring, that contains many families. Again, a nation 
 is so called, either absolutely, when there is no greater off- 
 spring, in regard whereof it may be called a family; or 
 respectively, when, though it be a nation in regard of 
 those families it comprehends, yet itself also is a family in 
 regard of a greater generation. These subaltern nations 
 are called sometimes by a more special name, tribes. For 
 those, which the Scripture in the offspring of Jacob calls 
 tribes, in the generations of Ishmael are called nations. 
 Gen. XXV. 16. Now the tribes of Israel, or nations of 
 Ishmael, though being compared with their own families, 
 they were nations; yet in regard to the generations ofAr- 
 phaxad, they were but families of the eighth or ninth 
 » See Mede's Works, B. i. Disc. 49, and 50.
 
 First Plantations after the Flood. ^l 
 
 order. Once more, as nations and their differing ranks chap, ill, 
 are in Scripture denoted by two words, natioiis and tribes ; ' ' \ 
 
 so the parts of these, which be of many orders, are not 
 always c?i\\G.(\ families, but sometimes honseliolds. Thus 
 for the discovering of Achan ^, and electing of Saul '^ by 
 lot, Israel first came out by their tribes, then by theirya- 
 milies ; where we must understand also th&ir sub families , 
 as is easily gathered from the story of Achan, where these 
 sub-families are called sometimesy<2W2?7ie>y, and sometimes 
 households. 
 
 And thus we know what are nations, and what are fa- 3. 
 milies, and what are the kinds of both. Now let us see, sense Moses 
 what nations and what families Moses means in the fore- ^^""^ "^" 
 
 1 T 1 1 • I TV T ^'^^ words, 
 
 Cited texts. It seems then plain, that Moses must mean nations and 
 those which are absolutely nations, not sub-nations, or such-^'^'^'"* 
 as are so ox\\y respectively ; and likewise he must mean 
 absolute families, not sub-families or households. The rea- 
 son is, because Moses speaks of that division of the earth, 
 which was made when Peleg was born, which was within 
 an hundred years after the Flood. But by this time there 
 were no families so much increased, that they could be 
 called tribes or nations ; for the name o^ family remains, 
 as Mr. Mede says, until the third generation. Now that 
 the division we are speaking of was made before the third 
 generation, is sufficiently proved, in that Heber, who was 
 the father of Peleg, and not then the head of any house, 
 was but the second from Arphaxad, one of the founders 
 of those nations, which were of the offspring of Shem. 
 
 The sense of this expression, after their families, in their r^^ import 
 nations, being thus cleared, we see a twofold order in these of this 
 first plantations. First, they were ranged according to ^J^^^dr 
 their nations ; and then, secondly, every nation was ranked/""f'^'"» '" 
 by his families : so that every nation dwelt and had his „o„f. 
 lot by himself; and in every nation the families also 
 dwelt, and had their lots by themselves. For this seems 
 to be the true import of the sacred text, wherein it is said, 
 that these plantations were made according to their fa- 
 *> Jos. vii. 14. <; 1 Sam. V. 20, 21, 
 
 « 2
 
 53 Tlw Geography of the Old Testament. 
 
 PART I. milieSf in their lands, in their nations ; whereby is plainly 
 denoted, that the land or peculiar lot of each family did 
 lie within the general lot of its respective nation. 
 
 5. And thus much for the first argument, whereby it may 
 firet pianta- '^^ proved from the sacred text itself, that the original 
 tions after plantations of Noah's posterity were made according to a 
 were made Certain regular method and order. But besides this first 
 orderly, argument, drawn from that expression of these first planta- 
 
 may be . " . ' ..... ... 
 
 confirmed tions being made according to their families, tn their 
 by another jjf^fiQjjg there may be drawn another aro-ument to the 
 
 considera- 'J o 
 
 tion con- same purpose^ from that other expression of the first 
 
 the"mfthod planters settling themselves according to their languages. 
 
 of Provi- Wherein we may see the very finger of God, who so caused 
 
 dence in , i • i ?• i i • i 
 
 multiply- them to Speak with divers tongues, that their tongues also 
 mg the Ian- ^gj.g ordered after their families, and after their nations. 
 
 guages of 
 
 mankind. As to the confusion of tongues I shall speak more in the 
 following chapter, wherein I shall treat of the city and 
 tower of Babel : it will suffice here to observe, that a very 
 good argument for to prove further, that these first plan- 
 tations were made orderly, may be drawn from the end, 
 why God multiplied the languages of mankind ; which 
 was, as it seems, lest dwelling all together, they should 
 confound their families, which God in his wisdom would 
 have kept distinct for divers purposes. And, that this 
 should be the end, or one of the ends, follows naturally 
 from the proper effect of pluralities of tongues, which is 
 to sort men into pluralities of societies, as the unity of one 
 common language had before knit them into one com- 
 munity. Now if this was the purpose of Almighty God, 
 then it must needs be, that, for the prosecution of this 
 end, each family should dwell by itself, and each nation by 
 itself; and so there must arise an orderly division. 
 
 6. To the two foregoing considerations, drawn from the 
 
 ^'^[^^^^'"^^^ Scripture itself, may be added two others, one drawn 
 
 Wished by from the wisdom of God, the other from the wisdom of 
 
 consider"- ^^^ Patriarchs. God is expressly declared in Scripture to 
 
 tions, viz. be the author, not of confusion, but <f order. And there- 
 one drawn ^ . . . , , . , 
 from God's lore smce it is the manner, and as it were the property,
 
 Fiy-sl Plantations after the Flood. 53 
 
 of Almighty God to act orderly in all things, wherein he CHAP. III. 
 hath a special hand, and directs by a special providence. 
 
 it may be reasonably inferred, that the first plantations we being the 
 
 are speaking of were managed orderly ; forasmuch as it is order. 
 
 reasonable to suppose, that herein God's providence was 
 
 more especially concerned, it being so material an action, 
 
 and as it were the ground and foundation of the second 
 
 propagation of mankind. 
 
 But another reason may be drawn from the wisdom of^„ ' ', 
 
 . .... The other 
 
 the Patriarchs, who were all alive at this division, and drawn from 
 
 were as kings in their generations. Seeing therefore that 1^^^^^' p°.'" 
 
 there is great difference in the parts of the earth, for thetriarchs. 
 
 goodness of the soil and temperature of the air; it was 
 
 their parts to prevent the danger of contention among 
 
 their sons, who should have the better parts of the earth. 
 
 Which could be done no otherwise, but by instituting an 
 
 orderly division; and that either by casting of lots, or 
 
 choosing according to the order of their birth-right, after 
 
 some survey taken of a sufficient portion of the earth, 
 
 and distinct portions laid out according to the number of 
 
 nations, then of families, &c. 
 
 Having produced four material arguments, to shew 8. 
 that the first plantations after the Flood were made, not the bettci 
 confusedly, but orderly ; I shall proceed next to lay down discovering 
 some rules, whereby to guide ourselves in finding out plantations 
 the original plantations of the three branches of Noah's t,^'^'',*'^^ 
 posterity, and of their several nations and families. 
 Wherefore, 
 
 First, when the Scripture does expressly assign any por- 9. 
 tion or tract of the earth to any branch of Noah's posterity ^"^^ ^' 
 in general, or to any nation or family in particular ; we 
 must rest assured, that the respective branch, nation, or fa- 
 mily, settled itself there j at least as to the main or bulk 
 of it. 
 
 Secondly, we must seek these original plantations within 10. 
 a reasonable compass of the earth, and not all the world ^"'*^ ^• 
 over. For when this division was made, which was in the 
 
 I
 
 Rule 3. 
 
 Rule 4 
 
 54 The Geography of the Old Testament. 
 
 PART I. days of Peleg, the number of mankind was small. For, 
 "says Mr. Mede, besides women and children, their num- 
 ber in all could not be above seven thousand, as may be 
 gathered out of Gen. x. so that it is not likely, that they 
 took the whole world into the first division or plantation. 
 
 !'• Thirdly, those nations, whose families are named by 
 
 Moses, are chiefly to be sought for in places neighbouring 
 to Judea. For therefore chieflv did Moses name their 
 families, because they were such as the Jews would have 
 to deal with, and that chiefly on account of their neigh- 
 bourhood. 
 
 12. Fourthly, where we find the nation, there also we must 
 
 look for the families of that nation ; because the families 
 were ranged in their nations. And therefore, 
 
 ^3- Fifthly, for the same reason, where we find any one of 
 
 the families, there we must look for the rest, and for the 
 whole nation. These five rules afore-mentioned we may 
 take, says Mr. Mede, for sure grounds, and use them as a 
 land-compass in our present discovery : but to them may 
 be added five more, of less weight than the former ; yet 
 such as being joined with the former, will help us to a 
 greater certainty. Wherefore, 
 
 14. Sixthly, if we find that the Scriptures usually name two 
 or more of these nations together, it is a likely argument, 
 that they were seated both together, and were neighbour- 
 ing one to the other. 
 
 15, Seventhly, we are to observe the fulfilling of prophecies 
 Rule 7. by nations foretold under the names of their founders. 
 
 i6. Eighthly, because it is likely that in this division there 
 
 Rule 8. was a regard had by the wise fathers for their future co- 
 lonies, we are to think, that they ordered their partition 
 so, as to nations, if not always as to families, that when 
 they were to vent their numbers, and send forth new 
 colonies, they should not be enforced to encroach on one 
 another's inheritance, or one to pass through the lot of 
 another, but that they had either the sea or empty land 
 every one upon some of his borders. 
 
 Rule 6.
 
 First Plantations after the Flood. ^^ 
 
 Ninthly, the testunony of the ancients is to be con- CHAP. III. 
 . J , -^ -^ SECT. 1. 
 sidered. 
 
 Tenthly, and lastly, we are to have regard to the 17- 
 remainders of ancient names j and this is the ordinary "^^g 
 help that every one follows. These are the ten cri-Ruleio. 
 teria, or marks, which we are to make use of in the 
 present discovery ; and that which shall be found agree- 
 able to all or the greater part of these, if it will not be 
 allowed for evident truth, it must at least be esteemed the 
 most likely conjecture, and the greatest certainty we can 
 attain to. 
 
 There is another particular to be taken notice of, con- ^9- 
 
 Severs.! 
 
 cerning the account in general given us by Moses, of the names in 
 
 first plantations after the Flood : which is this: that some^^"*J'* 
 ... not the 
 
 learned men are of opinion, that among the names of the names of 
 
 sons of Noah, mentioned Gen. x. there are several which ^'"S'^P^''' 
 ' sons, but 01 
 
 are to be looked upon, not as the names of single persons, people, 
 but of so many people; besides the descendants of Ca- 
 naan, mentioned there under the names of the Jebusite, 
 Emorite, Girgashite, Hivite, Arkite, Sinite, Arvadite, Ze- 
 marite, and Hamathite; which are generally acknow- 
 ledged to be the names of so many several people, de- 
 scended from Canaan, However, it seems probable, that 
 the respective sires of these people, that is, the several 
 sons of Canaan, from whom they were descended, were 
 called by the names of Jebus, Emor, Girgash, Hivah, 
 Arak, Sin, Arvad, Zamar, and Hamath. Now, as not 
 these single persons themselves, but their respective de- 
 scendants, are denoted by the names of the Jebusite, 
 Emorite, Girgashite, Hivite, &c. so it is thought by some 
 learned men, that Kittim, Dodanim, Mizraim, and (all 
 those whom Mizraim begat, viz.) Ludim, Anamim, Le- 
 habim, Naphtuhim, Pathrusim, Casluhim, and Caphtorim, 
 are names also not of single persons, but of people. One 
 reason for the said opinion is this ; that the Hebrew 
 words are of a plural termination, according to the ana- 
 logy of that tongue. Whence by Kittim are supposed 
 to be meant the descendants of Keth; by Dodanim, the 
 
 B4
 
 56 The Geography of the Old Testament, 
 
 TART I. descendants of Dodan, and so of the rest. And this seerns 
 to be put beyond dispute, by what we read expressly 
 (Deut. ii. 23.) of the Caphtorim ; namely, that they came 
 forth out of Caphtor. And therefore it is very probable, 
 that when the text says, Mizraim begat Ludin), Anamim, 
 Lehabini, Naphtuhim, Pathrusim, Casluhim, and Caph- 
 torim, the plain meaning thereof is, that Mizraim begat 
 Lud, Aram, Lehab, Naphtuah, Pathrus, Casluah, and 
 Caphtor; whose descendants are respectively denominated 
 from their several sires or fathers, Ludim, Anamim, Le- 
 habim, &c. and this is further confirmed, in that we have 
 mention made (as of Caphtor in the singular, from whom 
 the Caphtorinis are in the same place expressly said to be 
 descended, Deut. ii. 23. so likewise) of Lud in the singular, 
 Ezek. xxvii. 10. who, being joined to Phut the son of 
 Ham, was in all probability the father of the Ludim ; the 
 whole nation or people being (as is usual in sacred Scrip- 
 ture) denoted by the name of their sire, from whom they 
 descended. It is evident that the Seventy Interpreters 
 were of this opinion : for they render Kittim and Do- 
 danim, or, as they read it, Rodanim, by Kryxjoj Ketii, and 
 'PoSjo* Rodii : as also to Ludim, Anamim, &c. they pre- 
 fixed the plural article touj. 
 20. As for Mizraim, some will have this name likewise to 
 
 the^name ^^ ^ plural, ov (to speak more properly and according to 
 of a single the analogy of the Hebrew tongue) a dual; and will have 
 person. thereby denoted the two more general divisions of Egypt, 
 namely, into Upper Egypt, sometimes distinguished by 
 the proper name of Thebais, from Thebes, a principal city 
 thereof; and Lower Egypt, or Egypt more properly so 
 called. Agreeably to this hypothesis, it is thought that 
 Egypt is sometimes denoted in Scripture by the singular 
 Mazor, as in 2 Kin^s xlx. 24. Isai. xix. 6. and Mic. vii. J2. 
 but in these places, the word is in all the old translations, 
 (Septuagint, Chaldee, Syriack, Arabick,) as well as ours, 
 taken for an appellative. In short, it seems to be a con- 
 sideration of some weight against Mizraim being any other 
 than a singular, that in the text where Mizraim is said to
 
 ,, II. l.-r„,.i l:,.„ >1 
 
 !•
 
 First Plantations ofJaphei*s Descendants. 5^ 
 
 beget Ludim, the verb beget is joined to Mizraim in the CHAP. III. 
 singular : whereas, had Mizraim been a dual or plural, ' 
 
 the rules of syntax would require that the verb should be 
 so likewise. 
 
 And it is observable, that though the Seventy Inter- 
 preters rendered the other Hebrew words, of a plural ter- 
 mination, as words of the plural number; yet they looked 
 on Mizraim as a singular, and accordingly join to it a verb 
 of the singular number. And thus much for the first 
 plantations after the Flood in general. I proceed now to 
 speak distinctly of the plantations of the three distinct 
 branches of Noah's posterity, by his three sons, Sbem, 
 Ham, and Japhet; which accordingly are distinguished 
 into three distinct Sections. 
 
 SECT. n. 
 
 Of thejirst Plantations of the Descendants of Japhet, eldest 
 Son of Noah; and also of some of the Colonies thereof in 
 after-ages, particularly of the Ancient Britains. 
 
 1. HOUGH it be said, Gen. v. 32. Noah begat She?n, ■ 1. 
 Ham, and Japhet ; and the same order is elsewhere used ,j^^gg j^^g 
 in reckonina; up the three sons of Noah : yet it is plain of Noah, 
 
 ° ^ ' •' ^ „Japhet was 
 
 from Gen. ix. 22. 24. that Ham was the younger son or the elder, 
 Noah. As to the Hebrew text, Gen. x. 21. the words ^"^ "^"' 
 
 ' the young- 
 
 are differently understood by interpreters and commen-er. 
 
 tators; some rendering the text after this sense, that Shem 
 
 was the elder brother of Japhet ; others rendering it in this 
 
 sense, that Shem was the brother of Japhet the elder. This 
 
 last interpretation is followed in the Septuagint and our 
 
 English version ; and seems to be put out of dispute by 
 
 an argument drawn from Gen. v. 32. and xi. 10. compared 
 
 together. In the former text it is said, Noah was five 
 
 hundred years old, and begat Shem, Plant, and Japhet : 
 
 whereby must be reasonably understood, that he began
 
 58 The Geography of the Old Testament. 
 
 PART 1. then to beget children, and in that year of his age begat 
 his eldest son. But in the latter text it is said, that Shem 
 was ail hundred years old, and begat ArpJiaxad two years 
 after the Flood. Now, had Shem been his eldest son of 
 all, he must have been a hundred and two years old, the 
 second year after the Flood : for Noah begat his eldest 
 son in his five hundredth year, as we learn Gen. v. 32. and 
 from thence to the Flood were an hundred years : for we 
 are told Gen. vii. it. that in the six hundredth year of 
 Noah's life the Flood began. So that two years after the 
 Flood, Shem must have been an hundred and two years 
 old at least, (even by two years after the Flood, under- 
 standing two years after the beginning of the Flood,) had 
 he been Noah's eldest son, or begotten in the five hun- 
 dredth year of Noah. Since then the Scripture tells us. 
 Gen. xi. 10. that Shem was but an hundred years, two 
 years after the Flood ; it evidently follows, that Japhet 
 must be the son which Noah begat in his five hundredth 
 year, and consequently must be elder than Shem. For as 
 to Ham, the Scripture is express, as hath been observed, 
 that he was the younger Son, Gen. ix. 24. 
 2. Now Moses begins his account of the descendants of 
 
 thod here Noah, with the sons of Japhet. Why he does so, is un- 
 observed, in certain ; since it seems certain, that he had not regard 
 the first herein to seniority of birth : for then in all likelihood he 
 plantations vvould have had the same regard in respect to his reckon- 
 
 01 the sons . o i 
 
 of Noah, mg up the more early descendants of Shem and Ham: 
 whereas he observes not the order of birth therein, but 
 gives us the line of Ham before that of Shem. In speaking 
 to the first plantations of the three branches of Noah's 
 posterity, I shall indeed take the three branches according 
 to the order of birth afore-mentioned ; yet not for that 
 reason, but because this order falls in very vi'ell with a 
 geographical order. I shall therefore first treat of the 
 plantations of the branch of Japhet; and I shall dwell 
 the longer on these, because by Japhet's posterity were 
 chiefly planted or peopled the several countries of Europe; 
 which are best known to us at present of any in the
 
 First Plantations ofJaphet's Descendants. 59 
 
 whole world, and is of nearest concern to us for to be chap. hi. 
 known as to its first planters or most ancient inhabitants. ' ' 
 
 I shall in the second place proceed to the first planta- 
 tions of the branch of Shem j and in the last place, to 
 those of Ham. 
 
 In order then to find out in what tract of the earth the 3. 
 descendants of Japhet at first settled themselves, we must, n^ganVby 
 according to the first rule above laid down, have regard, in the Isles of 
 the first place, to what the Scripture says concerning thCfUgg ^hich 
 
 same: and that is this: that by the descendants of Japhet were di- 
 
 . , vided or 
 
 were the isles of the Gentiles divided, Gen. x. 5. The great planted by 
 
 difficulty then is, to know what is here meant by the wZe5j^^^°"'°' 
 
 of the Gentiles. And it is certain from several passages 
 
 of Scripture, that by the word, which we translate isles^ 
 
 the Hebrews understood, not only such countries as we 
 
 call isles, that is, such as are, on all sides, surrounded by 
 
 sea; but also such countries as were so divided by sea 
 
 from them, or the Egyptians, (among whom they lived 
 
 a long time, and so called things by the same names,) as 
 
 that they could not be well come unto, or at least used not 
 
 to be gone unto, but by sea. In brief, they called islands 
 
 all beyond-sea countries, and all people islanders, which 
 
 came to them and to the Egyptians by sea. Now, such 
 
 are the countries of the Lesser Asia, and the countries of 
 
 Europe ; and that these are denoted in Scripture by 
 
 the name of the isles of the Gentiles, may be shewn from 
 
 many places of the Bible : we shall quote but the most 
 
 pregnant. 
 
 The Prophet Isaiah, ch. xi. ver. 5. 10, 11. speaking of 4. 
 
 the calling of the Gentiles and restoration of the Jews, ^"^"P^f ^'■°'" 
 o _ ' Scripture 
 
 (or, as Mr. Mede says, of the calling of the Gentiles by for the 
 an allusion to the restoring of the Jews,) l^ath these ^"'^"Pj"^^ 
 words; The Lord shall recover the remnant of his people of the hies 
 from Assyria, Egypt, Pathros, Cush, Elam, Shinar, Ha- Gentiles. 
 math, and from the islands of the sea. Here it is evident, 
 that by the isles of the sea (which is the same with the 
 isles of the Gentiles) must be understood countries distinct 
 from the other countries there expressly named, viz.
 
 6o The Geography of the Old Testament. 
 
 PAiiT I. Assyria, Egypt, &c. And therefore they may be in rcasort 
 esteemed the countries of Lesser Asia and Europe, or at 
 ]east these principally. Besides, the Prophet here speaking 
 of the calling of the Gentiks, would not likely omit 
 those places where St. Paul, who was peculiarly styled the 
 Jpostle of the Gentiles, chiefly laboured; and which were 
 from the beginning, and are at this day the principal seat 
 of Christian churches. So that at this day there is no 
 part of the world called by the name of Christendom, but 
 that which is in our sense divided from Judea by sea, even 
 the isles of the Geritlles. And this was heretofore in- 
 timated by the Prophets, in that they never speak of the 
 calling of the Gentiles, but they harped upon the isles of 
 the Gentiles. The same Prophet Isaiah, (ch. xl. ver. ic^.) 
 to shew God's omnipotency, speaks after this manner; 
 Behold, the nations are as a drop of the bucket, and are 
 counted as the small dust of the balance; behold, he takes 
 up the isles as a very little thing. Where, if by isles 
 we mean those which we call isles, the comparison of 
 disparity will not hang together; because those which v/e 
 call isles are indeed very little things. It remains there- 
 fore that by isles are here meant those large countries, 
 which were beyond the sea in regard of Egypt and Pa- 
 lestine. In Ezek. xxvii. 3. Tyre is called a merchant of 
 people for many islands, because unto Tyre came many 
 people from beyond the sea for merchandise. To mention 
 but one place more, in 1 Maccab. xlv. 5. among the com- 
 mendations of Simon, one of the worthy Maccabees, it is 
 said, that he took Joppa for cm haven, and for an entrance 
 to the isles of the sea : where it is manifest, that by the 
 isles oj the sea the Jews meant those nations which came 
 to them by sea. 
 5. What has been said may suffice to shew, that by the 
 
 The Lesser ^^ig^ ^c ^^g Gentiles are to be understood, countries di- 
 
 Asia, and ^ ^ _ ^ ' 
 
 Europe, vided by sea (in the afore-mentioned sense) from Palestine 
 
 Japh'et's ^ ^"^ EgyP^» ^""^ perhaps especially from Egypt, because, 
 
 posterity, as Mr. Mede observes, when Moses wrote this account, 
 
 he was not in Palestine, and therefore probably used only
 
 Plantations of Noah's Sons. 6i 
 
 such names as the Jews were acquainted with in the land CHAP. III. 
 
 SECT II 
 
 of Goshen. Since then Moses tells us, that by the descen- 
 dants of Japhet were divided the isles of the GentileSj we 
 must look for their first plantations in the countries de- 
 noted thereby, that is, the countries principally of Lesser 
 Asia and Europe. And accordingly we shall there find 
 them, or at least most of them, and that too agreeably to 
 the rules above laid down, especially within a suitable 
 compass, according to the second rule. 
 
 Now among the descendants of Japhet, there are 
 named by Moses seven sons of his properly so called, 
 and which may be probably supposed to have been the 
 founders of so many nations, to wit, Gomer, Magog, 
 Madai, Javan, Tubal, Meshech, and Tiras. Of these seven 
 nations, we have but the families of two named, viz. 
 of Gomer and Javan. The sons of Gomer were Ash- 
 kenaz, Ripath, and Togarmah; the sons of Javan were 
 Elishah, Tarshisb, Kittim, and Dodanim, Gen. x. 2. 4. 
 
 I shall begin with Gomer and his sons ; to whom we Q. 
 may assien the greatest part of the northern tract of the "^j^i "3''°" 
 
 J o <=> r Ml 1 1 of Gomer 
 
 Lesser Asia for their first plantations, as will appear by the situated in 
 ensuing particulars. For to begin with the founder ofe^np°r"o'f 
 this whole nation, Gomer. The Jewish historian, Jose- LesserAsia. 
 phus^, tells us expressly, that the Galatians (who lived in 
 this tract, and to whom St. Paul wrote an Epistle) were 
 called Gomerites; and Herodotus t* tells us, that a people 
 called Cimmerii dv/elt in these parts; and Pliny ^ speaks 
 of a town in Troas, a part of Phrygia, called Cimmeris; 
 both which names are plainly enough derived from Go- 
 mer, to such as understand the nature of the Hebrew 
 tongue, and that the letters called radicals are chiefly, if 
 not solely, to be regarded in etymologies from Hebrew 
 words, as is shewn in the Preface. It is certain, that the 
 name of Phrygia did anciently extend itself over a very 
 considerable part of the northern tract of the Lesser Asia. 
 
 'Jewish Antiq. b. i. ch. 7. * Plin. lib. v. cap. 30. 
 
 •> Herod, lib. iv.
 
 62 The Geography of the Old Testnmenl. 
 
 PART J. For, besides that large country, which all along retained 
 the name of Phrygia among the Greek and Latin writers, 
 and was an inland country; that which was frequently 
 called Troas from the celebrated Trojans, and lay near or 
 upon the Hellespont, was also comprehended under the 
 name of Phrygia, and, for distinction sake from the for- 
 mer, was sometimes called Phrygia Minor ; of which 
 more hereafter. I proceed now to observe, that it is also 
 certain, that great part of Galatia was formerly included 
 under Phrygia, as being possessed by the Phrygians, till 
 these were dispossessed of the same by the Galatians. 
 
 7. I take notice of the extensiveness of the name of Phry- 
 wh«fce' &^ ^" *^^^^ tract, because the learned Bochart conjectures, 
 called. that the name Phrygia was imposed on these parts by the 
 
 Greeks, in allusion to the Hebrew name Gomer. For he 
 has observed, that the radix 172^ Gamar, does signify to 
 consiime, and that its derivative b^'^?;^^ Gumra, or GinnrOy 
 signifies a coal: whence the Greeks coming to know the 
 import of these words, might thereby be induced to think, 
 that the name Gomer was imposed on these parts, as de- 
 noting a country of a soil so Hack, as if it had been hirnt 
 to a coal; and consequently might be induced to impose 
 on the same a name of like importance, and so to call it 
 <J>puyia, Phrygia, that is, the torrid or lurnt country, from 
 (ppvyuv, which in the Greek language signifies to roast. 
 This conjecture carries along with it the greater proba- 
 bility, not only because there are instances of the same 
 nature, which we shall take notice of as we go along; 
 but also because it is certain there is a part of this country 
 which was specially called by the Greeks ^puylu x£xaoju,sv>j, 
 burnt Phrygia. 
 
 8. What has been already said concerning the remainders 
 ^jQj^^^^"^'_of Gomer's name, to be found in these parts among ancient 
 ed to the writers, conduces (according to our tenth and last rules) 
 Gomer, ^^ make it probable, that the nation of Gomer first settled 
 confirmed itself here. And the same will appear more probable, and, 
 
 from the si--. ,.,, . . r ^ • ^ ■, ^ i 
 
 tuation of i thmk, bcyond exception, trom what is now to be added 
 fa^mes'^^f concerning the settlements of the three families of this 
 
 his son*.
 
 Plantations of Noah's Sons. 63 
 
 nation ; for we shall find them all settled in particular lots, chap. hi. 
 within the compass of the general lot before assigned to ^^^^- ^^- 
 the whole nation. 
 
 For, as for Ashkenaz, who of the three sons of Gomer 9. 
 is first named by Moses, that he was seated in the'^'^^*''"^" 
 
 -' ^ ^ tion of 
 
 western part of the nation of Gomer, that is, in the north- Ashkenaz, 
 west part of the Lesser Asia, is hardly to be questioned, Gomer 
 there being so plain footsteps of his name to be found in 
 these parts. 
 
 For in Bithynia there is a bay, formerly called the 10. 
 Ascanian bay, together with a river and a lake of the j^sc^a^iuT^^ 
 same name. And in the Lesser Phrygia or Troas, there ^"'i.^s- 
 was both a city and province adjoining, anciently known rived from 
 by the name of Ascania; and there were isles lying iri^^^'*^""' 
 the coast, called the Ascanian isles. Nor is it any ways 
 unlikely, but that, in honour of this Ashkenaz, the kings 
 and great men of these parts took the name of Asca- 
 nius. Of which name, besides Ascanius the son of jEneas, 
 we find a king mentioned in the second book of Homer's 
 Iliads, which came to the aid of Priamus at the siege of 
 Troy. 
 
 Further, the conjecture of Mons. Bochart seems not H- 
 improbable, that what in after-ages was, and now-a-days sea%rima! 
 is called frequently the Euxine Sea, was, in the early ages "'y called 
 of the world v/e are speaking of, called the Sea of Ash-enus, the 
 kenaz from the settlement of the family of Ashkenaz ^'^?"??^^' 
 
 1 • 1 T 1 probably 
 
 upon the coasts, along which lies the entrance into this from Asce- 
 sea. Hence by the Greeks (with a little variation of the"^^" 
 word, moulding it into a word of their own language, 
 as was their common practice) it was at first named 
 YlovTog "A^svog, Pontus Axenus. And in following ages, 
 when the true origin of the name was forgot among the 
 Greeks, they had regard only to the literal import of the 
 word in their own tongue; and thence imagined, that this 
 sea was so named by their ancestors, from the unhospiiable 
 or uncivilized nations, that lived then along the coasts 
 thereof; for the word "A^svog, Axenus, does in Greek sig- 
 nify unhospiiable. On this score, when the Greeks began
 
 54 The Geogra[jhy of the Old Teslament. 
 
 PART I. to look on the inhabitants of these coasts as civilized, then 
 
 they changed the name of IIovtoj "A^svoc, Fontus Axenus, 
 
 into that of FIoWoj Eu^smg, Pontus Euxinus ; whence it is 
 to this day frequently styled theEuxine Sea, i. e, the Hos- 
 pitable Sea. 
 
 12. Once more, the Prophet Jeremiah, foretelling the taking 
 tbn ofTs"- of Babylon by Cyrus the Great, has this expression, ch. li. 
 cenaz con- yer. zj. Call together against her the kingdoms of Ararat, 
 from Scrip- and Miuni, and Ashkenaz. Where by the kingdom of Ash- 
 ^^^' kenaz may very well be understood the inhabitants of 
 
 these parts we are speaking of. For Xenophon, as Bo- 
 chart has well observed, tells us, that Cyrus having taken 
 Sardes, sent Hystaspes with an army into the Phrygia that 
 lies on the Hellespont ; and that Hystaspes, having made 
 himself master of the country, brought along with him 
 from thence a great many of the horse and other soldiers 
 of these Phrygians; whom Cyrus took along with the 
 rest of his army to Babylon. 
 
 13. 2. Riphat, the second son of Corner, is probably sup- 
 The situa- posed to have seated his family in the parts adjoining east- 
 phat, sonofward to the plantation of his brother Ashkenaz. This 
 
 °^^^' opinion is confirmed by the testimony of Josephus, who 
 expressly says, that the Paphlagonians, a people inhabiting 
 some portion of this tract, were originally called Ri- 
 phateans, from Riphat. There are also some remainders 
 of his name to be found here, among the writings of the 
 ancient Greeks and Latins. For in Apollonius's Argo- 
 nautics there is mention made of a river called Rhebasus, 
 which rising in this tract empties itself into the Euxine 
 Sea. The same is called, by Dionysius Periegetes and 
 others, Rhebas. Stephanus does not only acquaint us 
 with the river, but tells us also of a region of the same 
 name, and whose inhabitants were called Rhebaei. And 
 Pliny places here a people called (more agreeable to the 
 name of their forefather) Riphcei, and another called 
 Arimphaei. Lastly, Mr. Mede is of opinion, that another 
 river in this tract, called by the Greeks Parthenius, was 
 originally called Riphathenius ; which may not be alto-
 
 Plantations of' Noah's Sons. 6<^ 
 
 gether unlikely, if we consider that it was the Greeks' CHAP. ill. 
 
 usual custom to mould foreign words into words of their 
 
 own tongue. 
 
 3. The third and last son of Gomer, named by Moses, '"*• 
 . ,r. 1 1 r -1 1-1 • • The situa- 
 
 is logarmah, whose ramily was seated in the remammg, tjon ofTo- 
 
 and consequently in the most easterly part of the nation of s^'''"^^» 
 Gomer. And this situation of the family of Togarmah is Gomer. 
 agreeable both to sacred and common writers. For as to 
 sacred Scripture Ezekiel thus speaks, ch. xxxviii. ver. 6. 
 Goiner, and all his bands ; the house of Togarmah of the 
 north quarters, and all his hands: and again, ch. xxvii. 
 ver 14. They of the house of Togarmah traded in thy fairs 
 (i. e. the fairs of Tyre) with horses, and horsemen, and 
 mules. Now, that the situation we assign to Togarmah 
 does in a manner lie true north to Judea, is evident to 
 any one that will view the map : and that Cappadocia, by 
 which name a considerable part of the lot of Togarmah 
 was in process of time known to the Greeks, was very 
 well stocked with an excellent breed of horses and mules, 
 and that the inhabitants were esteemed good horsemen, is 
 attested by several ^ancient Heathen writers. And, for a 
 further confirmation of the truth of this hypothesis, there 
 are to be found footsteps of the very name of Togarmah, 
 in some of those names, whereby some of the inhabitants 
 of this tract were known to the old writers. Thus Strabo^ 
 tells us, that the Trocmi dwelt in tVie confines of Pontus 
 and Cappadocia ; and several towns lying on the east of 
 the river Halys, and so in Cappadocia, are assigned to 
 them by Ptolemy. They are by Cicero called Trogmi, 
 and Trocmeni by Stephanas ; and in the council of Chal- 
 cedon they are called Trocmades or Trogmades, there 
 being frequent mention made in that council of Cyriacus 
 Bishop of the Trogmades. All which names plainly ap- 
 pear to be the same originally, and are in all likelihood 
 formed from Togarmah, or (as the word is usually ren- 
 
 * Solinus of Cappad. Dionysius Ruffiii. lib. ii. Strab. lib. xi. 
 Perieg. v. 973. et seq. Claudian in t> Strab. lib. xii. 
 
 VOL. I. P
 
 66 
 
 The Geography of the Old Testament. 
 
 PART I. 
 
 15. 
 
 Of the co- 
 lonies of 
 the nation 
 of Gomer, 
 and first of 
 the Cim- 
 merii by 
 theBospho- 
 rus Cim- 
 merius, 
 now Strait 
 of CafTa. 
 
 16. 
 
 The Ger- 
 mans de- 
 scended 
 from 
 Gomer. 
 
 dercd by Greek writers) Torgama; for they retain in 
 them all the radical letters of the name of their progenitor, 
 except the terminative one, if that be a radical. And thus 
 we have found out the original situation of the nation of 
 Gomer in general, and also the particular seats of the 
 three families of Ashkenaz, Ripath, and Togarmah, lying 
 orderly one by the other, within the general bounds of 
 the said nation ; and so agreeable in these, as well as 
 other particulars, to the rules above laid down. 
 
 And though this be sufficient to our present under- 
 taking, yet I suppose it will not be unacceptable to the 
 reader, to say a little of the colonies, which coming from 
 the nation of Gomer, in process of time spread themselves 
 further and further, and settled themselves in several parts 
 of Europe, and particularly in this our island. Herodotus 
 then, as he tells us, that a people called Cimmerii for- 
 merly dwelt in that tract of Lesser Asia, which we assign 
 to Gomer; so he tells us withal, that these people sent 
 a colony to Palus Maeotis, or the Mseotic Lake, on the 
 north of the Euxine Sea, and so gave the name of Bos- 
 phorus Cimmerius to the strait between the Euxine Sea 
 and the Mreotic Lake, now commonly called the Strait 
 of Caffa. 
 
 This colony of the Cimmerii increasing in process of 
 time, and so spreading themselves still by new colonies 
 further westward, came along the Danube, and settled 
 themselves in the country, which from them has been 
 called Germany. For as to the testimony of the ancients, 
 Diodorus Siculus, as Mr. Mede observes, affirms, that the 
 Germans had their original from the Cimmerians; and 
 the Jews to this day, as the same learned person remarks, 
 call them Ashkenazim of Ashkenaz, as being descended 
 from that branch of Gomer. Indeed they themselves retain 
 plain marks enough of their descent, both in the name 
 Cimbri, and also in their common name Germans, or, as 
 they call themselves, Germen ; which is but a small varia- 
 tion from Gemren or Gomren ; and this last is easily con- 
 tracted from Gomeren, that is, Gomerasans : for the ter-
 
 Plantatmis of Noah' s Sons. &] 
 
 mination en is a plural termination in the German Ian- CHAP. III. 
 guage; and from the singular Gomer is formed Gemren,_ff£]j_[^ 
 by the same analogy that from brother is formed brethren. 
 The other name Cimbri is easily framed from Cimmerii ; 
 and by that name the inhabitants of the north-west penin- 
 sula of old Germany, now-a-days called Jutland, were 
 known not only to ancient but latter writers ; and from 
 this name of the inhabitants, the said peninsula is called 
 Cimbrica Chersonesus, and that frequently in modern 
 authors. 
 
 Out of Germany the descendants of Gomer spread 17- 
 themselves into Gaul or France. To prove this Mr. Cam- descen^jejj 
 den quotes the testiniony of Josephus, where he says, that of ^o"^^'- 
 those called by the Greeks Galatae, were originally called 
 Gomerites. Which words may be understood, either of 
 the Asiatick Galatce, commonly called by us Galatians, or 
 the European Galatae, conmionly called by us Gauls. If 
 it be taken in the former sense, then it is a testimony for 
 the first seating of Gomer in that tract of the Lesser Asia 
 we have above assigned him, and on this account it is 
 before taken notice of by us. If it be taken in the latter 
 sense, it cannot rationally be understood of the first settle- 
 ment of Gomer; it being altogether absurd to imagine, 
 that, upon the first dispersion of mankind, Gomer should 
 pass by so many countries lying nearer to the place 
 whence he set out, and come to one of the utmost coun- 
 tries of Europe, namely, that since called Gaul, and there 
 first settle himself. If therefore what Josephus says of the 
 Galataj being originally called Gomerites from Gomer, is 
 to be understood of the European Galatae, or Gauls, it 
 cannot be rationally, as I said, understood of the first set- 
 tlement of Gomer, but it must be necessarily understood 
 of some colony of the descendants of Gomer, who in suc- 
 ceeding ages spread themselves as far as to Gaul in 
 Europe, and settling there were the progenitors of the 
 European Galatae or Gauls, called in the more early ages 
 of the world Gomerites, from Gomer the father of the 
 nation whence they sprang. But to prove the descent of 
 
 F 2
 
 68 The Geography of the Old Testament. 
 
 PART I. the Gauls from Gomer, Mr. Camden produces not only 
 "" the forecited testimony of Josephus, (from whom, in all 
 
 probability, Zonaras took, his information, which therefore, 
 though mentioned by Mr. Camden as a distinct testimony, 
 yet may rather be looked on as one and the same,) but 
 also the testimonies of other writers; as of Appian, who 
 in his Illyrlcs says expressly, that the Celtce or Gauls 
 were otherwise called Cimhri. Those Barbarians, whom 
 Marius defeated, Cicero plainly terms Gauls ; Cains Ma- 
 rius, says he, p2it a check upon the Gaulish forces, which 
 were pouring into Italy. And all historians agree that these 
 were the Cimbri; and the coat armour of Beleus their 
 king, digged up at Aix in Provence, where Marius routed 
 them, does evince the same : for these words, Beleos Cim- 
 hros, were engraven upon it in a strange character. Again, 
 Lucan calls that ruffian that was hired to kill Marius, a 
 Cimbrian ; whereas Livy and others affirm him to have 
 been a Gaul ; and by Plutarch the Cimbri are called 
 Galloscythians. 
 18. I have here produced these testimonies from JNIr. Cam- 
 
 The old den, for the same reason he cites them, namely, in order 
 
 Britons, or i • t i • i i • • i i • c 
 
 Welsh, de- to make It the more plam, that the ancient mhabitants or 
 scendants ^.j^jg ^^j. jgjg j.|^g Britons, were also descendants of Gomer» 
 
 of Gomer ; , . . 
 
 as also the For it is not to be questioned, but that this isle was first 
 EnKH"h ""^ peopled from those countries of the European continent, 
 which lie next to it; and consequently from Germany or 
 Gaul, and of the two, rather from Gaul, as lying the 
 nearest of the two. Indeed to me there seems to be no 
 need of adding any other evidence, that the Britons were 
 descended originally of Gomer, than the very name 
 whereby their offspring, the Welsh, call themselves to this 
 very day, to wit, Kumero, or Cymro, and Kumeri : and 
 in like manner they call a Welsh woman, Kumeraes ; and 
 their language, Kumeraeg. Which several words carry in 
 them so plain marks of the primitive word, whence they 
 were derived, that if there be any regard to be had to 
 etymology in the matter in hand, as confessedly there is, 
 it cannot be reasonably doubted, but the true old Britons,
 
 Plantations of Noah's Sons. 6g 
 
 or Welsh, are descendants of Gomer. And since it has CHAP. III. 
 
 . SFCT II 
 
 been also observed above, that the Germans were likely '. 
 
 descendants of Gomer, particularly the Cimbri, to whom 
 the Saxons, especially the Angles, were near neighbours; 
 hence it follows, that our ancestors likewise, who suc- 
 ceeded the old Britons in these parts of this isle, were de- 
 scended of the same son of Japhet, namely, Gomer. 
 
 It is time now to proceed to the other nations of the ip. 
 branch of Japhet, and therefore to return to the Lesser jjqj^ of ^j^e 
 Asia. For as the nation of Gomer first seated itself in the nation of 
 northern tract thereof; so the nation or Javan nrst seated 
 itself in the southern tract of the same. And this appears, 
 not only from the name of a country in this tract called 
 Ionia, (a name plainly derived from Javan, as shall be 
 shewn anon,) but also from the situation of the four fami- 
 lies of Javan's sons within this tract, which are in this 
 order mentioned by Moses, Elishah, Tarshish, Kittim, and 
 Dodanim, Gen. x. 4. I shall take them in such order as 
 is most agreeable to a geographical description; and for 
 that reason shall begin with Tarshish. 
 
 That Tarshish seated his family in the eastern part of the 20. 
 
 southern tract of the Lesser Asia, is very probable on se-jjo|^^f^^^_ 
 
 veral considerations. For Tarsus, a chief town of Cilicia,shish, son 
 
 . , , p . , . ^ of Javan. 
 
 carries in its very name evident marks or its being nrst 
 
 founded either by Tarshish himself, or else by some of his 
 descendants, who so called it in honour of their proge- 
 nitor. And Josephus expressly affirms, that not only this 
 city was so called from Tarshish, but also that Cilicia, or 
 the country round it, was originally known by the name 
 of Tarshish. It is scarcely to be doubted, but this was the 
 Tarshish to which the Prophet Jonas thought tojleefrom 
 the presence of the Lord; (Jon. i. 3.) as also that this 
 principally was the Tarshish mentioned so often by the 
 Prophets, on account of its trading with Tyre. Of the 
 ships and sea of Tarshish we shall speak by and by, when 
 we come to take notice of the colonies of Tarshish. 
 
 To the west of Tarshish adjoined the portion appertain- 21. 
 ing to Kittim or Cittim ; which word having a pJural^^^^^'^'"^^
 
 70 The Geography of the Old Testament. 
 
 PART I. termination, does in all probability imply, as hath been 
 before observed, the descendants of Keth, or Ketians. 
 
 sccndants However this be, whether Cittim be a singular or plural, 
 of Javan. j|^gj.g ^^g thcsc reasons for placing this family in these 
 parts. Ptolemy tells us of a country here, called Cetis; 
 and Homer in Odyss. iv. mentions a people called Cetii, 
 who were thought to take their name from a river Cetius 
 in the same quarter. But it is remarkable, that the Se- 
 venty Interpreters render Kittim by Kr,Tioi, Ketii, or Cetii, 
 exactly agreeable to the name mentioned by Homer. 
 And therefore it is probable, that both people and river 
 were so named from Ceth, the son of Javan. Josephus 
 will have the isle of Cyprus to have been the seat of the 
 Cittim, because therein was a town called Citium, of 
 good note. But it is not to be questioned, but the con- 
 tinent was peopled before the island, and consequently 
 that the Cittim first seated themselves on the continent ; 
 from which they might probably enough send, in process 
 of time, some colony over into the neighbouring island of 
 Cyprus; who, building the forementioned town, might 
 name it Citium in memory of the family they were de- 
 scended from. Of other colonies of this family we shall 
 speak as we go along. 
 22. Go we on now to find out the first situation of the two 
 
 The situa- remaining families of this nation, namely, of Elishah and 
 shah, son Dodanim. And both these we shall find some footsteps of, 
 of Javan. jj^ ^.j^g western parts of the tract assigned to the nation of 
 Javan, that is, on the western coast of the southern tract 
 of the Lesser Asia. For here, upwards or northwards, 
 were anciently seated the jEoles or ^olians, who, as they 
 carry some marks of their pedigree in their name, so are 
 expressly affirmed by Josephus to have been descended 
 from Elishah, and from him to have taken their name. 
 And since the country peculiarly called in after-ages Ionia 
 joined to the south of what was in the said ages peculiarly 
 called vEolia, It is probable that the said Ionia (so pecu- 
 liarly called, perhaps, from Javan's living there with his 
 son Elishah) was possessed originally by the sons of Eli-
 
 Plantations of Noah's So7is. yi 
 
 shall, or else partly by them, and partly by the Dodanim ; chap. III. 
 
 r 1 SECT. II. 
 
 or wnoni next. , 
 
 On the same western coast, south of the family of EH- 23. 
 shah, may the family of Dodanim be supposed to have first tjo^ of the 
 planted itself. For there we find in ancient writers a Dodanim, 
 country called Doris, which may not improbably be de-^f j^^an, 
 rived originally from Dodanim ; especially if this be a 
 plural, as the termination seems to import; and so the 
 singular was Dodan, which being softened into Doran, the 
 Greeks might easily frame from thence Dorus, whom 
 they assert to have been the father of the Dorians. Cer- 
 tain it is from the Greek writers themselves, that the 
 Dores, or Dorians, were a considerable part of the body 
 of the Greeks : insomuch that Dorica Castra, the Doric 
 Camp, is taken by Virgil to denote the whole Grecian 
 camp. Wherefore it is very probable that they had their 
 extraction from one of the sons of Javan, the father of the 
 Greek nation; and distinguished themselves from the other 
 families of Javan, by assuming to themselves the name 
 of the father of their family, as the others did ; and con- 
 sequently called themselves Dodanim, which the Greeks 
 moulded into Dores. That such was the extraction of the 
 Dorians, and the reason consequently of their name, ap- 
 pears the more likely from what the Greeks themselves 
 say of Dorus, the father of the Dorians, namely, that he 
 was the son of Neptune. For as among the three sons of 
 Noah, Shem or Sem is reasonably supposed to have been 
 the Z^v, Zen, or Zsuj, Zeus, of the Greeks; so Japhet 
 might be denoted not only by lapetus, but also by Nep- 
 tune, and might be esteemed by them the God of the Sea, 
 because by his posterity were the isles of the Sea inha- 
 bited. Hence what they say of the Dorians being de- 
 scended from Dorus the son of Neptune, is very applicable 
 to the Dodanim, descended of Dodan the grandson, strictly 
 speaking, or, according to the usual way of speaking 
 among the Hebrews, the son of Japhet. As to the change 
 of Dodan, or Dodanim, into Dorus, or Dores, it is the 
 more likely by reason of the great likeness there is bc- 
 
 F4
 
 7 2 ^'^'^ Geography of the Old Testament. 
 
 PART I. tween the Hebrew (Zand r; insomuch that the Dodanlm 
 are in some copies written Rodanim. And since there is 
 such an instance actually extant of the change of the said 
 letter, in the first syllable of the nan)e we are speaking of, 
 it may be the more easily supposed, that a like change 
 might happen as to the second syllable ; and that some 
 might write and pronounce Doranim, instead of Dodanim. 
 And upon this supposition, the Greek words Aaipoc, Dorus, 
 or Aaigsf, Dares, answer so well to the Hebrew Doran, or 
 Doranim, that it may be a good inducement, according 
 to our tenth rule, to esteem the Dores among the Greeks 
 to have been the descendants of Javan, mentioned by 
 Moses under the name of Dodanim; and consequently 
 that the first situation of these Dodanim was in the pro- 
 vince of the Lesser Asia, called formerly Doris. I have 
 insisted the longeron this first settlement of the Dodanim, 
 because it has not been taken notice of, as I know of, by 
 any other. Some have been so extravagant, as to suppose 
 the first settlement of the Dodanim, or Rhodanim, to have 
 been as far as in Gaul, about the river Rhodanus or 
 Rhone; others have placed it much nearer, namely^ on 
 the western coast of Greece, where we find mention made 
 by Greek writers of a place called Dodone ; near to which 
 was an oak, or rather a grove of oaks, sacred to Jupiter, 
 and celebrated on account of the oracles there said to be 
 given in the most early ages. But even this seems to be 
 too far for the first settlement of the Dodanim ; which 
 therefore, much more agreeable to our second, third, 
 fourth, and fifth rules, and consequently to reason on 
 which the said rules are built, may be supposed to have 
 been in the country of Doris in the Lesser Asia. Hence 
 some might pass over to the isle of Rhodes, which some 
 will have take its name from these Dodanim, otherwise 
 called Rhodanim : which seems to have been the opinion 
 of the Seventy Interpreters, by their rendering the He- 
 brew word by 'PoSio<, R/iod'u. 
 24. Having shewn, where in probability the nation of Javan 
 
 lonies^oT" ^"*^ ^^^^ ^^"^ families thereof were at first seated; I pro- 
 Javan.
 
 Plantations of Noah's Sons. 73 
 
 ceed now to speak of their colonies, which in process of chap. hi. 
 time were sent from their first settlements. And I shall 
 begin with the colonies of the two families last spoken of, 
 viz. of Elishah and Dodanim. For these lying on the 
 western coast of the Lesser Asia, as they increased, peopled 
 by degrees the many isles that lie in the adjoining sea, and 
 so at length spread themselves into the European conti- 
 nent. 
 
 The family of Elishah seem to have possessed themselves 25. 
 of most, or at least the most considerable isles, lying in the ^j-"^^^ ^^^l^_ 
 sea between Europe and Asia ; forasmuch as they are nies of Eli- 
 called by the Prophet Ezekiel, ch. xxvii. ver. 7. the isles of ' , 
 Elishah. What the Prophet there says, concerning the 
 blue and purple from the isles of Elishah, is very applicable 
 to the isles of this sea; forasmuch as they did abound in 
 that commodity, and are on that account celebrated by 
 common authors; and some of them took names from 
 it. 
 
 And as the isles lying in this sea were thus originally 26. 
 known by the name of the Isles of Elishah, so it is a pro- giishatfo 
 bable conjecture, that the sea itself was originally called Hellespont, 
 the Sea of Elishah. Which name, though it wore away 
 in process of time in other parts, yet seems to have been 
 all along preserved in that part, which to this day is fre- 
 quently called the Hellespont, as if one should say, Elisae 
 Pontus, i. e. the Sea of Elisha. 
 
 And this derivation of the word Hellespont will appear 27. 
 yet more likely, when we consider, that the descendants '^'^^V^" r 
 
 -' _ •'/ ^ ^ mainders of 
 
 of Elishah passing over into Europe came afterwards to be Elishah's 
 termed "ExXijvsf, Hellenes, and their country 'EAAaj, -f^^^- G^reece" 
 las, a name which in process of time became common to 
 all Greece: in which there were other footsteps of Elishah's 
 name to be found formerly, as in the city and province of 
 Elis in the Peloponnesus, in the city of Eleusis in Attica, 
 and in the river Elissus, or Ilissus, in the same province. 
 Some think the Campi Elisii, so much celebrated among 
 the Greeks, to have been so called from Elishah. 
 
 As to the Dodanim or Dorians, not only the Spartans
 
 74 The Geography of the Old Testament. 
 
 PART I. or Lacedaemonians, if I remember aright, looked on them- 
 
 selves to be of Doric extraction, but there were also re- 
 
 The colo- mainders of the very name to be found in these parts of 
 nies of the Greece formerly. For in the province of Messene in the 
 Peloponnese, there was a town called Dorion; and of the 
 other tract of Greece lying above the Isthmus of the Pe- 
 loponnese, there was a considerable part called Doria, 
 Dorica, or Doris: to say nothing of Dodona already 
 mentioned. In a word, all the Greek nation is sometimes 
 denoted by authors under the name of Dores; as has 
 been before observed out of Virgil, ^neid. ii. 
 29. We have observed before, that the family of CIttim, or 
 
 The colo- Kittim, first seated themselves between Tarshish to the 
 nies of the • 1 1 1 • t • 1 
 
 Kittim. east, and Elishah and Dodanmi to the west. Lymg thus 
 open to the sea only on the south, they sent probably their 
 first colony into the neighbouring isle of Cyprus. But in 
 process of time wanting more room, and therefore seeking 
 out further, and finding the lower parts of Greece already 
 inhabited by the descendants of Elishah and Dodanim, 
 they still proceeded on, coasting along the western shores 
 of Greece, till they came to the upper or northern parts 
 of it, which not being yet inhabited, some of them planted 
 themselves there : whilst some others of them descrying 
 the coast of Italy, went and settled themselves in that 
 country. Hence it comes to pass in probability, that both 
 Macedonia in Greece, and also Italy, are denoted by the 
 name of Cittim in Scripture. 
 OQ The Author of the book of Maccabees plainly denotes 
 
 Macedonia Macedonia by the land of Chettim, when he says, that 
 land of ^ -Alexander, son of Philip the Macedo7iia?i, came out of the 
 Chettiim. land of Chettiim, i Mace. i. i. So also ch. viii. ver. 5. of 
 the same boolc, the said Author calls Perseus King of Ma- 
 cedonia, King of the Citims. Indeed it is thought, not 
 without grounds, that the name of Macedonia was ori- 
 ginally derived, at least partly, from the Citim, or Cetim; 
 especially since the more ancient name of this country 
 was Macetia; whence the Macedonians themselves are 
 otherwise termed Macetae.
 
 Plantations of Noah's Sons. 75 
 
 The place of Scripture, where Chittim, by the consent chap. hi. 
 of almost all expositors, denotes the Romans, is Dan. xi. 
 29, 30. For by the skips of Chittim, there mentioned, is 31. 
 generally understood the Roman fleet, by the coming ^^^^°J 
 whereof Antiochus was obliged to desist from his designs noted by 
 against Egypt. There are also several footsteps of the|j^ ''' 
 name Chittim, or Chetim, to be found in Italy among 
 ancient writers : as a city in Latium, called Cetia, and 
 mentioned by Dionysius Halicarnasseus ; another city 
 among the Volsci, called Echetia, mentioned by Stepha- 
 nus ; also a river near Cum^, called Cetus, the water 
 whereof was endued, as Aristotle relates, with a petrify- 
 ing quality. Nay, there are not wanting authors, who 
 expressly assert the Romans and Latins to have had their 
 extraction from the Citii or Cetii ; as Eusebius, Cedrenus, 
 Suidas, whose testimonies are produced by the learned 
 Bochart. And this learned person observes further, that 
 the very word Chetim does in the Arabick tongue denote 
 a thing hid: so that the name Latini might be originally 
 only a translation of the old eastern name Chetim. 
 
 There remain now only the colonies of Tarshish to be 32. 
 spoken of. And wheresoever else they seated themselves, ^}^^ ^°}°- 
 it is highly probable, that Tartessus, a city and adjoining shish. 
 country in Spain, and much celebrated by the ancients 
 for its wealth, was a colony of Tarshish. For the name 
 Tarshish is, by an easy and frequent change, turned into 
 Tartish ; from whence Tartessus is regularly enough 
 framed. Besides, Mr. Bochart has observed, that Poly- 
 bius, reciting the words of a league made between the 
 Romans and Carthaginians, mentions a place under the 
 name of Tarseium, and Stephanus expressly says, that 
 Tarseium was a city near Hercules' Pillars; the situation 
 whereof agrees well enough with that of Tartessus. 
 Again, what is said by Ezekiel, ch. xxvii. ver. 12. agrees 
 very well with this Tarshish: for the words of the Prophet 
 run thus; Tarshish ivas thy merchant hy reason of the 
 multitude of all kind of riches ; with silver, iron, tin, and 
 lead, they traded in thy fairs, i. e. the fairs of Tyre. Now,
 
 ^6 The Geography of the Old Testament. 
 
 PART 1. as it has been before observed, Tartessus was celebrated 
 among the ancients for its multitude of riches; and the 
 metals mentioned by the Prophet were such as Spain did 
 formerly abound with : and the extraordinary riches of 
 this country might be the great inducement to the de- 
 scendants of Tarshish to plant a colony here, rather than 
 in other countries lying nearer to their original plantation. 
 Not but that some are of opinion, that the Etrusci in 
 Italy, otherwise called Tyrrheni and Tusci, were a colony 
 of Tarshish. And indeed if it be considered, that it is 
 usual to add an initial E to several derivatives, that did 
 not belong to their primitives, there will be left Trusci, 
 which word contains in it, as it is, the radicals of Tar- 
 shish ; and perhaps the word was originally written 
 Thrushshi, or Trussi, whence it was turned into Trusci and 
 Etrusci, and thence into Tusci or Thusci. It is further 
 observable, that these people were otherwise called Tyr- 
 rheni, or Tyrseni; which has a very great affinity to Tar- 
 seni, and so may easily be deduced originally from Tarsus, 
 that is, Tarshish. 
 33. However this be, certain it seems, that the descendants 
 
 fhf ^of of Tarshish were the most expert seamen, and consequently 
 Tarshish, the chief merchants of the early ages of the world. Hence 
 the whole Mediterranean Sea seems to have been at length 
 comprehended under the name of the Sea of Tarshish ; 
 though it is probable that at first the name might belong 
 only to the sea lying near the original settlement of Tar- 
 shish, that is, near to Cilicia. And because the descen- 
 dants of Tarshish were wont to make longer voyages, and 
 to adventure further into the open sea, than others did in 
 those days ; it is not unlikely but they had ships built for 
 this purpose, and so of a somewhat different make, both as 
 to the size and shape, from the vessels commonly used by 
 others : and hence it is probable, that all vessels, built for 
 longer voyages and greater burdens, came to be called 
 ships of Tarshish ; because they were built like the ships 
 of Tarshish, properly so called. This to me seems a very 
 natural and easy way, whereby to account for Solomon's
 
 Flaniations of Noah's Sq?2S. 77 
 
 navy being called a navy ofTarshish^; and also for thecHAP. ill. 
 ships, that were built by Jehoshaphat's order, being called ^'^^'^- "• 
 ships ofTarshish^. For it is evident from what is said in 
 Scripture of the ships of Jehoshaphat, that they could not 
 be called ships of Tarshish, as trading either to Tarshish, 
 originally so called, or to any colony of it called by that 
 name, nor yet from their sailing on the Sea of Tarshish, or 
 Mediterranean Sea. For the Scripture tells us, that these 
 ships were broken at Ezion-gaber, which was a place con- 
 fessedly on the Red Sea: and besides the Scripture tells 
 us, that these ships were designed to go to Ophirfor gold; 
 which Ophir is confessedly a place in the East-Indies, of 
 which more by and by. And though the Scripture does 
 not expressly say the same of Solomon's navy, yet there 
 are circumstances which necessarily require us to conceive, 
 that the place, to which the said navy went once in three 
 years, was likewise Ophir, or the East-Indies. For, among 
 the commodities brought home by that navy, there is ex- 
 press mention made of ivory, apes, and peacocks. Now 
 (to say nothing of the apes and peacocks, because the true 
 import of the Hebrew words so rendered may perhaps be 
 questioned) it is certain that neither Tartessus or Tarshish 
 in Spain, nor any other colony of Tarshish on the Medi- 
 terranean Sea, could be a likely place for merchandising 
 with ivory ; because, as these countries do not now, so we 
 do not read that ever they did abound with Elephants. 
 Whereas on the other hand the East-Indies have all along 
 been and still are famous for their Elephants, and conse- 
 quently the most likely place for Solomon's navy to go to 
 for ivory, as well as gold and silver. This consideration 
 requiring us to conceive the place, whither Solomon's 
 navy went, to be the East-Indies, it does by consequence 
 require us to conceive the said navy to be built in the Red 
 Sea. And indeed it is highly probable, that Jehoshaphat 
 was not the first King of Judah, that attempted to send a 
 navy to Ophir; but that he did it in imitation of King 
 
 » 1 Kings X. 22. *> 1 Kings xxii. 48.
 
 78 The Geography of the Old Testament. 
 
 PART I. Solomon, who had formerly sent a navy thither, and that 
 
 frequently with good success; whereby Jehoshaphat was 
 
 encouraged to attempt the same. Upon the whole there- 
 fore it appears, that the navy of Solomon was called a navy 
 of Tarshish, and the ships of Jehoshaphat were called ships 
 ofTarshish, probably for this reason, because they were 
 made after the fashion of those ships which the merchants 
 ' of Tarshish made use of, when they undertook longer 
 
 voyages, and therein put out more to open sea. Which 
 further may be^ by the way, the reason why the Seventy 
 Interpreters do sometimes render ships ofTarshish, by ships 
 of the sea; namely, in opposition to smaller vessels, made 
 use of in shorter voyages, or by coasters. 
 34- I have but one observation more to add in reference to 
 
 what sense Tarshish, which is this, that it is rendered by the Septua- 
 it may be gint. Sometimes Carthage, sometimes the Carthasinians. 
 
 rendered ?^ , , ^ , ? • • * ,- • , r 
 
 Carthage, Now, that the Carthagmians m Arnc were a colony or 
 Tarshish, does no where appear, either from sacred or hea- 
 then authors. On the contrary, it is so certain, as to be, 
 I think, universally allowed among the learned, that the 
 said Carthaginians were a colony of the Tyrians or Phoe- 
 nicians, and so descendants of Canaan. It is also generally 
 believed, and that not without grounds, that this colony 
 came from the Land of Canaan, at the time when Joshua 
 invaded it; and so long before the prophecy either of Isaiah 
 or Ezekiel, wherein Tarshish is by the Septuagint or Se- 
 venty Interpreters rendered, in the former Carthage, in the 
 Jatter Carthaginians. From all which it may be reason- 
 ably inferred, that the forementioned Prophets by Tarshish 
 could not mean Carthage, or the Carthaginians, but either 
 Tarshish originally so called, or rather Tarshish in Spain, 
 called by the Greeks Tartessus. That the Seventy In- 
 terpreters should be mistaken in this their translation of 
 the word Tarshish, is the more easy to be thought, because 
 it is apparent, that they are mistaken as to the rendering 
 of several other proper names in one of the said places of 
 Scripture referred to, viz. Ezek. xxvii. But a consider- 
 ation offers itself to me, which may both justify the Se- 
 
 or Cartha- 
 ginians
 
 Plantations of Noah's So7is. 79 
 
 venty Interpreters in this matter, and also confirm our CHAP. III. 
 hypothesis. It is to be considered, whether the Cartha- ^^^^ ' "' 
 ginians were not masters, not only of the western part at 
 least of the Mediterranean Sea, but also of the adjacent 
 parts of Spain, and so ofTartessus or the Tarshish therein 
 situated, for some time before, and at the time the Sep- 
 tuagint Version was made. If so, then the Seventy Inter- 
 preters might render Tarshish in the forecited places by 
 Carthage, or the Carthaginians ; because these were then 
 masters of Tartessus, or Tarshish in Spain, which is most 
 probably to be understood in Ezekiel, and which was also 
 understood by them in Isaiah. 
 
 Having shewn the first settlements of the four families 35. 
 of Javan, and their most known colonies, I have somewhat to the re- 
 to add in reference to Javan himself, the father of this '"^'"^^'■s of 
 
 the name 
 
 whole nation. I have then above observed, that there javan in 
 were formerly remainders of his name to be met with ^"1^00°^"'*'^ 
 the Lesser Asia, where was the first settlement of his de- 
 scendants. It is here to be observed further, that it is 
 very probable, that the colonies that passed over in pro- 
 cess of time into Europe, though they were distinguished 
 in reference to their distinct families by distinct names, 
 yet were all at first comprehended under the name of 
 lonians. Indeed the Scholiast on Aristophanes ^, as Bo- 
 chart has observed, expressly says, that all the Greeks were 
 by the Barbarians called laones, i. e. lonians. And was it 
 not so, it will not be so easy to account, how the name of 
 the Ionian Sea came to be extended so far anciently, as 
 quite to the western coasts of Greece, and that northwards 
 up as far as to the western coast ofMacedonia. Now it 
 is plain that the name lonians was derived from the foun- 
 der of this nation, Javan. For the Hebrew word p^j set- 
 ting aside the vowels, which are of disputable authority, 
 may be read Ion, or laon. But supposing the word to 
 have been all along pronounced with the same vowels it 
 has in the Hebrew text at present; it is granted by the 
 
 ^ In Acharnan.
 
 8o Tlie Geography of the Old Teslament. 
 
 PART I. learned in the said language, that the true pronunciation 
 "~ of the Hebrew vowel kumelz carries in it a mixture of our 
 
 vowel as well as a: so that the Hebrew 'j'^i is very regu- 
 larly, turned into the Greek 'lawv laon, whence by con- 
 traction may be made"Iwi', Iot}. Since therefore not only 
 the forementioned Scholiast, but also old Homer styles 
 those who were commonly called "loovsg, lojies, by the 
 name of 'laovej, laones ; it is not to be doubted but the 
 lonians were so called from Javan, the founder of their 
 nation. Agreeably to what has been said, we find the 
 country of Greece denoted in Dan. xi. i. by the name of 
 Javan. And we may also with ease determine hereby the 
 dispute, whether the European lonians were colonies of 
 the Asiatic, or these of them. For when the Athenians 
 affirm, that the Asiatic lonians were a colony of theirs, 
 if it be true, it can be so only in reference to some colony 
 sent from Athens over into Asia, in the latter ages of the 
 world. For as to the original plantation of the world, 
 the Asiatic Ionia lying nearer to the place whence man- 
 kind was dispersed than the European Ionia, reason will 
 tell us, that the Asiatic Ionia must be in a natural order 
 first planted or peopled, and afterwards the European 
 Ionia by colonies from the other. And this is no other 
 than what is positively asserted by some of the most an- 
 cient Heathen writers : for Hecateus in Strabo affirms, 
 that the Athenians or lonians of Europe came from those 
 of Asia. 
 30. I have now gone through the two nations of Gomer 
 
 Of Tubal and Javan ; which I have insisted the lona-er upon, not 
 
 and Me- ,. , • , • 7 .,• 
 
 shech, and Only by reason or their several respective families, men- 
 why put to- |.jQne<^ by Moses, but also because by these were peopled 
 the greatest part of Europe, that is, the countries of the 
 world best known to us : on which account the fuller was 
 the information given, the more acceptable I judged it 
 would be to the reader. We shall make quicker dis- 
 patch as to the nations following ; ^mong whom I shall 
 speak next of Tubal and Meshech. I mention these two 
 nations together, because they are so mentioned, not only
 
 Vlantations of Noah's Sons. Si 
 
 by Moses, but also elsewhere in the Scripture : from chap. ill. 
 whence we may reasonably infer, according to our sixth ' ' 
 
 rule, that they were nations adjoining one to the other, 
 and so they will appear to have been. 
 
 For to begin with Meshech, as joining on to the na- 37, 
 tion of Gomer eastward, and so settling at first in part of The plan- 
 Cappadocia and Armenia. What, according to the pre- Meshech. 
 sent vowels in the Hebrew, is Meshech, was by the Se- 
 venty Interpreters and others read Mosoch ; and hence it 
 is very probable, that they are the same called by the 
 Greeks Mocr^oi, Moschi, who were seated in these parts, 
 and from whom no question the neighbouring ridge of 
 hills took the name of the Montes Moschici, or Moschic 
 Hills, mentioned by old geographers. As for Meshech, 
 mentioned in our translation, Psal. cxx. 5. it may be much 
 better looked on as an appellative, and so it is rendered by 
 the Seventy, and also in other ancient Versions. It is in a 
 manner certain, that it is not to be understood of the Me- 
 shech we are here speaking of. 
 
 To the north of Meshech adjoined the first plantation 38. 
 of Tubal, who by Josephus is expressly aflSrmed to be the^^.^ P'*"* 
 father of the Asiatic Iberians ; the same historian assert- Tubal, 
 ing, that whom the Greeks called Iberi, these were ori- 
 ginally called Thobeli from Tubal. Add hereunto, that 
 Ptolemy places in these parts a city called Thabilaca, 
 which carries in it great affinity to Thubal. Mr. Mede 
 thinks, that the Alybe, mentioned by Homer in his se- 
 cond Iliad, lay in this tract, and that from it came af- 
 terwards the name of Albania, whereby some part of the 
 lot of Tubal was in succeeding times distinguished. Now 
 this Alybe he conceives to have been a name corrupted 
 from Abyle, and this from Tabyle, an easy derivative from 
 Tubal. Likewise Mr. Bochart supposes the Tibareni, a 
 people mentioned by old authors in this tract, to have 
 been so called from Tubal, by the change of / into r, 
 which is very frequent. 
 
 That Meshech and Tubal did originally seat themselves 3g. 
 in the tracts we have assigned them, is not only probable ^^5^°"^^!^" 
 
 VOL. I. G Scripture.
 
 82 The Geography of the Old Testament. 
 
 PAET I. from the remainders of their names therein to be found, 
 but is further confirmed, and in a manner put beyond dis- 
 pute, by what is said of those two nations in Ezek. xxvii. 
 13. Tubal and Meshech, they were thy merchants: they 
 traded in slaves and vessels of brass in thy market. What 
 is here said of the merchandise of Tubal and Meshech 
 agrees excellently well with the countries assigned by us 
 for their first plantations. For it is evident from the testi- 
 monies of Heathen writers, that the Pontic regions, espe- 
 cially Cappadocia, was remarkable formerly for slaves; 
 as also that in the country of the Tibareni and Iberia 
 there was the best sort of brass. Mr. Bochart observes, 
 that the Hebrew word translated in this place brass is 
 sometimes rendered steel. And hence he remarks, that as 
 a piece of iron or brass is in the Arabic tongue called Tu- 
 bal, probably from its coming out of the country of Tu- 
 bal; so it is likely that from the excellent steel that was 
 made in this country, some of the inhabitants thereof 
 were denominated by the name of Chalybes among the 
 Greeks; the word Chalybs in the Greek language sig- 
 nifying steel. 
 
 40. Concerning these two nations it remains only to ob- 
 Oftheco- serve further in reference to their colonies, that, whereas 
 Tubal, the Spaniards have a tradition among them, that they are 
 
 descended from Tubal, it cannot be reasonably understood 
 in any other sense, than that they are a colony of the 
 Asiatic Iberi, and so descendants at some remove from 
 Tubal. This tradition seems to be grounded on the an- 
 cient name of the Spaniards, and whereby they were 
 principally, if not wholly, known to the elder Greeks. 
 For in the writings of these, the Spaniards are denoted by 
 the name of Iberi ; and, to distinguish them from the 
 Asiatic Iberi, they are peculiarly styled Celtiberi. There 
 is still a remainder of this old name preserved in the river 
 of Spain, called to this day Ebro, and formerly by the 
 Greeks and Latins, Iberus. 
 
 41. That the Moscovites or Muscovites in Europe were a 
 
 Thecolo- colony orieinally of Meshech, or Mosocb, called by the 
 nies of Me- j o j •> ;- j 
 
 shech.
 
 Plantations of Noah's Sons. 83 
 
 Greeks Moschi, is very probable, not only on account of CHAP. III. 
 
 ... P SECT II 
 
 likeness of names, but also of the respective situations of 
 the Asiatic and European Moschi one to the other. Add 
 to this another consideration, that whereas in our and 
 some other translations, the Hebrew text, Ezek. xxxviii. a. 
 is rendered thus ; The chief prince, or, as it is in the 
 margin of our Bibles, the prince of the chief of Meshech 
 and Tubal; in other translations, and particularly in the 
 Septuagint, it is thus rendered, The Prince of Rash, Me- 
 shech, and Tubal. The thing is, the Hebrew word U?fc«^1> 
 Rosh, by some is taken to be an appellative, by others a 
 proper name. The learned Bochart has observed from the 
 Nubian Geographer, that the river in Armenia, called by 
 the Greeks Araxes, is by the Arabians called Rosh. And 
 hence he not only probably infers, from other instances 
 of the like nature, that the people that lived in the coun- 
 try about that river were also denominated Rosh ; but 
 also proves from Josephus Bengorion, that there were a 
 people in these parts, named Rossi. Now the Moschi 
 and Rossi being thus neighbours in Asia, their colonies 
 kept together in Europe, those of the Moschi seating 
 themselves in the province of Muscovy, properly so called, 
 that is, the parts about the city Moscow : those of the 
 Rossi seating themselves in the parts adjoining on the 
 south. For the learned Bochart has observed from Tzet- 
 zes, that the people called Tauri, and from whom the 
 Taurica Chersonesus took its name, were in the days of 
 Tzetzes better known by the name of Ros, than of Tauri. 
 Upon the whole therefore it may be very probably be- 
 lieved, that the Muscovites and Russians in Europe were 
 colonies of Meshech, or else of Meshech and Tubal 
 jointly. 
 
 We have now gone through four of the seven nations 42. 
 descended of Japhet, viz. the nations of Gomer, Javan, '^l^\]'"{^j^, 
 Meshech, and Tubal: the three remaining to be spoken oftation of 
 are Magog, Madai, and Tiras. The first of these, Magog, ^^"^' 
 is, by the testimony of Josephus, Eustathius, St. Jerome, 
 Theodoret, and, as Mr.Mede expresses it, by the consent 
 
 G 2
 
 84 
 
 The Geography of the Old Testament. 
 
 PART I. 
 
 43. 
 
 Mount 
 Caucasus, 
 whence 
 thought to 
 be so 
 called. 
 
 44. 
 
 Georgia, 
 whence 
 probably so 
 called. 
 
 of all men, placed north of Tubal, and esteemed the fa- 
 ther of the Scythians that dwelt on the east and north-east 
 of the Euxine Sea. This situation is confirmed by the 
 Scripture itself, Ezek. xxxviii. a. Set thy face against Gog^ 
 171, or of the land of Magog, the Prince of Rosh, Meshech, 
 and Tubal, &c. For hence we learn, that the land of 
 Magog must be near to that of Rosh, Meshech, and 
 Tubal ; and it could be so (for reasons depending on 
 what has been already said, and is to be said, concerning 
 the situation of the other nations of Japhet's posterity) 
 only on the north. The learned Mr. Mede has observed, 
 that the name Gog signifies the very same with Magog, 
 the letter mem being but an heemantic letter, i. e. not a 
 radical, but an additional letter to the radix or primitive 
 word. And he conceives, that it pleased the Spirit of God 
 to distinguish thus between the land and the people of the 
 land, by calling the people Gog, and the land, the land of 
 Magog. 
 
 The learned Bochart conjectures, that the mountain 
 called by the Greek Kauxairoc, Caucasus, took its name 
 from Gog, as inhabiting it, or the parts about it: for he 
 observes that these words "jDn"^1^, Gog-chasan, denote, in 
 the neighbouring oriental tongues, as much as Gog's Fort; 
 and from Gog-chasan the Greeks framed the name KaJ- 
 Kotaoi, Caucasus. 
 
 But the name of Gog was entirely preserved in the name 
 Gogarene; whereby was formerly denoted a country in 
 those parts, as we learn both from Strabo and Stephanus. 
 And from hence perhaps came the name of Georgia, 
 whereby at this very day is denoted a considerable tract in 
 this quarter. I know it is commonly said to take this 
 name from St. George, the Cappadocian martyr, whom 
 the inhabitants (as well as our forefathers in England) are 
 said to have in great reverence, as their tutelar saint and 
 patron : though others say, the name was taken from 
 another George, a Cappadocian Bishop, by whom they 
 were converted to Christianity ; and some suppose these 
 people to be called Georgians, corruptly for Gordiaeans,
 
 Plantations of Noah's Sons. 85 
 
 from the mountain of this name, mentioned in the pre- CHAP. iir. 
 ceding chapter. But since it appears that there was a ''^^^' "' 
 country in this very tract, (from which the Gordiaean Hills 
 are at a considerable distance,) which was called Gogarene 
 by the Greeks ; and since this word is easily changed into 
 Gorgaene, or Gorgene, and this is without difficulty 
 moulded into Georgia, I leave the reader to judge whether 
 this does not appear to be the most probable conjecture 
 concerning the etymology of the name Georgia, whereby 
 a considerable tract about the Euxine and the Caspian 
 Sea is at present denoted. Indeed Pliny expressly reckons 
 the Georgi among the nations about the Caspian Sea ; and 
 it is not unlikely but that this may be a corrupt reading 
 for Gogarenij some transcriber in former times not know- 
 ing what to make of Gogareni, or Gorgeni, and so turning 
 it into Georgi. 
 
 That Gog does denote the Scythians in the Prophecy of 45. 
 
 Ezekiel, may be rationally inferred from Ezek. xxxix. o.^"S''^" 
 •' -' _ _ '-' notes the 
 
 where God speaks of Gog thus : I will smite thy bow ow^ Scythians 
 of thy left hand, and will cause thine arroius to fall out o/'|" ^"^"P" 
 thy right hand. Now it is too well known to the learned 
 to need proof, that the Scythians were remarkably fa- 
 mous of old for their skill in the use of the bow and 
 arrow: insomuch that some among them, from their 
 winking with one eye when they shot, are said to have 
 had given them the name of Arimaspi ; that is, one-eyed. 
 Nay, it is thought by some, not without grounds, that 
 the very name of Scythians was derived from shooting; 
 forasmuch as in the German tongue shooters are called 
 scutte7i. 
 
 I must now speak something of the colonies of Magog. 46, 
 In the panegyric of TibuUus to Messala, we find mention 1^^^^^^°^^. 
 made by the poet of a people about the river Tanais, Magog, 
 called Magini, which plainly carries in it a great affinity 
 to Magog; whence is naturally made Magogini, and 
 thence by abbreviation Magini. So that it is not to be 
 doubted, but these Magini were descendants of Magog 
 at some distance, who spreading themselves further and
 
 86 
 
 The Geography of the Old Testament. 
 
 PART 1. 
 
 47. 
 
 Hierapolis 
 
 called 
 
 Magog. 
 
 48. 
 The first 
 plantation 
 of Madai, 
 according 
 to the 
 common 
 opinion. 
 
 49 
 
 further, came at length as far as to the river Tanais. 
 Indeed it is not altogether improbable, that the Maeotic 
 Lake, into which the Tanais runs, took its name from 
 the descendants of Magog that settled about it. For 
 from Magog is regularly made Magogitis, or Magotis ; 
 which last the Greeks might easily mould into Maiotis, 
 which the Latins and we render Maeotis or Maeotic. 
 
 We do indeed read in Pliny, that the city in Syria 
 called Hierapolis was by the Syrians called Magog; 
 which name it is most likely thought to have taken from 
 the Scythians, when they made an excursion into Syria, 
 and took this city. On the like account it is that the 
 city in Judea called by the Jews Bethsan, was also called 
 in after-ages Scythopolis. Now Hierapolis being thus 
 called Magog, it is not improbable, but the adjoining 
 part of Syria might be from thence called Magogene ; 
 which afterwards might be moulded into Gomagene, and 
 so into Gomagene: by which name the northern part of 
 Syria was denoted among the Greeks and Latins. 
 
 Proceed we now to Madai, who is almost universally 
 looked upon to have been the father of the Medes, (so 
 often mentioned in Scripture with the Persians, to whom 
 they were neighbours,) and consequently to have settled 
 in the country on the Caspian Sea, called Media. This 
 is thought to be put beyond dispute, in that the Scripture 
 all along denotes these Medes by the name of Madai in 
 the Hebrew text. 
 
 But, notwithstanding, the learned Mr. Mede is of a dif- 
 
 dissenting 
 from the 
 common 
 opinion. 
 
 Reasons for ferent opinion herein, and follows not the common opi- 
 nion, as being repugnant to several of the rules above laid 
 down, but especially to the first rule, and so to the Scrip- 
 ture itself. For the country of the Madai or Medes, men- 
 tioned in other places of Scripture, lay so far to the north- 
 east of the Holy Land, and so of Egypt, that the way of 
 travelling from the one to the other was by land, and not 
 by sea ; and consequently the said Media cannot be to- 
 lerably comprehended under the name of the isles of the 
 Gentiles, which are the countries expressly said by Moses,
 
 Plantations of Noah's Sons. 87 
 
 in the place where he does professedly speak of the first chap. hi. 
 
 plantations of mankind, to be divided or possessed by the 2^^^^^_^ 
 
 sons ofJaphet. Further, this situation of Madai the son of 
 
 Japhet seems to cross the fourth and fifth rules above laid 
 
 down : forasmuch as hereby the lot of Madai seems to 
 
 have been wholly separated from the lots of the rest of his 
 
 brethren, and so to have lain not within the general lot of 
 
 the nation ofJaphet his father, but within the general lot 
 
 of the nation of Shem. 
 
 On these considerations, which are not of little weight, 50. 
 
 Mr. Mede thinks it reasonable to suppose, that the Medes ^^S^^p^" 
 
 mentioned in Scripture so often, and that, too, frequently ture, 
 
 . I ^ Ts • IP whence 
 
 m conjunction with the Persians, were so named rrom one probably so 
 
 Madai, that in process of time was descended of Shem. named. 
 And this is the less improbable, because those Madai or 
 Medes are not mentioned in Scripture, till the latter ages 
 of the sacred history of the Old Testament. 
 
 As for Madai, the son ofJaphet, here mentioned by 51. 
 Moses, he is supposed by Mr. Mede to have had his^^'"p*^'_ 
 lot in Macedonia : witness, says Mr. Mede, the ancient bly de- 
 name of Macedonia, viz. ^mathia. If any man ques- Madai the 
 tion how yE came in, I could ask, says he, how Eji Cameron of Ja- 
 into Euphrates, which the Hebrews and those of Meso- 
 potamia call Perath ; or how ^ came in ^gyptus, which 
 the Egyptians themselves, and their neighbours the Ara- 
 bians, call Cuphti. It may be, adds he, that of the He- 
 brew "^t^, ai, signifying a region, the Greeks formed their 
 ctia, aia, signifying the same; and so Aimadia, or Aima- 
 thia, is as much as ala MaSa», the land of Madai. The 
 Greek ««, ai, is by the Latins turned into ce; and so from 
 the Greek Aimathia these made ^mathia. Mr. Mede 
 observes moreover, that we read of a people in this tract, 
 called MrjSoj, Medi, or, as some will, MaiSoj, Mcedi. Aris- 
 totle, adds Mr. Mede, in his book of Strange Reports 
 speaks of Xcipa MvjSjx^, the Medic Region, in the borders 
 of Paeonia ; and hereabouts was the Proefectura Medica 
 we hear of in the Roman stories. Lastly, Isocrates, in one 
 of his Orations, names one Medus for king of these 
 
 G4
 
 88 The Geography of the Old Testament. 
 
 PART 1. quarters, before they came to be a Greek nation. Agree- 
 ■ ably hereto Mr. Mede supposes the more usual name of 
 
 this country, nanjely, Macedonia, to be originally a com- 
 pound from Madai and Cetim, whose sons were in time 
 mingled together in these parts. 
 
 52. As to the colonies of Madai, Mr. Med^;, agreeably to 
 Madai. ^^^ hypothesis, supposes the Msesians in Europe to have 
 
 been descended from Madai; for, says he, methinks Mae- 
 sians comes near to Methians. Mr. Bochart thinks, that 
 the Samaritans were a colony of the eastern Madai. For 
 he conjectures, that the name of the Samaritans was ori- 
 ginally composed of '^l?D~li^ty , Sear^ or Sar- Madai, which 
 in the oriental languages denotes the remyiant or posterity 
 oftheMedes. ' 
 
 53. Tiras, or Thiras, the last son of Japhet, is by universal 
 Jther'of agreement esteemed to be the father of the Thracians, so 
 thcThra- called from him by a little change of the primitive word, 
 
 into a word of the Greek sound somewhat like it, accord- 
 ing to the usual custom of the Greeks. Hence the latter 
 Greeks looked on the name to be derived originally from 
 the word Tfcf/^fiot., Trachea, denoting in their tongue, 
 rough, and thought this country to be so named as being 
 a mountainous country. But the name whereby the 
 country of Thrace is called in the oriental writers, plainly 
 shews that the Greek name Thrace was originally derived 
 from Thiras, the founder of the nation. And the same is 
 confirmed by the many footsteps of this same name, that 
 are to be still found in ancient writers. For these tell us, 
 that there was here a river, a bay, and an haven, each 
 called by the name of Athyras ; and they mention a city 
 in the peninsula of Thrace, called Tyristasis, and a tract in 
 this country called Thrasus, and a people called Trausi. 
 We learn also from them, that one of the names of Mars, 
 the God of the Thracians, was Gougag, Thiiras, which has 
 an apparent affinity to Gslpai, Thiras: for so the Se- 
 venty Interpreters render the word. Hence old Homer 
 calls Mars by an epithet, Goupos "A^ijf, Mars Thurus. 
 We read also in old authors of Tereus, the son of Mars,
 
 Plantations of Noults Sofis. 89 
 
 and first king of the Thracians ; and of one Teres, king of chap. Ill- 
 the Odrysae, a people in Thrace; both which names were_^^2__. 
 likely given to their kings in honour of Tiras, the founder 
 of their nation. Nay, the Odrysae themselves, a principal 
 people of Thrace, are said to take their name from one 
 Odrysus, a great person among them ; insomuch, that in 
 after-ages he was worshipped by the Thracians as a God. 
 Now this Odrysus is conjectured, not altogether without 
 probability, to be, either Tiras himself, the founder of this 
 nation, or else another so named, perhaps in honour of 
 him. For taking away in the beginning, and the Greek 
 termination os, rendered in Latin i/s, there remains Drysj 
 or Trys, the letters d and / being frequently changed one 
 into the other by the Greeks, for better sound sake : but 
 Trys has got all the radicals, and no other consonants 
 than the radicals of the Hebrew Tiras. 
 
 As for the colonies of Tiras, it is hardly to be doubted 54. 
 but some of them planted themselves in the country over^j^^^°!^r, 
 against Thrace, on the north side of the Euxine Sea. Forras. 
 there is a considerable river in those parts, which entirely 
 preserves the memory of the father of the Thracian nation, 
 being called in Greek and Latin writers, Tiras. There 
 was also a city of the same name, standing on this river ; 
 which city is thought to be the same with Bialogrod, as 
 the river is now-a-days called the Niester. The inhabitants 
 of these parts were also formerly known by the names of 
 Tyritae, or Tyragetse. Though probably the Tyritae might 
 denote the true descendants of Tiras settled here; the 
 Tyragetae might denote a mixt race, that arose out of the 
 Tyritae mixing with the Getae, a bordering people, and 
 who perhaps were descended of the Cetim that settled in 
 Macedonia. 
 
 There is one thing, which, relating alike both to Madai 55. 
 and Tiras, I have reserved to take notice of in this place ; pjantadons 
 and it is this. It seems to be the common opinion as to both of 
 Tiras, not only that he was the father of the Thracians, Tiras,' pro- 
 but also that he first settled himself in the country of '^^'^'y '" 
 
 .... the Li€sscf 
 
 Thrace ; and as Mr. Mede seems to agree herein with the Asia.
 
 90 The Geography of the Old Testament. 
 
 PART 1. common opinion, so he seems in like manner to look upon 
 Macedonia, or ^mathia, to have been the tract wherein 
 Madai first settled. But it seems to me somewhat more 
 probable to suppose, that neither Madai nor Tiras at first 
 crossed the sea between Europe and Asia, but seated them- 
 selves as the rest of Japhet's sons did, in some tract of the 
 Lesser Asia. And this I am the more inclined to believe, 
 because even in the Lesser Asia we find some remainders 
 of both their names. 
 
 56. For as the learned look upon the names Tereus and 
 baWy first Teres, to retain plain marks enough of the name Tiras, as 
 settled containing all the radicals of Tiras, and differing only as 
 
 to the vowels ; so since the name Tros retains the same 
 marks, why should it not be thought as probable, that 
 the king of this name, from whom the Trojans took 
 their denomination, was either originally Tiras himself, 
 or one of his descendants so named in memory of him; 
 and also that the Trojans in general were the original 
 descendants of Tiras, or such as were descended from 
 him, in the tracts where Tiras at the first planted himself? 
 Add hereto, that it is the common tradition among the 
 Greek writers, that the inhabitants on the east of the 
 Hellespont and Propontis were originally or anciently 
 Thracians, which though understood by the latter Greeks, 
 as if these parts of the Lesser Asia were inhabited by 
 colonies from Thrace in Europe, yet this seems as an 
 opinion arising from their ignorance of the true planta- 
 tion of the world ; and the foundation of this tradition 
 seems to depend really on the European and Asiatic Thra- 
 cians; being both descended from this same Tiras, who 
 seated himself in these parts of the Lesser Asia; whence 
 his descendants sent afterwards colonies into Thrace in 
 Europe. 
 
 57. In like manner, as Mr. Mede, not without probability, 
 Madai first conjectures the Maesi in Europe to have been descended of 
 
 settled pro- •' ^ . ^ 
 
 bably in Madai, by some after-colonies ; so there is the same pro- 
 
 As^^'^ '" bability, that the Maesi in the Lesser Asia were the original 
 
 descendants of Madai, or those that descended from Madai
 
 First Plantations of Japhet's Descendants. 91 
 
 in the tract wherein he settled upon the first division of the chap, hi- 
 earth. For though these in Asia are frequently styled ^^^^- "• 
 Mysi, yet it is plain from ancient writers, that the same 
 people both in Asia and Europe are promiscuously called 
 Mysi or Msesi. 
 
 From what has been said it may appear not improbable, 58, 
 that Tiras and Madai, the immediate sons of Japhet, as ^^""jj '^^'^jj^^ 
 well as Elishah and Dodan, the grandsons of Japhet by foregoing 
 Javan, did each of them at the first seat themselves in the ^^° 
 Lesser Asia, contrary to what seems to be commonly 
 thought. And that they not only did so, but also seated 
 themselves in those very tracts we have assigned them, 
 may further appear by this consideration ; that the said 
 tracts respectively assigned to them in the Lesser Asia do 
 very well agree, that is, do lie exactly opposite to those 
 tracts in Europe, whither their colonies respectively re- 
 moved in process of time, as they wanted room. For as it 
 is natural to suppose that the colonies of each removed 
 into the parts that lay nearest to them yet unpossessed, that 
 is, directly westward, (for all the other three sides were 
 already possessed,) so our hypothesis does exactly agree to 
 what is thus natural to be supposed. For supposing Tiras 
 to have been at the first seated in the country about Troy, 
 the part of Europe that lay opposite to him was Thrace, 
 parted from him only by the narrow passage of the Helles- 
 pont. In like manner, the country in Europe opposite to 
 Maesia in the Lesser Asia is ^mathia, or Macedonia. So 
 the upper part of Greece, more properly so called, is that 
 tract of Europe which lies opposite to JEoYis and Ionia in 
 the Lesser Asia. And lastly, the lower or southern part of 
 Greece is that part of Europe which lies opposite to Doris 
 in the Lesser Asia. 
 
 And thus I have gone through the original plantations 5Q. 
 or settlements of the seven nations of the branch of Ja- o^secr'iT 
 phet, and of their respective families mentioned by Moses. 
 And not only so, but I have also taken notice of their 
 respective colonies, as far forth as seems serviceable to the 
 reader.
 
 9^ The Geography of the Old Testament. 
 
 SECT. III. 
 
 Of the first Plantations or original Settlements of the Dtf- 
 scendants of Shem, or Sem. 
 
 rj.. ^' , J- SHALL proceed next to the first plantations of the sons 
 nations of of Shem, and their families ; forasmuch'as they lie next in 
 Shem. ^ geographical order, bordering on the nation and families 
 of Gomer, to the east and south. Now we find five im- 
 mediate sons (or sons properly so called) of Shem men- 
 tioned by Moses, namely, Elam, and Asshur, and Ar- 
 phaxad, and Lud, and Aram. Of these, Moses acquaints 
 us with the sons only of Arphaxad and Aram. 
 
 _ ^- I shall besrin with the settlement of Aram, as being; the 
 
 Thcnat.on „ . ^ , , , r 01 i- • • , • 
 
 of Aram, nrst nation or the branch or bnem, adjounng to the nations 
 
 where seat- ^p jj^g branch of Japhet already spoken of. For the por- 
 tion that fell to the nation of Aram lay in the countries 
 called by the Greeks Armenia, Mesopotamia, and Syria. 
 It is probable, that Armenia took its present name from 
 Aram. Mesopotamia, as it was so called by the Greeks 
 from its situation between the rivers Euphrates and Ti- 
 gris, so it was called by the Hebrews Aram-Naharaim, 
 i. e. Aram of or between the two rivers. 
 n .^' A^"d whereas one part of this country, viz. that lying 
 
 ram, what, next to Armenia, was very fruitful, and the other to the 
 and where. gQuth, very barren, and so of the like soil with Arabia De- 
 serta, to which it adjoined, and under which it was by 
 some writers comprehended; hence the upper and north- 
 ern part of Mesopotamia is that, which in Scripture is 
 distinguished by the peculiar name of Padan-Aram, and 
 in Hosea xii. 13. by the name of Sedan-Aram : both 
 which names are of a like importance, and denote as much 
 as fruitful or cultivated Aram. 
 ^- Though the Hebrew word Aram be frequently rendered 
 
 SyriT, how Syria, yet it must not be thought that they are words ex- 
 far one an- actlv equivalent. The word Syria may indeed be some- 
 swcrs to the 
 
 oOier times used in old authors, to denote not only Syria com-
 
 J 
 
 i.
 
 First Plantations of Shem's Descendants. 93 
 
 monly so called, but also Mesopotamia. And hence it is chap. hi. 
 that Jacob, called in the Hebrew an Aramite, is agreeably ' ' 
 
 enough said in our Version to be a Syrian ; namely, either 
 as being descended of Syrians or Mesopotamians, or else 
 as dwelling many years in the country of Syria. For by 
 Syria (Hos. xii. I3.),m\ist be understood Mesopotamia, as 
 is evident from the words immediately following, wherein 
 it is said, that Israel served for a wife, and for a wife kept 
 sheep ; which was done in Mesopotamia. But then as to 
 the country commonly called Syria, the name of Aram 
 appertained only to part of that, namely, to so much of it 
 as fell to the nation of Aram ; that is, the northern and 
 eastern parts thereof. For as to Phoenicia and Palestine, 
 though they are esteemed as parts of Syria, yet did they 
 not belong to Aram, but fell to the lot of Canaan. From 
 the Hebrew name Aram, the old Greeks seem to have 
 denoted the inhabitants of the parts that fell to Aram, by 
 the name "Apjjaoi, Arimi ; which therefore we meet with 
 in old Homer, Iliad ii. ver. 783. The name Syri, or Sy- 
 ria, is not to be found in that ancient author, as being 
 probably of a latter date, derived namely from Sor or 
 Tyre, which is likewise never mentioned by Homer, as 
 being likely not then grovvn famous, if built. 
 
 Proceed we now to find out the first settlements of the 5. 
 families of the nation of Aram, which are reckoned four, ^^^^ ^|."^f^ 
 according to the number of Aram's immediate sons men- son of a- 
 tioned by Moses, viz. Uz, Hul, Gether, and Mash. As'^ 
 for Uz, he is by a great agreement of the ancients said to 
 be the builder of the city Damascus : whence it may be 
 reasonably supposed, that the la7id of Uz mentioned in 
 Scripture did denote the country about Damascus, so as 
 to comprehend a good part of Arabia Deserta, and to ex- 
 tend itself to Arabia Petraea. And in this latitude both 
 what is said in Scripture concerning Job's living in the 
 land of Uz, as also of Edom's being in the land of Uz, is 
 applicable enough to the country so denominated from 
 Uz, the son of Aram, at the first plantations ; and there is 
 no need of making two other distinct lands of Uz, called 
 
 ram.
 
 94 
 
 The Geography of the Old Testament. 
 
 PART I. 
 
 6. 
 
 The situa- 
 tion of Hul 
 son of A- 
 ram. 
 
 7- 
 
 The situa- 
 tion of 
 Mash, or 
 Meshech, 
 son of A- 
 ram. 
 
 8. 
 The settle- 
 ment of 
 Geter, son 
 of Aram. 
 
 SO one from Uz, the son of Nahor, brother of Abraham, 
 the other from Uz, a descendant of Edom. In process of 
 time, the city Damascus became the capital of a kingdom, 
 as we read in Scripture; which kingdom seems to be that 
 which is denoted in the sacred writings by the name of 
 Aram Dammesek, that is, Syria Damascena. 
 
 The family of Hul, or, as it is written agreeably to the 
 original word, Chul, may with great probability be placed 
 in Armenia, particularly the greater Armenia. For there 
 we find the names of several places, beginning with the 
 radicals of Chul ; as Cholua, Choluata, Cholimna, Colsa, 
 Colura, and to mention but one more, Cholobetene : 
 which last seems to have been formed from the oriental 
 Cholbeth, which denotes the same as the house or dwell- 
 ing of Choi. Now this Cholobetene being the name of a 
 province in Armenia, from this especially we may gather 
 with good probability, that Chul with his family seated 
 himself in these parts. 
 
 Between Hul to the north, and Uz to the south, their 
 brother Mash seated himself, namely, about the mountain 
 Masius, which is probably enough thought to have taken 
 its name from him. From this mountain issues out a 
 river of Mesopotamia, called by Xenophon, Masca ; which 
 is likewise with good probability conjectured to have been 
 so named from this Mash, or, as he is otherwise called in 
 the Scripture, Meshech, the radicals whereof are plainly 
 contained in the name Masca. The inhabitants of the 
 tract adjoining to the mountain Masius, are by Stephanus 
 expressly called Masieni, or Masiani. So that here may 
 be placed very reasonably the first settlement of Mash, or 
 Meshech. 
 
 But it is not so clear, where the remaining son of Aram, 
 namely Geter, settled himself. Bochartus thinks the river 
 Centrites, which is said by old writers to part the Cardu- 
 chi from Armenia, might originally be called Getri, from 
 Geter's seating himself in these parts. Others have in 
 Ptolemy observed a city of Albania, which borders on Ar- 
 menia, to be called formerly Getarae, and a river of the
 
 First Plantations of Slierns Descendants. 95 
 
 same country to be called Getras. And indeed these chap. III. 
 names carry in them such an affinity to Geter, as to make__^j2_l 
 it probable that this might be the first settlement of Ge- 
 ter. 
 
 Pass we on now to the nation of Asshur, which lay on 9. 
 eastward to the nation of Aram, and which is by universal 9^J^^^^^^' 
 consent esteemed to fix itself in the country, called Asshurshur, sonof 
 in the eastern tongues, in the western Assyria, from the 
 founder of this nation. But by Assyria is here to be un- 
 derstood the country, properly and originally so called, 
 that is, the country lying east of the Tigris, and wherein 
 stood the city of Nineveh ; and which afterwards was pe- 
 culiarly distinguished by the name of Adiabene. Which 
 word the Greeks, after their wonted manner, deriving 
 from words of their own language, thought this country 
 was so called as being, 'ASia'/Saroj, unpassahle^ namely, by 
 reason of the many and large rivers running therein. But 
 Ammianus Marcellinus acquainting us, that there are in 
 these parts two rivers, one named by the Easterns Diavas, 
 the other Adiavas; it is likely that this tract took the 
 name of Adiabene from one or both of the said rivers- 
 Bochart observes, that Deva or Dava in the Chaldee 
 tongue signifies a wolf, and Adiava may be derived from 
 another oriental word denoting swift. Whence he sup- 
 poses these two may be the rivers, called by the Greeks 
 Awxoj, lycuSy wolf, and Togyog, gorgus, swift, or Kavgog, 
 aper, boar, a fierce animal. 
 
 It is also observable, that Assyria was, by a little and 10, 
 usual change of s into /, formerly called also Attyriajg^l"^^^^"''*'' 
 which is therefore erroneously taken by some to be a dis-who. 
 tinct country from Adiabene, or Assyria properly and pri- 
 marily so named. And in like manner that most ancient 
 king of the Assyrians, which is said to have been the son 
 of Zames, and to have succeeded Ninus, and to have waged 
 war frequently with Caucasus, the son of Japhet, and to 
 have been worshipped by the Assyrians as their Mars, or 
 God of war, and to have been called Bel, or Baal ; this 
 King, I say, is styled, in Suidas and some others, Thuras,
 
 96 The Geography of the Old Testament. 
 
 PART I. corruptly for Atthuras ; that is, Asshur, for Asshur in the 
 Chaldee tongue is Atthur, or Atthiira. This person is 
 said to be the son of Zanies, as being the son or descen- 
 dant of Shen), and to have succeeded Ninus, i. e. Nimrod, 
 and to have overcome Caucasus, i. e. Gog or Magog, the 
 son of Japhet ; as Bochartus probably enough conjectures. 
 And hence it follows, as the same learned person observes, 
 that if any regard is to be had to the writers who mention 
 this story, then the Belus or Bel of the Assyrians was not 
 Nimrod, but Asshur. And indeed it is not likely, that 
 the Assyrians should have such a reverence for an invader 
 of their nation as Nimrod was ; but rather should pay 
 such a religious respect to the founder of their own nation, 
 or to some considerable person descended from him. 
 11. That Elam seated himself in the southern tract beyond 
 
 of Eiarn'°" ^^^ Tigris or Euphrates is beyond dispute, not only from 
 where seat- the authority of Scripture, wherein the inhabitants of the 
 said tract are plainly and frequently denoted by the name 
 of Elam ; but also from Heathen writers, wherein we read 
 of a country here called Elymais, and a city of the same 
 name. It is not to be omitted that the nanie Elam, as 
 many other names of places, is taken sometimes in a 
 stricter sense, wherein it is distinguished from Susiana and 
 the adjoining provinces; sometimes in a larger sense, so 
 as to include Susiana and other adjacent provinces. Hence 
 Pliny and Ptolemy mention the Elymaei as a people in- 
 habiting on the Persian Gulf; and hence Daniel the Pro- 
 phet speaks of Shushan, the chief city of Susiana, as lying 
 in the province of Elam, Dan. viii. 2. 
 22, To the lot of Arphaxad is assigned by learned men the 
 
 Arphaxad, niore southern part of Mesopotamia, (where the plain or 
 Shem, vale of Shinar lay on the river Tigris,) together with the 
 where seat- country of Eden, and the tract on the east side of the same 
 river, called Arrapachitis, a name plainly derived from 
 Arpachshad, which is the name of Arphaxad in the He- 
 brew text. That the vale of Shinar, with the country of 
 Eden, was part of the first plantation of Arphaxad, is sup- 
 posed on these probabilities: 1. That after the Flood
 
 First Plantations of Shem's Descendants. 97 
 
 Noah returned and settled himself again in these parts, as CHAP. III. 
 well knowing the goodness of the soil and pleasantness of J , 
 
 the country : which is confirmed by a town here named 
 Zama, from Zam or Shem. 2. That, upon the dispersion 
 of mankind and confusion of tongues, as the primitive or 
 Hebrew tongue was preserved in the family of Arphaxad, 
 so agreeably hereunto this family still continued in the 
 same parts where they then were, together with their 
 grandsires, Noah and Shem. 3. This opinion may be con- 
 firmed from Gen. x. 30. And their dwelling luas from 
 Mesha, as you go unto Sepfiar, a mount of the East. For 
 the Mesha here mentioned is probably esteemed to be the 
 same mountain as is before mentioned under the name of 
 Mash or Masius, in the western parts of Mesopotamia. 
 So that if the forecited text is to be understood of the de- 
 scendants of Arphaxad, as is thought by several learned 
 men, and also by the historian Josephus, it will import 
 thus much, that the southern part of Mesopotamia lying 
 on the east of the Mount Mesha, or Masius, was first inha- 
 bited by the descendants of Arphaxad ; (and accordingly 
 we here find Phalga, a town probably named from Peleg, 
 or Phaleg, settling there ;) and so on eastward, as far as to 
 Sephar, a mount in the East. Now this Mount Sephar is 
 probably thought to be the mountain adjoining to Si- 
 phare, a city in Aria, and which lies directly east from 
 Mesha. And though this be a long tract of ground, yet 
 it will be but proportional to the numerous descendants of 
 Arphaxad, especially by Joktan ; of which more by and 
 by. 4. It is the tradition of the ancients, Eustathius An- 
 tiochenus and Eusebius, that Sela the son of Arphaxad 
 seated himself in Susiana : and agreeably hereto we read 
 in old writers of a town called Sela. But now Susiana, as 
 has been observed Chap. I. did contain part of the coun- 
 try of Eden which adjoined to, or in probability was a 
 part of, the vale of Shinar largely taken; of which more 
 in the following Chapter. 5. It is further confirmed, that 
 Arphaxad seated himself in the vale of Shinar; because 
 we find that Terah and Abraham his son, descendants of 
 
 VOL. I. H
 
 98 The Geography of the Old Testament, 
 
 PART I. Arphaxad, came out of those parts, Gen. xi. 31. And 
 
 "" Terah took Abrahayn his son — and went forth with them 
 
 from Ur of the Chaldees, to go into the land of Canaan. 
 Now it is confessed, I think, by all, that Chaldea compre- 
 hended at least a great part of the vale of Shinar ; and it 
 is certain it comprehended as much of the country of 
 Eden as lay west of the common channel of the Euphrates 
 and Tigris. And on this passage of Scripture seems to be 
 grounded what Josephus saith of the Chaldeans being 
 called Arphaxadeans, from Arphaxad : whereby he does 
 not mean that the name Chaldeans was derived from the 
 name Arphaxad, as some erroneously understand him ; but 
 that those who were now^ i. e. in his days called Chal- 
 deans, were originally called Arphaxadeans. T think all 
 these considerations put together will make it highly pro- 
 bable, if not more, that the first settlement of the nation 
 of Arphaxad was in the parts we assigned them, particu- 
 larly in the vale of Shinar, as including under it the coun- 
 try of Eden; and not only in the province Arrapachitis, as 
 some seem to imagine. 
 13. Having thus seen the first settlement of the descendants 
 
 ofVoktan"^^^ Arphaxad, let us turn our eyes a little upon their after- 
 colonies, particularly those that sprang from Joktan ; of 
 whom Moses reckons up no fewer than thirteen sons. 
 And as Moses assigns their habitation to have been from 
 Mesha to Mount Sephar; so in this tract learned men 
 have observed the names of several places, which, by their 
 likeness to the names of Joktan's sons, seem to tell their 
 respective situations. These countries being remote, and 
 therefore not so well known, or of so near a concern, at 
 least, to the English reader, I shall pass by the rest, and take 
 particular notice but of the country of Ophir, as being men- 
 tioned in holy Scripture, and I think the only one therein 
 mentioned among them that were formerly possessed by, or 
 denominated from, the sons of Joktan. And this Chapter 
 being already run out to a great length, I shall say no 
 more of Ophir here, than that it is generally agreed to lie 
 in the East-Indies. There are indeed countries mentioned
 
 Jiast Len^iliitlf iin i 
 
 T Coiidf r drlin!ffS*i>^' 
 
 )m.
 
 First Plantations of Ham's Descendants. 99 
 
 in Scripture under the names of Sheba and Havilah ; but chap. hi. 
 these were probably so denominated, not from the two SECT. III. 
 sons of Joktan that were of the same names, but from 
 others; particularly from two sons of Cush, one of the 
 sons of Ham; to whose descendants (there being nothing 
 certain concerning Lud, the remaining son of Sem, but 
 that he did not seat himself in the country of Lesser Asia, 
 called Lydia) I now hasten. 
 
 SECT. IV. 
 Of the first Plantations of the Descendants of Ham. 
 
 xIaM, as has been observed, was the youngest of the 1. 
 three sons of Noah; and consequently his offspring made ff"*^ "*^ 
 the youngest branch of Noah's posterity ; which may pri- which. 
 marily be distinguished into four nations, according to the 
 number of the immediate sons of Ham named by Moses, 
 viz. Cush, and Mizraim, and Phut, and Canaan. As to 
 the name of Ham himself, we find Egypt twice or thrice 
 denoted by the name of the land of Ham in the book of 
 Psalms; whence it seems probable that Ham went thither 
 himself, and there settled with his son Mizraim. 
 
 And it is scarce to be doubted, but the person denoted 2. 
 by the Greeks under the name of Jupiter Ammon (in ho- bably de°' 
 nour of whom there was a temple erected in the parts of "^^^^^ by 
 
 . . . , t Jupiter 
 
 Libya adjoinmg to Egypt, much celebrated for its ora- Ammon. 
 cles) was no other than Ham. For the derivation of the 
 name Ammon from "AjU-iaoj, Ammus, signifying in Greek 
 sand, is to be ascribed only to the ignorance of the latter 
 Greeks as to the true and primitive original of it; where- 
 upon, according to their usual custom in other like in- 
 stances, they deduced it from a word of their own, denot- 
 ing the sandiness of the country thereabout. To proceed 
 now to the sons of Ham. 
 
 It is well known that the nation of Canaan settled it- 3. 
 self in the country so often mentioned in Scripture under ^1^^^*^^^^^' 
 
 H 2 naan.
 
 1 00 The Geography of the Old Testament. 
 
 PART 1. the name of the land of Canaan; which God in process 
 of time gave to the seed of Abraham, the Israelites. A 
 more particular knowledge both of this nation in general, 
 and also of the respective situation of its several families, 
 will conduce much to the better understanding of great 
 part of the sacred History; and therefore I shall make 
 this the subject of a whole distinct Chapter, when I shall 
 come to speak of Abraham's going to sojourn in the land 
 of Canaan. 
 
 4, The nation of Cush is likewise frequently mentioned in 
 
 The nation ggj-jpfyj-g. from which it is clear, that its first settlement 
 
 of Cush, ' , 
 
 where was in the country adjoining to his brother Canaan on 
 
 seated. ^j^^ south, that is, in Arabia. It is true indeed, that the 
 
 word Cush, when put in Scripture for a country or people, 
 
 is rendered Ethiopia, or Ethiopians ; but then this can be 
 
 truly understood only of the Asiatic Ethiopia, or Arabia, 
 
 not of the African, and especially as to the first settlement 
 
 of Cush. 
 
 5, That by Cush is denoted in Scripture Arabia, is evident 
 By Cush IS from these places. In Numb. xii. i. we read that Mi- 
 Scripture, riam and Aaron spake against Moses, because of the 
 Arabia. Cushitc woman whom he had married. But it is certain 
 
 from Exod. ii. 15 — 31. that Moses's wife was a Mi- 
 dianitish woman; and it is confessed, that Midian, or Ma- 
 dian, was a city and country in Arabia, on the shore of 
 the Red Sea. So that from hence it appears, that Moses's 
 wife was an Arabian, and consequently that the Hebrew 
 word Cushite is not rightly rendered Ethiopian ; unless it 
 be understood of Ethiopia in Asia or Arabia, not of Ethio- 
 pia in Afric. Pertinent hereunto is Habbak. iii. 7. I saw 
 the tents ofCushan in affliction : the curtains of the land of 
 Midian did tremble. Where Cushan and Midian are used 
 as equivalent terms, or else as a general and particular, 
 Midian being in strictness only one part of the country of 
 Cush. Further, that by Cush in Scripture is not under- 
 stood Ethiopia in Afric, may be inferred from these pas- 
 sages: in Ezek. xxix. 10. God by his Prophet speaks thus: 
 I will make the land of Egypt desolate, from the tower of
 
 First Plantations of Ham's Descendants. loi 
 
 Syene even imto the border of Cush. It is manifest, that CHAP. HI. 
 
 here, by the tower of Syene and the border of Cush, are '_ 
 
 denoted the two extremities of Egypt. Now all, that 
 have any knowledge of old geography, know that Syene 
 was the boundary of Egypt southwards towards Ethiopia 
 in Afric. Therefore Cush, as being the opposite boun- 
 dary of Egypt, cannot possibly be the African Ethiopia, 
 or Ethiopia commonly so called; but thereby may be 
 well understood Arabia, as bounding that part of Egypt 
 which is most remote from Ethiopia, that is, its north 
 part. Again, we read 2 Kings xix. 9. that whilst Senna- 
 cherib King of Assyria was besieging Libnah in the tribe 
 of Judah, Tirhakah King of Cush was marching with an 
 army against him. In like manner we read, 2 Chron. xiv. 
 9. that Zerah the Cushite came with a great army against 
 Asa King of Judah. Now this cannot be tolerably under- 
 stood in either place of the King of Ethiopia commonly so 
 called, as lying at too great a distance from Judea, and 
 having the country of Egypt to pass through, before he 
 could bring his army into Judea. But it may be well un- 
 derstood of the King of Arabia, as being the neighbouring 
 country. What has been offered does, I think, suffi- 
 ciently evince that the nation of Cush did first settle in 
 Arabia ; and the word is generally to be so understood in 
 Scripture. 
 
 It is very probable, that in process of time some of the 6. 
 Cushites might pass over the Red Sea into the adjoining g^j^^^^^j^ 
 parts of Afric, and so plant colonies in Ethiopia com-i"aybesaid 
 monly so called ; and in this sense Cush may be said to be father of 
 the father of these Ethiopians. But whether the word '^^ Ethio- 
 
 ... . plans in 
 
 Cush is ever taken m this acceptation by the sacred wri- Afric. 
 ters, is not certain: those places of Scripture which are 
 by some expounded of this Ethiopia (viz. Isai. xviii. 1. 
 Zeph. iii. 10. and 2 Chron. xii. 3.) are by other learned 
 men expounded of Arabia. 
 
 I proceed now to the descendants of Cush mentioned 7- 
 
 . . The de- 
 
 by Moses, which are these, Seba, and Havilah, and Sab- jcendants 
 tah, and Raamah, and Sabtecha: to which Moses subjoins ^'^^^^^ 
 
 "^ mentioned 
 
 H 3 by Moses.
 
 102 The Geography of the Old Testament. 
 
 8. 
 
 Situation 
 of Seba. 
 
 9. 
 
 Situation 
 of Sheba, 
 
 PART I. two sons of Raamah, Sheba and Dedan : and then adds, 
 lastly, that Cush legal Nimrod, who began to be a mighty 
 one vpon the earth, &c. Gen. x. 7, 8, &c. Now we shall 
 find all these, but the last, seated in Arabia, which may- 
 serve as a further confirmation that Cush settled himself 
 in the same country, and that by the name Cush is princi- 
 pally denoted Arabia. 
 
 As for Seba, the first son of Cush mentioned by Moses, 
 he probably seated himself in the south-west part of Ara- 
 bia, where we find a city called Sabe. 
 
 On the south-east side we find another city called Sa- 
 bana; where we may therefore place Sheba, the grandson 
 of Cush by Raamah. And the reason why we choose 
 this to be the situation, rather than the other side of the 
 country, is because that it is on the eastern side of Arabia 
 that we find his father and brother situated; and it is 
 likely he seated himself in their neighbourhood. On 
 this account we find him always mentioned with his 
 father or brother: as Ezek. xxvii. 22. The merchants of 
 Sheba and Raamah luere thy merchants: and xxxviii. 13. 
 Sheba, and Dedan, and the merchants of Tarshish, &c. 
 
 Now these two names, Sheba and Seba, being so much 
 alike, the two different families denoted by them were 
 confounded quickly confoundcd by the Greeks, and called promis- 
 and Latins, cuously Sabaeans. Hence Pliny says, that the Sabasan 
 and both nations inhabited these parts, spreading: themselves to both 
 
 denoted by , lo/^i 
 
 Sabseans. seas, 1. e. from the Red Sea, or Gulf of Arabia, to the 
 Gulf of Persia. But the sacred writers exactly distinguish 
 them: thus the royal Prophet speaks distinctly of each. 
 Psalm Ixxii. 10. The kings of Sheba and Seba shall offer 
 
 g'fts. 
 11. On the same side of Arabia with Sheba were seated, as 
 
 has before been intimated, both his father Raamah, and 
 his brother Dedan. For as to the former, we find on this 
 shore of the Persian Gulf a city called Rhegma by Pto- 
 lemy; which it is not to be doubted but was so called 
 from this reason: for the Hebrew name, which in our 
 English translation is rendered Raamah, is in other transla- 
 
 10. 
 
 These two 
 peoples 
 
 Situation of 
 Raamah.
 
 First Plantations of Ham's Descendants. 103 
 
 tlons, particularly the Septuagint, rendered (agreeably chap. hi. 
 enough to the radicals) 'Viyfj.ct, Rhegma. ' 
 
 Not far from Rhegma mentioned by Ptolemy, we find 12. 
 on the same coast, eastward, another city called Dedan, ^2^^^°" 
 now-a-days Daden ; from which the neighbouring coun- 
 try also takes its name, as Mr. Bochart has observed from 
 Barboza, an Italian writer, in his description of the king- 
 dom of Ormuz. So that we need not doubt, but that here 
 was the settlement of Dedan, the son of Raamah, or Rheg- 
 ma, and brother of Sheba. 
 
 On the same shore of the Persian Gulf, but higher 13. 
 northward, we find in Ptolemy the situation of a city sabtah. 
 called "^ocf^d, Saphtha ; which has so great a likeness to 
 Sabta, that it may be with good probability conjectured, 
 that in this district the son of Cush of this name seated 
 himself. 
 
 Higher still to the north was seated (as we have shewn 14. 
 Chap. I.) Havilah, or Chavilah, along the river Pison, or ^^"^j^^^^" ° 
 the western channel of the two, into which the common 
 channel of the Tigris and Euphrates again is divided, be- 
 fore the waters thereof empty themselves into the Persian 
 Gulf. This we have above confirmed from the people 
 here mentioned by old writers, viz. the Chaulotsei, or 
 Chablasii, or Chaulasii; all which are manifestly derived 
 from Chavilah : and it is likely that these inhabited a con- 
 siderable tract from east to west. 
 
 There remains now only Sabteca of Cush's sons ; who, 15. 
 
 we need not doubt, placed himself among the rest of his Situation of 
 11 'ii' 1 • iirr» Sabteca. 
 
 brethren ; especially smce there is room enough left for 
 
 him in the northern parts of Arabia. His descendants 
 might be from him regularly enough styled at first by the 
 Greeks Sabtaceni ; which name might be afterwards 
 softened into Saraceni ; by which name it is well known 
 that the people of this tract were formerly denominated. 
 And this is the more probable, because Stephanus men- 
 tions a country in those parts called Saruca. Mr. Bochart 
 will have the Saracens to be so called from p'^D, Saraky 
 which in the Arabic tongue signifies io steal, or rob; and 
 
 II 4
 
 104 '^he Geography of the Old Testament. 
 
 PART I. that this name was given these people, as being addicted 
 to robbery. And perhaps this might be the reason of 
 changing the original name Sabtaceni into the nickname 
 Saraceni. The reason why no mention is made in the 
 Scripture of the Sabtaceni, may be this ; that these parts 
 of Arabia lying next to the Holy Land, are by the sacred 
 writers denoted by the name of Cush, the father of Sab- 
 teca, and who, it is likely, settled himself in these parts 
 with his son Sabteca. As for Nimrod, the remaining son 
 of Cush, we shall speak of him and his dominions in a 
 distinct Chapter. 
 
 16. We proceed then now to Mizraim, who by Moses is 
 Mizra'im. ^^.Tned second among the sons of Ham. And where he at 
 
 first settled himself we need not doubt; since the Hebrew 
 text generally denotes Egypt by the name of the land of 
 Mizraim, or simply Mizraim. As to the critical remarks 
 of the learned concerning the dtml termination of this 
 name, I have spoken above ; and there shewn that it is 
 more probably to be esteemed a singular. I proceed 
 therefore to the descendants of Mizraim ; and the names, 
 whereby these are denoted by Moses, I have shewn to be 
 plurals. As for the land of Mizraim, or Egypt, I shall 
 speak of it hereafter in a distinct Chapter. 
 
 17. The descendants of Mizraim are thus enumerated by 
 The several ]y[oses ; Mizraim begat Ludim, and Anamim. and Leha- 
 
 descend- ' _ o ' _ ' _ 
 
 ants of him, and Naphiuhim, and Pathrusim, and Casluhim, {out of 
 izraim. ^^^^^ came Philistim,) and Caphtorim, Gen. x. 13, 14. I 
 shall take them in the order they are mentioned by Mo- 
 ses, as being pretty agreeable to their situation. 
 
 18. To begin then with Ludim, whereby are denoted 
 the\thio^' tl'Je Ethiopians in Afric, and who alone are commonly 
 pans in SO Called both in anclcut and modern writers. That these 
 
 Ethiopians are denoted in Scripture by the name of Lu- 
 dim, and their country Ethiopia by the name of Lud, the 
 learned Bochart has proved at large, by no fewer than ten 
 distinct arguments. I shall mention only those, which he 
 draws from the sacred Scripture; as from Isa. Ixvl. 19. 
 4i,nd Jer. xlvi. 9. where Lud or Ludim are said to be very
 
 First Plantations of Ham's Descendants. 105 
 
 skilful in drawing the low: which agrees punctually with chap. ih. 
 the character given to the Ethiopians by many ancient 
 
 writers. Again, in the forecited place of Isaiah, we find 
 Phul and Lud joined together; whence it may be pro- 
 bably inferred they denoted people or countries adjoining 
 one to the other. But now Phul may very well be 
 thought to be the city and country of Philae, situate not 
 far from Syene on the borders of Ethiopia. Once more, 
 in the place of Jeremiah aforecited, and in Ezek. xxx. 5. 
 we find Lud or Ludim joined with Cush and Phut : where, 
 as by Cush are meant the Arabians, and by Phut the in- 
 habitants of the parts of Afric beyond Cyrenaica, as 
 shall be shewn by and by ; so by Lud are reasonably to 
 be supposed the Ethiopians lying as it were between the 
 tw^o former. It is certain, that by Lud cannot be under- 
 stood Lydia in the Lesser Asia, (as it is rendered in our 
 English Version,) this being too far off from Cush and 
 Phut, to be joined together in one action. 
 
 The next descendants of Mizraim mentioned by Moses 19. 
 are the Anamim; whereby Bochart thinks the inhabitants ^^g™'"^*^, 
 of the country about Jupiter Amnion's temple might beed. 
 denoted : to confirm which opinion, he observes that He- 
 rodotus expressly asserts the Ammonians to be the de- 
 scendants partly of the Egyptians, and partly of the 
 Ethiopians. And this by the way tends to confirm also 
 the foregoing hypothesis, that the Ludim are the Ethio- 
 pians ; they being named just before the Anamim by 
 Moses. From these Anamim or Ammonii, the same 
 learned person thinks the Nazamones took likewise their 
 rise and name; as also the Amantes, and Garamantes, 
 and Hammanientes, mentioned by old writers in the ad- 
 jacent parts. 
 
 The Lehabim come next, both in the text and in situa- 20. 
 tion. Fpr it is very probable that Lehabim and Lubim J^^ ^^^*- 
 
 11 1 T 1 1 1 • • 1 bim.or Lu- 
 
 are one and the same word, a little changed m time, and bim, seated 
 that from hence was derived orie-inallv the name of Libya; '" ^'^P' 
 
 o J J ' properly so 
 
 which, though at length extended to the whole Libyan or called. 
 African continent, yet at first belonged only to the coun-
 
 io6 The Geography of the Old Testament. 
 
 PART I. try Cyrenaica. Now this country lying next over-against 
 Greece, hence the name of Lehab or Lub, originally be- 
 longing to this tract only, was moulded into Libya, and 
 given by the Greeks to the whole continent over-against 
 them on the other side of the Mediterranean Sea : just as 
 the name of Africa, properly pertaining only to that part 
 of this continent which lies over-against Italy, was there- 
 fore by the Latins extended to all the continent : or, to 
 come to our own times, much after the same manner as 
 we extend the name of Holland to all the Dutch pro- 
 vinces, and the name of Flanders to all the Spanish pro- 
 vinces in the Netherlands; whereas they properly denote 
 only the two particular provinces in the Spanish and 
 Dutch Netherlands, that lie next over-against our island 
 of Great Britain. 
 
 21. The Naphtuhim are probably enough placed by Mr. 
 fhe^Naph-^ Bochart in the country adjoining to Cyrenaica, or Libya 
 tuhim. properly so called, towards Egypt, namely, in Marmarica. 
 
 For here we find in Ptolemy some remainder of the name, 
 in a place called Aptuchi fanum. And in the Heathen fa- 
 bles Aptuchus, or Aphtuchus, or Autuchus, is said to be 
 the son of Gyrene, from whom the city and country of 
 Gyrene took its name. The ground of which fable might 
 be this, that Naphtuch, the father of Naphtuchim, called 
 by the Greeks Aphtuchius, was the brother of Lehab, the 
 father of Lehabim, who first peopled Cyrenaica. 
 
 22. The Pathrusim, or descendants of Pathros, are men- 
 the"pathru- ^'0"^^ next by Moses ; whereby are to be understood the 
 Sim. inhabitants of the Upper Egypt or Thebais, where Pto- 
 lemy places Pathyris, an inland town not far from Thebes. 
 And agreeably hereto the Septuagint translation renders 
 the Hebrew Pathros by the Greek Pathyris. The other 
 or lower part of Egypt, as it is frequently denoted by 
 Greek and Latin writers under the name of Egypt simply; 
 so it is sometimes distinctly noted in Scripture by the 
 name Mizraim. But more of this when we come to treat . 
 particularly of Egypt. 
 
 Go we on then to the two remaining families of Miz-
 
 First Plantations of Ham's Descendants. 107 
 
 raim, namely Casluhim and Caphtorim. And for the chap, iii 
 former, they are not improbably thought to have first set- ________ 
 
 tied in the country on the other side of Egypt, called Ca- 23. ^- 
 siotis: where also is a mount called Casius ; both which 7^.^^ ^^f.'"" 
 
 ' ... him, where 
 
 retain somewhat of the name Casluhim. And this situa- seated, 
 tion of them is confirmed by what Moses adds concerning 
 them, namely, that from them sprang the Philistines ; 
 who in process of time made themselves masters of the 
 adjoining tract of the land of Canaan, as we read in 
 Scripture, and shall take further notice of where we treat 
 distinctly of the land of Canaan. 
 
 That the Caphtorim were situated near to the Casluhim, 24. 
 
 ■, r »« • 1 TheCaph- 
 
 is mferred not only from Moses puttmg them next one to torim, 
 another in the forecited place of Gen. x. but also from^*^^'^? 
 
 ... . . seated, 
 
 this, that the Philistines, who are in Gen. x. 14. said to 
 
 be descended of the Casluhim, are elsewhere denoted by 
 the name of Caphtorim, as Deut. ii. 23. Jer. xlvii. 4. and 
 Amos ix. 7. Which perhaps cannot be better accounted 
 for, than by supposing the Casluhim and Caphtorim to be 
 neighbours, and so in time to have been mutually inter- 
 mixed, as to be looked upon as one and the same people. 
 
 Now the name of Caphtor seems to be preserved in an 25. 
 old city of Egypt, called Coptus ; from which as the ^^^ce so 
 name of Cophtes is still given to the Christians of Egypt, named, 
 (whence the translation of the Bible used by them is called 
 also the Coptic translation,) so it is not unlikely that the 
 common name of Egypt was derived from it; it being 
 called ^gyptus for ^gophtus, as if one would say in 
 Greek Ala Kotttou, the land of Coptus. And it is a good 
 remark of the learned Mede, that the Greek Al«, Aia, or 
 yEff, is likely derived from the Hebrew "'N Ai or Ei: to 
 which may be very pertinently subjoined this remark ; 
 that in the forecited Jer. xlvii. 4. what we render the 
 country of Caphtor, is in the Hebrew text termed "^IJlDi ^^^ 
 Ai Captor; which are the very two words, from which 
 we suppose the Greeks to have moulded the name AlyoTrrof, 
 ■^gyptus. And this is taken notice of by our Translators, 
 who in the margin of our Bible observe, that the Hebrew
 
 io8 The Geography of the Old Testament. 
 
 PART I. word translated the country in the text, denotes also an isle. 
 And it is further observable, that this name is very pro- 
 perly given to the city Coptus, forasmuch as it stood in a 
 small island. So that, upon the whole, we need not doubt 
 thereabout to fix the first settlement of the Caphtorim. 
 26. Of the four original nations descended from Ham, there 
 The nation remains now only that of Phut to be spoken of. And the 
 where ' first Settlement of this is with good reason supposed to be 
 seated. j^^ ^^^^ parts of the Libyan or African continent, which 
 join on next to those possessed by the descendants of the 
 Mizraim ; that is, in the parts adjoining westward to Cy- 
 renaica, and so to liave spread more westward into Mau- 
 ritania. For in Africa properly so called, below Adrume- 
 tum was a city, named Putea, mentioned by Pliny; and 
 in Mauritania there is a river mentioned by Ptolemy, 
 called Phut. St. Jerom is very full to the point, telling 
 us, that there is a river in Mauritania, which was till his 
 own time called Phut, and from which the adjacent coun- 
 try was called Regio Phytensis, the country of P hit. 
 
 And thus we have at length shewed the reader the 
 several places where the more immediate descendants of 
 Noah are either certainly known, or else probably thought 
 to have at first seated themselves. I may end this Chapter 
 rauch after the same manner as Moses does the tenth 
 chapter of Genesis: These are the plantations of the fami- 
 lies of the sons of Noah, after their generations, iji their 
 nations: and after this manner by these were tlie nations 
 divided in the earth after the Flood.
 
 llRteV: /;. li-.'iU r.i.i,' i,<q v.'/;/. 
 
 SEfflBOnnBEEB. 
 
 6\5 
 
 ' ■'"" " '"I » '"""■ 
 
 ^m 
 
 35 
 
 
 ^^ 
 
 4 ^ 
 
 ,, M. 
 
 
 <^ 
 
 ^> 
 
 ^ 
 
 t>'p^^ 
 
 Vccad 
 
 W<j//?<"/i 
 
 «Jiiti, 
 
 A Map of 
 the Concmests 
 
 01 Kin an OM of 
 
 Bahcl OP 
 £ab\1on 
 
 Hivch oi 
 •ecca 
 
 <i\ 
 
 36 
 
 Zajstd 
 
 OF 
 
 HJL VIL^H 
 
 ijiMim 11.1.1,11111111,1,1 
 
 Knsl J.''iifiitiuie (no froni Frm 
 
 
 T. Conder clei!& Sculpl
 
 Of the Land of Shinar. 109 
 
 CHAP. IV. 
 
 Of the Land of Shinar, and the City and Tower of Babel. 
 
 JVlOSES having informed us, that the first plantations l. 
 after the Flood were made, not confusedly or by chance, wh"y^muuu 
 but regularly and orderly, namely, after their families, plied, and 
 after their tongues, &c. he then proceeds to inform us, j^ named. 
 (Gen. xi. i — 9.) upon what occasion divine Providence 
 multiplied the languages of mankind, whereas afore the 
 whole earth was of one language. And this was, as the 
 sacred historian tells us, to make those, that had under- 
 taken to build a city and tower, whose top might reach 
 unto heaven, to desist from that enterprise : in order where- 
 unto God cojfounded their language, that they might not 
 understand one another's speech. Hereupon they left off to 
 build the city ; arid therefore the name of it was called 
 Babel, (which word in the Hebrew language denotes con- 
 fusion,) because the Lord did there confound the language of. 
 all the then inhabitants of the earth. We are then to 
 shew, what tract is denoted by the land of Shinar, where- 
 in Moses tells us mankind dwelt, when they undertook 
 the building of Babel ; and in what part of the said tract 
 this city and tower was begun. 
 
 And as to the land of Shinar, it is not to be doubted, 2. 
 but thereby is meant the valley, along which runs the Tj^.^ '^"'^ °^ 
 river Tigris, and that, probably,. till it falls into the sea. what. 
 In the northern part of this valley, that is, in the parts of 
 Mesopotamia lying next to the Tigris, we find in old 
 writers, both a city called Singara, and also a mountain 
 called Singaras ; from which it is most highly probable, 
 that the adjoining valley took the name of the land of 
 Shinar, or, as it may be otherwise spelled agreeably to the 
 Hebrew word, Singar. It is plain from Scripture, that 
 Babel was the same with the city Babylon ; and it is not 
 to be doubted, but that Erech was the same with the city
 
 no The Geography of the Old Testament. 
 
 PART I. Aracca, mentioned by Ptolemy and other ancient writers. 
 Now Moses expressly says, that Babel and Erech lay in 
 the land of Shinar, Gen. x. lo. It may therefore be very 
 probably inferred, that by the land of Shinar was denoted 
 all the valley, along which the river Tigris runs, from the 
 mountains of Armenia northwards, to the Persian Gulf, or 
 at least to the southern division of the common channel of 
 the Tigris and Euphrates. For the city Singara is placed, 
 by the ancients, not far from the mountains of Armenia ; 
 and the city Aracca is placed not far from the said divi- 
 sion of the common channel of the two rivers afore- 
 mentioned. Hence it evidently follows, that the country 
 of Eden was a part of the land of Shinar ; and as the 
 country of Eden was probably situated on each side the 
 aforementioned common channel ; so it Is not unlikely, 
 that the valley of Shinar did extend itself all along on 
 both sides the river Tigris : however, It is, I think, cer- 
 tain, that it did so all along the western side of the said 
 river. 
 3^ The situation and extent of the land of Shinar being, I 
 
 The text think, thus truly discovered, hereby great light is given 
 explained. ^° Gen. xl. 2. and all difficulty about it is taken away. 
 For though the Gordlaean mountains (on which part of 
 the mountains of Ararat it is most probably thought that 
 the Ark rested) lie in a manner north of Babel j yet this 
 does not In the least hinder, but that Moses might truly 
 say of Noah, and the rest, that as they journeyed from the 
 East they found a plain (or, as it may, more agreeably to 
 the Hebrew, be rendered, a valley) in the land of Shinar. 
 For the plain or valley of Shinar, extending itself up quite 
 to the mountains of Ararat or Armenia, which bound the 
 northern part of Mesopotamia, no sooner was Noah and 
 the rest descended from the Gordltean mountains, into the 
 level country on the south, but they were full east of the 
 upper or northern parts of the land of Shinar; and there- 
 fore, as they journeyed from the said foot of the said 
 mountains toward the upper part of the land of Shinar, it 
 may be truly said of them, and that in the most literal
 
 Of the Tower of Bah el. 1 1 1 
 
 sense, that as they jour?iei/ed from the East, they found a CHAP. IV. 
 plain in the land of Shinar. 
 
 To confirm this opinion, that Noah and his sons, &c. 4- 
 
 r- p 1 Vii 1 • I 1 r I Noah after 
 
 came first, after the Flood, mto the northern parts or the the Flood 
 land of Shinar, among other arguments that might be '*^^^||^j;'^'*'^ 
 alleged, I shall produce but two : one is, that in these part of the 
 parts we find a city mentioned by Ptolemy, under the'^^^^.'^^^^'^'' 
 name of Zama, which bears so great an affinity to Zem 
 or Shem, that it may well be supposed, that hereabouts 
 Noah and his son Shem with the rest at first settled. That 
 the forementioned town Zama took its name from Sem, 
 may be further confirmed from this consideration, that, in 
 the Arabic version, Sem is always called Sam or Zam. 
 The other consideration is this ; that it is hardly to be 
 doubted, but that Noah, and his son Shem, and also Ja- 
 phet, if not Ham, were no ways concerned in the building 
 of the city and tower of Babel, but on the contrary op- 
 posed it ; and therefore it is reasonably to be conjectured, 
 that the undertakers thereof withdrew themselves from 
 Noah, and the other Patriarchs, and pitched on a place 
 for their intended work at some distance from Noah and 
 the said Patriarchs. 
 
 Proceed we then to shew, in what part of the land of 5. 
 Shinar, and southward from the settlement of Noah, the^'^^"^ 
 
 tower or 
 
 city and tower of Babel was begun to be built. And that Babel, 
 was in the very place, or else neighbourhood, where the^^jj^"^*^ ^' 
 city called Babylon stood, as will appear in the next Chap- 
 ter; and consequently upon the original and natural 
 stream of the Euphrates, at some distance from its joining 
 with the Tigris, as may be best understood by looking on 
 the map hereunto belonging. 
 
 It may not be amiss to observe here, about what time, 6. 
 
 and for what reason, the tower of Babel was undertaken. XTt'^°^ 
 
 . . . Babel, 
 
 As to the time, it is easy enough to be inferred from Gen. when un- 
 
 X. 25. where Moses tells us, that it was i7i the days of "'^ ^"* 
 Peleg, that the earth was divided ; which seems most pro- 
 bably to be understood of the time of Peleg's birth, the 
 word Peleg denoting in the Hebrew language, a division.
 
 Jia The Geography of the Old Testament. 
 
 PART I. and therefore likely given by Heber to this his son, in 
 
 reference to the signal occurrence that then happened. 
 
 Now Peleg was born an hundred years after the Flood, as 
 
 rrjay be computed from Gen. xi. lo — 16. 
 
 7. As to the design of this fabric, some have been so ab- 
 
 The design g^j.^ ^g j.^ thj^k, that the Undertakers thereof designed to 
 
 of under- _ '-' 
 
 taking the get up to heaven thereby, because Moses used this expres- 
 Babel.°And ^'°" ' "^^^ ^^^ build US a City and tower, whose top may 
 first, false reach unto heaven. Hence arose the fable among the 
 jected. poets of the Giants endeavouring to get up to heaven, by 
 putting one mountain upon another. But it is to be re- 
 membered, that it is evident from other places of Scrip- 
 ture, that, by the aforesaid expression, Moses intended no 
 more than to denote a tower of a great height. For thus 
 we read, Deut. i. 28. andix. i. of cities great, and walled 
 or fenced up to heaven. And the like expression was fami- 
 liar to the Greeks, whence the words ovpavoiJ.YjXYig, reaching 
 to or as high as heaven, and rjXl^aTos, reaching to the sun^ 
 are frequently used by the poets, to denote things of a 
 more than ordinary height. Besides, that such was not 
 the design of this tower, may be reasonably inferred from 
 those words of the text : Now nothing will he restrained 
 from them which they have imagined to do. Whereby is 
 plainly intimated, that their design was such as they might 
 have completed, had not God thought fit to have inter- 
 rupted them: but this cannot be understood of a design 
 to build a tower, which should literally reach up to 
 heaven. Nor yet do those other opinions seem true; one 
 of which will have this tower designed to preserve them 
 from being destroyed by a second flood, the other to pre- 
 serve them from the general conflagration, which they are 
 supposed to have had some notice of. For, to omit other 
 considerations, had they a design to preserve themselves 
 from a second deluge, it is likely, they would not have 
 chosen so low a ground to build their tower on ; and on 
 the other hand, had they designed to preserve themselves 
 from fire, it seems more rational for them to have secured 
 themselves under ground.
 
 Of the Confusioji of Tongues. 113 
 
 But to spend no more time in refuting false opinions; CHAP. IV. 
 the true design of this tower is plainly enough told us by ^ 
 Moses, where he tells us, that they thus encouraged one Secondly, 
 another : Let us build us a city and a tower, whose top may op^^Ton 
 reach unto heaven; and let 21.S make us a name, lest we be shewn, 
 scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth, Gen. xi. 
 4. Now to make one's self a name, is a Scripture expression 
 for to make one's self famous, as 2 Sam. viii. 13. Isa. Ixiii. 
 12, &c. whence it follows, that the design of these under- 
 takers was, by erecting a tower of so great a height, out 
 of pomp or show, rather than use, to render themselves 
 famous to posterity. By their adding, lest we be scattered 
 abroad on the face of the whole earth, they seem to have 
 foreseen, that it would become necessary for them to se- 
 parate into distinct parts of the earth, for the better con- 
 veniency of subsisting. And it pleased divine Providence to 
 take this very occasion so to scatter them, which it did by 
 confounding their language, so as that they could not 
 understand one another. 
 
 And here it is remarkable, that in the very confusion of 9. 
 tongues there seems to have been a rule observed, God so obsen-'ed in 
 causing them to speak with diverse tongues, that their the confu- 
 tongues were ordered after their families, and after their ^^.^^^^_ 
 nations. So that the tongues of the same branch, though 
 diverse, yet had a greater affinity among themselves, than 
 with the tongues of another branch. Thus, the languages 
 of the branch of Shem in the East agree more one with 
 another, than with the languages of the branch of Japhet 
 in the West. 
 
 As to the number of languages then begun to be 10. 
 spoken, they could not probably be, as Mr. Mede ob- ^^^^.^p""^; 
 serves, fewer than there were nations, nor more than there i»ary lan- 
 were families. If there were no more than there were^ *°^ ' 
 nations, or heads of nations, thi;n the number is easily 
 counted ; seven in Japhet, four in Ham, and five in Shem. 
 But if there were as many as there were families at the 
 confusion, their number cannot be known ; because Mo- 
 ses, as Mr. Mede observes, does not make an enumeration 
 
 VOL. I. 1
 
 1 14 The Geography of the Old Testament. 
 
 PART I. of all the families, or heads of families. However, the 
 common opinion is, that their number was according to 
 the number of families; and this Moses seems to in- 
 sinuate, because he joins throughout Genes, x. families 
 and tongues together. Hence the number of the original 
 languages is commonly esteemed to be about seventy, ac- 
 cording to the number of families mentioned by Moses. 
 H • I shall only add, that the memory of the confusion of 
 
 mory of the tongues seems to have been a long time preserved among 
 confusion tjjg Heathen, whence the epithet of MeooTrfj, Meropes, is 
 
 of tongues . , • , , i i tt i i i r ii 
 
 among the given to mankmd by old Homer and other poets, the rull 
 Heathen, jj^port of which word denotes, that whereas mankind was 
 all once of one language, their language was afterward 
 divided into several languages. 
 12. I shall conclude this Chapter, with the account Dr. 
 
 of Babel's Heylin gives us of the tower of Babel, as to its height, 
 height, &c. gj;c. It was reared, says he, five thousand one hundred 
 forty-six paces from the ground, having its basis and cir- 
 cumference equal to the height. The passage to go up 
 went winding about the outside, and was of an exceeding 
 great breadth ; there being not only room for horses, 
 carts, and the like means of carriage to meet and turn ; 
 but lodging for man and beast, and, as Vorstegan reports, 
 grass and corn-fields for their nourishment. The reader 
 is left to give what credit he pleases to this relation.
 
 Of the Kingdom ofNimrod. 115 
 
 CHAP. V. 
 
 Of the Conquests and Kingdom of Nimrod. 
 
 JVlOSES having named the other sons and grandsons of l. 
 Cush, he subjoins, Gen. x. 8. And Cush begat Nimrod.^'^^°^^' 
 By this distinct mention ofNimrod, after the rest of his the young- 
 brethren, the sacred historian is supposed to intimate, that cush." ° 
 Nimrod was indeed the youngest of the sons of Cush, but 
 however the most remarkable of them. And accordingly 
 it immediately follows in the text; he began to be a 
 tnighty one in the earth. 
 
 By what method Nimrod became thus mighty, the 2, 
 sacred historian is thought to denote bv the words sub- ^^^ ^^^' 
 
 o • ner and oc- 
 
 joined ; He was a mighty hunter before the Lord, i. e. he casion of 
 was in reality very well skilled in hunting, and perform- j^^ ^ ^ar-' 
 ing notable exploits therein; insomuch that it became a"'^'^- 
 proverb, or common way of commending a man for his 
 valour and strength, to say, that he was even as Nimrod, 
 the mighty hunter before the Lord. The occasion of Nim- 
 rod's applying himself to hunting is probably conjectured 
 to be in order to destroy the wild beasts, that began to 
 grow now very numerous, and so to infest very much the 
 parts adjoining to the nation of Cush; the deserts of Ara- 
 bia being a convenient place for them to harbour in. 
 Hereupon having got together a body of stout young 
 men of his own nation like himself, he began by degrees 
 to be a great master in the art of hunting, and destroying 
 the beasts of prey ; by which means he not only very 
 much ingratiated himself with the inhabitants of the ad- 
 joining countries, but also inured himself and his com- 
 panions to undergo fatigue and hardship, and withal to 
 manage dexterously several sorts of offensive weapons. 
 
 Being thus occasionally trained up to the art of war, 3. 
 and perceiving at length his skill and strength sufficient to ^^ '"vades 
 act offensively even against men, he invades first the neigh- Shinar, and 
 
 I 2 why.
 
 ii6 The Geography of the Old Testament, 
 
 PART I. bouring parts of the nation of Shem, which, upon the 
 division of the earth, fell to the lot of the family of Ar- 
 phaxad; and so makes himself master of the lower part of 
 the land of Shinar. The extraordinary fruitfulness and 
 also pleasantness of this tract, might be the motive that 
 induced Nimrod to invade this part, rather than any 
 other adjoining part of the nation of Shem. As for the 
 land of Canaan and Mizraim, they were possessed by the 
 descendants of Ham, as well as himself; and therefore 
 he might shew them the more respect on that account. 
 4. Having conquered the southern parts of the land of 
 
 B'abel or Shinar, he pitches upon that very place, as is probable, 
 the capital where the city and tower of Babel had been begun, to 
 kine-dom bulld the Capital city of his kingdom ; which therefore 
 was called by the same name Babel, whence by the Greeks 
 and Latins it was called Babylon. It stood, as has been 
 said, on each side the Euphrates, having streets running 
 from north to south parallel with the river, and others 
 crossing these from east to west. The compass of the wall 
 was three hundred sixty- five furlongs, that is, about forty 
 miles : the height of it was fifty cubits, and the breadth 
 so great, that carts or carriages might meet on the top of 
 them, and pass by one another without danger. It is said 
 to have been finished in one year, by the hands of two 
 hundred thousand workmen employed daily in it. Over 
 the Euphrates there was a sumptuous bridge ; and at each 
 end of the bridge there was a magnificent palace. It was 
 famous for the Pensile Garden, so called by writers, be- 
 cause it seemed at a distance to hang in the air, being 
 made not on the ground, but at a considerable height from 
 the ground, borne up with square pillars. In this artificial 
 garden, thus borne up with pillars, there are said to have 
 grown trees, which were no less than eight cubits thick 
 in the body, and fifty feet high. There stood also in this 
 city a beautiful temple, dedicated to Belus or Bel ; and in 
 the middle hereof stood a tower, which is supposed by 
 some to have been the very tower, or at least part of that 
 tower, which was begun before the confusion of tongues.
 
 Of the City of Babylon. 117 
 
 The city, as has been said, is probably supposed to have chap. v. 
 been first built by Nimrod ; it was afterwards beautified ^ 
 and enlarged by Semira-.nis, the wife of Ninus, son, as is By whom 
 thought, and successor of Nimrod: it was finally niuch j^^'^^^^^j 
 increased, both in bulk and beauty, by Nebuchadnezzar, beautified, 
 who therefore arrogated to himself the whole glory of it, 
 saying in his pride. Is not this great Babylon that I have 
 built P Dan. iv. 30. 
 
 As this city was esteeiped justly one of the wonders of "• 
 the world for its largeness and buildings; so were the what fa-* 
 inhabitants thereof much addicted to and noted for astro- ^°^^ ^'"'• 
 logy, and also for the manufacture of cloth of various 
 colours, or embroidered cloth ; the invention whereof is 
 attributed to them. Hence we find mention made of 
 such Babylonish garments, not only in heathen writers, 
 but in the sacred story, particularly Josh. vii. 21. where 
 Achan makes this confession; When I saw among the 
 spoils a goodly Babylonish garment, &c. The word indeed, 
 which we render Babylonish, is in the Hebrew IJ^itT Siji- 
 gar or Shinar ; so that what we render a Babylonish gar- 
 ment should strictly be rendered a garment of Shinar: 
 which Shinar was the name of the plain, wherein Babylon 
 stood, as has been before observed. 
 
 This great and noble city, from the Assyrians, came into 7- 
 the hands of the Persians, and from them into the hands j,i°j^gj, 
 of the Macedonians. Here died Alexander the Great; 
 after whose death his generals, more regarding their own 
 interests than their common duty to their deceased prince, 
 let his body lie eight days unburied. Some short time 
 after, this great city began to decline, chiefly by the build- 
 ing of Seleucia, but three hundred furlongs, or near forty 
 miles, above Babylon, by Seleucus Nicanor ; who is said 
 to have erected this new city, named from him, out of 
 spleen to the Babylonians ; and to have drawn five hun- 
 dred thousand persons from Babylon, for the peopling of 
 this new city. Which by degrees robbed Babylon, not 
 only of its glory and greatness, but also of its very name; 
 being expressly called Babylon in some ancient authors. 
 
 13
 
 il8 The Geography of the Old Teslament. 
 
 PART I. And the want of observing this is that, which has led some 
 into a mistake concerning the situation of old Babylon. 
 As to the several steps, whereby old Babylon declined, 
 Curtius the historian tells us, that it was lessened a fourth 
 part in his time; it was reduced to desolation in the time 
 of Pliny, and in the days of St. Jerom was turned into 
 a park, in which the kings of Persia did use to hunt. 
 8- Rauwolf, a German physician, saw, and thus describes 
 
 dern state tl^^ State of this place in A. D. 1574. By a small village 
 of Baby- qh the Euphrates, called Eulego or Felugo, is the seat of 
 A.b. 1574. the old Babylon, a day and a half s journey from Bagdat. 
 The lands about it are so dry and desolate, that one may 
 justly doubt the fertility of it, and the greatness of this 
 city, if the vast ruins still to be seen did not banish all sus- 
 picion. There are still standing some arches of a bridge 
 over the river, which is here half a mile broad, and ex- 
 ceeding deep : these arches are built of bricks, and won- 
 derfully compacted. A quarter of a mile beneath the vil- 
 lage, in a plain, are the fallen ruins of a castle, and be- 
 yond that the ruins of the tower of Babel, half a German 
 mile in compass, which is now a receptacle of serpents 
 and venomous creatures. A little above the fall of the 
 Tigris into the Euphrates, is a city now called Trax, for- 
 merly Apamea. All that travel over these plains will find 
 vast numbers of the ruins of very ancient, great, and lofty 
 buildings, arched towers, and other such like structures of 
 wonderful architecture. There is only one tower, which 
 is called Daniel's, still entire and inhabited, from whence 
 may be seen all the ruins of this once vast city; which 
 sufficiently demonstrate the truth of what ancient writers 
 have said of its greatness, by the vastness of their extent. 
 9. However, whereas Aristotle says, that it ought rather to 
 
 a)^'ernine; ^^^® ^^^" Called a couutry than a city ; for that when it 
 Babylon's was Surprised by the Medes and Persians, it was three days 
 mended, before the inhabitants of the farthest parts were aware of 
 it : this is thought to be a great mistake, and that a small 
 alteration in the Greek might possibly occasion it, and 
 might make the third part of the day be taken for three
 
 Of the City of Erech. 1 1 9 
 
 days. And thus much for Babel or Babylon, which is CHAP. V. 
 said to be the beginning of the kingdom of Nimrod: which 
 expression may denote either, that it was the first city 
 built by him, or the capital city of his kingdom. There 
 is one other way of expounding these words, which I shall 
 take notice of, after that I have spoken of the other cities 
 of Nimrod's kingdom, mentioned with Babel as lying in 
 the land of Shinar; which are these, Erech, Accad, and 
 Calneh. 
 
 As to Erech, it is not to be questioned, but that it is 10. 
 the same which occurs in Ptolemy, under the name of Of Erech. 
 Arecca; and which is placed by him at the last, or most » 
 southern turning of the common channel of the Tigris 
 and Euphrates. The fields hereof are mentioned by Ti- 
 bullus, on account of its springs of Naphta, which is a 
 sort of liquid Bitumen. The Archevites mentioned Ezr. 
 iv. 9, are thought to be some, that were removed from 
 Erech to Samaria. 
 
 What in the Hebrew is Acchad, is by the Seventy In- n. 
 terpreters writ Archad, whence some footsteps of this Of Accad. 
 name are probably thought to be preserved in the river 
 Argades, mentioned by Ctesias, as a river near Sittace, 
 lying at some distance from the river Tigris, and giving 
 name formerly to Sittacene, a country lying between Ba- 
 bylon and Susa. And because it was very usual, parti- 
 cularly in these parts, to have rivers take their names 
 from some considerable city they run by; hence it is not 
 improbably conjectured, that the city Sittace was for- 
 merly called Argad or Acchad ; and took the name of 
 Sittace or Psittace, from the plenty of Psittacias or Pista- 
 cias, a sort of nut which grew there. The country Sitta- 
 cene, although It lay on the east of the Tigris, yet is 
 plainly ascribed to Babylonia, or the land of Shinar, by 
 Strabo ; which confirms the opinion, that the land of 
 Shinar lay on both sides the Tigris. To what has been 
 said, may be further added, that the same Strabo mentions 
 a region in these parts, namely, about Arbela, under the 
 name of Artacene, which might be framed from Arcadj 
 
 I 4
 
 120 The Geography of the Old Testament. 
 
 PART I 
 
 12. 
 
 Of Calne. 
 
 13. 
 
 Some 
 thought 
 that the 
 tower of 
 Babel was 
 built near 
 Chalone. 
 
 and so might be the ancient name of the country Sitta- 
 "cene, as Arcad was of the city Sittace. And this is the 
 more probable, inasmuch as Pliny expressly says, that 
 Sittacene was the same as Arbelitis, i. e. the country 
 about Arbela ; where Strabo places Artacene, moulded 
 from Arcadene or Ardacene. 
 
 The last of the cities mentioned as belonging to the 
 kingdom of Nimrod, and lying in the land of Shinar, is 
 Calne or Chalne; and which is called, with little varia- 
 tion, Isai. X. 9. Chalnoh, and Ezek. xxvii. 23. Channe. 
 That it was a considerable place even in the days of Amos, 
 appears from the Prophet's comparing it with other places 
 of note; as also from a like comparison made in the fore- 
 cited place of Isaiah. It is said by the Chaldee Inter- 
 preters, as also by Eusebius and Jerom, to be the same 
 with Ctesiphon, standing upon the Tigris, about three 
 miles distant from Seleucia above mentioned, and for some 
 time the capital city of the Parthians. That this opinion 
 concerning the situation of Chalneh is true, is mightily 
 confirmed from the country about Ctesiphon being even 
 by the Greeks called Chalonitis, a nanie plainly made 
 from Chalne or Chalno, or, by a mixture of both, from 
 Chalone, and denoting the country about the said city, 
 as being the principal place of it. And since we are ex- 
 pressly told by Ammianus Marcellinus, that Pacorus, a 
 king of the Parthians, changed its name, imposing on it a 
 Greek name, viz. Ctesiphon; we may reasonably suppose 
 that its old name was Chalne or Chalone, and that from 
 it the adjacent country took the name of Chalonitis ; 
 which it retained, even after the city had lost its ancient 
 appellation. 
 
 The Greek or Seventy Interpreters seem to have been 
 of opinion, that the tower of Babel was built near this 
 place. For they translate Isa. x. 9. in this sense : Have 
 not I taken the region above Babylon and Chalane, where 
 the tower was built ? A translation vastly difl'erent from 
 ours and others, and from the present reading of the He- 
 brew text. However, upon the authority of the Sep-
 
 Of the City Calneh. I2I 
 
 tuagint Version, several of the Greek fathers were ap- chap. v. 
 parently led into the forementioned opinion, that the 
 tower of Babel stood near Chalane. But though this 
 opinion be manifestly enough false j yet both from it and 
 the sacred text itself it is further confirmed, that the land 
 of Shinar was esteemed by the ancients to lie on the east 
 as well as west of the Tigris. 
 
 I have now shewn the situation of the four cities, Babel, 14. 
 Erech, Accad, and Calneh, lying in the land of Shinar, q^^ ^ /^^ 
 and within the kingdom of Nimrod. The text which explained, 
 informs us hereof runs thus ; A7id the heginning of his 
 (i. e. Nimrod' s) kingdom was Bahel, and Erech, and Accad, 
 and Calneh, &c. Now this expression, the heginning of 
 his kingdom, seems to be generally understood only of 
 Babel, as if thereby was denoted, either that Babel was 
 the city, that was first built in his kingdom; or that Ba- 
 bel was the first or capital city of his kingdom. But I see 
 no sufficient reason to restrain the forementioned expres- 
 sion only to Babel, but rather think it is to be understood 
 of all the other three cities, and does denote thus much, 
 viz. that Nimrod's kingdom did at the heginning contain 
 only these four principal cities, with their proper regions. 
 And this exposition is confirmed, by what is immediately 
 subjoined in the verse following ; out of that land he went 
 forth into Asshur, and built Nineveh. For these two verses 
 being compared together, the design of the sacred his- 
 torian seems to be plainly this, viz. that at the heginning 
 the kingdom of Nimrod extended no farther than the 
 land of Shinar ; but afterwards he extended it farther, by 
 making an invasion into Asshur or Assyria. 
 
 In the text of our translation, the Hebrew is rendered 15. 
 thus; Out of that land went forth Assher, and budded Nine- ^^Q^ of our 
 veil, &c. where by Assher, or as it is otherwise writ As- exposition. 
 shur, is understood a person, and consequently Asshur, one 
 of the sons of Shem, and mentioned ver. 32. of the same 
 chapter. But in the margin of our English Bible, the 
 other translation is taken notice of; Out of that land he 
 went forth into Assyria. Which that it is the truest in-
 
 121, The Geography of the Old Testament. 
 
 PART I. terpretation may be shewn by these following consider- 
 ations. i. It would be foreign, not to say absurd, to men- 
 tion in such a manner Asshur, son of Shem, in the genea- 
 logy of the sons of Ham. 2. It is altogether incongruous 
 for Moses to have thus mentioned, ver. 11. the actions of 
 Asshur, before he had mentioned his birth, ver. 22. Fur- 
 ther, 3. It was no peculiar, and therefore no remarkable, 
 thing in respect of Asshur, that he should go out of the 
 land of Shinar to settle himself, since the far greatest part 
 of mankind did the same. But, 4. and lastly, the words 
 being taken in reference to Nimrod, and rendered accord- 
 ing to the marginal translation, there is a clear connection 
 between ver. 10. and ir. The beginning of his kingdom 
 was Bahel, and Erech, and Accad, and Calneh, in the land 
 of Shinar. But afterwards he extended his kingdom fur- 
 ther, and out of that land (of Shinar) ivent out (i. e. made 
 an invasion) into Assyria, and built Nineveh, and the city 
 Rehoboth, and Calah, and Resen, between Nineveh and 
 Calah. 
 ^Q 1 have spoken already of Assyria, chap. iii. sect. iii. §. 9. 
 
 Of Nine- I shall therefore proceed here to speak of the cities built 
 first'as to its ^y N"^'"o^j and mentioned ver. 11, 12. I shall take them 
 name. Jn the order they are there mentioned, and so begin with 
 Nineveh. As for its name, it is generally thought to be 
 so called from Ninus, son of Nimrod ; forasmuch as it is, 
 both by Greek and Latin writers, generally called Ninus : 
 though the name Nineveh was not altogether unknown 
 to these; for it is expressly mentioned by Amm. Marcel- 
 linus, and Ptolemy takes notice of both names : NTvoj, M- 
 mis, which is also Njveoj, Ninevi ; which last is plainly 
 made from the Hebrew ni3^D, Nineveh, a compound, as is 
 probably enough thought, of nii~1"'D, Ninnave, i. e. the 
 dwelling of Ninus. 
 17, As to the situation of this once most potent city, there 
 
 Secondly, g^e great diversities of opinions concerning it. And (as 
 tuation. the learned Bochart has well observed) perhaps the truest 
 opinion is, that the place of its situation is not to be dis- 
 covered j this being the import of those words in the pro-
 
 Of the City Nineveh. ii$ 
 
 phecy of Nahum, chap. i. ver. 8. IFith an overrunning CHAP. V. 
 Jlood he will make an utter end of the place thereof; i. e. 
 God will so destroy Nineveh, as that not so much as the 
 place where it once stood shall be known to after-ages. 
 And this exposition seems confirmed by chap. iii. ver. 17. 
 of the same prophecy : Thy croivned shall he as the locusts^ 
 and thy captains as the great grasshoppers, which camp in 
 the hedges in the cold day; hut when the suji arise th, they 
 fiee away, and their place is not known where they {are, it 
 is rendered in our Bible; but the verb being not expressed 
 in the Hebrew, it may be, and actually is, rendered in the 
 vulgar Latin version, where they) have heen. Which ren- 
 dering seems much more apposite and momentous than 
 the other, denoting what is now come to pass; that the 
 very place, where the kings and princes of the Assyrians 
 once lived in such splendour, should in time be not dis- 
 coverable. And this is particularly taken notice of by 
 Lucian in one of his Dialogues; wherein he says, that 
 Ninus was so utterly destroyed, that there remained no foot- 
 steps of it, nor could one tell so much as where it once 
 stood. 
 
 However from the observations of learned men, thus I8. 
 much may be reasonably inferred, ist. That there ^^ere ^.^^"^^^j^^J 
 two Nineveh's or Ninus's, one on the Euphrates, and the name, 
 other on the Tigris, which last is that mentioned so often 
 in the Scripture, adly. That this Nineveh lay on the east 
 of the river Tigris, and that not far from the river Lycus, 
 which runs into the Tigris. But on which hand of the 
 Lycus, whether on the right or left, is uncertain; foras- 
 much as some writers place both Ninus and Arbela be- 
 tween the two rivers Lycus and Caprus ; others make 
 Lycus separate Arbela from Ninus. 3dly. Hereupon some 
 have supposed, that the Nineveh or Ninus upon the Ti- 
 gris did in process of time remove from one place to ano- 
 ther; that is, that, whereas Nineveh was at first built by 
 Nimrod on the Tigris, above the mouth of the Lycus, 
 this Nineveh being taken and destroyed by the Medes, 
 another city rose up afterwards at no great distance from
 
 124 The Geography of the Old Testament. 
 
 PART I. the place of the former, below the mouth of the Lycus, 
 and as it were out of the ruins of the former, and so was 
 called by the same name as the former was. And this 
 conjecture is the more probable, because it is no other 
 than what has happened in relation to other cities or 
 towns. 
 19. As to the greatness of the Nineveh which is denoted in 
 
 '"'^ sreat- Scripturc, it is therein represented to be exceeding great; 
 Scripture for SO the Hebrew expression denotes, Jon. iii.3. Indeed 
 '"^^^ • it was so large, as to exceed even Babylon itself in bigness. 
 The circuit of Babylon is said by Strabo to be three hun- 
 dred eighty-five furlongs j i. e. somewhat above forty-eight 
 miles ; and yet the same author expressly asserts, that Ninus 
 was larger than Babylon. Diodorus gives us the particular 
 dimensions of Ninus thus: it was an hundred and fifty fur- 
 longs, i. e. near nineteen miles in length; ninety furlongs, 
 i. e. somewhat above eleven miles in breadth; and four 
 hundred and eighty furlongs, i. e. just threescore miles in 
 compass. Hence whereas it is said, Jon. iii. 3. that Nine- 
 veh was an exceeding great city, of three days' journey ; this 
 is by some understood, not as to its length, but as to its 
 compass; namely, accounting twenty miles for a day's 
 journey, according to the common estimation of those el- 
 der times, as also of the Greeks and Romans in the times 
 succeeding. But there seems to lie an objection against 
 this exposition in the following verse; where it is said, 
 that Jonas began to enter into the city a day's joiirjiey : 
 which seems plainly to intimate, that the measure of three 
 days' journey, mentioned in the foregoing verse, is to be 
 understood, not of the compass, but the inside of the 
 city. 
 20. Hence it may be easily supposed, that there were in 
 
 Of the Nineveh more than sixscore thousand persons that could 
 inhabit- not discem between their right liand and their left hand, 
 ^"*^' Jon. iv. II. For supposing this to be understood of in- 
 
 fants under two years old, these generally, as Mr. Bochart 
 observes, make at least the fifth part of a city. According 
 to which supposition, all the inhabitants of Nineveh would
 
 Of the Cihj Nineveh. 125 
 
 not be more than six hundred thousand. And so many chap. v. 
 the inhabitants of Seleucia were esteemed to be in the 
 days of PHny, as he tells us. Nay, the inhabitants of 
 London are esteemed six hundred ninety-five thousand, 
 seven hundred and eighteen, in the Philosophical Transac- 
 tions, No. 185. 
 
 Nor was this noble city of less strength than greatness ; 21. 
 the walls of it being an hundred feet high, and so broad ^^^.g^j^j^ ^^j- 
 that three carts might go abreast on the top thereof; andNiueveh. 
 along these walls there were fifteen hundred turrets, each 
 of them two hundred feet high. So strong, that it was 
 thought to have been impregnable, and that something 
 perhaps in respect to an old prediction concerning it; 
 which signified, that the town should never be taken, till 
 the river became an enemy to it. A prediction, which in- 
 duced Sardanapalus to make it the seat of his war against 
 Belochus and Arbaces, then in arms against him ; who 
 having besieged it three years without success, at last the 
 river overflowing, carried before it twenty furlongs of the 
 wall. Which accident so terrified the effeminate king 
 Sardanapalus, that he burnt himself in the midst of his 
 treasures, and so left the town to the besiegers. Destruc- 
 tion being threatened to this city by the preaching of 
 Jonas, it escaped then upon repentance. But the people 
 going on in their wicked courses, it was destroyed by 
 Astyages king of. the Medes, that it might no longer be 
 an encouragement to the Assyrians to rebel against him, 
 as formerly against some of his predecessors. Upon and 
 as it were out of the ruins hereof is supposed another city 
 to have arisen, at no gieat distance from the situation of 
 the former, and called by the same name, as has been be- 
 fore observed, and which was the Nineveh that was stand- 
 ing in the time of Amm. Marcellinus and Paulus Dia- 
 conus, and that on the east of the river Lycus, whereas old 
 Nineveh was on the west. And thus much for Nineveh. 
 
 Proceed we now to the other cities, which Nimrod built 22. 
 in these parts, as well as Nineveh ; and these having suf- Kehobot'h!^ 
 fered much the same fate with Nineveh, nothing can be
 
 126 The Geography of the Old Testament, 
 
 PART I. produced concerning them, that will amount to more than 
 conjecture. The city mentioned by Moses next to Nine- 
 veh is Rehoboth, which word, because in the Hebrew 
 tongue it denotes also streets, hence the sacred historian 
 seems to have added the word city ; to shew, that it was 
 here to be taken as a proper name. Now there being no 
 footsteps of the name itself in these parts, but there being 
 here a city or town called Birtha by Ptolemy, and the said 
 name denoting in the Chaldee tongue the same as Reho- 
 both does in the Hebrew, in an appellative or common 
 acceptation ; hence it is probably conjectured, that Reho- 
 both and Birtha are only two different names of one and 
 the same city. And it is not to be doubted, but the Bir- 
 tha mentioned by Ptolemy is the same which Ammianus 
 Marcellinus calls Virta. It was seated on the Tigris, 
 about the mouth of the river Lycus. 
 
 23. There is mention made, Gen. xxxvi. 37. of a city Reho- 
 Another both, where Saul a kins; of Edom was born. But this is 
 
 Rehoboth ' » 
 
 mentioned, thought to be the Rehoboth that lay on the Euphrates; 
 
 Gen. XXXV i.^,j^gj^^g Bochart tells us, that it is to this day distin- 
 guished among the Arabs by the name of Rahabath-melic, 
 i. e. Rehoboth-regis ; as in Norfolk there is a town called 
 for distinction sake Lynn-regis. But whether this Reho- 
 both on the Euphrates was the birthplace of Saul the 
 Idumean king, or no ; it is in a manner certain, that it 
 was at too great a distance from Assyria, properly so 
 called, to be built by Nimrod, together with Nineveh, 
 and the other two that follow, viz. Calah, and Resen. 
 
 24, As for Calah and Calach, since we find in Strabo a 
 Of the city country about the head of the river Lycus, called Cala- 
 
 chene, it is very probable, that the said country took this 
 name from Calach, which was once the capital city of it. 
 Ptolemy also mentions a country, called Calacine, in these 
 parts. And whereas Pliny mentions a people called Clas- 
 sit£e, through whose country the Lycus runs, it is likely 
 that ClassitEe is a corruption for Calachitae. To this city 
 and country it was, in all probability, that Salmanassar 
 transplanted some of the ten tribes of Israel, as we read
 
 Of the C'lly Resen. IV] 
 
 2 Kings xvii. 6. For though the word be there somewhat CHAP. V, 
 differently spelt, yet the said two letters, wherein the dif- 
 ference lies, are frequently used one for the other; and 
 what is in this last place written in our Bible Halah, may 
 be written agreeably to the Hebrew Chalah or Chalach, 
 and so little differing from Calah or Calach. 
 
 We are come now to the last city mentioned by Moses, 25. 
 as built by Nimrod ; the name whereof was Resen. There °^ '^^ *^'*y^ 
 
 •••TVT • r 1 1.1 Resen. 
 
 were two cities m Mesopotamia or somewhat like names, 
 one being called Rhisina, between Edessa and mount Ma- 
 sius; the other, Rhesena, between the rivers Chaboras and 
 Saocoras. But the situation of neither of these agreeing 
 to the description of Resen given by Moses, therefore 
 learned persons have been induced to look on a city men- 
 tioned by Xenophon under the name of Larissa, to be the 
 same v/ith Resen built by Nimrod, and that for these 
 three considerations, ist. That the situation of this Larissa 
 lying on the Tigris well enough agrees with the situation 
 of Resen, as described by Moses, who tells us, that it was 
 built between Nineveh and Calah, Gen. x. I2. More- 
 over, 2dly, Moses observes in the same text, that Resen 
 was a great city. And so Xenophon tells us, that Larissa 
 was a strong and great, but then ruinated city, being two 
 parasangs, i. e. eight miles in compass ; and its walls an 
 hundred feet high, and twenty- five feet broad. 3dly, and 
 lastly, Larissa was a Greek name ; whence we find a city 
 so called in Thessaly, and said to be the birthplace of 
 Achilles. There was also another city of the same name 
 in Syria, which the Syrians themselves called Sizara, as 
 Stephanus observes. But now there were no Greek cities 
 in Assyria in the days of Xenophon, i. e. before Alexander 
 the Great ; and consequently no Larissa : it is likely there- 
 fore that the Greeks asking, what city those were the ruins 
 of, the Assyrians might answer Laresen, i. e. of Resen; 
 which word Xenophon expressed by Larissa, a somewhat 
 like name of several Greek cities. And thus much for 
 the kingdom of Nimrod.
 
 ia8 The Geography of the Old Testament, 
 
 CHAP. VI. 
 
 Of Chaldea, Ur of the ChaldeeSj and Haran. 
 
 1. -L HE sacred historian having given us an account of the 
 
 The series attempt to build the tower of Babel, of the confusion of 
 
 of the sa- ' 
 
 cred history tongues, and dispersion of mankind ensuing thereupon, 
 
 continue . ^^^ ^j^^ ^^ ^1^^ kingdom erected by Nimrod; he then 
 hastens to the history of Abraham, giving us a genealo- 
 gical account of his descent from Shem, Gen. xi. lo — 26. 
 After which he informs us, thatTerah, the father of Abra- 
 ham, taking this his son with him, and Lot his grandson 
 by Haran, and Sarah Abraham's wife, left Ur of the 
 Chaldees, for to go into Canaan ; and that being come 
 unto Haran, they dwelt there. We are then to shew the 
 situation of these two places, Ur of the Chaldees and 
 Haran. And in order to discover the situation of the for- 
 mer, it is requisite to premise something of the country of 
 the Chaldees, or Chaldea. 
 
 2. It is certain, then, that by the name of Chaldea in 
 The land of after-ages was denoted the country lying between Meso- 
 dees or potamia to the north, Susiana to the east, the Persian Bay 
 Chaldea, jq ^^^ south, and Arabia Deserta to the west. Its capital 
 
 whence so • i i i 
 
 called ; and city was Babylonia, hence called by Isaiah the prophet, the 
 tenTcom-''" ^^^^^^V of the Chaldees' excellency. From this its capital city, 
 moniy tak- the whole Country of Chaldea came to be denoted by the 
 name of Babylonia ; and so these two words to be frequent- 
 ly used promiscuously : though some writers make a dis- 
 tinction between them, but not the same. For some make 
 Chaldea in a restrained sense to be a province of Babylonia; 
 others make Babylonia a province of Chaldea, namely, 
 that part which lay about the city of Babylon. That Ba- 
 bylon was so called by the Greeks, from its Hebrew name 
 Babel, is not to be doubted : and that this city took the 
 name of Babel, from its being built in or near the place 
 
 en
 
 rialp y\.Tol'r,-nt f.ufej^Sil 1
 
 Of Chaldea. 139 
 
 where the tower of Babel was begun, is scarcely to be chap. vi. 
 questioned- As for the name of Chaldea, the rise of it is 
 not so clear; but since the Chaldeans are called in He- 
 brew Chasdim, hence it is commonly thought, that they 
 took their name from Chesed, one of the sons of Nahor, 
 the brother of Abraham, and mentioned Gen. xxii. 22. 
 For the singular "TtDlD, Chesed, willregularly make the plural 
 nZ3''1U?D, which may be read, either Chesadim according to 
 the common grammatical form, or else, with a small va- 
 riation, Chasdim. From this, instead of Xao-SaToi, Chasdcei, 
 the Greeks formed the softer word XaXSaToj, Chaldcei. 
 Upon the whole, therefore, as to the bare etymology of 
 the word Chaldees or Chaldeans, it might be very well 
 deduced from the word Chesed. But how the foreraen- 
 tioned son of Nahor, called by this name, should come to 
 give his name to the nation of the Chaldeans, or country 
 of Chaldea, it is not so easy to account for. We do not 
 find in history that either Chesed, or any of his descend- 
 ants, the Chasdim, came to be masters of this country, 
 and so to impose their own name thereon as conquerors. 
 Some therefore suppose, that Chesed or his descendants 
 might be the authors of some signal benefit to the inha- 
 bitants of this country ; particularly, that they might first 
 instruct them in the art of astronomy, for which they are 
 so famous in ancient history. And hence, because of the 
 extraordinary esteem the ancients seem to have had for 
 this science, the people of this country either might out 
 of vainglory affect themselves to go under this name, or 
 else might be called thereby by others, out of a distin- 
 guishing respect for their skill in so celebrated an art. This 
 opinion seems to be somewhat favoured, in that, when 
 they are mentioned on account of this art, they are, I 
 think, usually termed Chaldeans, rather than Babylo- 
 nians ; insomuch that a Chaldean and an astronomer may 
 seem to have been equivalent terms. It is obvious from 
 the sacred history, that, whatever was the occasion of the 
 name of the Chaldeans, if they took it from the aforesaid 
 Chesed, or any of his descendants, their country must be 
 
 VOL. I. K
 
 130 The Geography of the Old Teslamcnl. 
 
 PART 1. in the forecited texts. Gen. xi. 28, 31. so called by the 
 sacred historian proleptically ; that is, by the lujid of the 
 Chaldees, Moses must mean the land, which was (not at 
 the time when Terah and Abraham left Ur, but) after- 
 wards called by that name. In this proleptical sense are- 
 the lands of Havilah, and of Cush, and Assyria, so called 
 in the description of the garden of Eden; these names 
 being not given them till after the Flood. 
 3. Having said thus much concerning the derivation of the 
 
 Thelanclof^yyj.(j Chaldea, I must add a little more to what has been 
 
 the Chal- . , . . 
 
 dees in- abovc Said, conccmmg ris extent. The bounds above as- 
 
 *^arf "f Me- ^'S"^^ are such as agree to Chaldea, as it is taken in 
 sopotamia. Greek and Latin writers ; but in the sacred writings, it is 
 plain, that it is sometimes taken in a larger sense ; namely, 
 so as to include the adjacent parts of Mesopotamia, par- 
 ticularly lying along the Tigris. This is evident from the 
 words of the proto-martyr St. Stephen ; The God of 
 glory appeared to our father Abraham when he was in 
 Mesopotamia, before he dwelt in Charran, and said unto 
 him. Get thee out of this country. — Then came he out of 
 the land of the Chaldees, and dwelt in Charran. Now 
 since St. Stephen here first tells us, that Abraham was in 
 Mesopotamia before he dwelt in Charran, and before God 
 said unto him, Get thee out of this country ; and then tells 
 us, that Abraham, upon receiving God's command to go 
 out of the country where he then was, came out of the 
 land of the Chaldees, and dwelt in Charran : hence it ne- 
 cessarily follows, that the part of Mesopotamia, where 
 Abraham was before he dwelt in Charran, must be in- 
 cluded under the name of Chaldea, or the land of the 
 Chaldees. And this tends further to confirm the opinion, 
 that the name of Chaldea was originally derived from 
 Chesed, the son of Nahor, Abraham's brother. For it is 
 plainly enough intimated in the forecited passage of Gen. 
 xi. that when Terah with his son Abraham, and grandson 
 Lot, the son of Haran deceased, left Ur of the Chaldees ; 
 the other son of Terali, namely Nahor, staid behind them 
 in that country^ and probably in that very place Ur. For
 
 OfChaldea. 131 
 
 Nahor, as was before observed, was tbe father of Chased; CHAP. vi. 
 who being, as is conjectured, skilled in astronomy, might ' 
 
 very likely instruct his children in the same; whence the 
 Chasdim, i. e, the descendants of Chesed, might become 
 famous in those parts. And hence Ur, as being the 
 dwelling-place of Chesed and his family, might be called 
 by way of honour, Ur of the Clialdees, i. e. Ur, ivhere the 
 Chasdim live, so famous for astronomy. And this science 
 being in great vogue, and so much studied by the inha- 
 bitants, at least of better fashion, in the adjoining king- 
 dom of Babylonia ; hence the name of Chesed or Chas- 
 dim, the first tutors in this science, might, together with 
 the science itself, spread over the kingdom of Babylon, or 
 Babylonia. 
 
 This opinion, concerning the Chasdim being skilled in 4, 
 astronomy, may be confirmed from the very name of theU'''Whyso 
 place where they lived. For Ur in the Hebrew tongue 
 denotes light, and so may be taken to denote the celestial 
 luminaries or lights, 1. e. sun, moon, and stars. And hence 
 the place, where the Chasdim lived, might be named Ur 
 of the Chasdim, from their studying there the motions of 
 the said lights or luminaries. 
 
 From what has been said, may easily be inferred, in ^• 
 what part of the land of the Chaldees was situated Ur, situated. 
 which Terah and his son Abraham left; namely, that it 
 lay in the eastern part of Mesopotamia, which was some- 
 time, as appears from Acts vii. 2 — 4. included under the 
 name of Chaldea ; nay perhaps which was itself, particu- 
 larly about Ur, first called the land of the Chaldees, or 
 Chasdim, from Chesed and his sons living there ; and 
 from which the name was in process of time extended to 
 Babylonia. And as this situation of Ur agrees to the 
 words of St. Stephen, so likewise does it to the writings 
 of Ammianus Marcellinus, who travelled this country, 
 and who mentions a city of this name lying therein be- 
 tween the Tigris and the city of Nisibis. We do indeed 
 meet with a city in old writers called Urchoa, and situated 
 near or upon the lakes of Babylonia; which therefore 
 
 K 2
 
 1^2 The Geography of' the Old Testament. 
 
 PART I. many will have to be the Ur here mentioned by Moses. 
 But that the former opinion is the more preferable, besides 
 the argument already drawn from St Stephen's words, 
 will appear for these reasons following, i. It is said in 
 Josh. xxiv. 2. that Terah the father of Abraham, and the 
 father of Nachor, dwelt on the other side of the food (or 
 river, viz. Euphrates) in old time, or, as the Septuagint 
 and Vulgar Latin version render it, at the first or begin- 
 ning. But this cannot be understood of any Ur on or 
 near the lakes of Chaldea, these being on this side the 
 river Euphrates. 2. Abraham's ancestors, from Phaleg 
 downward, were seated in the forementioned parts of Me- 
 sopotamia; and therefore it is not likely that Terah 
 should settle so far from the rest of his kindred. 3. From 
 Ur in Mesopotamia near the Tigris, the way to Canaan, 
 whither Terah did intend to go, was directly by Haran ; 
 whereas, if he had dwelt by the lakes of Chaldea or Ba- 
 bylonia, his direct way had been through Arabia Deserta ; 
 or to avoid that country, as not commodious for travel- 
 ling, he needed not to have come so high north as Haran, 
 which we are now to speak of. 
 Q, Haran may be otherwise spelt, agreeably to the He- 
 
 Haran, brew word, Charan : and accordingly we find it, both in 
 
 whence so <-> J 
 
 called, and the Septuagint, and also in the Acts, rendered in Greek 
 where situ- Xappav, Charran ; from whence it is not to be doubted, 
 but it came to be called in common writers Charrse. It 
 is probably enough supposed to have been so called by 
 Terah, in memory of his deceased son Haran, the father 
 of Lot. It was situated in the west or north-west part of 
 Mesopotamia, on a river called by the same name in the 
 Greek writers, and running, as is likely, into the river 
 Chaboras, as this does into the river Euphrates. It is 
 taken notice of by Ron)an writers, on account of a great 
 overthrow there given by the Parthians to the Roman 
 army vmder the command of Crassus ; who was slain in 
 ' the battle, and was remarkable for his great wealth. 
 For his estate (besides the tenth which he offered to Her- 
 cules, and three months corn distributed among the poor)
 
 Of Chatdea. 133' 
 
 amounted to seven thousand one hundred talents, which chap. vi. 
 comes in our money, says Dr. Heylin, to one million 
 three hundred thirty-one thousand two hundred and fifty 
 pounds. This also was the Crassus, that made up the 
 triumvirate with Julius Caesar and Pompey. 
 
 K3
 
 134 The Geography of the Old Testament . 
 
 PART 1. 
 
 CHAP. VII. 
 
 Of the Land of Canaan j frorn the first Plantation thereof 
 after the Flood, to Abraham's coming thereto ; as also of 
 the Inhabitants of the adjacent Countries, at the time of 
 Abraham's coming into Canaan. 
 
 !• XjLAVING followed the series of the sacred history, so 
 Canaan re- f^'" ^^ ^^ Abraham's leaving his native place, in order to 
 quisiteto comc into the land of Canaan; before we proceed to 
 spoken of. speak of Abraham's sojourning therein, it seems very re- 
 quisite to give an account of the state of the promised 
 Land, from the first plantation of it after the Flood by 
 Canaan, and his descendants, till Abraham's coming to 
 sojourn therein. 
 
 2. Upon the dispersion of mankind, the country lying on 
 Canaan ^^^ ^^^^ ^"^ south-east of the Mediterranean sea fell to 
 how si- the share of Canaan, one of the immediate sons of Ham : 
 
 so that he was seated between the nation of Aram, an im- 
 mediate son of Shem, to the north and east; and the 
 nation of Cush, an immediate son of Ham, and so his 
 own brother, to the south and south-east; and the nation 
 of the Mizraim, another of his own brothers, to the 
 south-west: his western boundary was the Mediterranean 
 sea. 
 
 3. His descendants are thus reckoned up by Moses, Gen. x. 
 scendants ^5 — ^^' Canaan begat Sidon his first-born, and Heth, and 
 of Canaan, ifig Jebusite, and the Amorite, and the Girgasite, and the 
 
 Hivite, and the Arkite, and the Sinite, and the Arvadite, 
 and the Zemarite, and the Hamathite. These were the 
 several families of the nation of Canaan; the situation of 
 which we must the more particularly enquire into, as 
 being of great use to the clearer understanding of the 
 sacred history, wherein there is frequent mention made of 
 most of them. 
 
 4. But before we enter upon a particular enquiry after the 
 ginai settle- situation of each family, it is proper to observe in general,
 
 Of the Land of Canaan. 135 
 
 that some of these families seem to have, in process of C H a I'. 
 time, settled themselves without the original bounds of '' 
 
 the portion of the earth that upon the first division fell mcnts of 
 to the lot of Canaan. This seems to be what Moses inti-scendants' 
 mates in the latter part of the eighteenth verse and the"*^^"^^"- 
 nineteenth verse of Gen. x. For ver. 19. Moses seems to 
 design to tell us what was the original extent of the land 
 of Canaan : Tlie border, says he, of ike Canaanites was 
 from Sidon, as tliou earnest to Gerar, unto Gaza; and 
 as thou goest unto Sodom, and Gomorrah, and Adniah, and 
 Zeboim, even unto Lasha. Whereby Moses accurately 
 describes the four angles, wherein the four borders of the 
 land of Canaan met ; as may be represented in gross by 
 the adjoining diagram. 
 
 North. 
 Sidon.l 
 
 Gaza. 
 
 Lasha. 
 Sodom. 
 
 South, 
 
 But now we find some of the families of Canaan seated 
 without these bounds, in process of time, especially to 
 the north ; where in the sequel of the sacred history w^e 
 meet with the Arvadlte, and the Hamathitej and in 
 other ancient writings find the footsteps of other Canaan- 
 itish families. And this seems to be no other, than what 
 Moses designed to intimate to us, in the latter part of 
 V. 18. where he says, and afterward (i. e. not at first, but 
 in process of time) ivere the families of the Canaanites 
 spread abroad, namely, beyond their original bounds ; 
 which he then proceeds to inform us of, v. 19. The border 
 (i. e. the original border) of the Ca?iaanites was from Sidon, 
 &c. where the verb \_ivas'\ plainly confirms the interpre- 
 tation I give the forecited texts. And having premised 
 thus much concerning the families of the Canaanites in 
 general, I now descend to the particular situation of each 
 
 K4
 
 136 The Geography of the Old Testament. 
 
 PART I. family ; and I shall take them in the order they are men- 
 ' tioned hy Moses. 
 
 5. The situation then of the family of Sidon, the first-born 
 tionofst' of Canaan, is evidently marked out to us by the famous 
 don, the city of that name. I have largely spoken of it in my 
 of Canaan, Geography of the Neu' Testament, Part I. chap. vi. §. 3. 
 
 I shall only add here, that though Tyre is celebrated by 
 the poets for its antiquity, and the Tyrians themselves 
 were wont to boast thereof, as may be gathered from 
 Isa. xxiii. 7. Is this your joyous city, wkose antiquity is of 
 ancient days? yet it is not to be doubted, but Sidon was 
 more ancient; since in the forecited chapter of Isaiah, 
 ver. 12. Tyre is expressly styled, the daughter of Sidon j 
 by which expression is meant, that the Tyrians were a co- 
 lony of the Sidonians. The same may also be confirmed 
 from this, that though the Tyrians at length became 
 more considerable than the Sidonians ; yet it is apparent, 
 both from the sacred and old writers, that the Sidonians 
 were, in the more early ages of the world, much more 
 considerable than the Tyrians. As for Tyre, we find no 
 mention made of it in Scripture before the reign of Da- 
 vid, except in Josh. xix. 29. But in the foregoing verse, 
 Sidon is expressly styled the Great, as being then the chief 
 city of those parts. In like n)anner it is observable, that 
 old Homer never so much as once mentions Tyre; but* 
 often makes mention of the Sidonians ; and not only so, 
 but gives them the character of 7roAuS«/SaAo<, that is, of 
 being ingenious in several arts. And agreeably hereto, all 
 good fashions in dress, all good workmanship in making 
 vessels for use, and also all pretty contrivances in toys, are 
 ascribed, by the forementioned old poet, to the ingenuity 
 and industry of the Sidonians. 
 
 6. The second family of Canaan mentioned by Moses, is 
 1^^ ^nhe ^^^^ °^ Heth, whose descendants are frequently styled in 
 Hittites. Scripture, the children of Heth, or in short Hittites. As 
 
 * Iliad, xxiii. ver. 74.3. et Iliad, vi. ver. 289. Odyss. xv. ver. 114. et 
 Odyss. iv. ver. 54.
 
 Of the Families of Canaan. 137 
 
 Sidon planted himself in the north of the land of Canaan, CHAP, 
 so Heth planted himself in the southern parts thereof, 
 
 about Hebron. For thus we read. Gen. xxiii. 3. that 
 when Sarah was dead at Hebron, Abraham spake to the 
 sons of Heth about the purchase of a burying- place; to 
 which when they readily agreed, it is said, ver. 7. that 
 Abraham stood up, a?id bowed himself to the people oj the 
 land, even to the children of Heth. In like manner we 
 read. Gen. xxvi. that during Isaac's dwelling at Beersheba, 
 another city in the south of the land of Canaan, his son 
 Esau took two Hittite women to him for wives. So that 
 it may be reasonably inferred, that the family of Heth 
 settled itself in the parts about Hebron, between this and 
 Beersheba, that is, in the southern part of the land of Ca- 
 naan, and more particularly in the mountainous part 
 thereof, or hill country, as it is terme-d, Luke i. 39. Agree- 
 ably hereto. Josh. xi. 3. the Hittite is mentioned dwelling 
 i?i the mountains, as well as the Jebusite, of whom we are 
 to speak next. 
 
 This family was seated about Jerusalem, which was 7. 
 originally called Jebus, as we are expressly told, i Chron. ^u^"f ',^" °^ 
 xi. 4. And David and all Israel went to Jerusalem, which sites. 
 is Jebus ; where the Jebusites were, the inhabitants of the 
 land. Where, by this last clause, the inhabitants of the 
 land, seems to be plainly denoted this, that the Jebusites 
 were the original inhabitants of this tract of the land of 
 Canaan, from the first plantation after the Flood. So 
 that the Jebusites adjoined on to the Hittiies, in the moun- 
 tains towards the north. 
 
 As the Hittites and Jebusites, so also the Amorites g. 
 dwelt in the mountainous or hilly part of the land of Ca- Situation of 
 naan, as is intimated in the forecited Josh. xi. 3. and isntes. 
 expressly asserted. Num. xiii. 29. where the men, that were 
 sent to search out the land, give this account of it to 
 Moses, and their brethren the Israelites, as to the situation 
 of the several families of the Canaanites : The Hittites, 
 a?id the Jebusites, and the Amorites, dwell in the moun- 
 tains ; and the Canaanites dwell by the sea, and by the
 
 13^ The Geography of the Old Testame?il. 
 
 PART I. coast of Jordaii. Now as the Hittites seem to have pos- 
 sessed the hill country to the west and south-west of He- 
 bron, and the Jebusites to the north ; so the Aniorites 
 might settle themselves at first in the hill country to the 
 east, and south-east of Hebron. This seems probable, be- 
 cause the mountainous tract lying next to Kadesh-barnea, 
 is called the mount of the AmoriteSj Deut. i. 7. And we 
 are told, Gen. xiv. 7. that Chedorlaomer smote the j4mo- 
 rites that were in Hazezontamar, which was the same 
 place with Engaddi, (2 Chron. xx. 2.) and so was seated 
 in the hilly part of the land of Canaan, to the east, or 
 towards Jordan. And their neighbourhood to the coun- 
 try beyond Jordan might be the occasion, that theMoab- 
 ites were in process of time dispossessed thereof by the 
 Amorites, rather than any other family of the Canaanites. 
 Whence that tract beyond Jordan is, I think, always de- 
 noted by the la7id of the Amorites, and Sihon the king 
 thereof is always styled, Siho7i king of the ylniorites. 
 
 9. The Girgashite is the next family mentioned by Moses, 
 jj^^"Q;'°"°vvho probably seated themselves at first along the upper 
 shitcs. part of the river of Jordan. Here on the eastern side of 
 
 the sea of Tiberias or Galilee, we meet in our Saviour's 
 time a city called Gergesa; which seems to preserve some 
 remainders of the name of the Girgashites. 
 
 10. The Hivite we find was seated in the upper or northern 
 
 ?u'"li'°" °^ parts of Canaan, and so adioinina; to his brother Sidon. 
 the Hivites. t^ ... . . 
 
 For we read, Judg. iii. 3. that the Hivites dwelt in mouiit 
 
 Lebanon, from mount Baal-hermon unto the entering in of 
 
 Hamath. 
 
 11. And thus we have gone through those families of Ca- 
 The fore- naan, mentioned by Moses, Gen. x. which are afterwards 
 
 going na- . , . , i ,• i i i • 
 
 tions in mentioned m the sequel or the sacred history, as conti- 
 
 process of nLiinff within the original borders of the lot of Canaan. 
 
 time inter- ° , ° 
 
 mixed. What has been before observed concerning them, is to be 
 
 understood in reference to their first settlements. For in 
 process of time, it is very probable, and no other than 
 what is countenanced by the sacred history, that these fa- 
 milies intermixed one with the other. Whence we read
 
 OJ the Families of Canaan. 139 
 
 of some Hivites, Amorites, and Hittltes, in some other chap. 
 places than we have assigned them for their first settle- 
 ments 5 and also the Amorites becoming the most potent 
 nation in process of time; hence they are put to denote 
 frequently any one or more of the other nations of Ca- 
 naan. 
 
 As to the remaining families of Canaan, mentioned by 12. 
 Moses in this tenth chapter of Genesis, viz. the Arkite, jjggcendants 
 Sinite, Arvadite, Zemarite, and Hamathite; it seems most^' fi'^st pro- 
 
 11 1 • 1 • bablyseated 
 
 probable to me, that those at first seated themselves vvithm themselves 
 the true borders of Canaan. But in process of time, being J^'^l?'"*^^ 
 dispossessed by the Philistines, at least of a considerable Canaan, 
 part of what they had been possessed of, from the first 
 plantation after the Flood; they were obliged, either to 
 crowd themselves closer together in some parts of the 
 land of Canaan, or else to seek out abroad for new plan- 
 tations. 
 
 These families being thus dispossessed of their original 13. 
 plantations along the sea-coast, and great part, if not the J^''^' P'^°^ 
 whole, of some of them being thus forced to remove out meant by 
 of the land of Canaan; and the remainders of them within ^'^^ 9f" 
 
 ' naanites, 
 
 the land of Canaan, being forced to seat themselves con- when men- 
 fusedly together, in what small tract their enemies had ^'^^^ ^^^'p^ 
 left them; hence it might come to pass, that the sacred of the de- 
 writers denote these confused remainders of the said fa- of Canaan. 
 iTiilies, by the general name of their nation, calling them 
 in general Canaanites; because they could not at that 
 time of day tell how to distinguish them by their more 
 peculiar names. Hence, when we read in the forecited 
 Num. xiii. 29. that the Hittites, and the Jebusites, and the 
 Amorites f dwell in the mountains ; and the Canaanites dwell 
 by the sea, and by the coast of Jordan; hereby seems to be 
 denoted thus much, viz. the Hittites, and the Jebusites, 
 and the Amorites, dwell in the mountains; and the other 
 families of Canaan, which, being dispossessed and dis- 
 persed by the Philistines, are so mixed now together, that 
 we can design them only by the general name of the Ca- 
 naanites; these dwell either in what is left them by the
 
 140 The Geography of the Old Testament. 
 
 PART I. sea, or else where they have since seated themselves by the 
 coast of Jordan. 
 
 2^ Having shewn by what name the remainders of these 
 
 The Arkite famiHcs in Canaan are probably denoted in the sacred 
 gj "^ ^'^'^ ' history ; I shall now give an account of the places, where 
 such, as removed out of the original border of Canaan, 
 seated themselves. To go on then with them in the order 
 they are mentioned. Gen. x. J 7, 18. The Arkite first oc- 
 curs ; which is probably enough thought to have settled 
 himself about that part of Mount Libanus, where is placed 
 by Ptolemy and others a city called Arce. 
 ]5, Not far from this settlement of the Arkite, did the Sin- 
 
 The Sinite Jte likewise settle himself; for in the parts adjoining, St. 
 ed. Jerom tells us, was once a city called Sin, which though 
 
 in succeeding ages it was ruined by war, yet the place 
 where it had stood still retained its name. There is men- 
 tion made, Ezek. xxx. 15. of Sin, a place in ^gypt : but 
 that this was so named from Sin, the Canaanite, is not 
 probable. The word Sin in the Syriac language denotes 
 the same as Pelusium in the Greek, i. e. a dirty place : 
 and hence this Sin is thought to be the same as Pelusium, 
 which, therefore, is set down in the margin of our Bible 
 in this place. 
 iQ As for the Arvadite, the little isle of Aradus, lying up 
 
 Situation of jnore north on the coast of Syria, does preserve in its name 
 dite. so much of the name of Arvad, that it may be with great 
 
 probability conjectured, that it took its name from the 
 Arvadites, who seated themselves here in this isle, as a 
 place of greater security from any new invasions. 
 17, In the neighbourhood on the continent did the Zema- 
 
 Situationoffite probably fix ; forasmuch as on the coast there we find 
 
 the 7em3.— 
 
 rite. a town called Siniyra, not far from Orthosia. And Euse- 
 
 bius does expressly deduce the origin of the Orthosians 
 from the Samareans. There is also a city called Sema- 
 raim mentioned by Josephus, as lying in the tribe of Ben- 
 jamin ; which perhaps might be so called from some of 
 the Zemarites, that settled there within the land of Ca- 
 naan.
 
 Of the Comilries adjoining lo Canaan. 141 
 
 The only remaining family is the Hamathite, or the CHAP, 
 inhabitants of the land of Hamath, often mentioned in 
 
 sacred writ, and whose chief city was called Hamath. 18. 
 This some understand of Antioch, a famous city in these ^/'"u°" °^ 
 
 ' J the Hama- 
 
 parts, others of Epiphania. And St. Jerom expressly af- thite. 
 firms, that there were two cities of this name, one called 
 Hamath the Great, whereby may be denoted Antioch ; 
 the Lesser Hamath being Epiphania, known by that name 
 to the very time of Josephus the historian, and also of St. 
 Jerom, as they both affirm. And thus we have gone 
 through all the eleven families of the nation of Canaan. 
 
 I proceed now to speak of the countries adjoining to 19. 
 Canaan, and possessed by such as were not descended of^^^ Avims 
 Canaan. To begin from the south-west quarter. Weed, 
 find mention made of a people, called the Avinis, formerly 
 inhabiting these parts from Hazerim unto Azzah, Deut. 
 ii. 23. where as by Azzah is understood, according to the 
 consent of, I think, all interpreters, Gaza; so by Ha- 
 zerim is probably to be understood the same place, that is 
 called Hazaroth, Num. xi. ^^. near to which the children 
 of Israel had one of their stations, as they travelled through 
 the deserts of Arabia. 
 
 These people were, as is likely, descendants of Cush ; 20. 
 
 J • c J.- J- J f .1 • ^ ^ 1 The Philis- 
 
 and m process or tmie were dispossessed or this tract by tinespossess 
 the Philistines, descendants of Mizraim; who made them- themselves 
 
 1 1 r 1 r- 1 » • 1 ofthecoun- 
 
 selves masters, not only or the country or the Avims, but try of the 
 also of the adjacent parts of the land of Canaan, lying on ^^"^f' ^"'^ 
 the sea side. This part of Canaan was distinguished into cent tractof 
 five lordships, denominated from their chief towns, viz. ^^^^"^^^"gj "" 
 Gaza, Ashdod, Eshkalon, Gath, and Ekron, Josh. xiii. 3. south-west. 
 of which more hereafter. It suffices to have observed here, 
 that the Philistines were thus possessed of a considerable 
 tract in the west of Canaan, and also of the country of the 
 Avims, on the south-west thereof, at the time when Abra- 
 ham came to sojourn in the land of Canaan. 
 
 On the south of Canaan, the Horites inhabited mount 21. 
 Seir, and the adjacent parts so far as the wilderness of Pa-^.|^^ ^°' 
 ran. Further on eastwards, and south-east of Canaan, minis, Zu- 
 
 zinis, and
 
 142 The Geography of the Old Testament. 
 
 PART 1. dwelt a gigantic or very robust people, called the Emims. 
 Ke haims ^^^ ^"^' ^^^^ °^ Canaan dwelt another gigantic people, 
 inhabited called Zuzlms or Zamzunimims. Lastly, on the north- 
 tries on the cast dwelt the Rephaims, who were also of the same gi- 
 south, gantic race. These were the names of the several people, 
 
 south-east, ,.,,.,, . i- • • /-. 1 
 
 and east of that mhabited the countries adjomnig to Canaan, on the 
 
 Canaan, south-west, south, soutli-cast, east, and north-east, when 
 
 Abraham came into the land of Canaan. Whence these 
 
 were respectively descended, is not so easy to tell. As to 
 
 the country adjoining northward to the land of Canaan, 
 
 it was, as we have shewn, possessed by some of the families 
 
 of Canaan. 
 
 22. It is indeed said, Gen. xiv. 5 — 7. that when Chedorlao- 
 
 Country of jj^gj. j^ins; of Elam, with his confederates, smote the Re- 
 
 the Amale- . ° . . . 
 
 kites, Gen. phaims, Zuzims, Emims, and Horites, they smote also 
 w\I °^t^he country of the Amalekites ; but this must be under- 
 derstood. stood proleptically, i. e. that they smote the country, 
 which was afterwards known by the name of the country 
 of the Amalekites. For the Amalekites were probably 
 descended of Amalek, a grandson of Esau ; and so there 
 were no such people in the days of Abraham and Chedor- 
 laomer. And having thus prepared the way for the 
 clearer understanding the history of the sojournings of the 
 Patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, in the promised 
 Land; I now proceed to follow the thread of the Mo- 
 saic history, and to give an account of the (geographical 
 part of the) sojournings of the three Patriarchs aforesaid, 
 which takes up the greatest part of what remains of the 
 book called Genesis,
 
 Ahrahmii's Sojournivg. J 43 
 
 CHAP. vrii. 
 
 Of the Sojourning of Abraham. 
 
 XT has been before observed, that Terab, with his son |^ 
 Abraham, and grandson Lot, and some others, left Ur of Abraham 
 the Chaldees, and removed to Haran or Charran, in the canaan. 
 western part of Mesopotamia. Novi^ as the proto-martyr 
 St. Stephen assures us, that this first removal was made 
 upon God's appearing to Abraham, and giving him orders 
 thus to do ; so he acquaints us, that by God's appoint- 
 ment, when his father Terah ivas dead, Abraham removed 
 from Charran into the land of Canaan, Acts vii. 3, 4. 
 Gen. xii. i — 5* And Moses informs us, that Abraham 
 passed through the land unto the place of Sic hem, unto the 
 plain of Moreh, Gen. xii. 6. 
 
 The place here called Sichem, is the same with Sychem, 2. 
 Acts vii. 16. and with Sychar, John Iv. 5. and with Sha- •'^^'''*^^'" 
 lem, a city of Shechem, Gen. xxxiii. 18. or (as it is plainly Shalem, a 
 called, Gen. xxxv. 4. and in many other places) Shechem. '^!|y°^^'^^" 
 The thing In short is this : the proper and original name 
 of the city seems to have been Shalem; which in process 
 of time grew Into disuse, at least among the Israelites, 
 these calling it Shechem or Sichem, from Hamor's son of 
 that name. I have spoken of it already in my Geography 
 of the New Testament, Part I. chap. iv. §. 2, 3. 
 
 The piece of ground here called the plai?!, of Moreh, 3^ 
 is likely the same with tha f eld, ivhere Jacob afterwards^^^ v^^'^ 
 spread his tent, and a parcel ichereof he bought at the hand y^x^^^f.^ ' 
 of the children of Hamor, Shechem's father, for an hundred 
 pieces ofmojiey, or, as the Hebrew may be rendered, ybr 
 an hundred lambs, Gen. xxxiii. 19. Whence it may be 
 probably conjectured, either that the way tlien of buying 
 and selling, was by exchange of cattle for the thing 
 bought ; or else that the money then used had on it the 
 stamp of some cattle or other. Agreeably hereunto it is
 
 144 ^^^ Geography of the Old Testament. 
 
 PART I. thought, that among the Latins, the word peciinia came 
 to denote money from pecus, cattle. And on the same ac- 
 count, that proverbial saying among the Greeks, Baj IttI 
 yAaJTTj), There's a hull^or cow on his tongue, came to be ap- 
 pHed to such an one, as was bribed to say what he said, 
 by having money given him, which had on it the stamp of 
 a bull or cow. To the old money used among the Israel- 
 ites, and having on it the stamp of a lamb, St. Peter is 
 thought by some to have elegantly alluded, when he tells 
 the Jewish converts, that they knew that they were not re- 
 deemed luith corruptible things, as silver and gold, hut 
 
 with the precious .' Mof^',,.f'*^', as of a '- ih without ble- 
 mish, and without spot, i Pet. i. i8, 19. But to return to 
 the parcel of ground, for which the money above men- 
 tioned was given by Jacob. As it was in all likelihood a 
 parcel of this plain ofMoreh, where Abraham, at his first 
 coming into the land of Canaan, for some time sojourned ; 
 so it was that portion which Jacob at his death be- 
 queathed to Joseph, as a mark of his particular favour to 
 him. Gen. xlviii. 22. and which is mentioned in the Gos- 
 pel of St. John, iv. 5. where we learn, that there was a 
 well therein, called Jacob's well, as being by him caused 
 to be made ; and on which our-tiwi' 'our sate, whilst he dis- 
 coursed with the woman of Samaria. That this plain of 
 Moreh was situated near to the two mounts or hills, Geri- 
 zim and Ebal, we learn from Deut. xi. 29, 30. where it is 
 said of these two hills. Are they not in the land ff the 
 Canaaniles, which dwell in the champaign over against Gil- 
 gal, beside the plain of Moreh P But now the parcel of 
 ground bought by Jacob, and given to Joseph, lay near 
 these two hills ; as I have observed in my Geography of 
 the New Testament, from Mr. Maundrellj and therefore 
 it is not, I think, to be questioned, but that the said parcel 
 of ground was a part, at least, of the plain of Moreh. I 
 am apt to think, that the hill ofMoreh, mentioned Judg. 
 
 . vii. I. was one of the two forementioned hills. 
 4. 
 
 The words The three places of the Old Testament already men- 
 rendeTeT tioned, viz. Gen. xii. 6. Deut. xi. 30. and Judg. vii. i. are 
 
 i/ie higko.ik.
 
 Abraham's Sojourning. 145 
 
 the only places in Scripture, where mention is made of chap. 
 the plain of Moreh in our translation. I use this restric- 
 
 tion, because the Hebrew words thus rendered may be 
 rendered the high oak, and are actually so rendered in the 
 Septuagint version, in the two first of the three places of 
 the Old Testament above cited. And it seems very pro- 
 bable, that there was a remarkable oak in or near this 
 plain of Moreh ; since we read. Gen. xxxv. 4. that Jacob 
 hid the strange gods, that they of his household delivered 
 up to him upon his demand, under the oak tvhich was hy 
 Shechem. So we read, Josh. xxiv. 25, 26. that after Jo- 
 shua had made a covenant with the people in Shechem, he 
 took a great stone, and set it under an oak. — And in Judg. 
 ix. 6. we read, that all the men of Shechem gathered to- 
 gether, — and went and made Ahimelech king hy the oak, — 
 that ivas in Shechem. For so it is rendered in the margin 
 of our Bible ; in the text it is rendered, in the plain — that 
 was in Sheche?n. In short, since it appears highly pro- 
 bable, that the oak referred to in the forecited places of 
 Scripture stood in or near the plain of Moreh; it follows, 
 that the same place is denoted, both by the high oak, in 
 the Septuagint version, and such as follow it, and by the 
 plai?i of Moreh, in our and other like translations. 
 
 Abraham having sojourned for some time in the plain 5. 
 
 of Moreh, near Sichem, he removed from thence unto a Abraham 
 
 . . . removes to 
 
 mountain on the east of Bethel, and pitched his tent, having Bethel, 
 
 Bethel on the west, and Hai on the east. Gen. xii. g.go^sdown 
 
 . m to Egypt, 
 
 Hence, after some time, he removed more southward, ver. and returns 
 9. and a famine arising in the land of Canaan, he J^ent^^^^J^ 
 down into Egypt to sojourn there, ver. jo. whence he re- 
 turned again into Canaan, and, by several journeys from 
 the south, came at length to Bethel, even unto the place 
 where his tent had been at the beginning, between Bethel 
 and Hai, Gen. xiii. 3. 
 
 As to Bethel, it is so called here in the history of Abra- q, 
 ham proleptically ; for it had this name given to it after- Situation of 
 wards by Abraham's grandson Jacob; and therefore I Hai. 
 shall defer speaking any more of it, till we come to the 
 
 VOL. I. L
 
 f^6 The Geography of the Old Testamenl. 
 
 PART I. history of Jacob, than this, that it lay somewhat south of 
 Sichem. The city here called Hai is the same called Ai 
 in our translation of the Book of Joshua, where we have, 
 chap, seventh and eighth, a large account given us, how 
 it was taken by the Israelites. It lay, as Moses here tells 
 us, to the east of Bethel. 
 
 7. Some time after Abraham's return with Lot, to the 
 Abraham j^Qunt between Bethel and Hai, their substance beinff 
 
 and Lot ' '^ 
 
 part friend- grown SO great, that they could not dwell together, Abra- 
 ^' ham and his nephew Lot, upon a friendly motion of the 
 
 former, agree to part : and Lot having the choice given 
 him by his uncle, chose him all the plain of Jordan, and so 
 went eastward, and dwelt iti the cities of the said plain, 
 and pitched his tent near Sodom. But Abraham removed 
 his tent, and ca.me and dwelt in the plain of Mamre, which 
 is in Hebron, Gen. xili. 5 — 18. 
 
 8. Some time after Abraham and Lot were thus parted, 
 Lot carried ^j^^ \Liug of Sodom, together with the kings of the ad- 
 tive by Che- joining citics, Gomorrah, Admah, Zeboim, and Bela, 
 and^reccT-"^' fling off their subjection to Chedorlaomer king of Elam, 
 vered by to whom they had been tributary for twelve years. Here- 
 upon Chedorlaomer, with Amraphel king of Shinar, 
 Arioch king of Ellasar, and with Tidal king of nations, 
 came, and having conquered the neighbouring countries, 
 join battle with the king of Sodom and his confederates, 
 in the vale of Siddlm. These last being worsted and put 
 to flight, the conquerors take away Lot, among others, 
 captive with them. News hereof being brought to Abra- 
 ham in the plain of Mamre, he with a party of three hun- 
 dred and eighteen men of his own servants, and some few 
 others, pursue the conquerors unto Dan ; where falling 
 upon them by night, he smote them, and pursued them 
 unto Hobah, which, is on the left hand of Damascus. And 
 he brought back all the goods, and particularly Lot and his 
 goods, &c. In his return, Abraham was met by the king 
 of Sodom, at the valley of Shaveh, which is the King's 
 dale. And thither Melchisedek king of Salem, and priest 
 of the most high God, brought forth bread and wine to
 
 Abraham's Sojourning. 147 
 
 Abraham, and blessed him, and received of Abraham the CHAP, 
 tithes or tenth part of all the booty he had taken, Gen. ^ ' 
 xiv. 
 
 Having thus given in short the history of Gen. xiii. and 9- 
 
 ■r . P , 1 • 1 Of the plain 
 
 XIV. 1 am now to give an account 01 the geographical of Jordan. 
 part of the said history, or of the several places mentioned 
 therein. I shall begin with the plain of Jordan, which 
 Lot made choice of to dwell in upon his separating from 
 Abraham. Hereby is denoted, without doubt, the plain, 
 through which the river Jordan runs, before it falls into 
 the body of waters, called the Lacus Asphaltites, or the 
 Dead Sea, by common writers, but by the sacred historian, 
 the Salt Sea, Gen. xiv. 3. That this sea is bounded on 
 the north with the plain of Jericho, we are assured from 
 the Reverend- Mr. Maundrell, who was an eye-witness of 
 it ; but how much farther, or beyond, the plain of Jeri- 
 cho, the plain of Jordan extends itself, is not so easy to 
 determine. It is evident from i Kings vii. 46. that it ex- 
 tends itself as high northward, as to the place where stood 
 Succoth : for in the forecited place we are told, that the 
 vessels of brass, made for the house of the Lord by the 
 order of Solomon, were cast in the plain of Jordan between 
 Succoth and Zarthan. And Succoth being, I think, by the 
 agreement of all Geographers, placed not far south of the 
 sea of Cinnereth or Galilee ; hence it appears, that by the 
 plai7i of Jordan was denoted the greatest part of the flat 
 country, through which the river Jordan runs, from its 
 coming out of the sea of Cinnereth, to its falling into the 
 Salt Sea. But this is not so to be understood, as if the 
 plain of Jordan was one continued plain of such length, 
 without any unevenness or risings, and descents; or as if 
 it was all along of an equal breadth. It is clear enough, 
 that it was narrower in some places than other ; and it is 
 more clear, that within this plain were several valleys. 
 Hence we read, Deut. xxxlv. 3. of the plain of the valley 
 of Jericho, and also Gen. xiv. 3. of the vale of Siddim; 
 which were both parts of the plain of Jordan. And it is 
 no wonder, that, notwithstanding such hills and vales, the 
 
 L 2
 
 148 The Geography of the Old Testament. 
 
 PART I. country about Jordan should be called the plain of Jordan, 
 as being in the main a plain open country; since this is 
 no other than what we have an instance of in our own 
 island. For the open and generally plain country about 
 the city of Salisbury, thence called by the name of Salis- 
 bury Plains, have within the compass of them several val- 
 leys, called by the inhabitants of those parts hoiirns. 
 10. Having said enough of the plain of Jordan, I proceed to 
 
 Of Sodom, speak of the cities of Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, Zeboim, 
 Admah, ' and Bela, which stood therein, and therefore are fre- 
 ^^h°r"i' quently styled, the cities of the plain. As to their parti- 
 cular situation, nothing certain can be, I think, deter- 
 mined concerning it ; and therefore we must be content 
 to acquiesce in the situation commonly assigned them, and 
 according to which they are placed in the map hereunto 
 belonging. However it seems plain from Scripture, that 
 in general they all five lay within the vale of Siddim, so 
 called before the destruction of these parts by fire from 
 heaven. From the number of these cities, this country is 
 sometimes denoted by the name of Pentapolis, i. e. the 
 country of the five cities. Of these five cities, four were 
 overwhelmed by the judgment of God, poured down 
 upon them for their great and unnatural wickedness. The 
 fifth was preserved at the entreaty of Lot, who fled thi- 
 ther from Sodom : and because one motive made use of 
 by Lot, for its being spared, was that it was a little city ; 
 hence ever after it was called Zoar, i. e. the little city ; 
 whereas before its name was Bela, Gen. xiv. 2. and xix. 
 20 — 22. And as Bela was the least of the five cities, so 
 Sodom seems to have been the greatest and most con- 
 siderable of all, and Gomorrah the next to it in both re- 
 spects. Hence the king of Sodom is mentioned first of the 
 kings of these five cities, and the king of Gomorrah se- 
 cond. And hence the wickedness, as well as destruction, 
 of these cities is frequently denoted by that of Sodom 
 only, or else of Sodom and Gomorrah. In Deut xxlx. 
 22 — 24. Moses describes the dreadfulness of God's judg- 
 ments, that would fall upon the Israelites, if they gave
 
 Abraliam's Sojourning. 149 
 
 themselves over to wickedness, by an allusion to the de- CHAP, 
 struction of these parts ; wherein he expressly makes men- ^"^' 
 tion of all the four cities that were destroyed, and describes 
 the divine judgment upon them in these words: I'^l^ien the 
 generation to come shall see — that the ivhole land thereof 
 is Irimstone, and salt, and burning; that it is not sown, 
 nor beareth, nor any grass groiueth therein, {like the over- 
 throw of Sodom and Gomorrah, Admah, and Zeboim, which 
 the Lord overthrew in his anger, and in his wrath,) even all 
 nations shall say, Wherefore has the Lord done thus unto 
 this landP The prophet Hosea, elegantly and pathetically 
 setting forth God's great mercy towards the Israelites, 
 and his unwillingness to punish them, notwithstanding 
 their great ingratitude, useth these words, as spoken by 
 God to them : How shall I give thee up, EphraimP How 
 shall I deliver thee up, Israel P How shall I make thee as 
 Admah P Hoiu shall I set thee as Zeboim P xi. 8. Where 
 we have mention made of Admah and Zeboim, in refe- 
 rence to the divine judgment poured on the country we 
 are speaking of, without any mention made of Sodom and 
 Gomorrah : and this is, I think, the only place in Scrip- 
 ture, where the said two cities are so mentioned. 
 
 What is more to be said in relation to these places will ' 1- 
 fall in with what we are to observe concerning the vale ofof siddim.^ 
 Siddim, and the Salt Sea. Now this vale of Siddim is 
 never mentioned under this name in holy writ, but in this 
 fourteenth chapter of Genesis, and so before the destruc- 
 tion of Sodom, and the other cities. And in this very 
 chapter, ver. 3. we are expressly told by the sacred his- 
 torian, that the vale of Siddim is the Salt Sea. From 
 which, and other circumstances mentioned by Moses, may 
 be reasonably inferred these following particulars. 1. That 
 as the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, &c. did lie within 
 the extent of the plain of Jordan ; so they lay in a vale 
 thereof, which was called the vale of Siddim. 
 
 2. That this vale was well watered, before the destruc- 12. 
 tion of Sodom and Gomorrah, we are expressly told by Gen. xtii! 
 the sacred historian. Gen. xiii. 10. For there he tells us, '°- '^''- 
 
 plained ac- 
 
 1-3
 
 150 The Geography of the Old Testaments 
 
 PART I. that the plain of Jordan was well watered every where, he- 
 T 'T'fi^^ ^^^ Lord destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah, [even like the 
 the com- garden of the Lord, like the land of Egypt,) as thou comest 
 ing" ^^ ' ^^^^^^ Zoar. The last clause, as thou comest unto Zoar, has 
 much perplexed Commentators, whilst they refer it to 
 the land of Egypt, in the clause immediately preceding; 
 whereas, if what is said by way of comparison of the plain 
 of Jordan, to the garden of the Lord, (i. e. the garden of 
 Eden,) and to the land of Egypt, be understood as in- 
 serted by way of parenthesis, the difficulty will be taken 
 away, and the import of the last clause will be plain and 
 easy, in reference to that foregoing part of the verse, 
 which ought to be immediately connected with it, leaving 
 out or setting aside the parenthesis. For then the mean- 
 ing of the verse will amount to this ; That before the Lord 
 destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah, the plain of Jordan was 
 well watered every ivhere, as thou comest unto Zoar, i. e. 
 in the parts where Sodom and Gomorrah stood; or in 
 short, in the vale of Siddim. This, I think, is a very na- 
 tural, easy, and pertinent interpretation of the last clause 
 of the verse, if we read it Zoar, (as it is read in the pre- 
 sent Hebrew, and in many versions,) and so understand it 
 of that city, in the vale of Siddim, which Lot fled to. 
 13. There is indeed another way of interpreting the said 
 
 The same d^use, namely, by supposing Zoar to be a false reading 
 plained ac- for Zoan. Such a supposition is the more allowable, not 
 a°diffefent ^"^7 bccausc the difference lies in the change but of one 
 reading, letter ; but also because it appears, that the Syriac trans- 
 lator actually read it so. If then the original reading was 
 Zoan, the last clause may be excellently well connected to 
 the land of iEgypt, in the clause immediately foregoing. 
 For Zoan was a famous, and, as is likely, in those days 
 the capital city of ^gypt, lying near or on the Nile, and 
 on the lower part thereof, or not far from the sea-coasts, 
 where the said river is divided into several branches, and 
 so the country thereabout more watered than in other 
 parts. In short, it is thought to be, and is rendered by 
 the Seventy Interpreters, Tanis; from which one of the
 
 Abraham's Sojourning. 151 
 
 mouths of the Nile was denominated Ostium Tanaiticum, CHAP. 
 
 fhe Tanaitic mouth. Upon the whole therefore, accord- '__ 
 
 ing to this reading, the import of the verse will be this ; 
 that the plain of Jordan was well watered every ivhere, 
 about Sodom and Gomorrah, &c. before the Lord destroyed 
 Sodom ajid Gomorrah ; yea the plain was so well watered, 
 that it was in this respect as the garden of the Lord, or as 
 the land of Egypt, and particularly as thou earnest unto 
 Zoa?!, 1. e. in the parts about Zoan, where the Nile is di- 
 vided into several branches. I have been the fuller in ex- 
 plaining the last clause of the forecited Gen. xiii. 10. be- 
 cause it will be of use in the third particular. For, 
 
 3. From this comparison of the parts about Sodom and 14. 
 Gomorrah, to the parts about Zoan, it may be not with- jordaT^*^ 
 out some ground inferred, that as in Egypt, about Zoan, probably 
 the Nile is divided into several streams, before it falls into several "^ 
 the Mediterranean sea ; so in the vale of Siddim, the wa- streams in 
 ters of Jordan were, before the destruction of Sodom, di- siddim. 
 vided in like manner into several branches before they 
 came to that common place, into which the said several 
 branches emptied themselves ; as may be seen better by 
 looking on the map hereunto belonging, than conceived 
 by any description in w^ords. The same reason that 
 occasioned the river Nile to be divided into so many 
 branches, in its lower part, or before it falls into the sea, 
 might likewise occasion the same to be done to the river 
 Jordan, in its lower part, or before it came to that place, 
 where it was finally received, at least above ground. It is 
 then obvious why rivers, the further they run, grow 
 greater and greater; and consequently are apt to overflow, 
 though not so suddenly, yet in a much larger manner, and 
 for a much longer time, towards their mouths, than to- 
 wards their risings. Hence, either by such frequent over- 
 flowings, the Nile in process of time made itself several 
 passages in its lower part into the sea, namely, where the 
 ground was lowest ; or else they were made by the in- 
 dustry of the Egyptians, to remedy the damages that 
 inight accrue from the overflowing of the Nile in these 
 
 L4
 
 152 The Geography of the Old Testament. 
 
 PART I. lower parts to too great an height, and from its conti- 
 nuance for too long a time. In like manner, the river 
 Jordan being subject to somewhat like overflowings, as 
 the river Nile, (of which we have intimation. Josh. iii. 15.) 
 it seems very probable, that either, in process of time, it 
 made itself different channels in its lower parts, where it 
 found low ground ; or else, that the inhabitants opened 
 several channels for it, for the reasons above mentioned, in 
 reference to the Nile. The river Jordan having no visible 
 communication with the Ocean, or Main Sea, it is most 
 reasonably supposed, that its waters are conveyed into it 
 by some subterraneous passage. And it is most rational to 
 suppose, that before the destruction of Sodom and the 
 adjoining cities, the waters of Jordan, into how many 
 streams soever they were divided in the vale of Siddim, 
 did all empty themselves into one common receptacle, to 
 which the subterraneous passage does pertain. How large 
 this common receptacle was, before the destruction of 
 Sodom, or whereabout it lay, it is impossible now cer- 
 tainly to determine. Thus much is certain, that it was 
 but a small part of what is now called the Asphakite 
 Lake, or the Salt Sea ; forasmuch as the present sea takes 
 up the vale of Siddim besides. And it seems most reason- 
 able to suppose, that the original receptacle of the waters 
 of Jordan lay in the southern part of the present sea, (as 
 may be seen in the map,) because the course of the wa- 
 ters is southwards. 
 15. 4. And lastly, it is observable, that what was before the 
 
 Siddim ^ ° destruction of Sodom a fruitful vale, came afterwards to 
 turned into be the Salt Sea. For the sacred historian expressly as- 
 called the serts, that what at the time of the fight, between the four 
 Salt Sea. kings with five, was the vale of Siddim, is the same now 
 with that which is the Salt Sea. For his words are. Gen. 
 xiv. 3. All these were joined together in the vale of Siddim ^ 
 which is the Salt Sea. The same is confirmed, Gen. xix. 
 24, 25. The7i the Lord rained upon Sodom, and upo7i Go- 
 morrah, brimstone and fire from the Lord out of heaven. 
 And he overthrew those cities, and all the plain, and all the
 
 ylbraham's Sojourning. 153 
 
 inhabitants of the cities, and that which grew upo7i the CHAP. 
 ground. For here it is said, that God overthrew, as the ci~ ^'^'^' 
 ties, so all the plain, that is, all the plain or vale ofSiddim. 
 But now by overthrowing the plain, can well be meant no- 
 thing else, but God's so altering the place as to be no lon- 
 ger a vale for pasture, and the like; but instead thereof to 
 become a sea, or large receptacle of water, called, from 
 the great quantity of salt, wherewith its water is impreg- 
 nated, the Salt Sea. 
 
 Tt seems made a question by some, whether these parts 16. 
 did abound with brimstone and salt, or with sulphureous T "J" 
 
 ' c stone and 
 
 and saline matter, before the destruction of Sodom. That salt in these 
 they abounded with bitumen, some infer from Gen. xiv. i o. be^gc^^^bed 
 where it is said, that the vale of Siddim was full of slime- '» 'he di- 
 
 • vine iudsT* 
 
 pits; where the Hebrew word '^^ll, chemar, which we render ment on 
 slime ; others, particularly the Seventy Interpreters, render ^°^°'"'**^- 
 "Aa-ipaXTOi, or bitumen. And the learned Bochart has spent to any na- 
 il whole chapter (viz. chap. xi. of his Phaleg) to shew, that'""^^^ czme. 
 it ought to be so rendered. But be this as it will, it is ob- 
 servable, that though bitumen is sometimes rendered, or 
 used by some to denote brimstone; yet, properly speaking, it 
 is a different thing : and the word used by the sacred his- 
 torian, for to denote brimstone in the destruction of these 
 parts, is a quite different word, namely, n^1C;i, gophrith. So 
 that whatever is in these parts to be found of gophrith, or 
 brimstone, more properly so called, is rather to be looked 
 upon as some remainders or effects of the brimstone rained 
 down from heaven, than as the natural and original pro- 
 duct of these parts. And the same, I think, is to be un- 
 derstood, as to that quantity of saline particles, where- 
 with either the waters or the earth hereabout is now im- 
 pregnated. There are two considerations, which seem to 
 me sufficiently to warrant this opinion ; one of which is 
 drawn from the nature of things, the other from the testi- 
 mony of Revelation. 
 
 That which is drawn from the nature of things, has re- 17. 
 gard to the nature of the soil in the vale of Siddim, before T*^'^ j°"' 
 
 11 . . , r / • firmed by 
 
 the destruction of Sodom j to the nature of bitumen, and considera- 
 tions drawn
 
 154 
 
 The Geography of the Old Testament. 
 
 PART I. 
 
 from na- 
 ture ; and 
 first, from 
 the nature 
 of the soil. 
 
 18. 
 
 Secondly, 
 from the 
 nature of 
 bitumen, 
 especially 
 as to the 
 places 
 where it is 
 produced. 
 
 19- 
 
 Thirdly, 
 from the 
 
 nature of 
 brimstone 
 and salt. 
 
 also to the nature of gop/mth, or brimstone, more espe- 
 'cially so called; and lastly, to the nature oi salt. As to 
 the nature of the soil in the vale of Siddim, it is evident, 
 that it was originally a fruitful soil, yielding very good 
 pasturage. For this was the motive, which induced Lot 
 to make choice of this tract to sojourn in. 
 
 And the same may be confirmed (though, I think, it 
 needs no confirmation) from the nature of bitumen, sup- 
 posing the Hebrew word chemar to denote the same. For, 
 upon comparing passages of natural history one with the 
 other, it will appear, that bitumen is found in the richest 
 soils. Thus we read Gen. xi. 3. that the builders of the 
 city and tower of Babel had brick for stone, and chemar 
 (which we render slime, the Seventy Interpreters and 
 others, asphaltus or bitinnen) for mortar. Nov^ the place, 
 where this work was undertaken, was the valley of Shi- 
 nar, which, by the agreement of all writers, is represented 
 as of a more than ordinary rich soil. In like manner we 
 read, Exod. ii. 3. that the ark of bulrushes wherein Moses 
 was put, was daubed with chemar and pitch ; where we 
 render chemar, as elsewhere, slime, the Septuagint and 
 other versions, bitume?]. Now the poor Hebrew woman, 
 Moses's mother, making use of bitumen, it is not impro- 
 bable that it abounds in Egypt about the Nile, which is 
 likewise of a very rich soil. Whence it seems rational to 
 suppose, that the vale of Siddim abounding with pits of 
 chemar, before the destruction of Sodom, was of a like na- 
 ture with the vale of Shinar, or the parts of Egypt along 
 the Nile, that is, of a very rich fruitful soil naturally. 
 
 But now if we consider the places, where gophrith or 
 brimstone more specially so called, and where salt or saline 
 matter is found, they will, I suppose, be of a different na- 
 ture ; not of a rich and fruitful soil, but of a barren one 
 and unfruitful. And therefore, from this physical or natii- 
 ral consideration, it seems rational to infer, that whatever 
 of gophrith, 1. e. sulphur or brimstone more properly so 
 called, and whatever of salt or saline matter is or has been 
 found in the parts we are speaking of, since the destruction
 
 Ahrahaju's Sojourning. 155 
 
 of Sodom, it has been the relics or effects of the divine chap. 
 vengeance, and was not there before. 
 
 This hypothesis may, I think, receive no little confirma- 20. 
 tion from several expressions in sacred writ. -A^i^ongJo^ firmed 
 which that already mentioned, Deut. xxix. 22 — 24. shall from Scrip- 
 stand first: IVken they see the plagues of that land, — that the fi/s^from 
 whole land is brimstone, and salt, and burning', that it w Deut. xxix. 
 
 • 22. 
 
 not sown, nor beareth, nor any grass groweth thereon, {like 
 the overthrow of Sodom, a?id Gomorrah, Admah, and Ze- 
 boim, which the Lord overthrew in his anger and in his 
 wrath;) even all nations shall say, Wherefore has the Lord 
 done thus unto this land P What meaneth the heat of this 
 great anger P It is, I think, sufficiently evident to a com- 
 mon understanding, that the land's becoming brimstone, 
 and salt, and burning, is here mentioned, as a true and 
 proper effect of the divine anger and wrath upon the said 
 land : and whereas this great punishment is compared to 
 the overthrow of Sodom ; it seems naturally to follow, that 
 the land of Sodom's becoming brimstone and salt, was a 
 true and proper effect of the great anger of the Lord 
 against it. Moreover, that the burning or fire rained 
 down from heaven on Sodom, was a true effect of the di- 
 vine wrath, no one in his right senses will deny ; but now 
 brimstone and salt are here mentioned, not only v/ith, but 
 before burning, and therefore are to be looked on, as equal 
 effects of the divine wrath. Nay, it is expressly said. 
 Gen. xix. 24. that God rained down brimstone as tvell as 
 fire out of heaven upon Sodom; and it is an opinion re- 
 ceived by the Jewish doctors, that salt was rained down 
 together with the brimstone and fire. What is added 
 more concerning the said land's becoming (not only brim- 
 stone, and salt, and burning, but also) not sown, nor bear- 
 ing, nor any grass growing thereon, is represented likewise 
 as effects of the divine judgment upon such a land, as it 
 had been upon the land of Sodom. But this distinction 
 may be truly made, that the brimstone, and salt, and burn- 
 ing, were the iinmediate effects of the divine vengeance 
 on Sodom and the rest ; whereas the not being soivn, nor 
 bearing, nor any grass growing thereon, were the mediate
 
 j^6 The Geography/ of the Old Testament. 
 
 PART I. effects thereof, that is, such as followed from ths land's 
 being made brimstone, avd salt, and burning. Though it 
 is possible, that by the burning here mentioned may be 
 denoted, not only the fire rained down from heaven, but 
 also the burning or heat that naturally arises from brim- 
 stone and salt, incorporated with land, and whereby the 
 land is rendered barren, not fit to be sown, and such as 
 grass will ?iot grow upon. 
 
 21. And this may be confirmed by the next place of Scrip- 
 from"judg. ^^'"^ ^^ ^® citcd, viz. Judg. ix. 45. where we read, that 
 ix.45. Abimelech the son of Gideon, having taken Shechem, 
 
 beat it down, and sowed it with salt. Where by Abime- 
 lech's sowing it with salt, several commentators understand 
 that he did so, in token that for the future it should lie 
 desolate and barren, forasmuch as salt is apt to cause bar- 
 renness. 
 
 22. And this interpretation (though rejected by some, yet) 
 from Jer receives strength from Jerem. xvii. 5, 6. For the Prophet 
 xvii. 5,6. having, ver. 5. pronounced the nia?i to be cursed that 
 
 trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm, and ivhose heart 
 departs from the Lord ; adds, ver. 6. For he shall be like 
 the heath in the desert, and shall not see when good comet h; 
 but shall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness, in a 
 (N. B.) salt land, and 7iot inhabited. Where we see a salt 
 land used to denote a land, which by reason of its barren- 
 ness is not inhabited. 
 
 23. There remains one place more of Scripture to be taken 
 fr "^ z - notice of, and it is Zephan. ii. 9, As I live, saith the 
 phan. ii. 9. Lord, — surely Moab shall be as Sodom, and the children 
 
 ofl Ayninon as Gomorrah, even the breeding of nettles, and 
 salt-pits, and a perpetual desolation. This text is ap- 
 parently very pertinent to our purpose, inasmuch as here 
 is an allusion made expressly to the punishment of Sodom 
 and Gomorrah ; and also it is here clearly intimated, that 
 one part of the punishment of Sodom and Gomorrah was 
 this, their being made salt-pits. 
 
 24. In a word, Mr. Maundrell^ tells us, that the water of 
 Lastly,from 
 
 Gen. xiii. 
 
 10. a Journey fiom Aleppo lo Jerusalem, p. 82, 83.
 
 Alrahanis Sojourning. 157 
 
 the lake is salt to the highest degree; and that, con)ing CHAP, 
 near the lake or sea, he passed through a kind of coppice '__ 
 
 of bushes and reeds. In the midst of which their guide, 
 who was an Arab, shewed him and his companions a 
 fountain of fresh water, rising not a furlong from the sea. 
 Fresh watery says Mr. Ma ndrell, he called it, but we 
 found it brackish. So that it seems, it is only fresh com- 
 paratively, that is, it is not salt to the highest degree, as the 
 sea itself is. Now had the soil been always thus impreg- 
 nated with salt, the waters must have been so too. But a 
 place, where only salt or brackish water is to be had, or 
 where it is so for the generality only, is no commodious 
 place for pasturage. And therefore, when we are told. 
 Gen. xiii. 10. that one motive that induced Lot to make 
 choice of the plain of Jordan, particularly the part of it 
 about Sodom, to sojourn in, was its being well watered ; 
 it is rationally to be supposed, that the waters in those 
 parts were then not brackish, but fresh. A.nd this may 
 suffice to shew, what was the natural state of the land of 
 Sodom, and the adjoining cities, before their overthrow, 
 and what the same became afterwards by the terrible but 
 just judgment of God. 
 
 I shall now adjoin some particulars concerning this tract, 25. 
 taken out of Mr. Maundrell, and not mentioned in niy^°'"^°''" 
 
 ' , ■' servations 
 
 Geography of the New Testament, as being more proper concerning 
 
 to be reserved to this place. He^ tells us then, that com- JJ^^^PJ^^/JJ'g 
 
 ing within about half an hour of the sea, they found the Salt Sea, 
 
 ground uneven, and varied into hillocks; much resem- jacenttract^ 
 
 blinsr those places in Ensland, where there have been an- taken from 
 ° . ^ . & » _ _ Mr. Maun- 
 
 ciently lime-kilns. Whether these might be the pits, atdrell. 
 
 which the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah were over- 
 thrown by the four kings, I will not, says he, determine. 
 Then he takes notice of the fountain of fresh water, as the 
 Arab called it, above mentioned. 
 
 After which he tells us, that the Dead Sea is inclosed, 26. 
 on the east and west, with exceedina; hia;h mountains ; on 'H^^ reput- 
 
 ' 00 ' ed extent of 
 
 the Salt 
 
 ''Journey from Aleppo to Jerusalem, p. 82 — 84. ^^'
 
 1^8 The Geography of the Old Testament. 
 
 PART I. tlie north it is bounded with the plain of Jericho, on 
 
 " 'which side it receives the waters of Jordan. On the south 
 
 it is open, and extends beyond the reach of the eye. It 
 
 is said to be twenty-four leagues long, and six or seven 
 
 broad. 
 
 27. On the shore of the lake, or Dead Sea, we found, says 
 A sulphu- j^p ^ black sort of pebble, which beins; held in the flame 
 
 reous stone ' . 
 
 here, capa- of a CBudlc, soon burns, and yields a smoke of an into- 
 pQ^°^g^'"°lerable stench. It has this property, that it loses only of 
 its weight, but not of its bulk, by burning. The hills 
 bordering upon the lake are said to abound with this sort 
 of sulphureous stones. I saw pieces of it, says my author, 
 at the convent of St. John in the wilderness, two feet 
 square. They were carved in basso relievo, and polished to 
 as great a lustre as black marble is capable of, and were 
 designed for the ornament of the new church at the con- 
 vent. 
 
 28. As for the hitumen, for which this sea has been so fa- 
 men here"' "^°^^' t^^*"^ ^"^^^ none at the place where we were, says 
 
 Mr. Maundrell. But it is gathered near the mountains 
 on both sides in great plenty. I had, adds he, several 
 lumps of it brought me to Jerusalem. It exactly resem- 
 bles pitch, and cannot readily be distinguished from it, 
 but by the sulphureousness of its smell and taste. 
 
 29. On the west side of the sea is a small promontory, near 
 ^f^^°'^ which, as our guide told us, stood the monument of Lot's 
 
 metamorphosed wife; part of which, if they may be cre- 
 dited, is visible at this day. 
 
 30. As for the apples of Sodom so much talked of, I neither 
 j^g^f g^P'saw nor heard of any hereabouts. Nor was there any 
 
 dom. tree to be seen near the lake, from which one might ex- 
 
 pect such a kind of fruit. Which induces me, says Mr. 
 Maundrell, to believe, that there may be a greater deceit 
 in this fruit, than that which is usually reported of it; 
 and that its very being, as well as its beauty, is a fiction, 
 only kept up (as, my Lord Bacon observes, many other 
 false notions are) because it serves for a good allusion, and 
 helps the poets to a similitude. Such is the account given
 
 Ahrahanis Sojourning. 159 
 
 us, by the late reverend and ingenious Mr. Maundrell, of c H a p. 
 the Asphaltite Lake, (or Dead Sea, called by Moses the ^'"^- 
 Salt Sea, and sometimes the Sea of the Plain, and which 
 was originally the vale of Siddim,) and the parts adja- 
 cent. 
 
 Having spoken of the vale of Siddim, wherein the five 31. 
 cities of Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, Zeboim, and Bela, °/,!m^ '^'"^ 
 
 ' -' ' ^ ' 'orEllasar, 
 
 all of them once stood ; and the five kings whereof were and king of 
 overcome by Chedorlaomer king of Elam, together with "''"°"** 
 his confederates, Amraphel king of Shinar, Arioch king of 
 Ellasar, and Tidal king of nations; I proceed to enquire, 
 where were seated the kingdoms of the two kings last 
 mentioned. For as to the other two kingdoms of Elam 
 and Shinar, their situation is known from what has been 
 already said, concerning the settlement of Elam, the son of 
 Shem, in the province of Elimais, and the adjoining parts 
 of Persia ; and concerning the land of Shinar. So that by 
 the king of Elam and king of Shinar is to be understood 
 much the same, as the then king of Persia, and the king of 
 Babylon. As for Ellasar, whereof Arioch was king, it 
 seems probably enough to be that country in Arabia, 
 whose inhabitants are by Ptolemy called Elisari. And the 
 nations, of which Tidal is here said to be king, are most 
 probably the same with those styled (Josh.xii. 23.) the na- 
 tions of Gil gal ; where by Gilgal, it is reasonably conjec- 
 tured, is not to be understood the place near the river Jor- 
 dan, so named by Joshua; but Galilee, and particularly 
 that part of it which was called Galilee of the nations. 
 For Galilee of the nations, and the nations of Galilee, may 
 well be taken for two expressions denoting one and the 
 same country. The grounds on which this interpretation of 
 the nations of Gilgal is founded, shall be taken notice of, 
 when we come to the geography of the book of Joshua. 
 
 As for Dan, whither Abraham followed after Chedor- 32. 
 laomer, and where he fell upon him, and worsted him, itL^^i,^^' °' 
 is so named. Gen. xiv. 14. proleptically ; this name being 
 not given to it till long after, as we learn, Judg. xviii. 29. 
 Its name before was Laish, as wc learn in the same text :
 
 i6o 
 
 The Geography of the Old Testament. 
 
 PART I. 
 
 33. 
 
 Of Hobah. 
 
 34. 
 
 Of Salem, 
 and the val 
 ley of Sha- 
 veh. 
 
 35, 
 
 Of Hebron, 
 
 36. 
 
 Called be- 
 fore Kir- 
 jath-Arba, 
 and why. 
 
 or, as it is otherwise called with sorne variation, Leshem, 
 "Josh. xix. 47. The same is probably enough thought to be 
 the Lashah mentioned Gen. x. 19. as one of the borders of 
 the land of Canaan. It was called in the times of the 
 New Testament, Caesarea Philippi; and accordingly under 
 that name I have spoken of it in my Geography of the 
 New Testament, Part I. chap. vi. §. 5. 
 
 Abraham, having smote the army of Chedorlaomer, and 
 put him to flight, pursued after him to Hobah, which 
 place is not, as I can find, any where else mentioned in 
 sacred writ. And therefore we must be content with the 
 general description, given of its situation by the sacred 
 historian in this chapter, where he tells us, v. 15. that it 
 was on the left hand of Damascus. As for the city of Da- 
 mascus, I have spoken largely of it in my Geography of 
 the New Testament, Part II. chap. i. §. 2. 
 
 So likewise in my Geography of the New Testament, 
 Parti, chap. ii. §. 4. I have spoken of Salem, whereof Mel- 
 chisedek was king, and which is generally agreed to be 
 the same afterwards called Jerusalem. Thevalley of Sha- 
 veh, which, the sacred historian here tells us, was the same 
 with the King's dale, is one of the valleys near Jerusalem, 
 and thought by some to be the same with the valley of 
 Jehoshuphat, or that valley which lies between Jerusalem 
 and mount Olivet, and through which the brook Cedron 
 runs. 
 
 We have now taken sufficient notice of the several 
 places mentioned in Gen. xiii. and xiv. except Hebron; 
 whither Abraham removed, after he and Lot were separated 
 one from the other. This is a city frequently mentioned in 
 the sacred history, and of great repute in those days ; and 
 therefore I shall insist the longer upon it. 
 
 It seems to have the name of Hebron given it by the 
 Israelites, whereas it was before called Kirjath-Arba, Josh. 
 xiv. 15. or the city of Arba, as it is rendered Josh. xv. 13. 
 the word Arha ia the Hebrew language denotes four ; 
 and from hence and from Josh. xiv. 15. wrong interpreted, 
 there seems to have arisen a fabulous tradition among the
 
 Abrahanis Sojourning. i6i 
 
 Jewish writers, that this city had the name of Kirjath- Arba CHAP, 
 
 ^ -^ VIII. 
 
 given it, as denoting the Cihj of Four, because there were, 
 buried here four most illustrious men, Adam, Abraham, 
 Isaac, and Jacob ; as also four illustrious women, Eve, 
 Sarah, Rebecca, and Leah. That all the other persons 
 here mentioned, except Adam and Eve, were buried near , 
 
 Hebron, is evident from the sacred history. But that Adam 
 also and Eve were buried here is only a fabulous tradition, 
 which seen)s to have arisen (as I before intimated) from a 
 misinterpretation of Josh. xiv. 15. The naiyie of Hebron be- 
 fore ivas {Kirjath- Arba, i. e.) the city of Arba, a great man 
 amovg the Anakims : which the Jews understand thus: 
 The name of Hebron before teas {Kirjalh-Arba, i. e.) the 
 City of Four : one of ivhich was Adam, that lies here 
 among the Anakims. For as the word Arba in Hebrew de- 
 notes four; so the word Adam denotes ma7i. But that the 
 former interpretation is the truest, is evident from Josh. xv. 
 13, 14. where we are expressly told, that Arba was the fa- 
 ther of Anak, and that when Caleb made himself master 
 of Hebron, he drove from thence the three sons of Anak, 
 Sheshai, Ahiman, and Talmai. As for the gigantic stature 
 of the Anakims, so frequently taken notice of in Scripture, 
 I shall speak of it in a more proper place. 
 
 Proceed we here to observe the antiquity of this city, 37. 
 which is set forth Num. xiii. 22. where we are told, that i/The anti- 
 ■was built seven years before Zoan in Egypt; which Zoan, HebVon, 
 as it was the royal city of the Pharaohs, or ancient kings ^"'' itssitu- 
 of Egypt, so it seems to have been boasted of by the 
 Egyptians on account of its antiquity. Wherefore Moses, 
 to set forth the great antiquity of Hebron, says, that it 
 was built before Zoan. Being not yet come to the divi- 
 sion of the land of Canaan among the tribes of Israel, it 
 will be proper to say no more of the situation of Hebron, 
 than that it was seated in the hill-country in the southern 
 part of Canaan, on the ridge of mountains, which run 
 southward from Jerusalem. 
 
 This city, as it is famous in sacred story for Abraham's 33. 
 sojourning in the neighbourhood thereof, and buying ^'^'^''"^'-■- 
 
 VOL. I. M
 
 t6z Tfie Geography of the Old Testament, 
 
 PART I. there a burying-place for his family, (of which more by 
 fQj.. ^^^ and by;) so was it famous in after-ages for king David's 
 why named keeping his court here for the first seven years of his reign, 
 till he took Jerusalem. It is also supposed to have been 
 the dwelling-place of Zacharias and Elizabeth, the parents 
 of St. John the Baptist. This is certain, that it was one 
 of the cities given to the Levites, and a city of refuge ; 
 Josh. xxi. 13. And perhaps it took the name of Hebron, 
 from Hebron one of the sons of Kohath, and grandson of 
 Levi. It is indeed said, that Caleb gave it the name of 
 Hebron, from a son of his of that name : but I am yet to 
 seek whence it is known that Caleb had any such son : 
 I do not find that the Scriptures make mention of any 
 such. 
 
 39. When the Christians had conquered Palestine, it was 
 A bishops fjja.de a bishop's see, as we are told by the writers of those 
 
 times : and I am apt to think it was so, long before that, 
 namely, in the more early ages of Christianity. For So- 
 crates the ecclesiastical historian tells us of the emperor 
 Theodosius the younger, that when the bishop of Chebron 
 had ended his life at Constantinople, the emperor desired 
 to have his hair-cloth cassock, which (although it was 
 very foul and nasty) he wore instead of a cloke, believing 
 he should thereby partake of something of the dead 
 bishop's sanctity. Now what we write Hebron is always 
 writ by the Greeks Xe^pwv, Chehron; and therefore the 
 bishop of Chebron mentioned by Socrates might be the 
 bishop of the city we are speaking of. 
 
 40. Having spoken of the city Hebron itself, we must now 
 ^^'^^^ speak particularly of the plain of Mamre in the neigh- 
 Mamre; bourhood thereof, and wherein Abraham for some time 
 ^j" j^^^g dwelt, hidlding there an altar unto the Lord, (Gen. xiii. 
 
 18.) as he did in other places where he resided, or made 
 any considerable stay. As to the name of this plain or 
 valley, it probably was so called from that Mamre, who is 
 mentioned with those that went with Abraham, when he 
 pursued after Chedorlaomer, and rescued his kinsman 
 Lot; and who probably was the possessor of the plain.
 
 Abraham^ s Sojourning. 163 
 
 wherein Abraham sojourned. Nay, so great and con- CHa 
 
 siderable a person does this Mamre seem to have been, '^^ 
 
 that from him hkely the city of Hebron itself was called 
 Mamre, as appears from Gen, xxxv. 27. where it is said 
 that Jacob came unto Isaac his father, nnlo Mamre, unto 
 the ciiy of Arbe, which is H.ehro7i, Where, according to 
 all the ancient versions, Mamre, the city of Arba, and 
 Hebron, are all three equivalent terms, and the latter in 
 order designed as exegetical or explanatory of the former. 
 And the same is confirmed from Gen, xxiii. 19. where it is 
 said, that Abraham buried Sarah in the cave of thejield of 
 Machpelahy before Mamre : the same is Hebron in the land 
 of Canaan. Hence not only all the ancient versions, (as 
 is before obser\'ed,) but Eusebius, and after him Jerom, 
 do both of them, in their account of Mamre, tell us that 
 it was the same as Hebron. And it is very likely that it 
 might frequently, if not generally, be denoted under this 
 name by the Hebrews, in respect of Mamre, Abraham's 
 friend, till it took afterwards the name of Hebron. 
 
 As to the situation of the plain of Mamre, it is evident 41. 
 from the Scripture history, that it lay by Hebron ; and it^^^^|.^^(^^ 
 is not to be reasonably doubted, but that it is the very plain of 
 same which is called. Gen. xxxvii. 14. the vale of Hebron. '*""''' 
 We are told, that it is fifteen furlongs, i. e. near two miles 
 from Hebron, southward ; and that it is (or at least was 
 formerly) a fertile and pleasant valley, which may be rea- 
 sonably supposed from Abraham's making choice of it to 
 sojourn in. 
 
 It is remarkable in sacred history for Abraham's enter- 42. 
 tainine: there three angels under an oak, which oak also ^^'.'^^ '^'''^ 
 
 ^ . ^ . of Mamre. 
 
 became very famous m after-ages; insomuch that super- 
 stitious worship came to be performed there. This the 
 great Constantine, esteemed the first Christian emperor of 
 the Romans, put a stop to by a letter written to Eusebius, 
 bishop of Cesarea in Palestine, to that purpose. Some 
 will have the forementloned tree not to have been an oak, 
 but a turpentine tree- 
 As the altar abused here to superstition was, by the
 
 • 164 The Geography of the Old Testament. 
 
 PART I. order of Constantine the Great, pulled down and de- 
 stroyed; so a church was built there by the orders of 
 
 43. the same pious prince. There was also another church 
 
 "church erected not far from the former, by Helena, the religious 
 built there, mother of Constantine, over the cave where Abraham and 
 
 the other patriarchs were buried. And though the city 
 Hebron is utterly ruined, as our worthy countryman 
 and gentleman, Mr. George Sandys, informs us, yet the 
 graves of the patriarchs are much visited by pilgrims. 
 
 44. In Gen. xv. Moses relates, how God renewed his pro- 
 tion to"be ^'^^^ ^° Abraham, of giving the land of Canaan to his 
 made, be- posterity for an inheritance, ver. 7. which promise God 
 
 tweenwhat , , ^ c ^\ -^i • j • • 
 
 God pro- w^s pleased to connrm then with a sign and a vision, ver. 
 mised the g — i^ jn this vision (as is probable) God not only re- 
 
 1 s r3.£l i ICS \ 1 / J 
 
 for a ;)o«^i- peated his promise of giving the land of Canaan ybr an 
 uon, and inheritance to the seed of Abraham, but withal further 
 
 what for 
 
 dominion, promised to give unto his seed the dominion of a much 
 larger tract; namely, of all the country, yVo77i the river of 
 Egypt y unto the great river, the river Euphrates ; that is, 
 the country of the Kenites, and Kenizzites, and Kadmon- 
 ites, and Rephaims, as well as of the Hittifes, and Periz- 
 zites, and Amorites, and Canaanites, and Girgashiles, and 
 Jehusites. This distinction between what God promised to 
 give, and actually did give to the Israelites for a possession; 
 and what he promised to give, and actually did give to 
 them the dominion of, is of good use for the clearer un- 
 derstanding of the sacred history, and of God's veracity in 
 making good his promises to the patriarchs; and is indeed 
 no other, than what is nicely observed in the sacred 
 writings themselves. For herein we read frequently of 
 God's giving the land of Canaan for a ^ possession to the 
 seed of Abraham; but I do not remember the same is any 
 where said of all the adjoining countries, which, though 
 lying out of the borders of the land of Canaan, were yet 
 under the dominion of the Israelites for some time. It is in- 
 deed said of some of these, viz. of the kingdom of Og king 
 
 ^ Gen. xvii. 8. and xlviii. 4. Lev. xiv. 34.
 
 Abraham's Sojourning. 165 
 
 of Basban, and the kingdom of Sihon king of the Amor- CHAP. 
 
 ites, on the east of Jordan; that Moses gave them for a 1_ 
 
 possession unto the Reubefiites, and Gadites, and the half 
 trU'e of Manasseh, Josh. xu. 6. Of the rest of the lands 
 lying between the river of Egypt and the Euphrates, it is 
 no where, I think, said of them, that God would give 
 them to the Israelites for a possession; but only in general, 
 that he would give them, (as in this place, Gen. xv. 18.) 
 namely, so as that they should be tributary to the Israel- 
 ites. This is more clearly expressed, Deut. xi. 24, 25. 
 Every place whereon the soles of your feet shall tread shall 
 he yours; from the ivilderness and Lebanon, from the 
 river, the river Euphrates, even unto the uttermost sea, 
 shall your coast be. There shall no man he able to stand 
 before you ; the Lord your God shall lay the fear and the 
 dread of you upon all the land, Sec. By what is here said 
 (ver. 25.) of the Lord's laying th^fear and dread of the 
 Israelites on the inhabitants of these parts, insomuch that 
 they should not be able to stand before them, seems to 
 be plainly denoted, in what sense all this large tract men- 
 tioned ver. 24. was to be the Israelites, namely, all as to 
 dominion, though not as to possession. And agreeably to 
 the extent of the dominion of the Israelites here specified, 
 we are told, i Kings iv. 21. that Solomon reigned over all 
 kingdoms, from the river, unto the land of the Philistines, and 
 unto the border of Egypt. But though the bounds of the 
 Israelitish dominions did for some time reach thus far; yet 
 we find the bounds of the Israelitish possessions to be set 
 out much narrower by Moses, Numb, xxxiv. i — 15. And 
 here, ver. 2. the distinction I am speaking of is very 
 plainly inculcated to the Israelites by God's command; 
 Command the children of Israel, and say unto them, IVhen 
 ye come into the land of Canaan, {this is the land that shall 
 fall u7ito you for an inheritance, even the land of Canaan, 
 - with the coasts thereof) then your south quarter shall be, 
 &c. Where the words inserted by way of parenthesis, 
 viz. This is the land that shall fall unto you for an in- 
 heritance, do plainly imply thus much, that what else 
 
 M 3
 
 1 66 The Geography of the Old Testament, 
 
 PART 1. God should give unto them, he gave it them, not as part 
 of their inheritance, but of" their dominions. 
 45. The distinction I am establishing will, I think, be put 
 
 and for a 
 possession. 
 
 '^'^^ "JlP°^%ey ond all dispute by one observation more, concerninf 
 giving a the in)port of God's giving a countryy&r a possession. For 
 hereby is, 1 think, meant, God's giving to a people a right 
 and title to the possession of the said country, so as that 
 the former inhabitants have no longer any claim thereto ; 
 and though the people, to whom God thus gives it, may 
 by their impiety provoke God to suffer them to be actually 
 dispossessed of the said country, yet they still retain a di- 
 vine right and title to the repossessing of the same, as soon 
 as they return to their due obedience to God. Accord- 
 ingly, during the captivity of the Jews in Babylonia, the 
 land of Canaan is styled their own land ; and God's put- 
 ting an end to that captivity is all along expressed in Eze- 
 kiel, by God's causing them to return into their own landy 
 Ezek. xxxiv. 13. and xxxvi. 34, &c. Whence may be 
 reasonably inferred, that though God had put the Jews 
 out of actual possession of the land of Canaan, by suffering 
 them to be carried away captive ; yet he had not thereby 
 put them out of all right and title to the possession there- 
 of; for if so, then it could not have been called any 
 longer their own la?id. 
 
 And perhaps this observation will afford us the best 
 Canaan in exposition of those texts, wherein God promised to Abra- 
 what sense ham, and the other patriarchs, to give to their seed the 
 God to the land of Canaan for an everlasting possessio7i. For this will 
 be literally true, if by God's giving the land of Canaan 
 for an everlasting possession, be understood not as to the 
 perpetuity of the actual possession of it, but as to the per- 
 petuity of right and title to the said possession, upon per- 
 forming the condition required of them? namely, obe- 
 dience to the will of God, duly made known unto them. 
 Agreeably hereto, it is, I think, an opinion not ill- 
 grounded, and therefore generally received, that, upon the 
 general conversion of the Jews to Christianity, they shall, 
 again hereafter (as formerly) be brought by the divine 
 
 46. 
 
 Jews for an 
 
 everlasting 
 
 possession.
 
 Alrahanis Sojourning, 167 
 
 Providence into that, which may be still called their otvn CHAP. 
 
 land, ill respect of the divine right and title given them |__ 
 
 thereto, through all generations to come. To conclude 
 this point, the import I assign to the scriptural expression 
 oi giving a land for a possession, cannot seem strange; since 
 it is no other, than that wherein we use the like expression 
 among us, of giving one an estate. For, if no limitation be 
 expressed thereby, according to common acceptation is 
 understood, not only giving one actual possession of the 
 estate, but a perpetuity of right and title to the said pos- 
 session. 
 
 Having largely shewn, in what sense the promise made 47. 
 by God, in Gen. xv. 18, &c. is to be understood, I corae^^'^^"'^*'" 
 now to speak distinctly of the particulars therein con- peculiarly 
 tained. And first to begin with the two bounds here as- 0° ^'^'^'^ '" 
 
 ° , Scripture, 
 
 signed, y^-om the river of Egypt, unto the great river, the 
 
 river Euphrates. This last is sufficiently known, by what 
 has been said already ; we are therefore only to enquire, 
 what river is here meant by the river of Egypt. That 
 hereby is not to be understood the great river of Egypt, 
 called the Nile, (as some have imagined,) may be rea- 
 sonably enough inferred from this very text. For the Eu- 
 phrates being here styled the great river, it may be rea- 
 sonably supposed, that the other river here mentioned 
 with it, is not a great river, but some lesser river ^ and 
 consequently not the river Nile, there being no such dis- 
 parity as to the greatness of the Nile and the Euphrates, 
 (especially as to that part of the Euphrates, to which the 
 dominion of the Israelites was to extend,) as that one 
 should be styled the great river, when mentioned with or 
 compared to the other. And the same will further ap- 
 pear from other places of Scripture, where mention is 
 made oithe river of Egypt. To instance in some of them, 
 Moses speaking, Num. xxxiv. 5. of the south border of 
 the land of Israel, says, that it shall fetch a compass from 
 Azmon unto the river of Egypt, and the goings out of it 
 shall he at the sea. Accordingly we read, Josh. xv. 4. that 
 the south coast passed toward Azmon, and went out unto 
 
 yi 4
 
 i68 TJie Geography of the Old Teslamcnl. 
 
 PART I. the river of' Egypt, and the goings out of that coast were at 
 
 Of the Ke 
 nices. 
 
 the sea. From the two places i'orecited it is evident, that 
 the river of Egypt was a part of the south border of the 
 land of Israel. But now it is well known, that the land 
 of Israel, i. e. the land divided among the twelve tribes of 
 Israel, did not reach to the river Nile. Therefore it evi- 
 dently follows, that the river of Egypt so called in Scrip- 
 ture was a distinct river from the Nile; and was some 
 lesser river that ran not far off from Gaza, a city in the 
 south border of the land of Israel. And this is expressly 
 confirmed, ver. 47. of this same 15th chapter of Joshua; 
 where an enumeration being made of the cities belonging 
 to the tribe of Judah, among the rest is mentioned Gaza, 
 ■with her towns and her villages, unto the river of Egypt. 
 Whence it may be clearly inferred, that the river of 
 Egypt was not far from the city of Gaza. 
 48. The situation of the two boundaries of the Israelitical 
 
 dominion being thus known, namely, of the river Eu- 
 phrates, and the river of Egypt ; we are next to enquire 
 after the situation of the several people here mentioned, 
 and whose countries should lie within either the, possession, 
 or else the dominion of the children of Israel. The first 
 people here mentioned by Moses are the Kenites. Some, 
 for want of observing the forementioned distinction, be- 
 tween the possession and the dominion promised to the Is- 
 raelites, have thought that the Kenites were descendants 
 of Canaan. But it is much more probable that they 
 were of a different race. From 1 Sam. xv. 6. we may re- 
 ceive clear light as to the situation of them, and good 
 light as to their descent. For Saul being sent by God's 
 special command to destroy the Amalekites, we there 
 read, that he said unto the Kenites, Go, depart, get you 
 down from among the Amalekites^ lest I destroy you u'itk 
 them : for ye shewed kindness to all the children of Israel 
 when they came up out of Egypt. Now what is here said 
 of the Kenites shcuing kindness to the children of Israel 
 iuhen they came up out of Egypt, is to be understood (as is 
 observed in the irmrgin of our Bible) of the Jiindness
 
 Abrahanis Sojournhig. 169 
 
 shewn to them by the father-in-law of Moses, and his fa- CHAP, 
 mily, and people. But the father-in-law of Moses is ex- ^^^^' 
 pressly said to be^, not only the priest of Midian,but also 
 a Midianite himself; and so was descended of Midian or 
 Madian, one of Abraham's sons by Keturah. So that the 
 Kenites were probably a branch of the Midianites; which 
 is the more probable, inasnmch as what is here said in 
 Samuel, of the Kenites dwelling among the Amalekites, 
 may be observed of the Midianites from other places of 
 Scripture. For it is evident from several places of sacred 
 writ, that the Midianites, as well as Ishmaelites and Ama- 
 lekites, were some of those mixed people, that dwelt inter- 
 mixed one with another, from Havilah unto Shur. Upon 
 the whole therefore it may be rationally concluded, that 
 by the Kenites are here to be understood a people of the 
 north-west part of Arabia Petraea, from the south border 
 of the land of Israel, to the Red sea; to which the Israel- 
 itish dominion should extend for some time. 
 
 We have not so much certainty, who the Kenizzites 49. 
 were. But they being mentioned by Moses next to the^^'l*^^^' 
 
 "' *-• •' , _ nizzites. 
 
 Kenites, and between these and the Kadmonites, this may 
 be some argument to incline us to think, that they were 
 also situated between the Kenites and the Kadmonites. 
 And the same will be confirmed by this consideration, 
 that since the people lying between the Kenites and Kad- 
 monites were subject to the dominion of the Israelites, as 
 well as the Kenites and Kadmonites themselves ; there- 
 fore it is not likely that the sacred historian would pass 
 them over without mentioning them ; and if he mentioned 
 them, then they must be denoted by this name of the Ke- 
 nizzites. And that they are so denoted, is not impro- 
 bable, if we observe, that one of the grandsons of Esau 
 was named Kenaz; the plural whereof is Kenezlm, i. e. 
 Kenezites. Since therefore it is certain, that the Edomites 
 were some time under the dominion of the Israelites, 
 it is not unlikely, that they might be denoted in this place 
 by the name of Kenezites. 
 
 ' Exod. xviii. 1. compait'd with NtUTib. x. 29.
 
 170 The Geography of the Old Testament. 
 
 PART 1. The word Kadmonites denotes as much as Easterns, or 
 
 5Q East-country people; so that it is an opinion probable 
 OftheKad- enough, that thereby are denoted all the people living on 
 the east of Jordan ; whose countries were, in process of 
 time, either possessed by the Israelites, as the kingdoms of 
 Og and Sihon, or else were subdued by the Israelites, and 
 for some time under their dominion, as the land of the 
 Moabites, Amorites, &c. 
 51. Of the other people here mentioned, the Hittites, Pere- 
 
 2ites an"^' zites, Rcphaims, Amoritcs, Canaanites, Girgashites, and 
 Girgashites. Jebusites, I have spoken of them all already, except the 
 Perezites and Rephainis. As to the Perezites, it is not to 
 be doubted, but they were descendants of Canaan, and 
 seated within the land of Canaan ; but in what part it is 
 not so easy to determine. Upon comparing all the several 
 places of Scripture, where the families or nations of Ca- 
 naan are mentioned, I find seven nations to be reckoned up 
 in three places, (Deut. vii. i. Josh. iii. 10. and xxiv. 11.) 
 namely, the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Hivite, the Pere- 
 zite, the Girgashite, the Amorite, and the Jebusite. And 
 of these, I find but six mentioned in ten places; and in 
 nine of these ten places, the nation of the seven before 
 mentioned, which is omitted, is the Girgashite : in the 
 other of the ten places, the Girgashite is mentioned, and 
 the Hivite omitted. In one place there are but five men- 
 tioned, the Canaanite and the Girgashite being omitted. 
 What may be inferred from hence is this, that the Girga- 
 shite was probably a very small nation ; and, as such, is 
 therefore most frequently, either wholly omitted, or else 
 comprehended under some other name ; and that likely, 
 under the name of the Hivites, or else Perezites. It may 
 be some motive to induce us to believe, that they may be 
 comprehended under the Hivites, because that, whereas in 
 nine places of ten the Girgashite is omitted, and the Hivite 
 mentioned, in the tenth place the Girgashite is mentioned, 
 and the Hivite omitted. To which may be added, that it 
 is pretty clear, that the Hivites and Girgashites were 
 neighbouring nations; forasmuch as the Hivites are ex-
 
 Abruhuui's Sojourning, 171 
 
 pressly said in Scripture to inhabit the parts of" Canaan ad- chap. 
 
 joining to mount Lebanon or Libanus, and particularly '__ 
 
 the eastern part thereof about mount Hermon ; and the 
 Girgashites are probably supposed to have been seated 
 about the sea of Galilee j since we read of the Gergesens 
 inhabiting those parts in the times of the Gospel. If this 
 be not sufficient to induce us to believe, that the Girga- 
 shites were frequently comprehended under the Hivites ; 
 there are other considerations, which tend to induce us to 
 believe that they may be comprehended under the name 
 of the Perezites. If we consult Gen. x. 15 — 18. where 
 Moses does as it were professedly reckon up the several 
 families, or sub-nations of Canaan; we there find no 
 mention made of the Perezite. So that it may be probably 
 inferred, that the name Perezite was not derived from any 
 son of Canaan of that name, but from some circumstance 
 relating to the situation, or way of living of some of Ca- 
 naan's descendants. Since therefore it is evident from 
 Scripture, that the Perezites lived in the mountainous and 
 woody parts of the land of Canaan; and since the word 
 mi'lD, Perazoth, denotes in Hebrew, villages ; hence it may 
 be probably conjectured, that such of the Canaanites in 
 general, that lived not in cities or towns well frequented, 
 but in villages or places less frequented (as being situated 
 in the woods and mountains,) were comprehended under 
 the name of CtlDj Peroxm or Pereziles,\.G. villagers or 
 rustics, of what particular nation soever they were. 
 
 Of the ten people mentioned Gen. xv. 19 — 21. there 52. 
 remain only the Rephaim to be spoken of. We find a ^f the Re- 
 people of the same name mentioned Gen. xiv. 5. As to the 
 import of the name, I shall only observe here in general, 
 that it is agreed by the learned in the Hebrew language, 
 that it denotes men of a gigantic or extraordinary stature 
 or strength. As to their situation, it is pretty clear from 
 Scripture, particularly from Gen. xiv. 5. that some of 
 them were situated on the east of Jordan, adjoining to the 
 Zuzims and Emims. But since the Rephaims here men- 
 tioned are mentioned between the Hittites, Perezites,
 
 172 The Geography of the Old Teslumenl. 
 
 PART 1. Amorites, &c. who lived within the land of Canaan, and 
 ' 'so on the west of Jordan j for these reasons I am induced, 
 
 by these Rephaims, rather to understand the inhabitants of 
 the valley in the land of Canaan, lying between Jerusalem 
 and Bethlehem, called the valley of the Rephaim or Giants, 
 and mentioned in several places of Scripture, as Josh. xv. 
 8. and xvii. 16. From which two texts it is evident, that 
 this valley lay near to Jerusalem, and that through or by it 
 passed the boundary between the tribes of Judah and 
 Benjamin. I shall speak more of this valley hereafter in a 
 more proper place. 
 
 53. In Gen. xvi. Moses acquaints us, how Hagar (being 
 Beer^^ h^^^ dealt With hardly by her mistress Sarah, for that she de- 
 roi. spised her mistress on account of her being barren) fled into 
 
 the wilderness, and there was found by the angel of the 
 Lord, at a fountain in the way to Shur ; which fountain 
 or well was therefore called Beer-lahai-roi, i. e. the well 
 of him that lives and sees me, and was situated between 
 Kadesh and Bered. Now we have above observed, that 
 Shur was the name of that part of Arabia Petraea which 
 adjoins to Egypt and the Red sea. And Kadesh vi'as a city 
 lying on the edge of the land of Canaan, to the south 
 of Hebron. So that this fountain or well was situated 
 somewhere between Kadesh and Shur. The place Bered 
 here mentioned, being no where else found in the Scrip- 
 tures, will aflford us no light as to the more particular 
 situation of it. However, it is very probable, that it was 
 not far from Gerar, (of which by and by,) since, whilst 
 Abraham sojourned in these parts, we read, that Isaac 
 came from the way of the well Lahai-roi, or Beer-lahai- 
 roi ; and also that, after Abraham's death, Isaac dwelt for 
 some time by the same place. Gen. xxiv. 62. and xxv. 11. 
 
 54. Moses having given us account. Gen. xvli. of the insti- 
 Gerar. |.^^•,QJ^ Qf Circumcislon : and Gen. xviii. and xix. of the 
 
 destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, (of which I have 
 treated already,) he informs us. Gen. xx. of Abraham's 
 removal from the parts about Hebron, more southward 
 between Kadesh and Shur, and sojourning in Gerar. This
 
 Abrahanis Sojourning. 173 
 
 place is frequently mentioned in the history of Abraham chap. 
 and Isaac. It appears from Gen. x. 19. (where Moses ^^^^- 
 marks out the four sides of the land of Canaan) that Ge- 
 rar was seated in the angle, where the south and west 
 sides of Canaan met. It may also be inferred from the said 
 text, that it was not far from Gaza, of which I have 
 spoken in my Geography of the New Testament, Part II. 
 chap. ii. §. 6. It is evident from what is said of Gerar, in 
 relation to the history of Abraham and Isaac, that it was a 
 regal city, and the usual name of the kings thereof seems 
 to have been Abimelech ; as Pharaoh was the usual name 
 of the kings of Egypt, in those more early times. The 
 kings of Gerar were in all probability Philistines by ex- 
 traction : for the kingdom of Gerar is expressly reckoned 
 within the land of the Philistines, Gen. xxi. 32, 34. 
 
 During Abraham's sojourning in these parts, Isaac was .55, 
 
 born : who some time after beino; mocked by Ishmael, 9*^ '^^ ^''" 
 
 . r~^ At derness of 
 
 Hagar's son, at Sarah & motion, and upon God s approba- Paran. 
 tlon, Ishmael with his mother was sent away, and dwelt in 
 the wilderness of Paran, adjoining to Kadesh already men- 
 tioned ; and of which more will be said, when we come 
 to speak of the travels of the Israelites through Arabia 
 Petrjea. 
 
 During the same time, Abraham and Abimelech made ^q^ 
 a covenant together, concerning a well which Abraham Of Beershe- 
 had digged : which well, from the oath mutually taken 
 between the two forementioned persons, was called Beer- 
 shela, i. e. the well of the oath. Here Abraham planted a 
 grove, and called there on the name of the Lord, the ever- 
 lasting God, Gen. xxi. 33. In process of time, there was a 
 city or considerable town built here, which is taken notice 
 of by Heathen writers, by the name of Berzimma or Ber- 
 sabe. The greatest length of the land of Israel is fre- 
 quently denoted in Scripture, by the distance from Beer- 
 sheba in the south, to Dan in the north. Dr. Heylin tells 
 us, that it was well fortified by the western Christians, 
 when they were masters of the Holy Land, as being a 
 border- town of good importance.
 
 174 'ihe Gt'ograpfiij of ike Old Teslarnenl. 
 
 PART I. Whilst Abraham sojourned at Beersheba, It pleased God 
 
 71 to make that signal trial of Abraham's obedience, by re- 
 The land of quiring him to go into the land oj' Mori ah, and there to 
 offer his only son Isaac, whom he loved, for a burnt-offering 
 on one of the monnlai?is, which God should tell him of. Gen. 
 xxii. 2. From comparing this text with a Chron. iii. i. it is, 
 I think, generally received as an opinion not ill-grounded, 
 that the Moriah to which Abraham was ordered to go, 
 and on a mountain whereof he was to offer Isaac, was no 
 other than the mount Moriah, whereon Solomon built the 
 temple ; and on one part whereof, namely, mount Cal- 
 vary, our Saviour did afterwards actually offer himself up 
 to God for the redemption of mankind. Which offering 
 of our blessed Saviour, as it seems to have been designedly 
 prefigured by the intentional offering of Isaac, (for in this 
 sense may perhaps be well enough, if not best understood, 
 what is said, Hebr. xi. 17.) so it might seem good to the 
 divine wisdom to assign the same place, for the typical 
 offering of Isaac ; where in due time the antitype, our 
 blessed Redeemer, was to be offered. 
 58. In the next chapter, viz. Gen. xxlii. we are informed 
 
 Of the field f j}^g death of Sarah, at Kiriath-arba or Hebron; and 
 
 and cave of . . . . 
 
 Mach-pe- of Ahrahani s buying the field of Ephron, which was in 
 Mach-pelah, which was before Mamre, the f eld and the 
 cape which was therein : — and how Abraham buried Sarah 
 in the cave of the field of Mach-pelah, before Mamre. 
 Now from what has been said above, concerning Mamre 
 being another name for Hebron, and also of the adjacent 
 plain of Mamre ; it is easy to gather, whereabout was 
 situated this field and cave in Mach-pelah. There seems 
 however to be one particular worth our observation, 
 namely, that here, and in other places of Scripture, Abra- 
 ham is always related to buy this field and cave in Mach- 
 pelah, of Ephron the Hittite, and in the presence of the 
 children of Heth : but Gen. xiv. 13. the plain of Mamre, 
 wherein Abraham dwelt, is said to be the plain of Mamre 
 the Amorite. From this remark, in conjunction with what 
 has been before observed, concerning the situation of the
 
 Abrakanis Sojournmg. 175 
 
 Hittites and Amorites, in the parts about Hebron, may chap. 
 be inferred thus much; that perhaps we have here got _______ 
 
 some footsteps of the boundary between the Hittites and 
 Amorites in this tract; forasmuch as we hence plainly 
 learn, that the field of Ephron the Hittite did lie before 
 Mamre or Hebron, which, as well as the adjacent plain, 
 did belong to Mamre the Amorite. Where by the word 
 before^ may probably be denoted, to the west or south- 
 west of Mamre, and that on a double account ; namely, 
 because it seems probable from the sacred history, that 
 Abraham still dwelt at Beersheba, which lay south-west 
 of Hebron ; and also because it is plain from Scripture, 
 that the Hittites dwelt on the west or soutli-west of He- 
 bron. 
 
 After the death of Sarah, Abraham takes care for a ^9- 
 suitable wife for his son Isaac. Whereupon he sends his jsjaht^r'^ ° 
 chief servant into Aram-Naharaim or Mesopotamia, to 
 the city of Nahor his brother, to take a wife from thence 
 of his own kindred for Isaac. It is thought, that the city 
 of Nahor here mentioned was the same with the city 
 Haran or Charran ; to which Abraham with his father 
 Terah first removed from Ur of the Chaldees. But there 
 are considerations of some weight to incline one to think, 
 that by the city of Nahor may possibly be denoted Ur 
 of the Chaldees. For when Terah left that place, we only 
 read, that he took with him Abraham his son, and Lot 
 his grandson of the male issue : and therefore it may be 
 reasonably concluded, that Nahor his other son staid be- 
 hind at Ur of the Chaldees. If therefore by the city of 
 Nahor is to be understood Haran, then Nahor must re- 
 move thither some time after the removal of his father, 
 though the Scripture is silent as to the matter. Indeed 
 we read. Gen. xxvii. 43. that Laban, the brother of Re- 
 becca, and grandson of Nahor, did live at Haran. And 
 therefore upon the whole it is probable, that though at 
 first, when Abraham with his father Terah removed, 
 Nahor staid behind at Ur j yet afterwards, when his own 
 family was grown up, he might leave his other sons at
 
 176 The Geography of the Old Teslainent. 
 
 PART I. Ur; and he witli his younger son, as it seeiTis, Bethuel, 
 the father of Laban and Rebecca, might remove to Ka- 
 ra n. 
 
 60. In Gen. xxv. Moses informs us, that, after Sarah's 
 Abraham (jgath, Abraham took Keturah to wife, and had several 
 
 makes Isaac ^ ' ' 
 
 his heir, children by her ; and that he gave to Isaac all that he 
 
 his scTnsby ^^^^i ^^^^^ is, his main estate ; but unto the sons of his con- 
 
 Keturah cubines he gave gifts, and sent them away from Isaac his 
 
 east-coun- ^on, while he himself yet lived, eastward, unto the east- 
 
 "■y* country. After which the sacred historian concludes the 
 
 history of Abraham, with telling us at what age he died, 
 
 namely, at the age of aw himdred threescore and Jifteen 
 
 years ; and that he was buried by his so?is Isaac and Ish- 
 
 mael in the cave of Mach-pelah, in thejield of Ephron, the 
 
 son of Zohar the Hit tile, luhich is before Mamre ; the field 
 
 which Abraham purchased of the sons of Heth : there ivas 
 
 Abraham buried, and Sarah his u'ife, Gen. xxv. i — 10. 
 
 61. Having gone through the history of the sojourning of 
 Abraham, I shall proceed next to the Iwstory of the so- 
 served in journing of his son Isaac ; and then I shall speak of the 
 lowing'^ °" dwellings of his other sons, Ishmael by Hagar, and the 
 chapters, rest by Keturah 5 and after that of the places where the 
 
 two sons of Lot, Moab and Amnion, settled themselves. 
 
 The me 
 thod ob
 
 Isaac's Sojourning. 177 
 
 CHAP. IX. 
 
 Of the Sojourning of Isaac. 
 
 xJ-AVING finished the history of Abraham, the sacred !• 
 
 historian proceeds to that of Isaac j who, he tells us, con- rative^of 
 
 tinued to dwell (after his father's death, as he had done Isaac's so- 
 
 before) by Beer-lahai-roi above mentioned. Then giving no place ' 
 
 a short account of the sons of Ishmael, the sacred historian ^^'"S men- 
 tioned by 
 gives us next an account of the birth of Esau and Jacob, Moses, but 
 
 who therefore were in all probability born at Beer-lahai- *.'^ , 
 
 _ r J ^ mentioned 
 
 roi. A famine arising, Isaac went to Abimelech king ©/"before. 
 
 the Pkilistines, unto Gerar, and dwelt at Gerar, Gen. xxvi. 
 T, 6. Hence he removed i?ito the valley of Gerar, and, 
 pitching his tent, dwelt there ; and digged again the wells 
 of water which had been digged in the days of his father ; 
 {for the Philistines had stopped them after the death of his 
 father:) and he called their names after the names that 
 his father had called them, ver. 17, 18. Among these wells 
 was Beersheba, i. e. the well of the oath; where was a like 
 oath taken between Isaac and Abimelech, the then king 
 of Gerar, as had been before between Abraham and the 
 Abimelech that then reigned at Gerar. Whence the city, 
 built here in succeeding times, took the name of Beer- 
 sheba, as we are expressly told. Gen. xxvi. 33. The sacred 
 historian having just taken notice of Esau's taking two 
 of the daughters of Heth, or Hittite women, to be his 
 wives, acquaints us next with the circumstances of Jacob's 
 getting the blessing of his father Isaac away from Esau, 
 and with Jacob's being sent hereupon to Padan-aram, 
 to Bethuel his mother's brother, then dwelling at Haran ; 
 and with his staying there fourteen years and upwards, 
 and then returning to his father Isaac, who at that time 
 sojourned at Mamre near Hebron, where Abraham had 
 formerly sojourned. After which Moses presently shuts 
 up the history of Isaac, with an account of his age, and 
 
 VOL. I. N
 
 178 The Geography of the Old Testament. 
 
 PART I. death, and burial by his two sons, Esau and Jacob, Gen. 
 xxvii — XXXV. ver. 29. So that there being no places men- 
 tioned in the history properly relating to the sojourning 
 of Isaac, but what has been mentioned before, and that 
 chiefly in the history of Abraham, there is no occasion to 
 say any more of them here.
 
 Dwell'ifigs of the Ishmaelifes. 179 
 
 CHAP. X. 
 
 Of the Dwellings of the Ishmaelites. 
 
 JlIaVING spoken of the sojourning of Isaac, the only l- 
 son of Abraham by Sarah, and the heir not only of histionofthe 
 temporal estate, but also of (what was infinitely better) |shmaei- 
 the spiritual or evangelical blessing, promised by God to 
 Abraham and his seed ; I judge it convenient to speak next 
 of the dwellings of the other sons of Abraham, and so 
 begin with Ishmael, Abraham's son by Hagar, as being 
 the eldest. Now he himself dwelt in the wilderness 
 of Paran, as we are told, Gen. xxi. 21. where taking a 
 wife out of the land of Egypt, he became the father of 
 twelve sons ; whose posterity (as we are expressly in- 
 formed. Gen. XXV. 18.) dwelt from Havllah unto Sh^ir, 
 that is before Egypt, as thou goest towards Assyria, that is, 
 in several parts of Arabia Petraea; whereof the western 
 part towards Egypt is in Scripture called Shur ; the 
 eastern part toward the Persian gulf, Havilah, as has been 
 above observed. Accordingly of the twelve sons of Ish- 
 mael, here reckoned up by Moses, some of them are ex- 
 pressly mentioned in Scripture, as inhabiting these parts; 
 and plain footsteps of their names are to be found in Hea- 
 then writers, among the inhabitants of this tract. 
 
 Thus the descendants of the first-born of Ishmael, called ^^^tu • 
 
 ' OfNebai- 
 
 Nebaioth, are mentioned together with the descendants oth, the 
 of his second son Kedar, by the prophet Isaiah, ch. Ix. ishmael?° 
 ver. 7. The descendants of Nebaioth are the people called 
 Nabathcei by Heathen writers ; and they seem to have 
 been of better note among the Greeks and Latins, than 
 the rest ; forasmuch as they are more frequently men- 
 tioned by their writers, whether historians or poets. 
 
 But among the sacred writers, there is more frequent q^ ^gj^, 
 mention made of Kedar. The prophet Isaiah, speaking of 
 the I'l/rden of Arabia, expresses it among other things, by 
 
 N 2
 
 i8o The Geography of the Old Testament. 
 
 PARTI, the fall of the glory of Kedar, Isaiah xxi. i6. These people 
 are also mentioned by Pliny, under the name of Cedreni 
 or Cedareni, and are placed by him next to the Naba- 
 theans. 
 
 4. In the place of Isaiah last cited, under the burden of 
 Arabia, there is also mention made of the inhabitants of 
 the land of Tema ; which Tema is reckoned also by Moses 
 among the sons of Ishmael. It is thought by some, that 
 Eliphaz the Temanite, mentioned in the book of Job, was 
 prince of this country 5 but it seems more probable, that 
 he was a descendant of Esau, by Teman, of whom here- 
 after. There is a city of this name, mentioned by Pto- 
 lemy ; and likely the same, which is called Tamna by 
 Strabo. 
 
 5. Again, in the same chapter of Isaiah, ver. 11. we have 
 OfDumah.|.j^g burden of Dumah ; whereby is probably denoted the 
 
 nation or family of Dumah, another of Ishmael's sons, 
 mentioned by Moses. Stephanus the geographer men- 
 tions a city in Arabia, called Dumatha, from this Duma, 
 as is likely. 
 
 6. As for Jetur and Nephish, two other sons of Ishmael, 
 OfJetur. we read, i Chron. v. 19. that the Reubenites, and the 
 
 Gadites, and the half tribe of Manasseh, made war with 
 them, and overcame them, and divelt in their stead (i. e. 
 in their country) until the captivity, ver. 22* Whereby 
 is confirmed the opinion of Iturea, a country mentioned 
 by St. Luke, being so called from Jetur, the son of Ish- 
 mael. 
 
 7. The remaining sons of Ishmael we have no mention of, 
 Oftheotherjjg ^^ their particular habitation, in the Scripture; unless 
 
 sonsof Ish- * . '^. r rr\ 
 
 mael. we will suppose the city and wilderness of Kedemoth 
 
 (Deut. ii. 26.) to have taken its name from Kedemah, the 
 
 last of the twelve sons mentioned by Moses. 
 
 g It remains only to observe, that as these people were 
 
 The Ish- from their father denominated by the common name of 
 
 mherwise Ishmaclitesj so from the mother of Ishmael, Hagar, they 
 
 called Ha- were also denominated Hagarens or Hagarites. And 
 
 under this last name they are mentioned even by Heathen j
 
 Dwellings of the Ishmaelites. i8i 
 
 v/riters, some calling them Agrael, others Agareni. But CHAP, 
 though these names may be used promiscuously, yet there 
 seems to have been sometimes a distinction made between 
 them. Thus in Psalm Ixxxiii. 6. among the enemies of 
 the Israelites, there are reckoned in the former part of the 
 verse, the Edomites and Ishmaelites; and in the latter part 
 of the same verse, the Moabites and Hagarens. Now had 
 the Ishmaelites and Hagarens always denoted exactly the 
 same, there would have been no occasion to have men- 
 tioned both words. And therefore it seems probable, that 
 by the Hagarens were sometimes denoted, some particular 
 Ishmaelites. One might suppose them to be those that 
 dwelt about mount Sina, otherwise called Hagar, this 
 word in the Arabian language signifying a rock; and being 
 by the Arabs peculiarly applied to mount Sina, as a pro- 
 per name. But the Ishmaelites being joined by the 
 Psalmist to the Edomites, and the Hagarens to the Moab- 
 ites, thwarts the forementioned opinion, and requires us 
 rather to look on the Hagarens to be such of the Ishmael- 
 ites as were seated nearest to Moab ; especially if we add 
 hereunto what is said i Chron. v. i8, 19. The sons of Reu- 
 ben, and the Gadites — made war with the Hagarites, &c. 
 To conclude with the Ishmaelites : Certain it is, that the 
 Arabians do to this very day value themselves upon their 
 being descended from Ishmael. 
 
 ^3
 
 PART I. 
 
 2. 
 
 OfMidian 
 
 1 8a The Geography of the Old Testament. 
 
 CHAP. XI. 
 
 Of the Dwellings of Abraham' s Children, by Ketnrah. 
 
 The east -^ ROCEED we now to the children of Abraham by Ke- 
 country, turah, reckoned up, Gen. xxv. 1—4. And as to their 
 6. what, fi'"^^ settlement in general, the sacred history tells us, that 
 Abraham giving them gifts, sent them away (while he yet 
 lived) eastward, into the east country, i. e. into the parts of 
 Arabia lying eastward. And accordingly here we shall 
 find them, that are mentioned in the sequel of the sacred 
 history, or by Heathen writers. 
 
 Among the sons of Abraham by Keturah, the principal 
 in the Scripture-history, are the descendants of Midian, or 
 the Midianites. It is agreed, that these (at least chiefly) 
 settled themselves to the south-east of the Salt sea, adjoin- 
 ing to the Moabites. Hence, whilst the Israelites lay en- 
 camped at Shittim, we read, Num. xxv. 1 — 6. that they 
 committed whoredom with the daughters of Moab, and 
 also one of them with a Midianitish woman. Hence also 
 we find Moab and Midian mentioned together as neigh- 
 bouring people, Num. xxii. 4. We do indeed read of 
 the lai]d of Midian. lying in the neighbourhood of niount 
 Sinai ; wherein Jethro, the father-in-law of Moses, lived, 
 Exod. ii. 15, &c. And accordingly we find a city called 
 Madana, placed in these parts by Heathen writers, near 
 the Red sea. But this is not to be understood of the first 
 settlement of Midian ; but that in process of time, as his 
 descendants increased, so they spread themselves further 
 and further in the adjacent parts, where they found 
 room ; and so at length spread themselves as far as to that 
 tract by the Red sea, where Jethro lived. And indeed it is 
 probable, that the land of Midian, wherein Jethro lived, 
 was not distinct or quite separated from the first settlement 
 of Midian ; but lay so as to be contiguous, and so to be 
 properly denoted, together with the other, under the one
 
 Dwellings of the Midianites. J 83 
 
 common name of the land of Midian ; which may be bet- CHAP, 
 ter conceived by the map hereunto belonging, than by ______ 
 
 words. 
 
 Another of the sons of Abraham by Keturah, was Jok- 3. 
 shan ; who had two sons, Sheba and Dedan. Now among the son of 
 the descendants of Cush, mentioned Gen. x. 7. we ^xxA^hvih^m, 
 
 1 • 1 c^y Ketu- 
 
 two exactly of the same names. The not observmg hereof rah. 
 has occasioned some confusion in writers, as to the assign- 
 ing of the first settlements of these people. We have 
 above observed, that Sheba and Dedan, the descendants of 
 Cush, settled themselves in the eastern part of Arabia Fe- 
 lix, near to their father Raamah. And indeed it is easy to 
 suppose that these, having all Arabia then before them, 
 would choose the most fruitful and pleasant parts thereof 
 to dwell in. But Sheba and Dedan, the descendants of 
 Abraham, were to settle where they could find room. 
 And therefore, since we are expressly told, that their set- 
 tlement was eastward, in the east country, i. e. in the east 
 parts of Arabia ; and since we find, both in the history of 
 Job, mention made of Sabeans, who most probably lived 
 in these eastern parts, and also in Heathen writers, a peo- 
 ple of Arabia Deserta, called Sabae or Sabaei ; it may rea- 
 sonably be concluded, that these were the offspring of 
 Sheba, the descendant of Abraham. 
 
 In like manner, whereas in the Scripture there is fre- 4. 
 quent mention made of Dedan; whenever the circum-f?*^^^'^^"' 
 
 i ' ^ ^ the son oi 
 
 Stances of the sacred story do not agree to the habitation of Abraham, 
 Dedan, the descendant of Cush, then they are reasonably ^l^ ^'"" 
 to be understood of the habitation of Dedan, the descend- 
 ant of Abraham. And in this last sense, it seems proper 
 to understand Dedan or Dedanim, in Tsai. xxi. 13. and Jer. 
 xxv. 23. and xlix. 8. because in these places there is men- 
 tion made of other people, or parts of Arabia, too remote 
 from Dedan in Arabia Felix, to be so joined together. 
 
 N 4
 
 184 TJi-s Geography of the Old Testament. 
 
 PART I. 
 
 CHAP. XII. 
 
 Of the Dwellings of the Descendants of Lot ^ the Moahiles 
 and Ammonites. 
 
 Lot's two -Having shewn the habitations of the descendants of 
 ^°"*''^"^^ Abraham, I eo on now to speak of the habitations of the 
 
 and Ben- ^ o r 
 
 ammi. two sons of Lot, Moab and Ammon. It has been above 
 observed, that, at the destruction of Sodom and the neigh- 
 bouring cities, Zoar was spared at the request of Lot, who 
 had leave given him to fly thither for safety. But we learn. 
 Gen. xix. 30. that some time after Lot went up out of Zoa;', 
 and dwelt in the mountain^ and his two daughters with 
 him ; for he feared to dwell in Zoar : and he dwelt in a cave, 
 he and his two daughters. And here he had two sons born 
 to him, Moab the first-born, and Ben-ammi the younger, 
 the father of Ammon, ver. 37, 38. Now when these were 
 grown up, they settled themselves in the adjacent coun- 
 tries, depopulated by the arms of Chedorlaomer and his 
 confederates, in the war above mentioned. 
 
 2. The first-born, Moab, settled himself in the parts adjoin- 
 Moab'°" ° ^"S eastv/ard to the Salt sea, or Lacus Asphaltites, and in 
 
 the neighbouring tract on the river Jordan, eastward. For 
 we plainly learn that great part of the kingdom of Sihon, 
 king of the Amorites, did formerly belong to the Moab- 
 ites, Num. xxi. 26. 
 
 3. The younger son, the father of the Ammonites, seated 
 Situation of j^jj^gyjf jj^ ^Y\e parts adjoining to Moab, northward and 
 
 inc Am- •••1/^ r^ • 11A 
 
 monites. eastward. For it is evident from Scripture, that the Am- 
 monites were formerly possessed of the parts on the east of 
 Jordan, about the river Jabbok, or of the northern part of 
 that which was afterwards the kingdom of Sihon. Coin- 
 pare Num. xxi. 13. Josh. xiii. 25. and Judg. xi. 13 — 23. 
 
 4. I insist no longer on the description of these countries 
 A general i^gj-g^ becausc it will be requisite to speak of them again 
 lion in re- hereafter, when we describe the course of the travels of 
 
 ference to
 
 LandofMoah. 185 
 
 the Israelites out of Egypt, into the land of Canaan. CHAP. 
 However, I cannot omit taking notice here in general of. ^^^' 
 
 the dispensation of divine Providence, in making room for, the settle- 
 and assigning the first settlements of the several descendants |he"de-° 
 of Abraham, and also of his nephew Lot. The land of^^^"^^"^ 
 Canaan was in due time to be the possession of the Israel- ham and 
 ites, descended from Abraham by his son Isaac, and^'* 
 grandson Jacob, otherwise called Israel. To the south of 
 Canaan settled Ishmael, in the wilderness of Paran, to the 
 west of mount Seir ; which was to be the possession of 
 Esau, the brother of Jacob. To the east of mount Seir did 
 the Midianites seat themselves, and the other sons of 
 Abraham by Keturah. To the north of these did the two 
 sons of Lot, Moab and Ben-amrai the father of the Am- 
 monites, fix their habitations. And it is remarkable, that 
 Providence made room for these settlements of the descend- 
 ants of Abraham (except the settlements of the Israel- 
 ites) by the great slaughter of the inhabitants of these 
 parts, made by Chedorlaomer king of Elam, and his con- 
 federates ; who likely carried away also a great number 
 of them captive. And that we. might be informed of the 
 hand of Providence herein, seems to be one end of Moses's 
 giving an account of the conquest obtained by Chedorlao- 
 mer over the former inhabitants of these several coun- 
 tries; namely, of the Rephaims, Zuzims, Emims, Horites, 
 and Amalekites; as we read Gen. xiv. 5 — 7-
 
 186 
 
 The Geography of the Old Testament. 
 
 PART I. 
 
 CHAP. XIII. 
 
 Of the Land of Edom, or Dwelling of Esau. 
 
 1- JxAVING given an account of the sojourning of Isaac, 
 in mount and of the settlements thereabout made by the other sons 
 Seir. of Abraham, and also by the two sons of Lot; I proceed 
 
 now to Esau and Jacob, the two sons of Isaac, and So 
 grandsons of Abraham. And I shall speak first of the 
 dwelling of Esau, the elder brother ; though not so much 
 for this reason, as because he and his family were first set- 
 tled in a fixed habitation; whereas Jacob and his children 
 were only sojourners for some ages after, either in the 
 land of Canaan, or in Egypt, or in Arabia. The reason of 
 Esau's separating so soon from his brother Jacob, men- 
 tioned by the sacred historian, is this ; that their riches 
 were more than that they might dwell together; and the 
 land wherein they were strangers (i. e. the land of Canaan) 
 could not hear them, because of their cattle. Therefore 
 Esau went from the face of his brother Jacob, and dwelt in 
 mount Seir, Gen. xxxvi. 6 — 9. 
 2. The former inhabitants of this mountainous tract were 
 
 The Ho- ^^ Horims, or Horites, the descendants, as is likely, of 
 
 rims the ^ ^ ' ^ _ ' ■" 
 
 former in- one Hor, or Horl. And it is probable, that from him the 
 this'tract.° mountain was formerly called mount Hor. For we read 
 of a mountain of this name, by the coasts of Edom, on 
 which Aaron died. Num. xx. 22 — 28» It is therefore 
 likely, that the whole tract was formerly called mount 
 Hor; since we find, that the inhabitants of all the said 
 .mountainous tract were formerly called Horites. The 
 Horims also dwelt in Seir beforetime ; but the children of 
 Esau succeeded them, when they had destroyed them from 
 before them, and dwelt in their stead, Deut. ii. I2. From 
 which place it seems plain, that though Chedorlaomer 
 king of Elam had considerably depopulated this country ; 
 yet the remainders of the inhabitants did at first oppose
 
 Esau's settling among them, till he forced them to submit chap. 
 to him. ^"^• 
 
 Land of Edom. 187 
 
 g them, till he forced them to submit 
 
 Since also the same text tells us, that the children of' 3. 
 Esau succeeded the Horites ; there arises a difficulty, how Mount 
 to account for this mountainous country of the Horites whence so 
 being denominated mount Seir, or the land of Seir. From "^'"^'^• 
 the mention Moses makes (Gen. xxxvi. 20, &c.) of the 
 children of Seir the Horite, it seems probable, that as the 
 country itself, as well as the inhabitants thereof, did take 
 its most ancient name from Hor or Hori, (a name, which 
 we find preserved among the children of Seir, ver. 22.) so 
 in after-ages, but some time before Esau's settling there, it 
 took the name of Seir, from a considerable person of that 
 name among the Horites ; whose descendants Moses gives 
 us an account of in the latter part of the same chapter, 
 where he gives us an account of the descendants of Esau, as 
 being the principal persons of the Horites, at the time of 
 Esau's settling in that tract. Add hereto, that though 
 mount Hor might primarily denote the same as mount 
 Seir did afterwards ; yet this last name obtaining, the 
 former was laid aside in general, and only retained to de- 
 note that part of this mountainous tract, which is distinctly 
 styled mount Hor, Num. xx. 
 
 As to the situation of this country, it lay on the south 4- 
 of the Salt or Dead sea; extending itself from this sea to (1^^"^'^^"^^ 
 the Red sea, or Arabian gulf. For this is no other than what Edom, and 
 we plainly learn from i Kings ix. 26. And king Solomon c^w^^, 
 made a navy of ships in Ezion-gelerj which is beside Eloth, 
 on the shore of the Red sea, in the land of Edoin : where 
 we see it plainly asserted, that Ezion-geber was both o?i 
 the shore of the Red sea, and also in the land of Edom; and 
 consequently, that the Red sea did come up to the land of 
 Edom. And from hence is to be deduced the true reason 
 of the Arabian gulfs coming to have the name of the Red 
 sea, this, if rightly understood, denoting the same as the 
 sea of Edom, or Idumean sea. For as this country was 
 called the land of Edom from Esau, who, for selling his 
 birthright for some red pottage, was nick- named Edonj,
 
 i88 The Geography of the Old Testament. 
 
 PART I. that is, in the Hebrew tongue, red; so from the country, 
 as is usual, the adjoining sea took the name of the sea of 
 Edom, or Idumean sea. This some of the Greeks, in al- 
 lusion to the signification of the Hebrew word Edom, ren- 
 dered the Erythrean sea; which word signifying red in 
 their language, the true original of the name in process of 
 time being forgot, the latter Greeks thought this sea to 
 have been so named from its being oia.red colour; and 
 so it came to be commonly called the Red sea. But of 
 this more fully in another place.
 
 Jacob* s Sojoiirni?ig. 189 
 
 CHAP. XIV. 
 
 Of the Sojourning of Jacob. 
 
 W E are now to proceed to the sojourning of Jacob, the 1- 
 younger son of Isaac. He being sent by his parents to 
 Haran, in Padan-aram, or Mesopotamia, in his way from 
 Beersheba thither, lighted upon a certain place, and tarried 
 there all night, because the sun was set : and he took of the 
 stones of that place, and put them for his pillows, and lay 
 down in that place to sleep. In which sleep he had a vision, 
 wherein, among other promises, God was pleased to re- 
 new to him that signal and evangelical promise, which he 
 had before made to Abraham and Isaac, namely, that in 
 his seed should all the families of the earth be blessed; 1. e. 
 that of him should be descended the Messias, or Saviour 
 of the world. Hereupon Jacob, udien he awaked out of 
 his sleep, said. Surely the Lord is in this place : — How 
 dreadful is this place ! This is none other but the home of 
 
 God. A7id he called the name of that place Bethel, i. e. 
 
 the house of God. Hence the adjoining city, which was 
 at first called Luz, came afterwards to be called by the 
 Israelites, and so in the sacred history. Bethel. The taking 
 of this city by the children of Joseph is related. Judges i. 
 22 — 25. This same city was made choice of by Jero- 
 boam, for setting up one of his golden calves ; whereupon 
 the prophet Hosea, alluding to the name given it by Ja- 
 cob, calls it Beth-aven instead of Bethel, i. e. the house of 
 vanity or idolatry, instead of the house of God, Hos. iv. 15. 
 and X. 5. It, being within the lot of Ephraim the son of 
 Joseph, belonged to the kingdom of Israel, after the ten 
 tribes revolted from the house of David ; and lay in the 
 southern border of that kingdom, not far from Jerusalem, 
 northwards. It was taken from the kingdom of Israel, 
 by Ahijah Icing of Judah, and after that accounted as a 
 part of the kingdom of Judah.
 
 190 The Geography of the Old Testament. 
 
 PART I. Bethel is the only particular place, mentioned in the 
 ~ account we have of Jacob's journey from Beersheba to 
 Landofthe Haran in Mesopotamia; which is the country denoted, 
 the Eas°^ Gcn. xxix. 1 . by the land of the people of the East. 
 Gen. xxix. After several years stay at Haran, Jacob being ill used 
 ^■^ ^' by his uncle and father-in-law Laban, takes an oppor- 
 OfGilead. tunity to steal away unawares to Laban, and so passing 
 over the river, (i. e. Euphrates,) makes for Canaan. Laban, 
 as soon as he came to understand that Jacob was gone, 
 followed after him, and overtook him. But Laban being 
 warned by God, not to do any hurt to Jacob, upon their 
 meeting, they made a covenant one with another; and, 
 in witness thereof, they took stones and made an heap; and, 
 in token of mutual friendship, they did eat there one with 
 another upon the heap. Wherefore the place was named 
 Galeed, i. e. the heap of witness: and also Mizpah, i. e. 
 a beacon or tvatch-toiver ; forasmuch as Laban said, The 
 Lord watch between me and thee, when we are absent one 
 from another. If thou shalt afflict my daughters, or if 
 thou shalt take other wives beside my daughters, no man 
 is with us : see, God is witness betwixt me and thee. Gen. 
 xxxi. ao, &c. That this was done in a mount, we are ex- 
 pressly told, ver. 54. And, from the name given to the 
 heap of stones before mentioned, the whole mount or 
 mountainous tract hereabouts was in after-times called 
 Galeed, or Gilead, by the Israelites. It lies on the east of 
 the sea of Galilee, being part of the ridge of mountains, 
 running from mount Lebanon, southwards, on the east of 
 the Holy Land ; and it included the mountainous region, 
 called in the New Testament, Trachonitis. 
 4. From the other name given to the foresaid heap of stones, 
 
 '^^ 'the city or town of Mizpah (mentioned in Scripture, and 
 lying in this tract, probably near the place where the 
 heap of stones was set up) took its name. Hence we find 
 it among the cities, pertaining to the half tribe of Ma- 
 nasseh, that settled in these parts. Here Jephtha resided, 
 but in after-times it was taken by the Ammonites ; in
 
 Of Maha- 
 naim. 
 
 Jacob's Sojourning, 191 
 
 whose hands it was, when it was burnt, and utterly de- CHAP, 
 stroyed by Judas Maccabeus. |_ 
 
 Laban and Jacob parting, the former returned into 
 Mesopotamia, the latter continued his journey to cross 
 over the river Jordan, in order to come into Canaan. 
 Being gone some way, the angels of God met him. And 
 when Jacob saw then), he said. This is God's host ; and 
 he called the name of that place, Mahanaim, i. e. tivo Jt^ul 
 hosts or camps. For it is probably supposed, that the 
 angels might appear to him, as distinguished into two 
 armies, the better to defend him against his enemies on 
 all sides. Hence the city near this place was afterwards 
 denoted, among the Israelites, by the name of Maha-. 
 naim. It was seated between mount Gilead and the river 
 Jabbok, not far from this latter. By this were the con# 
 fines of the tribe of Gad, and half tribe of Manasseh, that 
 was on the east of Jordan. It was a place of great 
 strength, and therefore seems to be made choice of by 
 Abner, for the seat-royal of Ishbosheth, the son of Saul, 
 during the war between him and David. And for the 
 like reason, it seems to have been made choice of for the 
 retiring place of David, during the rebellion of his son 
 Absalom. 
 
 Jacob passing on forward, comes to the brook Jabbok, q^ 
 which is by all agreed to run from the adjacent moun>Ofthe 
 tains of Gilead; but some make it run into the sea of Ga^ jabbok. 
 lilee, others into the river Jordan, below or south of that 
 sea. 
 
 Jacob having sent his wife and children, and all that 7. 
 he had, over the brook, was left alone on the other or^^^^""^'" 
 north side of the brook. And here it pleased God to ap- 
 pear to him, and to give him the name of Israel, together 
 with a blessing; whence Jacob called the name of the 
 place, Peniel or Penuel, i. e. the/ace of God, because he 
 had there seen God face to face. Hence the adjoining 
 town was afterwards denoted among the Israelites by the 
 name of Penuel ; which, as is evi<^ent from the circum-
 
 192 The Geography of the Old Testament. 
 
 PART I. 
 
 8. 
 By God, 
 who ap- 
 peared to 
 the Patri- 
 archs, is to 
 be under- 
 
 stances of this passage of Jacob, must stand upon or very 
 near the brook Jabbok. 
 
 It may be of good use to observe here once for all, 
 that by God, who is here, and in other places of Scrip- 
 ture, said to appear to the Patriarchs and other holy 
 men, during the times of the history of (what is com- 
 monly comprehended under the name of) the Old Testa- 
 ment, is to be understood, according, to the general doc- 
 t ' l ' int uf lliL pilMll ' LlV ( !;"Fa ' l ' liuiS uf| I ' tw €hrie^i<MT Glwwch, 
 
 d^trte by th^,^;^'- 
 such aiiiilt^d 
 y- 4»gO'Woy to tho A pQ^iesj-and some of 4boni 
 =*ru6ted--by such^ a^^had 
 iemselv1|s. Arid thetefore / 
 ions ©f int^pity, 
 rty rdoin jiu;..the 
 cannfc. De^Teaso n aply supposQ:d, that 
 ♦they u«ouldg:o'io- impose forged notitn^of their own upon 
 I postej^ty, but/did onlj^ deliver down iiy others, what-tbey 
 ! UftdUwfieiKe4ihemselveSj as tbe uadc«btedt3pctriBeof-*he 
 |i^ftTes7ana'esv)eri:ilivof St-. John the Evat^elki^tid be- 
 |'l"m'©^d*tocj/ie c. Whence- A-app«4^^-i8P>^^.<^^'*0" 
 
 iigftW>ry to our ImvISmjcI Redeemer, how reptrgn^t to the 
 filtattfilie /Jf tliC pnn)i tiv€^ fetji f tit>M) ^iw»» u^^gfa, aiid couae.- 
 
 .|(iS" I'iie tenet, Ql;>.th^.i .SocirHans or TTnitariaes, m wlw c fc r 
 
 p. But to return to Jacob. From Penuel, he journeyed 
 
 OfSuccoth. ^Q Siiccoth, and Iniilt him an house, and made booths for 
 his cattle : therefore the name of the adjoining place 
 or city was called afterwards in the sacred history, Suc- 
 coth, i. e. Booths. It was seated not far from the river 
 Jordan. 
 
 Leaving after some time Succoth, Jacob passed over 
 the river Jordan, and came to Shalem, a city of Shechem, 
 which is ill the land of Canaan, and which is frequently 
 denoted by the name of Shechem alone. Here he bought 
 
 10. 
 Of Eph 
 rath.
 
 Jacob's Sojourning. 
 
 193 
 
 a parcel of ground, of which we have spoken before. 
 H6nce by God's appointment he went to Bethel, where 
 God again appears unto him. Thence he journeyed still 
 southward, and whe7i there was hut a little way to come 
 to Ephrath, Rachel fell into travail, a?id had hard labour, 
 of which she died, being first delivered of her younger 
 son Benjamin. Hereupon she was buried in the way to 
 Ephrath, which is Bethlehem. And Jacob set a pillar 
 upon her grave. The text here expressly tells us, that 
 this Ephrath (or, as it is sometimes called, Ephratah) 
 was the same as Bethlehem, famous for beino; the birth- 
 place of David, ( 
 
 ^ jpukuu ofe i jl in ' iiyj i ^ €^i ' [iphji J>6iiii 
 4^111 I. ilhiip. 11. (^."i,.-^ 
 
 I have also observed in the same chapter, §. 6. that 
 among the remarkable places shewn now-a-days to 
 strangers, in the road from Jerusalem to Bethlehem, the 
 nearest to Bethlehem, is Rachel's tomb. Concerning 
 which the reverend and ingenious Mr. Maundrell ob- 
 serves, that though this may probably be the true place 
 of her interment, yet the present monument cannot be 
 that which Jacob erected, it plainly appearing to be a 
 modern and Turkish structure. That the pillar or mo- 
 nument erected by Jacob was standing to the days of 
 Moses, we learn from this chapter of Genesis, ver. 20. 
 There is also mention made of Rachel's sepulchre in 
 I Sam. X. 2. But whether the pillar or monument was 
 then standing cannot be inferred from what is there said 
 of it. 
 
 After this, the sacred history tells us, that Israel jour- 
 neyed, and spread his tent beyond the tower of Edar. 
 Where, by the tower of Edar, some understand the field 
 near Bethlehem, where those shepherds were keeping 
 their flock, to whom the angels appeared, and gave in- 
 formation of the birth of our Saviour. And among 
 others, one reason that inclines them so to understand it, 
 
 VOL. I. o 
 
 C H A I'. 
 XIV, 
 
 11. 
 
 Of Rachel's 
 
 monu-. 
 
 merit. 
 
 12. 
 
 Of the tow- 
 er of EAit.
 
 194 'rhe Geography of the Old Testament. 
 
 PART I. is, because the word Eder, or Edar, does in the Hebrew 
 ■ tongue denote &Jlock: whence the same, which is here 
 
 rendered the tower of Edar y is in Micah iv. 8. rendered 
 the tower of the flock. But from this last text others sup- 
 pose, that by the tower of Edar is to be understood some 
 place near Jerusalem ; forasmuch as the tower of Edar is 
 here spoken of by the Prophet, as being the strong hold of 
 the daughter ofSion. 
 
 13. From hence, Jacob luent unto Isaac his father, unto 
 The vale ^^ ]\^amre, unto Hebron ; where after some time Isaac dying, 
 
 was buried by his two sons, Esau and Jacob ; the former 
 of wtjjph returning unto mount Seira^the place of his 
 habitation, the other, Jacoh,.vCOUtinued in Mamre, where 
 Isaac before scyovxrned. For the plain of Mamre was 
 either the same vjatl?, or else a part of, the vale of We.- ^ 
 bron ; from whence we read, Gen. xxxvii. 14. that Jacob. 
 sent his son Joseph, in order to see how his brethren did, 
 that were gone to feed their father^ s flock in Shechem, pro- 
 bably in the parcel of ground which Jacob bought of the 
 Sichemites, 
 
 14. Joseph being come thither, understands that his bre- 
 Of Dothan. j.|^j,gj^ were gone to Dothan. Whereupon he went after 
 
 them, and found them at Dothan, Gen. xxxvii. 17. This 
 place was seated about twelve miles to the north of the 
 city of Samaria, as Eusebius informs us. And in the 
 neighbourhood hereof it was that Joseph was sold by 
 his brethren to some Ishmaelites and Midianites, that 
 came along from Gilead, being going to carry down 
 spice, and balm, and myrrh into Egypt ; who there- 
 upon took Joseph along with them into Egypt, and 
 sold him there to Potiphar, captain of the guard to Pha- 
 raoh. 
 
 15. In the next chapter, viz. Gen. xxxviii. we have notice 
 Of Adul- taken of some transactions of Judah, the son of Jacob ; in 
 
 the story whereof there is mention made of Hirah, the 
 Adullamite, and a place called Chezib, and another place 
 called Timnath, v. 1,5, 12. Hirah, here called the Adulr 
 lamite, was probably an inhabitant of Adullam, a town
 
 Jacob's Sojourning. 195 
 
 to the west of Hebron, and mentioned frequently in the CHAP, 
 history of David's flight from Saul. 
 
 Chezib is only mentioned in this passage of the sa- 16. 
 cred history ; it is said by Eusebius and Jerom to have 
 been situated near to Adullam, and to be then unin- 
 habited. 
 
 The Timnath, whither Judah went up to his sheep- 17. 
 shearers, is in all probability that mentioned as lying ifij^^j^''"" 
 the border of the tribe of Judah, Josh. xv. 10. and allotted 
 to the tribe of Dan, Josh. xix. 43. and mentioned in the 
 story of Sampson. 
 
 The following chapters of Genesis are taken up in re- I8. 
 lating the various circumstances which befel Joseph in^jf^|j^ '^"^ 
 Egypt; how at length he came to be promoted there and Rame- 
 to the highest degree of honour and power next to the 
 king; and how he sent for his father Jacob, and all his 
 brethren, and their families, out of Canaan, and settled 
 them in the part of Egypt, called the land of Goshen. 
 This is also called the land of Rameses, Gen. xlvii. 11. 
 And the Seventy Interpreters render Goshen by 'Hpcocoy 
 •TtoXi:, Heroum urbs, the same which by some writers is 
 simply called Heroum, and is, by the consent of ancient 
 Geographers, placed in the eastern part of Egypt, not far 
 from the Arabian gulf. So that from hence it may be 
 well inferred, that the land of Goshen was situated in the 
 easterly part of Egypt, betwixt the river Nile and the 
 town called Heroum ; and consequently that therein stood 
 the city Rameses. 
 
 Within the same country, or near it, stood the city On, 19. 
 of which Joseph's father-in-law was priest, and which wasQ^^''"" ^^''^ 
 called by the Greeks Heliopolis, the city of Ike Sun. And 
 agreeably hereto it is thought to be the same with Ir- 
 cheresh, mentioned by the prophet Isaiah, chap. xix. ver. 
 18. which is indeed rendered in our translation, the city of 
 Destruction, but may be rendered (as is observed in the 
 margin of our Bible) the city of the Sun. 
 
 Jacob, upon his death-bed, charged his sons to bm"y ■^^* 
 
 him, when dead, luith his fathers, in the cave of MocA- and Abel- 
 
 Q 2 rai^raim.
 
 196 The Geography of the Old Testament. 
 
 PART I. pelah; for there, says he, they buried Abraham, and Sarah 
 his wife; there they buried Isaac, and Rebecca his luife; 
 a?id there I buried Leah, Gen. xlix. 31. Accordingly Jo- 
 seph, accompanied not only with his own brethren, but 
 also the principal persons among the Egyptians, attended 
 his father's corpse to the burying- place bought by Abra- 
 ham, and so belonging to his family. And ivhen they came 
 to the threshing-floor of Atad, they inourned luith a great 
 and very sore lamentation ; Joseph making there a mourn- 
 in g for his father seven days. Hence the Canaanites call- 
 ed the place Abel-mizraim, i. e. the mourning of the Egyp- 
 tians; forasmuch as they looked upon the whole company, 
 by reason of their coming out of Egypt, as Egyptians. 
 Where this threshing-floor of Atad or Abel-mizraim lay, 
 is not certain from Scripture ; but it is probable, that it 
 was not far from the place where Jacob was buried, and 
 so not far from Hebron. 
 21. But though the particular situation of this place cannot 
 
 b ^'der-*^ be inferred from what the sacred history says of it ; yet 
 stood by if- from thence may be well inferred whereabout it was that 
 ■j'an Geii.l. Moses penned his sacred history. For we are told. Gen. 1. 
 ^io,l^. JO. that the threshinff-floor of Atad was beyond Jordan; 
 
 where Mo- . . . . 
 
 sesproba- ^wd likewise, ver. ii. that Abel-mizraim was beyond Jor- 
 bly penned ^^^^^^ Now, since it is absurd to suppose (as some do not- 
 
 his history. ' pt i • ^' 
 
 withstandmg) that the corpse of Jacob was carried mto the 
 cave of Mach-pelah, such a round-about way as the Israel- 
 ites went afterwards, for their sin of unbelief, into the land 
 of Canaan, namely, through Arabia Petrasa, quite to the 
 eastern side of the river Jordan ; it remains to suppose, that 
 these places are said to be beyond Jordan, (not in respect 
 of Egypt, whence Jacob's corpse was brought, but) in 
 respect of the place where Moses was, when he wrote his 
 history; which consequently was in the country on the 
 east of Jordan. Nor are there wanting other consider- 
 ations to confirm this opinion. Now it being supposed, 
 that Moses, when he wrote this historical account, was on 
 the east of Jordan; then it clearly follows, that when he 
 says, that the threshing-floor of Atad, or Abel-mizraim,
 
 Jacob's Sojourning. 197 
 
 lay bei/ond Jordan, thereby is to be understood, that they CHAP. 
 
 lay on the west of Jordan ; namely, not far from Hebron, 1_ 
 
 as has been before observed. 
 
 And thus I have gone through the Geographical part 22. 
 of the first book of Moses's history, called Genesis ; with ^-^^^ "' 
 which I shall conclude this first Part. 
 
 03
 
 A 
 
 CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE 
 
 OF SUCH 
 
 REMARKABLE PARTICULARS 
 
 AS ARE CONIAINED IN 
 
 THE BOOK OF GENESIS; 
 
 Afid (he Times whereof are either in the said Book expressly 
 mentionedy or else are plainly deducihle from what is 
 menliojied therein.
 
 OF 
 
 THE FOLLOWING TABLE. 
 
 IT being a method long since received among us Chris- 
 tians, to reckon our years from the nativity or birth of 
 Christ, and consequently the number of years from the 
 birth of Christ, according to the common computation, 
 being well known among us ; hence nothing can give us 
 a clearer notion of the time, wherein happened the occur- 
 rences related in the history of the Old Testament, than 
 acquainting us, how many years lefore the birth of Christ 
 the same happened. For this reason, to the years of the 
 zforZt? set down in the following table, I have adjoined also 
 the number of years lefore Christ, respectively answering 
 thereunto. 
 
 By this means may be easily known, how many years 
 ago, even from this present time, any particular mentioned 
 in the Table fell out, namely, by adding the year before 
 Christj set down by the side of the said particular in the 
 Table, to the present year of Christ. 
 
 QQAQ For instance, the creation is reckoned 3949 years 
 1710 before Christ ; therefore 3949 added to 1710 shews 
 
 that the world was created 5659 years ago, from 
 
 5"59 this present time. 
 
 In reckoning the first year of the world, or the creation, 
 to be three thousand nine hundred forty-nine years, before 
 the common year of Christ's nativity ; I follow the opinion 
 most generally received, which makes the connnon epoch
 
 ao2 Of l/icjolf owing Tabic. 
 
 of Christ to fall in with A.M. 3950. In a late edition of 
 our English Bible, T find the creation computed to be four 
 thousand and four years, before the common epoch of 
 Christ, so that the difference is about fifty years. 
 
 As A. D. or A. C. does in short denote the year of our 
 '\!lis,'-ii, or of Christ ; so A. M. denotes the year of the world, 
 or from the Creation.
 
 A 
 
 CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE. 
 
 
 
 
 Years of the 
 World. 
 
 I'ears before 
 the com- 
 mon Year 
 of Christ's 
 Nativity. 
 
 REMARKABLE PARTICULARS. 
 
 1 
 
 3949 
 
 The creation of the world in six days, 
 Gen. i. Adam created on the sixth day. 
 Gen. i. 26 — 31 . Eve formed out of A- 
 dam's rib. Gen. ii. 22. The fall of man. 
 Gen. iii. &c. 
 
 130 
 
 3820 
 
 Seth is born. Gen. v. 3. 
 
 235 
 
 3715 
 
 Enos is born. Gen. v. 6. 
 
 325 
 
 3625 
 
 Cainan is born, Gen. v. 9. 
 
 395 
 
 3555 
 
 Mahalaleel is born. Gen. v. 12. 
 
 460 
 
 3490 
 
 Jared is born, Gen. v. 15. 
 
 622 
 
 3328 
 
 Enoch is born. Gen. v. 18, 
 
 687 
 
 3263 
 
 Methuselah is born. Gen. v. 21. 
 
 874 
 
 3076 
 
 Laniech is born. Gen. v. 25. 
 
 930 
 
 3020 
 
 Adam dies, Gen. v. 5. 
 
 987 
 
 2963 
 
 Enoch is translated, Gen. v. 22 — 24. 
 
 1042 
 
 2908 
 
 Soth dies. Gen. v, 8. 
 
 1056 
 
 2894 
 
 Noah is born. Gen. v. 28. 
 
 1140 
 
 2810 
 
 Enos dies. Gen. v. 11. 
 
 1235 
 
 2715 
 
 Cainan dies, Gen. v. 14,
 
 204 
 
 yl Chronological Tublr. 
 
 Years of the 
 World. 
 
 Years before 
 the com- 
 mon Year 
 
 of Christ's 
 Nativity. 
 
 REMARKABLE PARTICULARS. 
 
 1290 
 
 2660 
 
 Mahalaleel dies. Gen. v. 17. 
 
 1422 
 
 2528 
 
 Jared dies. Gen. v. 20. 
 
 1556 
 
 2394 
 
 Japheth is born, * Gen. v. 32. compared, 
 with Gen. xi. 10. and Gen. ix. 22 — 24. 
 
 1558 
 
 2392 
 
 Shem is born, *Gen. xi. 10. 
 
 1651 
 
 2299 
 
 Lamech dies, Gen. v. 31. 
 
 1656 
 
 2294 
 
 Methuselah dies, Gen. v. 27. The Deluge 
 or universal Flood is brought on the 
 earth, in the six hundredth year of Noah, 
 Gen. vii. 6. 
 
 1657 
 
 2293 
 
 The waters were dried up from oft' the 
 earth, and Noah goes forth out of the 
 ark. Gen. viii. 13. 16. 
 
 1658 
 
 2292 
 
 Arphaxad is born, Gen. xi. 10. 
 
 1693 
 
 2257 
 
 Salah is born, Gen. xi. 12. 
 
 1723 
 
 2227 
 
 Eber, or Heber, is born. Gen. xi. 14. 
 
 1757 
 
 2193 
 
 Peleg is born. Gen. xi. 16. 
 
 1787 
 
 2163 
 
 Reu, or Re£^u, is born. Gen. xi. 18. 
 
 1819 
 
 2131 
 
 Serug is born. Gen. xi. 20. 
 
 * Though the time of the births of Japheth and Shem is no where 
 expressly mentioned, yet it is plainly enough to be inferred from the 
 above-cited texts. For, Gen. xi. lo. we are told, that Shem 'vons an liuii- 
 dredyean old — tivo years after the Jiood, which answers to the six hundred 
 and second year of Noah, inasmuch as the text expressly says, that Noah 
 •was six hundred years old, ivhen the flood -was upon the earth. Gen. vii. 6. 
 Wherefore the hundredth year of Shem's age answering to the six hun- 
 dred and second year of his father's, it follows, that Shem must be born 
 in the five hundred and second year of Noah. But now. Gen. v. 32. it is 
 plainly insinuated, that Noah began to beget children, and consequently 
 begot his eldest son in the five hundredth year of his age ; which eldest 
 son must be Japheth, since Ham is expressly said to be the younger son, 
 Gen. ix. 24. and since Shem was not born till the five hundred and se- 
 cond year of Noah.
 
 A Chronological Table. 
 
 205 
 
 Years of the 
 World. 
 
 Years before 
 the com- 
 mon Year 
 of Christ's 
 Nativity. 
 
 REMARKABLE PARTICULARS. 
 
 1849 
 
 2101 
 
 Nalior is born. Gen. xi. 22. 
 
 1878 
 
 2072 
 
 Terah is born, Gen, xi. 24. 
 
 1948 
 
 2002 
 
 Abraham is born, Gen.xi. 26. 
 
 199G 
 
 19.54 
 
 Peleg dies, Gen. xi. 19. 
 
 1997 
 
 1953 
 
 Nahor dies, Gen. xi. 25. 
 
 2006 
 
 1944 
 
 Noah dies. Gen. ix. 28, 29. 
 
 2023 
 
 1927 
 
 Abraham departs from Haran, in order to 
 go into Canaan, being seventy-five years 
 old. Gen. xii. 4. 
 
 2026 
 
 1924 
 
 Ren, or Regu, dies, Gen. xi. 21. 
 
 2034 
 
 1916 
 
 Ishmael is born. Gen. xvi. 3. and xvii 25. 
 
 2047 
 
 1903 
 
 Abraham and Ishmael circnmcised. Gen. 
 xvii. 24, 25. 
 
 2048 
 
 1902 
 
 Isaac is born, Gen. xxi. 5. 
 
 2049 
 
 1901 
 
 Seriig dies. Gen. xi. 23. 
 
 2083 
 
 1867 
 
 Terah dies, Gen. xi. 32. 
 
 2088 
 
 1862 
 
 Isaac marries Rebecca, Gen. xxv. 20. 
 
 209G 
 
 1854 
 
 Arphaxad dies. Gen. xi. 13. 
 
 2108 
 
 1842 
 
 Esau and Jacob are born. Gen. xxv. 26. 
 
 2123 
 
 1827 
 
 Abraham dies. Gen. xxv. 7. 
 
 2126 
 
 1824 
 
 Salah dies. Gen. xi. 15. 
 
 2158 
 
 1792 
 
 Shem dies, Gen. xi. 11. 
 
 2171 
 
 1779 
 
 Ishmael dies. Gen. xxv. 17.
 
 2o6 
 
 A Chronolonical Table. 
 
 Years of the 
 World. 
 
 Years before 
 the com- 
 mon Year 
 
 of Christ's 
 Nativity. 
 
 REMARKABLE PARTICULARS. 
 
 2187 
 
 1763 
 
 Hebcr dies, Gen. xi. 16, 17. 
 
 2199 
 
 J751 
 
 Joseph is born, * 
 
 2228 
 
 1722 
 
 Isaac dies. Gen. xxxv, 28. 
 
 2229 
 
 1721 
 
 Joseph is made governor over Egypt, Gen. 
 xli. 41— 46. 
 
 2238 
 
 17)2 
 
 Jacob goes down Avith his sons into Egypt, 
 in the second year of the seven years of 
 famine, (Gen. xlv. 11.) at which time 
 he was an hundred and thirty vears old, 
 Gen. xlvii. 9. 
 
 2255 
 
 1695 
 
 Jacob dies. Gen. xlvii. 28. 
 
 2309 
 
 1641 
 
 Joseph dies. Gen. 1. 22. 
 
 • That Joseph was born this year is thus proved : his father Jacob was 
 an hundred and thirty years old, when he went down into Egypt ; which 
 answers to A.M. -2238. Joseph was at that time thirty-nine years old. 
 For he was thirty years old when he was made governor of Egypt, Gen. 
 xli. 46. After which came the seven years of plenty, Gen. xli. b-i, 54. 
 And then in the second year of famine his father came into Egypt, Gen. 
 xlv. n. being then, as is before observed, one hundred and thirty years 
 old; wherefore deducting thirty-nine from one hundred and thirty, there 
 remain ninety-one for the year of Jacob's age, wherein Joseph was born. 
 But Jacob being born A. M. 2i08, the ninety-first year of his age answers 
 to A. M. 2199, which therefore is the year of the world wherein Joseph 
 was born.
 
 AN 
 
 HISTORTCAL GEOGRAPHY 
 
 OF THE 
 
 OLD TESTAMENT. 
 
 PART II.
 
 f
 
 riate VII. L' /h>nl /:,.„ 20,,. IW / 
 
 T Coniler Del. i: Sciilji:
 
 AN 
 
 HISTORICAL GEOGRAPHY 
 
 OLD TESTAMENT. 
 
 PART II. 
 
 -^ — 
 
 CHAP. I. 
 
 Of the Land of Egypt ^ and the several Places thereof men- 
 tioned in the Old Testament. 
 
 In the former part, T have followed the series of the sa- i, 
 cred history of the Old Testament, to the end of Genesis, The intro- 
 that is, to the going down of Jacob and his sons out of 
 Canaan into Egypt, and their settling there in the land of 
 Goshen. The second book of Moses, called Exodus, takes 
 its name from its treating principally of the Exodus, 1. e. 
 the going out of the Israelites from the land of Egypt. 
 But before we accompany them out of Egypt, it seems 
 proper here to say, what is requisite to be said, either 
 concerning the land of Egypt in general, or the se- 
 veral particular places of it, mentioned in the Old Testa- 
 ment. 
 
 To speak then, in the first place, of Egypt in general. 
 
 VOL. I. p
 
 210 The Geography of the Old Testament. 
 
 PART II. The name, whereby it is generally denoted in the He- 
 
 brew text, is that of the land of Mizraim. It was so 
 2. . . 
 
 Of Egypt in called, from its being first planted after the Flood by the 
 
 general; descendants of Mizraim, one of the sons of Ham. It is 
 
 and first, as , . 
 
 toits names three or four times in the book of Psalms styled the land 
 ture"'^ of Ham ; whence it is probable, that Ham settled himself, 
 together with his son Mizraim, in this country. For it 
 cannot be reasonably supposed, that the land of Mizraim 
 is by another name called the land of Ham, only because 
 Ham was the father of Mizraim ; for then the land of Ca- 
 naan, or of Cush, two other sons of Ham, might be as 
 well denoted by the land of Ham. Since therefore it is 
 only the land of Mizraim, that in holy Scripture is speci- 
 fied by the name of the land of Ham ; it must be for some 
 special reason : and the most probable seems to be that 
 already mentioned, namely, that Ham chose to accom- 
 pany his son Mizraim, and to settle where he settled. The 
 Arabians are said still to call this country Masr, and the 
 Turks Misr, agreeably to the Hebrew name Misraim ; 
 and Plutarch has observed, that in some of the sacred 
 offices of the old Egyptians, it was called Chemia, a softer 
 word for Chamia, which is plainly derived from Cham or 
 Ham. 
 
 3- In Heathen writers it has several names; but the most 
 Egypt, usual is that of Egypt ; a name thought to be made of 
 whence, the Greek word «»«, Aia, (as that from the Hebrew •'t^,) 
 
 signifying a land or country, and Coptus the name of a 
 city in Egypt. Certain it is, that the Christians of this 
 country were, and still are, commonly called Copti; and 
 in the beginning of the Polyglot Bible we have an alpha- 
 bet styled the Coptic or Egyptian alphabet. Indeed 
 AlxoTTTog is easily softened into Alyu-Trros, i. e. j^coptus into 
 jEgyptus. Some tell us that the Egyptians call them- 
 selves to this very day Chioth, and so suppose ^gyptus 
 to be moulded from ^Echiotus, or the like. 
 
 4- This country has been generally esteemed a part of 
 tion of Libya or Afric, being bounded with other countries of 
 Egypt- the Libyan or African continent to the west and south ;
 
 Of the Land of Egijpt. 2 1 1 
 
 with the gulf of Arabia or the Red sea, and the Isthmus chap. i. 
 of Suez, (i. e. the neck of land between the Red and Me- 
 diterranean sea, whereby it joins on to Asia,) to the east ; 
 and with the Mediterranean sea to the north. 
 
 It has been all along noted for its fruitfulness, and that 5* . 
 has been all along attributed chiefly to the overflowings of 
 the famous river Nile. It was formerly styled the granary 
 of the people of Rome, whilst it was subject to the Roman 
 empire; and now it is subject to the Ottoman or Turkish 
 empire, it is the principal country that furnishes Con- 
 stantinople with grain. 
 
 The inhabitants were looked upon by the Heathen ^^ ^' 
 
 . . Of the 
 
 world as the first inventors of geometry, arithmetic, learning of 
 
 astronomy, physic, and magic or sorcery. Of their abi- ^^^ syp"- 
 lity in the last we have remarkable instances, Exod. vii. 1 1, 
 &c. They are thought at the first to have expressed their 
 conceptions by the shapes of birds, beasts, trees. Sec. 
 which they termed hieroglyphics. Thus, for a year they 
 are said to have painted a snake with his tail in his mouth, 
 to shew how one year continually succeedeth another, 
 without any interruption. And hence this hieroglyphic is 
 made use of now-a-days by some of our almanack- 
 makers. Le Bruyn has given us the draught of an obelisk, 
 standing in Alexandria, hard by the palace of Cleopatra, 
 full of hieroglyphics. As the Egyptians are said to have 
 thus expressed their conceptions at first by these hierogly- 
 phics, so are they also esteemed by the ancient Heathen 
 writers as the first inventors of letters, as well as the fore- 
 mentioned parts of learning. In short, it is from the 
 Egyptians that Pythagoras and Democritus among the 
 Greeks are said to have learnt their philosophy ; Lycur- 
 gus, Solon, and Plato, their forms of government; Or- 
 pheus and Homer, their poetical fictions of the Gods. 
 
 I have taken the more notice of the learning of the old 7' 
 Egyptians, that fron) hence the reader might the better vation in 
 understand the full import of the sacred text, Acts vii. 22. '■aspect to 
 
 *^ • 1 ; ActSVU. Q2. 
 
 where the protomartyr St. Stephen saith of Moses, that he 
 was learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, thereby 
 
 p 2
 
 a 12 The Geography of the Old Testament. 
 
 PART II. denoting the great learning of Moses, as to the times he 
 lived in. 
 
 8. As to the present state of learning among the Egyp- 
 mongstus tians, it is said, that nothing is now left among them of 
 whence so the arts of their ancestors, but an affectation they have to 
 
 divination ?ix\d fortune-telling. By which, and some cheat- 
 ing tricks, in which they are very well practised, great 
 numbers of them get their livelihood, wandering about 
 from one place to another. And this has given occasion 
 to vagabonds and stragglers of other nations, who pretend 
 to for tune- telling, to assume the names of Egyptians, or, 
 as it is commonly and in short pronounced, Gypsies. And 
 on the same account it seems to be, that our Gypsies affect 
 ' to have tawny faces; because this is the natural colour of 
 the true Egyptians. 
 
 9. Having said thus much of Egypt in general, I shall now 
 jj^Jj^^ ^^''' proceed to speak of the several particular places thereof, 
 ties in E- mentioned in the Old Testament. And I shall begin with the 
 doned^hi"" city Zoan, not only as being, if not the city of Egypt ^, 
 Scripture, which is first mentioned in the sacred History, yet pro- 
 
 and first of , , , , ^ . . c n 1 • • . , . 
 
 Zoan, bably the first or most ancient city ot all the cities in this 
 country, and probably the first royal seat of the Pharaohs, 
 or most ancient kings of Egypt. That it was the most an- 
 cient city of Egypt is probable, from what is remarked. 
 Num. xiii. 22. viz. that Hebron ivas biiilt seven years before 
 Zoan in Egypt. By this remark, the sacred historian pro- 
 bably designed to set forth the antiquity of Hebron, and in 
 order thereto observes, that it was built seven years before 
 Zoari iji Egypt; implying thereby that Zoan was the 
 most ancient city of Egypt. And this is confirmed by the 
 other consideration above mentioned, namely, that Zoan 
 was the royal city of the Pharaohs, the most ancient kings 
 of Egypt. For the miracles, which were wrought before 
 Pharaoh, in order to bring him to yield to the Israelites 
 going out of Egypt, are expressly said. Psalm Ixxviii. 12. to 
 be done, several of them, /;/ the field of Zoan. And there- 
 
 ■* The Svriac Verbion reads Zoan, not Zoar, Gen. xiii. 10.
 
 Of the Land of Egypt. 2 13 
 
 fore, as it is highly probable that Zoan had been, from the CHAP. l. 
 first erecting of this kingdom to the time here referred to, 
 the capital city of the Egyptians ; so it is very probable 
 that it continued to be so for many generations after, 
 namely, to the days of Isaiah the prophet. For he, fore- 
 telling the calamities that were to come upon Egypt, and 
 the means whereby they would come upon it, expresses 
 himself thus, Isai. xix. 11. Surely the princes of Zoan are 
 fools ; the counsel of the wise counsellors of Pharaoh is be- 
 come brutish. Where, by the mention made of the princes 
 of Zoan, is plainly denoted, that Zoan was the city, where 
 the princes of Egypt usually or chiefly resided ; and, by 
 what follows, it is as clearly denoted, that Zoan was the 
 place, where Pharaoh held his councils of state ; and con- 
 sequently, that it was the capital city of Egypt, even in the 
 days of the Prophet Isaiah. It is true indeed, that in the 
 same chap. ver. 13. we have mention also of the princes of 
 Noph; and chap. xxx. 4. the Prophet, speaking of the Is- 
 raelites applying themselves to Egypt for succour, says, 
 that their princes were at Zoan, and their ambassadors came 
 to Hanes. Where it appears, that Noph and Hanes were 
 two other cities of Egypt, where the king did sometimes 
 reside : but it still seems probable, that Zoan was then the 
 capital city of all ; inasmuch as it is all along first named. 
 It is likewise mentioned by the prophet Ezeklel; but 
 whether it was in his days the capital city, is not so cer- 
 tain : there are some considerations arising from Ezek. xxx. 
 13, &c. which tend to induce us to believe, that it might 
 be then in its declining state ; and that the royal seat was 
 transferred to Noph, of which by and by. 
 
 The name, whereby Zoan was called by the Greeks, is 10. 
 Tanis; whence we have the Hebrew word Zoan all ^long^^'^" ^i^j^ 
 rendered by the Seventy Interpreters by the word Tanin, Tanis. 
 or Tanis ; and indeed the Hebrew letter Tzade, which we 
 render by Z, is by the Greeks rendered in other words by 
 a T; as the famous city for merchandise, called by the 
 Hebrews Tzor, v;as by the Greeks called Topoc, and 
 thence by the Latins Tyrus, and by us Tyre. 
 
 P3
 
 tion of 
 Zoan 
 
 214 The Geography of the Old Testament. 
 
 PART II. Zoan being without doubt the same with Tanis, hence 
 TT we come to have some certainty as to its situation; foras- 
 
 Thesitua- much as Tanis was placed not far from the Mediterranean 
 sea, and near the second mouth of the river Nile, reckon- 
 ing from the east, to which it gave name. For as the first 
 (at least considerable) mouth of the Nile to the east was 
 called Pelusiacum Ostium^ i. e. the Pelusian mouth, from 
 the adjacent city of Pelusium ; so the second or next to it 
 westward was called Ostium Taniticum, i. e. the Tanitic 
 mouth, or mouth by Tanis. 
 12. The next city of Egypt mentioned in Scripture, which I 
 
 Of Noph. shall here take notice of, is Noph, which is by the Seventy 
 Interpreters rendered Memphis, a city very famous in 
 common histories, and especially for its pyramids esteemed 
 one of the wonders of the world. This city lay above the 
 parting of the Nile into those several streams, whereby it 
 empties itself into the Mediterranean sea ; and so to the 
 south of Tanis, or rather south-west. Here stood a cele- 
 brated temple of Serapis, and the temples of other Egyp- 
 tian idols, to which in the prophet Ezekiel there is had 
 peculiar respect, when it is said, I will also destroy the idols, 
 and will cause their images to cease out of Noph, Ezek. xxx. 
 
 13- 
 
 J, But Memphis is celebrated by Heathen writers for no- 
 
 Ofthepy- thing more than the pyramids, which were built in the 
 '^'"' *' neighbourhood of it, in a very barren sandy plain, where the 
 sight may extend itself very far and wide, without any hin- 
 drance : these pyramids are by the Arabs called Dgebel 
 Pharaon, and by the Turks Pharaen Doglary, that is to 
 say, Pharaoh's mountains; and are chiefly three, which 
 may be seen from Cairo, and a great way beyond it. Of 
 these three pyramids, two are shut; but the other, which 
 is the biggest of all, is open, and is that which travellers 
 mount and enter into. This we have described, both by 
 Monsieur Thevenot, and also by Le Bruyn ; which last 
 person has obliged these parts of the world with several 
 draughts relating hereto. 
 
 As to the dimensions of the biggest pyramid, Thevenot
 
 Of the Land of Egypt. 215 
 
 tells us, that it has two hundred and eight great stone- CHAP. I. 
 
 steps, whereby persons get up to the top on the outside. 
 
 Le Bruyn reckoned two hundred and ten of these steps. The num- 
 
 And Thevenot has remarked, that it is very usual thus to^^'^°^^^^'^* 
 
 . up to the 
 
 differ in numbering of them, insomuch that the same man top of the 
 coming again a second time, shall not find the same number ^am^^* on' 
 that he had at first, if he begin not to ascend at the same place, the outside. 
 And the reason of this variety he accounts for thus ; that 
 betwixt the corners towards the middle of the front, there 
 is a little hill of sand driven up by the wind, that covers 
 several steps, which are uncovered further off. Hence they 
 that go up about the middle of the front, reckon fewer 
 steps than they that go up further off, because they reckon 
 not the steps which are there covered with sand, and which 
 are reckoned elsewhere, because uncovered. Besides, the 
 trouble of going up or down makes one apt to miscount, 
 and some reckon half steps for whole ones. 
 
 Thevenot tells us, that these stone-steps are about two ^^r 
 feet and an half high, one with another ; for some of them ness of the 
 are thicker, and above three feet high. Le Bruyn saith,^'^P** 
 he found them to be, some four hand-breadths high, some 
 five, and some six; some of them two hand -breadths wide, 
 and others three. Hence, adds he, it is easy to guess, how 
 difficult it is to get up ; and indeed one must work at once, 
 both with hands, feet, and knees; and there is need of 
 resting by the way. And yet it is more difficult to come 
 down than to go up : for when one looks down, the hair of 
 one's head stands an end : wherefore, says he, I came 
 down backwards, and looked no where, but to set my 
 feet right in coming down. 
 
 Thevenot observes, that many think that these steps 16. 
 have only been made by the weather ; but in all appear- laid so at 
 ance that could not have worn them out so regularly ; ft""*'- 
 though without doubt it has worn away a great deal, as 
 may be seen by the pieces yet that lie all round below. 
 Hence Le Bruyn supposes, that, when this pyramid was 
 built, the stones were so laid on each other, that there 
 was a space left at every row to stand upon, or to have 
 
 P4
 
 2i6 The Geography of I he Old Testament. 
 
 PART II. firm footing to go up and come down by, as if they were 
 steps. 
 
 17. On the top of this pyramid there is a fine platform, from 
 b^^dth f whence there is a pleasant prospect of Old Cairo, and the 
 the top of adjacent plains. This platform, which, when looked upon 
 xt{\A.^^^ from below, seems to terminate in a point, consists of ten 
 
 or twelve great stones, being sixteen or seventeen feet 
 square. Thevenot tells us, that there are some stones 
 wanting; and it is to be thought, that somebody or other 
 have pulled them down, for the weather could not do it. 
 Le Bruyn saith, that some of these stones are a little 
 broke ; and the chief of all (on which were most of the 
 names of those that had got up thither) had been thrown 
 down to the bottom by some French travellers. 
 
 18. This pyramid, saith Thevenot, is five hundred and twenty 
 Theheight j-g^j. hjgh^ upon a base of six hundred and eighty-two 
 ramid in feet Square. About half way up, in one of the angles of 
 ahoits" *^^ pyramid, that looks between east and north, (which is 
 breadth at the place, adds he, by which I should advise one to go up,) 
 
 'there is a little square room, but nothing to be seen there- 
 in ; only if you be weary, you may rest yourself in it. Le 
 Bruyn tells us, that he found the height to be an hundred 
 and twelve fathom, which (counting each fathom five feet 
 and an half) amounts to six hundred and sixteen feet. And 
 that, walking from one corner to another, he counted three 
 hundred good paces ; and after that, measuring the dis- 
 tance of those corners from each other, with a line he 
 brought for the purpose, he found it to amount to an 
 hundred and twenty-eight fathom, which make seven 
 hundred and four feet. So that, according to his mea- 
 suring, this pyramid was found to be eighty-eight feet 
 broader at the bottom (and as far as could be measured 
 above the sand) than it is high; and therefore, adds he, 
 the centre of the pyramid ought to be three hundred 
 sixty and two feet. 
 19- Hence Le Bruyn would have it considered, how it can 
 
 report"con- ^grce with truth, which some say, viz. that an arrow being 
 cerning the ghot from the top of this pyramid can never fly so far, as 
 
 breadth of f fj J •>
 
 Of the Land of Egypt. ai7 
 
 the last step or row of stones at the foot of it reaches. CHAP, i 
 For an indiflerent strong arm can shoot an arrow a thou- 
 sand feet in length ; and 1 have seen, adds he, some among 
 the Turks and Arabs, that could shoot an arrow above 
 twelve hundred paces. Thevenot makes the like remark, 
 looking on it as a fable, that one (standing on the top of 
 the pyramid, for so he must be understood) cannot shoot 
 an arrow beyond the foundation of the pyramid. For it 
 is certain, says he, that an arrow drawn by a good arm 
 will easily fly three hundred and forty-one feet, which is 
 one half of the breadth of the pyramid. He adds, however, 
 that a man, unless he be extraordinary strong, cannot in- 
 deed throw a stone from the top, and make it fall beyond 
 the steps of the pyramid. For, says he, I got a pretty 
 strong man to throw one ; and all he could do, would but 
 n)ake it fall on the twelfth step, or a little lower. 
 
 And thus much for the outside of this pyramid ; near 20. 
 which is the monstrous statue, called the Sphynx, so fa-g j^^^^^j 
 mous amongst the ancients, and standing at some distance the pyra- 
 towards the east of the biggest pyramid. It is a statue, or 
 image, cut out of the rock itself, which represents the head 
 of a woman, with half the breast, but is at present sunk 
 or buried in the sand to the very neck ; the other parts are 
 meant to represent those of a lion, or some other beast. 
 It is an extraordinary great lump or mass, but withal pro- 
 portionable. The head itself is six and twenty feet high, 
 and from the ear to the chin is fifteen feet, according to 
 Thevenot. The greatness of this monstrous statue is re- 
 presented, in the draught of Le Bruyn, by the proportion 
 which he observed between it and the persons that are 
 represented near it. 
 
 But to return to our pyramid, and to speak now of the 21, 
 inside thereof. The door or entry is on the sixteenth step^^*^^'"- 
 
 . f J r , , . , si'le of 'he > 
 
 as you go up, countmg from the foot on the north side, pyramids, 
 The entry is square, and of the same height and breadth ^^ '^'^*\°^ 
 from the beginning to the end; the height being about &c. 
 three feet and an half, and the breadth a little less. The 
 stone that lies over the entry, or door of it, is very big.
 
 21 8 The Geography of the Old Testament, 
 
 PART II. being near twelve feet long, and above eight feet wide. This 
 entry goes insensibly descending the length of seventy six 
 or seven feet. At the end of it there is another passage 
 like the former, but goes a little rising, of the same 
 breadth, but so low that one must lie on one's belly to 
 creep through it. And at the meeting of these two pas- 
 sages, the one descending, the other ascending, is the 
 greatest difficulty one meets with in the pyramid, as 
 Thevenot conceives. For, says he, this descent, namely 
 of the entry or first passage, butting on the ascent of the 
 second passage, makes with it a sharp ridge, over which 
 there is a great stone, which is the lowermost stone of the 
 roof of the descent, and is perpendicular to it ; between 
 which and the sand there is not above a good foot space 
 to pass through. So that one must slide upon his belly 
 close to the ground ; and for all that, you rub and grate 
 your back against the aforesaid stone, unless you be a very 
 slender man. And besides, you must advance with your 
 feet up in the descent, your belly low between the descent 
 and ascent, and the head rising up in the beginning of the 
 same ascent. Thevenot adds, that he does not doubt, but 
 that the passage of itself is as high there, as at the very 
 entry Into the pyramid ; but the wind driving in much 
 sand, it heaps up in this place between the descent and 
 ascent. And he strengthens his opinion with a very good 
 argument drawn from experience. For, says he, I went 
 thither another time, when we were told, some of the 
 Basha's servants had been there three days before, being 
 curious to see what it was that obliged the Franks to go 
 into it ; and we found the passage so clean and easy, that 
 we passed it without putting either belly or knee to the 
 ground. 
 22. Having passed this streight, you find a sultry stifling air. 
 
 Of what which nevertheless you will soon be accustomed to; and, 
 in the as- to afford some relief, here is a space where one may take 
 cent. ^ little rest. On the right hand there is an ugly great 
 
 hole, which reaches a pretty way, but going no farther, 
 it is supposed that it has been occasioned only by the
 
 Of the Land of Egypt. 2 1 9 
 
 decay of time. Having gone about an hundred and eleven chap. i. 
 
 feet in the ascent or rising passage, you find as it were two 
 
 passages or galleries, one low and horizontal, or even to 
 
 the ground, the other high and sloping upwards like the 
 
 former. At the entry of the lower passage there is a well, 
 
 or pit, which probably was made to let down the corpses, 
 
 that were laid in the cavities under the pyramid. This 
 
 low passage, which is three feet and three inches square, 
 
 leads into a chamber eighteen feet long, and twelve feet 
 
 wide, having a sharp roof. Some pretend that in a higher 
 
 place near this chamber is a window or hole, through 
 
 which one may go into other passages : but neither 
 
 Thevenot nor Le Bruyn could discover any such. 
 
 Returning from the horizontal passage or way, which is 23, 
 
 on the right hand, you enter into the other on the left, The length, 
 
 1 r -1 -1 1 • , &c. of the 
 
 which is SIX feet and four mches wide, and rises the length ascent. 
 
 of an hundred and sixty-two feet. On each side of the 
 
 wall is a stone bench, two feet and an half high, and 
 
 pretty broad ; which serves to take hold by, in going up ; 
 
 to which the holes that are made, almost every step, in the 
 
 earth, are of no small service, though they are confused 
 
 and without order. It is not known by whom these holes 
 
 were made ; but those that go to see the pyramids are 
 
 obliged to them who made them ; for without these holes 
 
 it would be impossible to get up, says Le Bruyn ; and a 
 
 man must be strong, that can get up by the help of them, 
 
 together with the stone bench, by which one holds fast 
 
 with one hand, while the other holds the candle. Add to 
 
 this, that a man must make large steps, these holes being 
 
 six hands breadth from each other. 
 
 This ascent, which cannot be beheld without admira- ^^* 
 
 11 r I • • 1 , 1 • 1 A draught 
 
 tion, may well pass tor what is most considerable in tncotthcas- 
 pvraniid ; for the stones, that make the wall of it, are ns^^!}^°f 
 
 trJ^ _ ' ^ ' what IS 
 
 smooth as a looking-glass, and so well joined together, most consi- 
 that one would be apt to take it for one single stone, jj^g^^^'" 
 The roof is here very high, and so sumptuous, that it is mid. 
 better represented than described. For this reason Le 
 Bruyn took a draught of it, some of his company resting
 
 220 The Geography of the Old Testament. 
 
 PART II. themselves the meanwhile on the bench that is on the 
 
 right hand, and some being got up with their lights to 
 
 the top of the ascent, into the chamber of the tombs, 
 
 which gave him opportunity to take a view of the roof 
 
 more at large. 
 
 25. The chamber of the tombs or sepulchres (called by 
 
 ^g^^^Qf*^^^'Thevenot the Hall) is, as has been just said, on the top of 
 
 tombs on the ascent, being very large and spacious, thirty-two feet 
 
 the inside ^o^g, sixteen fcet wide, and nineteen feet high. The roof 
 
 of the pyra- jg fl^f^ ^nd consists but of nine stones ; whereof seven in 
 
 the middle are each four feet wide, and sixteen feet long ; 
 
 the other two, that are at the two ends, appear to be not 
 
 above two feet broad apiece : but the reason is, because 
 
 the other half of them is built into the wall : they are of 
 
 the same length of the other seven; all of them being laid 
 
 athwart over the breadth of the chamber, with their ends 
 
 resting upon the walls on each side. 
 
 26, At the end of this hall, or chamber, stands an empty 
 ^^^\^, tomb, all of one stone: yet sounds, if struck upon, like a 
 
 tomb m the ' . ' -^ ' . . 
 
 said hall or great bell. It is three feet and an inch wide, and seven 
 c amber, j-^^j. ^^^^^ inches long. The stone is above five inches thick, 
 says Le Bruyn, extraordinary hard, and like porphyry ; it 
 is well polished, and so very beautiful. Thevenot says, 
 that it is very neat when polished, which makes many 
 break off pieces of it to make seals of; but it requires a 
 strong arm and good hammer, to break off a bit. The walls 
 of this chamber are lined also with the same sort of stone. 
 
 27. The tomb is quite naked, without any cover or balus- 
 This pyra- fgj.g . gij-i-jg,. because it has been broken, or else never had 
 
 mid IS said 
 
 to have any. For it is said by the inhabitants of the country, 
 
 bvPharaoh ^^^* ^^^^ king, who ordered that pyramid to be built, was 
 
 that was never buried in it; it being the common opinion, that the 
 
 the Red sea. s^^^ king was that Pharaoh, who by the just judgment of 
 
 God was drowned with all his army in the Red sea. As 
 
 to the doubt that many make, whether this tomb was 
 
 placed there before the pyramid was built ; I think, says 
 
 Thevenot, that it is not at all to be doubted, but it was set 
 
 there before the pyramid was finished. For, though the
 
 Of the Land of Egypt, 111 
 
 entry be wide enough for the tomb, yet the ascent that CHAP. i. 
 immediately follows the descent, must have hindered the 
 conveyance of it. And thus much for the inside of the 
 biggest pyramid. 
 
 Pliny, speaking of this pyramid, says, that it was built 28. 
 in twenty years' time, three hundred and seventy thousand ^^^^^^^l 
 men being employed therein ; and that eighteen hundred money em- 
 talents were laid out only in radishes and onions. building 
 
 This may seem incredible to those that never were in this pyra- 
 this country : but when one considers, that this is the or- ^ 
 dinary food of the common people, and that almost all Of the 
 those, who were employed in raising these great piles,°^"*'" 
 were slaves and mercenaries, who, besides bread and water, 
 had nothing else but radishes and onions, there will be no 
 such great reason to wonder at it. And it must farther be 
 considered, that onions are very delicate here, so that, in 
 regard of the weakness of human nature, the Israelites 
 ought not, says Le Bruyn, to be too highly condemned 
 for complaining in the wilderness for want of the onions of 
 
 Egypt- 
 Concerning the pyramids in general, it is supposed, that 30. 
 they all have had a passage, which led into a chamber or Some re- 
 room, where were deposited the corpses of those, for ceming the 
 whom the pyramids were respectively made; that they Py^^"""^ '" 
 were at first placed regularly, and that each of the three 
 great ones, that remain in this place at this present, were 
 at the head of ten little ones, which are so much ruined as 
 scarcely to be known at the time when Milton our coun- 
 tryman, who gives this account, was there. Nevertheless 
 it was then judged, that there had been above an hundred, 
 great and small. But Le Bruyn says hereupon, that if 
 Milton saw them, they are since buried in the sand, there 
 being nothing to be seen when he was there, but what he 
 has represented in the copper-plate given in his work. 
 
 It is farther remarked, that these pyramids are built on 31^ 
 an eminence, which is a very solid rock, covered with The pyra- 
 white sand. Which makes it very probable, that the of stone in 
 
 stones, of which the pyramids are made, were taken out'^^?^'"^ 
 ^ -^ place.
 
 Ill The Geography of the Old Testament. 
 
 PART II. of the same place. Besides, there are several neighbour- 
 ing mountains that abound in stone, as Thevenot informs 
 us. So that there seems to have been no necessity of 
 fetching these stones from afar, as some travellers and an- 
 cients have wrote. That they were rather taken out of 
 the place where they stand, is farther made probable ; in- 
 asnjuch as the stone, wherewith the pyramids are built, is 
 not marble, but a very hard stone of white sand ; and it 
 has been above observed, that the eminence, on which 
 these pyramids stand, is a very solid rock covered with 
 white sand. 
 
 32. I hope I may the more easily be excused for insisting so 
 The mag- jQj^g q,^ these pyramids, as being the only one this day re- 
 &c. of these maining of the seven ivonders of the world, which the an- 
 
 •ngs- cients so much boasted of. And Thevenot affirms, that 
 these pyramids are really wonders, worthy of the ancient 
 kings of Egypt, who for magnificence of buildings ex- 
 ceeded all others of their time; and I believe, adds he, 
 without disparagement to any, that no prince in the world 
 is able to raise such works, as well for the difficulty of 
 piling up so many huge stones one over another, as for the 
 tediousness of the labour. And Le Bruyn observes, that 
 it is pity that historians have not transmitted down to us 
 what instruments and machines were made use of, for to 
 raise such great stones to so great an height. 
 
 33. Le Bruyn tells us, that it is believed, that where these 
 mids'near pyramids Stand, is the place, where formerly they buried 
 Memphis, their dead, and that it belonged to Memphis ; that all the 
 
 Arabian historians agree in this, that Memphis stood in the 
 same place where these pyramids are, and over-against Old 
 Cairo. And Thevenot says, that having viewed the pyra- 
 mids, he went to the plains where the mummy-piles are ', 
 and that this plain begins near the place v\'here the stately 
 city of Memphis heretofore stood, of which some marks 
 are still to be seen on the Nile. There are, adds he, seve- 
 ral pyramids (namely, besides those already mentioned) in 
 this plain, and that for several miles together. And at the 
 end of the same chapter he says, that not far from the
 
 Of the Land of Egypt. 323 
 
 mummies towards the Nile, are some remains of a large chap. I. 
 town, which was Memphis, the inhabitants whereof were 
 buried where the mummies are, the ancients not burying 
 within towns, for fear of infecting the air. Now to prove, 
 adds he, that these great ruins are the remains of Mem- 
 phis, Pliny affirms it, where he says, that the pyramids are 
 between the Delta of Egypt (i. e. between the parting of 
 the Nile into two principal streams) and the city of Mem- 
 phis on the side of Afric. 
 
 Thevenot elsewhere observes, that the ancients chose a 34. 
 very good situation for Memphis, on the west side of the ^emphis 
 river ; and that Old Cairo has since been built also upon stood in a 
 the river, opposite to Memphis. But New or Grand Cai- fjon'^.'but^' 
 ro stands ill, being seated at the foot of an hill, which the Grand Cai- 
 castle stands on ; so that the hill covers it, and keeps off all a bad situa- 
 the wind and air, which causes such a stifling heat there, ^'°"' 
 as begets many diseases. Whereas, if it stood in the place 
 where Old Cairo is, they would have the benefit of the ri- 
 ver, which would not only save them the trouble of bring- 
 ing water into the city on camels backs, but would also 
 ease them of the labour and charge of carrying their 
 goods on camels, from the city to the port, or from the 
 port to the city ; and besides, they would have the bene- 
 fit of the wind, which blows on all hands along the river, 
 so that the heat would not be so prejudicial. I can see, says 
 Thevenot, no reason why so incommodious a situation was 
 pitched upon, unless it was to join the city to the castle, 
 that so it might be under the protection thereof. 
 
 This castle of Grand Cairo is agreed on by travellers to 35. 
 be one of the most curious pieces in all Egypt. It is built f'^.j°*^P^'' 
 on a rock, and surrounded with a very high and strong otherbuild- 
 wall, which at every hundred paces is flanked with large Sn^hec^Tl" 
 and strong towers. The ascent up to it is out of the rock, of Grand 
 and is so easy, that loaded camels and horses may easily ^"°' 
 go up it. In this castle are many stately ruins; for the 
 greatest and best part is ruined, though several fair build- 
 ings remain still. Among the ruins is shewn an hall, called 
 Joseph's hall, supported by thirty large pillars of Theban
 
 324 The Geography of the Old Testament. 
 
 PART II. stone. Gold and azure (with which the Mosaic works 
 still remaining are diversified) were not spared by the 
 builder hereof: notwithstanding the long tract of years, 
 and even ages, that are past, they still beautify the ceiling. 
 Another hall, which is not far from the former, and which 
 the natives call Pharaoh's hall, is set off with the same 
 workmanship as that of Joseph's. But this is kept shut most 
 part of the year, because here they embroider the vest or 
 garment of Mahomet, which is sent every year to Mecca. 
 There is likewise the hall of Joseph's Steward or Over- 
 seer ; but it is very much ruined : however there are ten 
 or twelve pillars of the same stone, which are still standing. 
 Besides this, there are likewise several other apartments, 
 and a certain place, where are several fine pillars of a very 
 regular order, which supported a vault, that was formerly 
 the cover of a dome, but at present lies open. Each of 
 these pillars was three fathom about, and might be, ac- 
 cording as I could guess, says Le Bruyn, seventeen feet 
 high. This must needs have been a very magnificent 
 building; for that which remains of it, as much ruined as 
 it is, raises admiration and astonishment. 
 
 36. Hard by this palace is shewed a frightful prison, divided 
 Of Josephs ]j^[Q several dunareons, which are cut out of the rock, and 
 
 prison. o ' J ^ 
 
 SO dark that one would be afraid to set foot therein. It is 
 
 called Joseph's prison, because they pretend that here it 
 
 was that he interpreted the dream of the king's butler and 
 
 baker. It is still made use of for a prison, and it is a place 
 
 from whence all pity seems to be banished. If a man has 
 
 not wherewithal to grease the fist of the keeper, no misery 
 
 is comparable to that which the poor wretches suffer who 
 
 are confined therein. 
 
 37. But, says Thevenot, the finest and most curious thing to 
 weu°*^'^^'^ be seen in the castle is Joseph's well, which, says he, is cer- 
 tainly a wonder. Tinie has not done the least damage to 
 it, says Le Bruyn. It is entirely cut out of the rock, and 
 its mouth is eleven feet long, and ten broad. They draw 
 the water out of it by the means of two wheels, one of 
 which is at the well's mouth, and the other twenty-nine
 
 Of the Land of Egypt. 0.2$ 
 
 fathom lower. To each of these wheels belong two oxen, CHAP. I. 
 which turn them round conthiually. The water Is drawn 
 up with earthen pitchers, which are fastened to a rope that 
 runs round the wheel ; and when it is at the top, the wa- 
 ter is thrown out into gutters, which convey it all over the 
 castle. 
 
 You go down into the well by a stair-case, seven or 
 eight feet broad, and cut in the rock ; so as that on the 
 left hand you have the main rock for the wall, and on the 
 right hand you have some of the same rock left, which 
 seems as a wall to the well on the inside, and also as a wall 
 to the stair-case on the other side, and so serves to keep 
 one from falling, or indeed seeing into the well, unless it 
 be by windows, that are at convenient distances. The stair- 
 case turns twelve times round the well in the nature of 
 winding stairs, (for which reason the Arabs call it tke well 
 of the winding stair-case •) and of these twelve turnings, six 
 have eighteen steps each, and the six others have each of 
 them nineteen steps; which make two hundred and twen- 
 ty-two steps in all. All these steps are made very easy, be- 
 cause the oxen must go up and down them every day ; and 
 indeed the descent is scarce discernible. In short, when 
 one looks into the well through the windows, it presents 
 one with a pleasant sight, as well by reason of the depth 
 and breadth of the well, as also upon the account of the 
 extraordinary manner whereby the wheel is turned round. 
 
 When after ail these turnings one is descended to the 
 bottom, where the well is as broad as at the top, a little on 
 the right hand, one meets within the rock a second well, 
 or more properly the lower part of the former well, whose 
 mouth is a great deal narrower. It is here that one sees 
 the oxen turn the wheel, and draw the water, which is 
 conveyed by a pipe into a large cistern, from whence 
 those earthen pitchers, which are fastened to the rope of 
 the upper wheel, do continually suck up the water to 
 carry it upwards. The depth of the upper well, or upper 
 part of this well, was found by Le Bruyn to be fifty-three 
 fathom, i. e. two hundred ninety-one feet and an half. 
 
 VOL. I. a
 
 226 The Geography of the Old Testament. 
 
 PART II. The second well, or lower part of this well, he found to 
 be twenty-four fathom, i. e. an hundred thirty-two feet 
 deep. These are the most remarkable places in this castle 
 of Grand Cairo, which, says Thevenot, is the finest I ever 
 saw, not only for strength, but also for the stately build- 
 ings that are in it, the pleasant prospect and the good air; 
 in a word, it is a work worthy of the ancient Pharaohs and 
 Ptolemies who built it, and answers very well with the 
 magnificence of the pyramids : to which, from Joseph's 
 well, there was anciently a passage, as the inhabitants say, 
 shewing at the bottom ot the upper part of the well two 
 holes, which are like to two door-ways cut out of the 
 rock, but at present stopped up. That on the left hand, 
 and which is the first of the two, leads, as they say, as far 
 as the pyramids ; and the other, on the right hand, to the 
 Red sea. But though this castle is so extraordinary a 
 building, and might be built, or at least begun, by some 
 of the Pharaohs ; and though there are places here, which 
 go under the name of Joseph's hall, well, prison, he. yet 
 it may be questioned whether this castle, or any part of it, 
 was in being in the d^ys of that Pharaoh who advanced 
 Joseph, or of Joseph himself. And Thevenot has observed, 
 that all the fine pieces of antiquity that remain in Egypt 
 are attributed to Joseph ; and, adds he, all that is ugly or 
 infamous to Pharaoh j whereby is to be understood the 
 Pharaoh that oppressed the Israelites, and was drowned in 
 the Red sea. 
 38. We have no mention made of Noph, or Memphis, in 
 
 A consider- the history of Joseph, nor till the time of the prophet 
 ference to Isaiah. And if we consider, what has been observed oc- 
 oih^^h'^' c^sionally in this chapter, concerning the three cities, 
 New Cairo. Memphis, Old Cairo, and New or Grand Cairo, it ap- 
 pears to be not questionable but that Old Cairo arose out 
 of the ruins, or upon the decay of Memphis, being placed 
 on the east side of the Nile, opposite to the place where 
 Memphis stood on the west side ; and that, upon the de- 
 cay of Old Cairo, arose New Cairo, about a quarter of a 
 league from the former, and placed under the foremen-
 
 Of the Land of Egypt. 227 
 
 tioned hill for the forenitMitianed reason. And hence New chap r. 
 
 Cairo is called by the Arabians Masr, and by the Turks 
 Misr, or Missir. For as these names are evidently deriverl 
 from Mizraim, the founder of the Egyptian nation, and 
 therefore applied also to the whole country, as has been 
 before observed; so they were in all probability the very 
 names by which the city Memphis was anciently denoted 
 by the respective nations. For though these several cities 
 differ a little as to their situation, yet the one successively 
 arising as it were out of the other, and the difference of 
 situation being but little, hence these cities were rather 
 looked upon by the said foreign nations as still one and 
 the same city, and therefore were still called by one and 
 the same name in each nation respectively. And this is 
 put out of doubt, I think, by what Le Bruyn tells us, 
 concerning the name of Old Cairo, namely, that the 
 Arabs call it Mazar, from the founder of the Egyptian 
 nation. For though he tells us, that the name whereby 
 the Arabs call New Cairo is Masr ; yet it is evident that 
 the names both of Old and New Cairo are originally the 
 same; and perhaps the difference of spelling made by him 
 between the two names has no good foundation. In short, 
 certain it is that this is no other case, than what there 
 may be several like instances given of. 
 
 Le Bruyn tells us, that Grand or New Cairo is vulgarly 39. 
 (whereby I suppose he means, by the Egyptians them-^.^^i'j^"^^^'ijj^ 
 selves) called Al-Kair, from whence we Europeans call it 'lie name- 
 Cairo. He tells us withal, that this word some pretend ' 
 to be derived from El-cahira, v/hich, according to their 
 interpretation, signifies a cloister ', but that others bestow 
 a more noble etymology upon it, affirming it has this 
 name from the planet of Mars, which in Arabic is called 
 El Caher. But I suppose that such as understand the He- 
 brew tongue may think that there is a much more ob- 
 vious account to be given of this appellation, for Kir in 
 the Hebrew language denotes a city ; whence we find not 
 only the names of several cities in the Old Testament to 
 begin with the word Kir, or, which comes to the same, 
 
 Q 2
 
 228 The Geography of the Old Testament. 
 
 PART II. Kirjath, as Kir-harasath, Kirjath-arba, Kirjath-baal, &c. 
 but also some cities simply denoted by the name Kir. 
 Whence it is not unlikely that the ancient Egyptians 
 might commonly denote Memphis by the name of Al- 
 Kair, i. e. The city, as being then the chief city of the 
 country ; and consequently the same name might be af- 
 terwards continued successively to Old and New Cairo, as 
 arising out of Memphis, or being as it were Memphis a 
 little removed as to its first situation. This opinion, that 
 the name Al-Kair is of the same importance with the He- 
 brew Kir, may be put, I think, beyond doubt, from several 
 instances of the like nature still preserved among our old 
 Britons, or in Wales : for here we find that the names of 
 several of the principal towns begin with Kaer, or Caer ; 
 as Caernarvon, Caermarthen, Caerdigan, or Cardigan, 
 &c. 
 
 40. I had almost omitted taking notice of what are called 
 *^^''°l'^P^* Joseph's ffranaries, in Old Cairo. The inhabitants have a 
 
 granaries. y ^ " ' 
 
 tradition, that these are the very granaries which Joseph 
 built, to lay up corn in against the approaching years of 
 famine. They are still used to keep corn in for the use 
 of the soldiers. They are very large, and encompassed 
 with a wall after the antique manner, being divided into 
 several parts, and open at the top; because rain is not 
 feared in Egypt ; not that it never rains there, but very 
 seldom and little, and especially in the inland parts. 
 
 41. There are in Old Cairo three Christian churches, that 
 viour^id ^^ '^** Barnaby, that of St. George, and that of St. Ser- 
 to have gius. The first is the chiefest, under which is a kind of 
 Old Cairo, chapel, very deep and dark, which it is said was formerly 
 
 a little house or grot, where Joseph and the Virgin Mary 
 lived, with our blessed Saviour then a child. 
 
 42. But however there is another place more remarkable, 
 ^lace^h ^"^ generally visited by travellers on account of its being 
 our Saviour believed to be the place where Joseph and Mary made 
 hav^e lived, choice to dwell, during their retirement into Egypt. The 
 
 borough, or village, is two good hours eastward from 
 New Cairo, and is called Matarea, or Mataree. Here
 
 Of the Land of Egypt. 229 
 
 they shew the house, in which it is said Joseph and Mary CHAP. [. 
 lived; which is a square chamber, the floor whereof is 
 paved. There is also a fountain, or sort of a square well. 
 The water of this well is dispersed here and there in the 
 gardens thereabouts, being drawn up by a wheel turned 
 by oxen, much as that of Joseph's well at Grand Cairo. 
 Some pretend that this water comes under ground from 
 the Nile ; but others say that there is a spring there. 
 And this latter opinion seems more probable, as well be- 
 cause the place is too far distant from the Nile, as also 
 because, when the water of the Nile is very thick, this, 
 as the inhabitants tell you, is always clear : besides, the 
 name of the place favours the latter opinion ; for Matarea 
 comes from Matarug, (as Le Bruyn writes the words,) 
 which signifieth fresh or cool water ; or (as Thevenot 
 writes them) Matharee, comes from Matarith, which sig- 
 nifies fresh water. In a garden near this place is a great 
 piece of a tree, which they say was there in the time of 
 Joseph and Mary's dwelling there. Many fables are told 
 of this tree, and travellers generally take a piece of its 
 wood, which brings great profit to the master of the 
 garden. 
 
 I proceed now to the description of the remaining 43. 
 places of Egypt that occur in sacred History. And the^*^^^'^^"^' 
 next I shall speak of is Pathros, mentioned by the prophets 
 Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel. It is not always rendered 
 the same way by the Seventy Interpreters. For Isa. xi. ii. 
 they render it by Babylonia; but Jer. xliv. i, 15. by Pa- 
 thura; and Ezekiel xxix. 14. and xxx. 14. by Phathora. 
 In the first text they seem to have taken Pathros to be the 
 same with Pethor, the city of Balaam, and lying in Me- 
 sopotamia, and so appertaining to Babylonia. For this 
 city of Balaam (called Numb. xxii. 5. in the Hebrew text, 
 and our translation, Pethor) is in the Septuagint version 
 rendered Phathoura, or Phatura, much as Pathros is in 
 the other text above cited. But it is scarcely to be 
 doubted but that by Pathros in Isai. xi. 11. is to be un- 
 derstood the place denoted by the same Hebrew name in 
 
 ^3
 
 230 The Geography of the Old Textament. 
 
 PART IT. the other prophets, and consequently a city and country 
 in Egypt. For asEzek. xxx. 14. it is mentioned together 
 with the cities of Noph or Memphis, Zoan or Tanis, 8cc. 
 so it is not to be questioned but it was the name of a city 
 likewise. And Jer. xliv. 1. it is expressly styled the coun- 
 try, or land of Patkros. And it is well known that Egypt 
 was distinguished into several nomi, or districts, which were 
 usually denoitiinated from the jirincipal town or city in 
 each. Thus the district of Memphis was styled Nomus 
 Memphites. Wherefore since we meet in Pliny with a 
 district called Nomus Phanturites, (probably for Phatu- 
 rites,) and in Ptolemy with a town called Pathyris, (cor- 
 ruptly, as is thought, wrote Tathyris,) hence it is not 
 without some probability conjectured, that this Pathyris, 
 which gave name to the Nomus Pathyrites, or Phaturites, 
 was the Pathros mentioned in the Hebrew text. And if 
 so, it then lay in that part of Egypt which is more pro- 
 perly called Thebais, and which takes up the southern 
 part of Egypt largely taken. For as Egypt was formerly 
 distinguished into a great -many worn?', or lesser divisions; 
 so was it early distinguished into two greater divisions, 
 that to the north being more specially called Egypt, and 
 that to the south being called Thebais. And it is not im- 
 probably thought that this distinction is alluded to by the 
 prophets, when, together with the land of Egypt, they 
 mention the land or country of Pathros. Thus Isai. xi. il.- 
 In that day the Lord shall set his hand to recover the rem- 
 vant of his people from Egypt and from Pathros. So Jer. 
 xliv. I. The word that came to Jeremiah concerning all the 
 Jews which dwell in the land of Egypt, and in the country 
 of Pathos. And Ezek. xxix. 14. I will bring again the 
 captivity of Egypt, and will cause them to return into the 
 land (f Pathros. In which several places, the land of Pa- 
 thros seems to be plainly distinguished from the land of 
 Egypt ; and therefore, as by the Land of Egypt is to be 
 understood Egypt more specially so called, so by the la7id 
 of' Pathros is to be understood not only the Nomus Pathy- 
 rites before mentioned, but the other great division of
 
 Of the Land of Egypt. 23 1 
 
 Egypt largely taken, and called by the Greeks Thebais, CHAP. I. 
 from Thebes, a city standing in it, and of which I shall 
 speak in the next place, after I have observed that the Ta- 
 thyris or Pathyris of Ptolemy, probably thought to be 
 the Hebrew Pathros, lay somewhat remote from the river 
 Nile, on the west side of it towards Afric, not far from 
 Memnon, and over against Thebes, which we are going to 
 speak of. 
 
 For the city which in our translation is rendered No, _^-t^' 
 
 J 'Of No, or 
 
 (Jer. xlvi. 25. Ezek. xxx. 15, i6.) is by the Seventy Inter- Amon-No. 
 
 preters rendered Diospolis, or the city of Jove. Now there 
 was a city of this name lying on the branch of the Nile, 
 which was next westward to that which ran by Zoan, or 
 Tanis. But Bochart thinks, that by the Diospolis of the 
 Seventy Interpreters is rather to be understood the more 
 famous city of that name, lying in the southern part of 
 Egypt, and otherwise called Thebe, and giving denomina- 
 tion to all the south part of Egypt. And he supposes, 
 that by the Jove, from whom this city took the name of 
 Diospolis, is to be understood Ham, the third son of Noah, 
 and father of Mizraim, from whom descended the Egypti- 
 ans. His opinion is founded on this, that what we trans- 
 late (Jer. xlvi. 25.) the multitude of No, is in the Hebrew 
 text Amon-No, that is, the God Amon, in honour of 
 whom there is a temple erected in the city No : whence 
 the said city came to be styled Amon-No in other places 
 of Scripture. Now it is very probable that Ham was the 
 person denoted by the Amon here worshipped, as well as 
 by Jupiter Amon, or Ammon, whose temple or oracle 
 was so famous in the adjacent parts of Libycl, or Afric. 
 This Amon-No, or Diospolis, otherwise called Thebe, is 
 reported to have been extraordinary large, and to have 
 had no fewer than an hundred gates, whence it was sur- 
 named Hecatompylae, i. e. the Thebes with an hundred 
 sates. It is also related to have been so beautified with 
 colosses, obelisks, temples, palaces, and other stately build- 
 ings and ornaments, that it was thought to be, as Dr. 
 Heylin expresses it, the none-such of the whole world. 
 
 Q 4
 
 2^Z The Geography of the Old Testament. 
 
 PART 11. But how stately soever it was, it fell to decay so long since, 
 
 that there was nothing left of it but ruins in the time of 
 the poet Juvenal. It must not be omitted that the Chal- 
 dee Paraphrast understands Alexandria by No, and herein 
 is followed by some modern writers, I shall speak some- 
 what of Alexandria hereafter. 
 
 45. Being now got into the south part of Egypt, I shall 
 OfSycnc. gpeak next of Syene, a city mentioned in Scripture, and 
 
 not only lying in this south part, but esteemed usually the 
 last or most southern city of this division of Thebais, and 
 consequently the last city of all Egypt towards Ethiopia. 
 Hence the prophet Ezekiel, speaking of the desolation 
 that God would bring on all Egypt, from one end of it to 
 the other, says thus; Therefore thus says the Lord God; 
 — Behold, I will make the land of Egypt utterly desolate, 
 from the tower of Syene even unto the border of Cush. xxix. 
 lo. Where by the expression, from the tower of Syene 
 even unto the border of Cush, is denoted the whole length 
 of Egypt, from the south end of it, where stood Syene, 
 to the north end, or north-east of it, where it bordered 
 upon Cush or Arabia. This city is said to be situated di- 
 rectly under the tropic of Cancer, and to have had a deep 
 well digged in it by some Astronomers ; which, when the 
 sun entered into the sign of Cancer, was totally enlighten- 
 ed with the beams of the sun without any shadow ; so 
 perpendicularly or exactly was the body of the sun at that 
 time over the pile or well. 
 
 46. Leaving the country of Pathros, let us now return into 
 OfMigdol. Egypt more specially so called; and here, towards the 
 
 end of the Red sea, and on the western shore of it, was 
 situated a city called Migdol, which was one of the cities 
 or towns, wherein the Jews dwelt, that took Jeremiah the 
 prophet along with them into Egypt, as the same prophet 
 informs us, ch. xliv. v. i. Tlie ivord that came to Jeremiah 
 concerning all the Jews which dwell in the land of Egypt, 
 which dwell at Migdol, and at Talipanhes, and at Noph, and 
 in the country of Pathros. Where as we have the two ge- 
 Jicral divisions of Egypt plainly intimated, viz. Me land of
 
 Of the Land of Egypt. 233 
 
 Egypt properly so called, and the land or country of Pa- chap, i. 
 thros ; so it is plainly intimated, that Migdol, Tahpanhes, 
 andNoph were situated, not in the country of Pathros, hnt 
 in the land of Egypt. And as this has been already shewn 
 to be true, concerning Noph or Memphis, which lay in 
 the northern division of Egypt, somewhat above the part- 
 ing of the Nile J so it will appear to be true likewise con- 
 cerning Migdol and Tahpanhes. For that Migdol was 
 situated near the end of the Red sea, on the western shore 
 of it, seems clear from the history of the journeyings of 
 the Israelites out of the land of Egypt. For Exod. xiv. %. 
 we read, that the last encampment of the Israelites, before 
 they went across the Red sea, was between Migdol and the 
 sea. The Seventy Interpreters render this name Mag- 
 dolus; and since we meet with a city of the very same 
 name in the old Greek historian Herodotus, we need not 
 doubt but that they were one and the same place. 
 
 To the north of Migdol, and not far from Pelusium, a ^7- 
 
 11 1 r t^ 1 Tv/r T 1 OfTahpan- 
 
 celebrated port or Egypt on the Mediterranean sea, layhes. 
 
 Tahpanhes, or Tahapanhes, or Tahapnehes, or, as it is in 
 short called by the prophet Isaiah, Hanes, Isaiah xxx. 4. 
 For the Hebrew word Tahapanhes, or Tahpanhes, is by 
 the Seventy Interpreters rendered Taphnas, which is easily 
 changed into Daphnae or Daphne. Whence it is not to 
 be doubted, but this Tahpanhes or Taphnas in the sacred 
 history was the same city with that called by Herodotus 
 Daphne Pelusiae, as being not far from Pelusium, as Ste- 
 phanus the geographer expressly informs us. It is ex- 
 pressly said, Jer. xliii. 9. that Pharaoh had an house or 
 palace here ; and probably it was a very pleasant place, 
 and for that reason had this name given to it. For it is 
 not unlikely, that this name does literally import some- 
 what pleasant, beautiful, or agreeable ; inasmuch as we 
 find much the like name given to a queen of Egypt, she 
 being named Tahpenes, i Kings xi. 19, 8cc. And perhaps 
 it may be a true conjecture, that from this oriental name 
 Tahpanes, denoting pleasant or heautful, was originally
 
 ^34 ^^*^ Geography of the Old Testament, 
 
 PART II. derived the word Daphne, used by the Greeks and Latins 
 
 to denote the like. 
 48. I have already observed that this Tahpanhes was pro- 
 
 of sin. bably seated near Pelusium, of which itself I am to speak 
 next. For among the cities of Egypt, Ezek. xxx. as there 
 is mention made of Tahaphnehes, which without doubt 
 is the same with Tahapanhes, so is there mention made 
 also of Sin, ver. 15, 16. This is rendered by the Seventy 
 Interpreters Sain ; and because we find that one of the 
 mouths of the Nile was styled Ostium Saiticum, i. e. the 
 mouth by Sais, hence some have conjectured, not alto- 
 gether without ground, that this Sais might be the place 
 denoted by the Hebrew Sin. But Bochart having oB- 
 served, that the word Sm does in the Syrian tongue sig- 
 nify the same that Pelos does in the Greek tongue, 
 namely, dirt ; hence he conjectures, that the Hebrew Sin 
 was rather the same city which the Greeks called Pelu- 
 sium. And this opinion is confirmed by what the pro- 
 phet Ezekiel adds concerning Sin, when he styles it, the 
 strength of Egypt : for so Pelusium might well be 
 esteemed, as to the east side of Egypt towards the Holy 
 Land ; to which the prophets more especially had respect, 
 as is evident from the circumstances of the sacred history. 
 Now Pelusium was thus the strength of Egypt on the east 
 side, as being situated on the most eastern channel of the 
 river Nile, and well fortified ; whence it is styled by Suidas 
 also, the key of Egypt. It is remarkable for being the 
 birth-place of Ptolemy, the famous geographer, and the 
 episcopal see of Isidore, thence surnamed Pelusiota, whose 
 Epistles are still extant. Out of the ruins hereof arose 
 Damiata, one of the three principal ports of Egypt on the 
 Mediterranean sea, at this present time. Some make a 
 doubt, whether Damiata be not the same with Pelusium, 
 as to situation. Le Bruyn tells us, that the streets of it 
 are very dirty ; and so it may at least go under the name 
 of Pelusium very properly. The same traveller tells us 
 likewise, that the buildings of it are very ordinary j but
 
 Of Ike Land of Egypt. 235 
 
 yet it is very populous, and one of the principal cities of cHAP. I. 
 all Egypt. A curious traveller will find nothing here con- " 
 
 siderable, besides some mosques with fine towers. With- 
 out the city are to be seen the ruins of an high tower, 
 which formerly served as a light-house for ships; and hard 
 by it, on the same side, is a round tower ; and this is all 
 the remains of antiquity to be found here. The Nile runs 
 close by the city. The principal traffic of Damiata con- 
 sists in rice, which grows thereabouts in great abundance, 
 and is carried into all Turkey, 
 
 To the south of Sin, or Pelusium, and on the same 4g. 
 stream of the Nile, stood Bubastus, whereby the Seventy Of Pibe- 
 Interpreters render the Hebrew name Pibeseth, the namebastus. 
 of another city mentioned Ezek. xxx. 17. among the ci- 
 ties of Egypt. 
 
 And still more to the south, at some distance from the 50. 
 said eastern channel of the Nile, stood the city Heliopolis, ^*^ ^"» °^ 
 i. e. the city of the Sun; whence it is called by the pro- Heliopolis. 
 phet Jeremiah, chap, xliii. ver. 13. Bethshemesh, the house 
 of the Su/i : and because there was a place of this name in 
 the land of Israel, hence that it might be rightly under- 
 stood, which the prophet spake of after he had said that 
 Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon should break the images 
 of Bethshemesh, he adds by way of distinction, that is in 
 the land of Egypt. This place is otherwise called in the 
 Hebrew text ]^^ or pt^, which may both be read On, 
 though, according to the present reading of the Hebrew 
 text, one is read On, (Gen. xli. 45, &c.) and the other 
 Aven, Ezek. xxx. 17. It is very likely, that the Seventy 
 Interpreters read the words On in both places; forasmuch 
 as in both places they render the Hebrew word alike by 
 Heliopolis. At least it is evident, that, if they read the 
 words differently. On and Aven, yet they looked upon 
 them only as different names of one and the sanie place ; 
 and also that another name of the same place was Beth- 
 shemesh, Jer. xliii. 13. which therefore they rendered also 
 by Heliopolis, and not only so, but explained what He- 
 liopolis they meant, by adjoining its other name On. It
 
 236 The Geography of the Old Testament. 
 
 PART II. is well known to those who understand the Hebrew lan- 
 
 guage, that the Hebrew word Aven does literally denote 
 vanity, and thence is taken in Scripture to denote an idol^ 
 or idolatrous worship. And hence this city, famous for 
 its idolatrous worship of the Sun, might be called Aven ; 
 much as the place first called Bethel by Jacob, on account 
 of God's there appearing to him, was afterwards denoted 
 in the prophecy of Hosea, by the name of Beth-aven, on 
 account of the idolatrous worship there paid to one of the 
 golden calves set up by Jeroboam. And though the He- 
 brew word >|"j^, according to the present received punctua- 
 tion, is always read Aven, when it denotes vanity, or an 
 idol, &c. yet it is not improbable, that it might be in the 
 iDore early times read On, not only because it is read so 
 in the construct form, as the Grammarians call it, but also 
 because there is an appellative word On, according to the 
 present received punctuation of the Hebrew Bible, which 
 has a different signification. And perhaps it was nothing 
 else, that introduced this different pointing or vowelling 
 of the word we are speaking of, but that thereby might 
 be the better distinguished the different significations of it. 
 It was the priest of this On, or Heliopolis, whose daugh- 
 ter was given by Pharaoh in marriage to Joseph, the son 
 of Jacob. And the Jewish historian named Josephus tells 
 us, that this city was given to the Israelites, upon their 
 coming down into Egypt, to dwell there. And this is the 
 more probable, because it lay in or near to the land of 
 Goshen. Certain it is, that in after-ages, with the consent 
 ol Ptolemy, surnamed Philadelphus, King of Egypt, there 
 was a temple built here for the Jews, by Onias the High 
 Priest, then dispossessed of his authority and office by An- 
 tiochus. This temple was had in great esteem by the 
 Hellenists, or Jews, who having been born, or having 
 lived, among the Greeks, used the Greek language, and 
 particularly the Greek version of the Septuagint. 
 51. It has been observed already, that this Heliopolis stood 
 
 of Goshen ^" °^ "^^^ ^^^ \ax\6. of Goshen, or that tract of Egypt, 
 01 Rameses. which was assigned to the Israelites for to dwell in, and
 
 Of the Land of Egypt. %y] 
 
 which is generally supposed to have taken up that tract chap. i. 
 on the eastern side of Egypt, which lies by the south of 
 the eastern channel of the Nile, upon the channel after- 
 wards called Trajan's river. It was also called the land 
 of Rameses, from the city Ranieses, or Raamses, built 
 therein by the Israelites, either for a treasure-city, (as it 
 is understood by our translators, Exod, i. 1 1.) or for a de- 
 fence against any that should invade the country on that 
 side, on which it was usually invaded. By a treasure-city 
 seems to be understood chiefly a granary, or repository 
 for grain or corn. And these sort of repositories seem to 
 have been much in use among the Egyptians, ever since 
 the first introducing of them by Joseph. Such as under- 
 stand Rameses to have been rather a fortified city, seem to 
 be induced thereto on account of its situation, this being 
 not so much in the inland part of the country, which 
 seems most proper for granaries or store-cities, but rather 
 in the outpart of it, and in its eastern border, and so very 
 proper for a fortified city. 
 
 Besides Rameses, we read, Exod. i. ii. that the Israel- 52. 
 ites built for Pharaoh another city, called Pithom, for theOfP'thom. 
 same end. And we find plain footsteps of this city in the 
 ancient historian Herodotus, who mentions a city lying in 
 this part of Egypt, and called Patoumos, or Patumus, not 
 far from Bubastus. 
 
 Before I leave Egypt, I must speak of the river Nile, 53. 
 not only the principal river of this country, but celebrated Of 'he river 
 
 . -11 -1 1 * , Nile, and 
 
 in other countries, both anciently and at present. And first of its 
 first as to its name. It being not only the principal, but"^*"^' 
 in a manner the only river of Egypt, it seems to have 
 been, for one or both these reasons, denoted originally by 
 no peculiar or proper name, but to have been called only 
 the River. Hence in the history of Exodus we meet with 
 it under no other name. Now the Hebrew word denot- 
 ing a river is Nachal, or Nahal, from which is plainly 
 made the Greek and Latin word Nil us, and from this our 
 English name, Nile. Each of which therefore literally
 
 23^ Th(- Geogrupfnj of the Old Testament. 
 
 PART II. imports no more than the primitive Hebrew word from 
 which they were derived, namely, the River. 
 
 54. In process of time it had another name given it. For 
 otherwise' *^^^' "* ^^- ^^ rcd^l thus : What hast thou to do in the way 
 called Si- of Egypt, to drink the waters ofSihor P where by Sihor is 
 why. in all probability denoted the Nile; especially if it be con- 
 sidered, that the geographer Dionysius Periegetes ex- 
 pressly tells us, that the Nile was otherwise called Siris 
 by the Ethiopians. Now Siris is a word evidently enough 
 deduced from Sihor. And the reason, why the Nile came 
 to be called Sihor, is well enough supposed to be from the 
 blackness or muddiness of its water, for Sihor in the He- 
 brew tongue signifies black. 
 
 55. The Seventy Interpreters render Sihor in this text of Je- 
 erroneously '"^"^'^^ by Geon, whence it is imagined that they were of 
 taken to be the opinion, that the Gehon, or Gihon, mentioned among 
 withGi- the four rivers of Paradise, was the same with the Nile. 
 hon; and Certain it is, that the Jewish historian Josephus is of this 
 
 whence 
 
 this error opinion, perhaps led thereinto by the authority of the 
 "^.'Sht Septuagint Version in this place; which also seems to 
 have been the cause of many fathers and interpreters em- 
 bracing the said opinion. The learned Bishop of Soissons 
 tells us, that the Abyssines are so much of this opinion, 
 that they do not know now-a-days the Nile under any 
 other name than that of Gichon ; by an error, adds he, 
 like to that as brought them to say, that the Queen of 
 Sheba had reigned in their country, and that their kings 
 were descended of Solomon and her. But how much 
 soever this opinion, concerning the Gihon being the same 
 river with the Nile, may have obtained, it is sufficiently 
 evident from what has been above delivered, in Part I. 
 chap. i. of the Geography of the Old Testament, that it is 
 a very great error. And therefore, if the Seventy Inter- 
 preters were of this opinion, and consequently rendered 
 Sihor in this place of Jeremiah by Geon designedly, as in 
 conformity to their own notion, it is certain they were in 
 a gross mistake. But it is not improbable, that the pre-
 
 Of the Land of Egypt. 239 
 
 sent reading of the Septuagint Version may be corrupted, CHAP. i. 
 and that the true original reading, as the forementioned 
 learned Bishop has conjectured, was y^Vov, Geion, i. e. 
 earthy, or muddy, which excellently well answers to the 
 import of the Hebrew word Sihor. But from y^Vov to 
 yiiwv is a very easy change, and so easily made by tran- 
 scribers, either through mere negligence, or else as not 
 understanding what to make of the appellative Geion, and 
 so purposely changing it into Geon, which they knew was 
 the name of one of the rivers of Paradise ; by this means 
 corrupting the text, whilst they thought to correct it. 
 
 Having said what is most observable in reference to the fiG. 
 names of the river Nile, I proceed now to speak of its rise ^f ,he^]y'i^e 
 and course, in both which respects it has been very re- and its 
 markable among the ancients. For as to its rise and 
 course, or spring-head, they were esteemed so far uncer- 
 tain and unknown, as to become a proverbial saying, used 
 to denote a thing not to be found out or known. The 
 Egyptians themselves said that the Nile came from hea- 
 ven. And old Homer, who is said to have travelled and 
 studied in Egypt, learned this doctrine there, whence he 
 styles the Nile Diipetes, i. e. come from Jupiter. Now 
 hereby might be meant, that the Nile was made by rain 
 water, which Jupiter is the disperser of, according to the 
 poets ; or else that the Nile came from Paradise, accord- 
 ing to the opinion above mentioned, which they placed in 
 heaven, not distinguishing the earthly Paradise from the 
 heavenly. That the overflowing of the Nile is occasioned 
 by rain, or melting of snow, in the more southern parts of 
 it, that is in Ethiopia, is generally believed; however it is 
 also, I think, generally believed now-a-days, that the 
 Nile has one or more spring-heads properly so called; 
 though where these be truly situated, is not v/ell agreed 
 on. Le Bruyn has taken the pains to insert into his 
 travels several accounts given in relation hereunto, and 
 not only so, but to compare them together ; and at the 
 upshot he says, that it is plain, from the testimonies pro- 
 duced by him, that the Nile arises originally from a
 
 240 The Geography of the Old Testament. 
 
 PART II. spring; that this spring has its rise about twelve degrees 
 on the other side of the Line ; that this river is increased 
 by several rivulets that run into it; and that, after it has 
 by a great many windings and turnings crossed through 
 Ethiopia, it at last runs into Egypt. 
 
 57. As to the great plenty of its waters, it is certain, adds 
 Oftheover- }^g that the melted snow, and great rains, which fall for 
 
 flowing of . , ...... 
 
 the Nile, five months together, viz. from the beginnmg ot April to 
 the end of August, according to the testimony of those 
 who have been upon the place, and which afterwards run 
 into this river, do so swell it, that Ethiopia first, and after- 
 wards Egypt, are laid under water : so that what was at 
 first but a large river, by spreading on both sides over its 
 banks, becomes a little sea or large lake; till fair weather 
 returning in Ethiopia, at the beginning of October, it be- 
 gins to abate ; and the water, which if it staid too long, 
 would hinder their sowing, after it has left behind it a 
 rich mould, discharges itself into the Mediterranean sea. 
 
 58. And here, as Le Bruyn goes on, we may take notice of 
 markable ^^^^ wonderful providcncc of God, which not only sends 
 providence at a certain time rains in Ethiopia to moisten Egypt, 
 herein. where it hardly rains at all; but which moreover affords 
 
 to its mud a fatness, that so far meliorates or enriches the 
 lean and sandy soil of this country, that the husbandmen 
 are obliged, before they sow, to cast sand upon the earth, 
 to correct the excessive fatness of the mud, which the 
 water, when it runs off, has left behind. 
 
 59. Another thing remarkable in this providence is this, 
 other^Ui" i^^U according to the testimony of the natives, at the be- 
 stances. ginning of June, and for four months after, the north-east 
 
 winds are sent by the wise Governor of the world, to keep 
 back the waters, which would otherwise run too fast, and 
 so hinder them from throwing themselves into the sea too 
 soon. 
 
 60. And as the Nile is thus remarkable, on account of its 
 mouths of '"'^^ ^"^ overflowings, so is it farther, on account of the 
 the Nile, several mouths, whereby it empties itself into the sea, and 
 
 which were generally reckoned seven by the ancients.
 
 Of the Land of Egypt. 24 1 
 
 though some of them reckon more. The reason of this chap. r. 
 difference is probably to be ascribed to the sands damming 
 up some of these mouths, which at other times have been 
 open. At present, Le Bruyn tells us, there are only two 
 or three of the mouths at most which lie open, as far as 
 he could observe, upon going on purpose to take a view 
 of those places. Upon these arms of the Nile ships of 
 great burden may very well ride. That which seemed to 
 him to be the largest is near Rosetto ; the other is hard 
 by Damiata. The rest are small, and have not much 
 depth, so that they are at most to be looked upon but as 
 small rivers. 
 
 That tract of ground, which is inclosed by the eastern 61. 
 and western branch, into which the Nile divides itself be- o/th^DeUa 
 low Memphis, or Old Cairo, was formerly called by the i" Egypt. 
 Greeks the Delta, namely from its representing the shape 
 of the Greek letter so called, and thus wrote A. For the 
 same reason, the learned Bochart thinks, that this tract is 
 denoted in the book of Psalms, and in the prophecy of 
 Isaiah, by the name of Rahab. For, says he, the Hebrew 
 word Rahab, or Raab, is the same with the Egyptian 
 name Rib, or Riph, whereby to this very day the Delta, 
 or tract lying between the mouths of the Nile, is called, 
 from its resemblance to the shape oi a. pear, called by the 
 Egyptians Rib. Hence in the very heart or middle of 
 this tract there was a nomus or district, named Athribis, 
 i. e. the heart of the pear. 
 
 But to return again to the Nile itself; the Egyptians G2. 
 taking it for Gihon, one of the rivers of Paradise, hence, '^^'j^ ^^f!" 
 
 .... . shipped by 
 
 as the mgenious Huet, Bishop of Soissons, observes, they the Egyp- 
 set no bounds to the worship they offered to it. They be- "^"*' 
 lieved its spring to be sacred ; they adored and invoked it, 
 as the greatest of Gods, and that under the name of Osiris, 
 (a name derived froiti Sihor, as was Siris,) and under the 
 name of Orus and Jupiter, they instituted in its honour 
 the most solemn of their feasts, and consecrated to it some 
 priests, and, last of all, asserted that it descended from hea- 
 ven. And the Turks and Jews, adds the same learned 
 
 VOL. I. R
 
 24* The Geography of the Old Testament. 
 
 PART II. person, believed them on their words, without any fur-^ 
 ther inquiry, and suffered themselves to be persuaded, that 
 the water thereof was holy, because the spring of it was 
 unknown to them. He adds, that from Sihor came not 
 "^ only Siris, but also Sirius, which last, as well as the first, 
 
 is a name of the Nile, and has also been given to the Dog- 
 Star, because the overflowing of the Nile begins in the 
 dog-days. But, by the account of travellers, it seems to 
 legin somewhat more early ; and therefore it should be 
 rather said, that the overflowings of the Nile fall in with 
 the dog-days, and perhaps then are at the highest. 
 
 63. Le Bruyn tells us, that this river has not many fish in 
 It has not j^^ whether this is to be attributed to its muddy waters,. 
 
 or to the havoc which the crocodiles, and other mon- 
 sters of this river, make of the fish. However, these 
 creatures keeping for the most part higher up the river, 
 and being seldom or never to be seen about Cairo, this 
 cannot be the reason of the scarcity of fish, at least about 
 Cairo. But lower, the Nile is full of porpoises. 
 
 64. He adds, that the water of it is very wholesome to 
 
 Of the wa- Jrink, and the natives can tell how to purge it in a little 
 ter of the ^ ° 
 
 Nile. time from its mud, by the means of almond-paste, or some 
 
 such thing. It likewise purges itself very well, by being 
 put into certain small earthen pitchers, which was Le 
 Bruyn's common practice. One can hardly meet with 
 any other water in all Egypt; which is the reason why 
 almost all the cities, towns, and hamlets are built along 
 this river, which would render it very pleasant to go up 
 and down, if the country was not so ruined, nor its inha- 
 bitants so poor and wicked. 
 Q5. It must not be omitted, that on the banks of this river 
 
 P r^^iom S'"^^ ^^^^ sedgy weed, called papyrus, from whence was 
 which derived the name oi paper ; that on which the Egyptians 
 name /a- <^^^" wrote being made of this weed. The Egyptians, as 
 f'^''' Heylin observes, divided this weed into thin flakes, into 
 
 which it naturally parts; then laying them on a table, 
 and moistening them with the glutinous water of the 
 Nile, they pressed them together, and afterwards dried
 
 Of the Land of Egypt. MS 
 
 them in the sun. By means of which invention, books CHAP, i. 
 being easier to be transcribed and preserved than formerly, 
 Ptolemy Philadelphus, King of Egypt, made his famous 
 library at Alexandria; of which I have spoken in my Geo- 
 graphy of the New Testament, Part f I. chap. vi. §. 6. 
 
 To what is there said, I shall add here, that this Pto- ,^^ , •. 
 
 ' ' .Of the in- 
 
 lemy, understanding how Attains, King of Pergamus invemionand 
 the Lesser Asia, by the benefit of this Egyptian paper, ''^^",]^J^*^,^ 
 strove to exceed him in that kind of magnificence, viz. of 
 a noble and excellent library, he prohibited the carrying 
 of this sort of paper out of Egypt. Hereupon Attains in- 
 vented the use of parchment to write upon, made of the 
 skins of calves and sheep. These materials for writing upon 
 were, from the skins of which they were made, called mem- 
 brance, and from the place where they were invented, per- 
 gamena, from which is moulded our English word parch- 
 ment. This being found much better for writing than the 
 Egyptian papyrus, or paper, hence this last wore out of use. 
 In place whereof succeeded the paper used now-a-days, 
 made of rags, the authors of which excellent invention, our 
 ancestors have not taken care to preserve the memory of. 
 
 Before the use of these papers and parchments was first 67. 
 found out, or made known. Dr. Heylin observes, that jp'^^.^[i°jjg 
 there were three ways of writing among the ancients, concerning 
 First, on the inward side of the bark of a tree, which in i;/,^^, codex, 
 Latin is called liber ; and hence a book came to have tiie '{>"'''' '''^■?/"' 
 name of liber. Secondly, on tablets framed out of the 
 main body of a tree, which being called caudex, gave the 
 Latins occasion to call a book codex. Thirdly, they used 
 to cover these tablets over with wax, and thereon to write 
 what they had to signify; from whence a letter-carrier 
 was termed tahellarius. The instrument wherewith they 
 wrote was a sharp-pointed iron, which they called stylus ; 
 whence the word is now-a-days taken to signify the pe- 
 culiar kind of phrase or expression, which any writer uses ; 
 as when we say, such a writer has a good style, or bad 
 style, i. e. expresses his thoughts well or ill, smoothly or 
 harshly, &c. It is also to be noted, that they used somc- 
 
 R 3
 
 244 '^^^^ Geography of the Old Testament. 
 
 PART II. times to write on leaves, and that the Sibyl oracles being 
 so written and scattered abroad, had the name of Sibyllce 
 Folia; and that from thence we keep to this day the 
 phrase of a leaf of paper. Add hereto, that the ancients 
 being used not to bind their books, as we do now-a-days, 
 but to roll them up together ; hence a book came to be 
 denoted by the word volume, i. e. a thing rolled up ; and 
 hence come also those expressions still used among us, 
 when we say, a book is of such a volume, i. e. size or big- 
 ness ; or that a book makes so many volumes ; or the first f 
 second, &c. volume of a book. I cannot doubt, but the 
 reader will easily pardon this digression, concerning the 
 several materials used for to write upon,, not only because 
 I had a very fair occasion given me to take notice of them, 
 but also because it cannot but be very satisfactory and 
 pleasant to him, to be informed in these particulars of so 
 common and great use. 
 g3 I have above observed, that though Bochart understands 
 
 Of the city Thebas in Lower Egypt, by Amon-No, yet some under- 
 ■ stand thereby Alexandria, as the Chajdee Paraphrast, &c. 
 not but that these knew Alexandria to be so called, as being 
 built by Alexander the Great, and so many ages after the 
 No, or Amon-No, mentioned in Scripture. But they sup- 
 pose, that there was an old city, which stood, in the times 
 of the Old Testament, in the place where Alexandria now 
 stands; and that the said old city was No, which in pro- 
 cess of time being fallen to decay, Alexander the Great, 
 approvitig the situation of the place, made choice of it to 
 build there the noble city, from him called Alexandria. 
 But however this be, it is likely that this Alexandria is 
 the city mentioned under that name in the Acts of the 
 Apostles. For which reason I have in my Geography of 
 the New Testament, Part II. chap. vi. §. 6. said something 
 of it. And it having been a very considerable place, and 
 still containing some excellent monuments of antiquity, it 
 may not be unacceptable to give the reader a short ac- 
 count thereof here, as to such particulars as are not men- 
 tioned in my other treatise.
 
 Of the Land of Egypt. 245 
 
 I shall begin with Pompey's pillar, so called, as being CHAP. i. 
 supposed to be erected by Julius Cjesar, as a monument gg 
 
 of the victory he had gained over Pompey. Thevenot Of l^fi"- 
 
 ^1 ^ . . , - , . r ' ' 1 1 -1 pey's Pillar, 
 
 says, that it is the finest piece or antiquity that has with- 
 stood the rage of time; and that the body of the pillar is 
 one entire piece of granite, so high that the world cannot 
 match it, being eighteen canes high. Le Bruyn gives us 
 its height more exactly, telling us, that, upon measuring 
 it, he found it to be fourscore and ten feet high ; and 
 withal to be as much as six men could clasp round, which 
 is, according to the measure he took of it, thirty-eight 
 feet thick. He tells us, that some took it to be granite ; 
 others to be a sort of cement, which in time is turned into 
 stone : but he himself looked upon it to be true free- stone, 
 as far, at least, as he could discern by the experiment be 
 made of it. And therefore, adds he, it is a wonder, how 
 a stone of this bigness could be raised. On the top is a 
 fine chapiter, proportionable to the bigness of the pillar, 
 but made of a distinct piece of stone. The pillar stands 
 upon a square pedestal, seven or eight feet high, and each 
 face about fourteen feet over. This pedestal is fixed on a 
 square base, about half a foot high, and twenty broad, 
 made of several stones cemented together. The whole 
 stands upon an eminence or little hill, about two hundred 
 paces from the town ; and the advantage of the eminence 
 it stands upon makes it to be seen a great way off. 
 
 The walls of this city are, says Le Bruyn, admirable ; 70. 
 and though they are in great part demolished, yet they of Alexan- 
 still appear so stately, that there is none in the world to be ^"^• 
 compared to them. The large square towers, which are 
 built along the wall for its defence, and are two hundred 
 paces distant from one another, cannot be viewed without 
 admiration. But how much soever the outside of them 
 may attract and please the eyes of beholders, their inside 
 is not less worthy of their curiosity. They are all built in 
 a different model ; but yet have all of them two stories 
 one over another, each story supported with pillars, that 
 run up in the middle; and do all agree in this, that they 
 
 R 3
 
 24^ The Geography of the Old Testament. 
 
 PART II. have each of them a well or cistern. Each of these towers 
 
 has a platform on the top, of above twenty paces every^*^ 
 way, and could contain a great many men in arms; by 
 which means this city anciently could doubtless make a 
 vigorous defence. For the walls of these towers were a 
 great many feet thick; and quite round them were port- 
 holes, very large within, but which grew straiter and 
 straiter as they run out. 
 71- Here are also to be seen the remains of Cleopatra's pa- 
 
 tra's palace, lace, which was on the sea shore. By the stately chambers 
 and apartments, the ruins whereof still remain, it is but 
 reasonable to suppose, that it was a very lofty and magni- 
 ficent building. 
 
 72. Le Bruyn says, he never saw finer ruins in any place 
 
 Of the ru- g]gg^ ^ov on all sides one meets with some or other. The 
 ins of Alex- 
 andria, beauty of the rest may be guessed at, by two represented 
 
 in Le Bruyn's Travels, p. 170, and numbered 103 and 104. 
 
 73. As to the present state of this city, it is within almost 
 Of the pre- wholly ruinated, having but a few houses, that are inha- 
 
 sent state of . . .,, r . n t i » i i • 
 
 this city, lilted. 1 here is still to be seen bt. Mark s church, in pos- 
 s"^m'^^i.°^ session of the Christian Coptes or Egyptians. Anciently 
 church. this was a very large church, but at present it is no more 
 than a little round chapel. They still shew part of the 
 pulpit, wherein they pretend that St. Mark preached. It 
 does still retain almost its form, and on the outside it is 
 faced with stones of divers colours. The body of St. 
 Mark, the first bishop of Alexandria, is said to have been 
 deposited in this church, and to have lain there, till some 
 Venetians, returning from the Holy Land, carried it along 
 with them to Venice, where is a famous church, called St. 
 Mark's church. 
 
 74. There is likewise to be seen in this church a piece of a 
 ^^^gp'j-'l^i'. picture, which they pretend to have been painted by St. 
 chael the Luke. It represents St. Michael the Archangel, and is a 
 saM to"be ' ^'ttle more than an half-length, with a sword in one hand, 
 drawn by altogether after the antique fashion, without any art, not 
 
 to say any thing of the mixture of the colours, of which 
 there is too great a variety.
 
 Of the Land of Egypt. ^47 
 
 There is also in this city the church of St. Catharine, CHAP, i. 
 where is still preserved the pillar on which they say she 75 
 was beheaded 3 or rather, which preserves the memory ofThechurch 
 the place where she was beheaded. More will be said of (harine. 
 this saint, in the description of mount Sinai. There are 
 in this church several pieces of painting, some of which 
 were very well designed. 
 
 And thus I have at length gone through most, if not The con- 
 all, the places of Egypt, that occur in the sacred history,'^ "^'°"* 
 excepting Succoth, Pi-hahiroth, and Baal-zephon, men- 
 tioned in the account given us of the encampments of the 
 Israelites, when they went out of Egypt. And these will 
 be taken notice of in the following chapter, as treating of 
 the said encampments of the Israelites. 
 
 R4
 
 248 The Geography of the Old Testament. 
 
 CHAP. II. 
 
 Of the Journey ings of the Israelites, from their setting forth 
 from Rameses in Egypt, to their encanipmg near the 
 river Jordan, on the east side thereof. 
 
 The intro- XJ.AVING Spoken of such places in the land of Egypt, 
 duction. ^g ^pg mentioned in Scripture, I shall now accompany the 
 Israelites in their journeyings from Egypt to the river 
 Jordan. And, as it seems proper to contain all their 
 journeyings in one chapter, so (forasmuch as their jour- 
 neyings lay through different countries, and also foras- 
 much as some particular places occur therein, which de- 
 serve more particular notice ; for these reasons) it seems 
 expedient to distinguish this chapter into the several sec- 
 tions following. 
 
 SECT. I. 
 
 Of the Journeyings of the Israelites from Rameses to the 
 Red Sea. 
 
 The Israel- -^FTER that the other signs, which God had wrought in 
 
 ites permit- the sight of Pharaoh and the Egyptians, and the other 
 
 raoh^nd^ P^^g^^s he had brought upon them, proved ineffectual, 
 
 the Egypti- the divine Providence was as it were forced, in the last 
 
 their jour- placc, to bring upon them that most dreadful plague, 
 
 neyiingsout^y|^g^gl3y ^n the frst-hom in the land of Egypt died, from 
 
 thefirst-horii of Pharaoh that sat vpon the tkrone, even unto 
 
 the first-horn of the woman-servant that was behind the 
 
 mill, i. e. the woman-slave, who was made to turn the 
 
 mill, which she did, by thrusting forward the part of the 
 
 mill she held, and so coming herself behind or after it. 
 
 Now, either these mills were in prisons, or else such as
 
 w
 
 Journeyings of the Israelites. i49 
 
 worked at them in the day-time were at night kept in CHAP. li. 
 prison for security: whence the death of all the first-born 
 in Egypt, from the highest to the lowest, expressed as 
 above, Exod. xi. 5. is otherwise expressed, Exod. xi. 29. 
 thus : At midnight the Lord smote all thejirst-lorn in the land 
 of Egypt, from the first-horn of Pharaoh that sat on his 
 throne, unto thefirst-horn of the captive that luas in the dun- 
 geon; and all the first-lorn of cattle. Hereupon there was 
 a great cry throughout all the land of Egypt, such as there 
 never was any like it, nor shall there be any like it for the 
 future : for there was not a?!, house of the-Egyptians, u'here 
 there was not one dead. Hereupon Pharaoh presently 
 called for Moses and Aaron, and gave them not only leave, 
 but command, to get forth from amongst his people, they 
 and the children of Israel, with their flocks and their herds. 
 And the Egyptians were iirgent upon the Israelites, to send 
 them out of the land in haste. Exod. xii. 30 — 33. and xi. 6. 
 
 Hereupon the children of Israel journeyed froin Rameses 2. 
 
 to Succoth, about six hundred thousand on foot that were.r^^ ^l 
 ' '^ ites set 
 
 men, besides children. Exod. xii. 37. As for Rameses, it forth from 
 has been already observed, that it is doubtless the same 
 with Raamses, mentioned Exod. i. 11. and there said to be 
 built by the Israelites for Pharaoh. It stood in the land of 
 Goshen, whence the same is otherwise called the land of 
 Rameses, as has also been observed. What is here to be 
 further remarked, is this ; that either the whole body of 
 the Israelites assembled first together at the city Rameses, 
 and, being so come together, from thence began to set forth 
 in one body for to go out of Egypt : or else that the 
 journeyings of the Israelites were begun to be reckoned 
 from hence, because Moses and the chief of the Israelites 
 set out from hence, the rest meeting them on the way, as 
 was most convenient for them. 
 
 Their first journey, or motion, was from Rameses to 3. 
 Succoth, a place so named from the Israelites then pitch- They come 
 
 1 • 1 1 1 ^ 1 . , TT , to Succoth. 
 
 ing their tents there; the word Succoth m the Hebrew 
 tongue denoting tents, as hath been already observed in 
 reference to Succoth between Jordan and the brook Jab-
 
 350 The Geography of the Old Testament, 
 
 PART II. bok, so named on the like occasion, namely from Jacob's 
 pitching his tents there. The Succoth in Egypt, as being 
 the next station of the Israelites, could not be far from Ra- 
 meses, in the way from it to the wilderness of the Red sea. 
 For God led not the Israelites by the way of the land of 
 the Philistines, though that was near; (i. e. the nearest way 
 into Canaan ;) for God said. Lest peradventure the people 
 repent of their coming out of Egypt when they see war, 
 and return to Egypt. But God led the people about, by the 
 way of the wilderness of the Red sea. Exod. xiii. 17, 18. 
 
 4. Accordingly we read next, Exod. xiii. 20. that the Israel- 
 Etham ^^^'^ ^^"^^ their journey from Succoth, and encamped in 
 
 Etham, in the edge of the wilderness ; namely aforemen- 
 tioned, as lying on the Red sea. Hence the situation of 
 Etham is plainly determined to be not far from the Red 
 sea, in the extremity or confines of Egypt and Arabia 
 Petraea, or Stony Arabia. And from hence v/e find, Num. 
 xxxiii. 8. that part of the wilderness of the Red sea, which 
 lay next to Egypt, to be peculiarly distinguished by the 
 name of the wilderness of Etham. 
 
 5. The Israelites being come to Etham, designed to have 
 FromE- continued their journey directly forward, that is eastward, 
 hahiroth, and SO to have immediately entered into the wilderness, 
 sJa'^^ somewhat north of the Red sea. But the divine Provi- 
 dence, to bring about his designs of making his name still 
 more glorious, Isaiah Ixiii. 1 2 — 14. by miraculously leading 
 his people through the Red sea, and by overthrowing 
 therein Pharaoh and all the host of the Egyptians, gave 
 express orders to Moses, that the Israelites should not con- 
 tinue their journey directly forward to the east, but should 
 turn again to the south-west, and encamp before Pi-hahi- 
 roth, betiueen Migdol and the sea, over against Baal-zephon; 
 here they were ordered to encamp by the sea. 
 
 6. As for Pi-hahiroth, which in our English and some 
 Of Pi-hahi-Q|.|-,gj. translations is rendered as one proper name, it is 
 
 rendered by the Seventy Interpreters, Exod. xiv. 2, 9. as 
 two appellative words; but Num. xxxiii. 7, 8. Pi is render- 
 ed as an appellative, (though differently, viz. ver. 7. by
 
 Journey iyigs of the Israelites, 251 
 
 S-oju.«j mouth, and ver. 8. together with the adjoining pre- CHAP. ii. 
 position, aTre'vavTj, over-against,) and Hahiroth is in both^2____ 
 verses rendered as a proper name, Eiroth ; the article ha 
 being omitted. Hence some are of opinion, that by the 
 Hebrew words Pi-hahiroth, is to be understood a mouth 
 or narrow passage between two mountains, called Chiroth 
 or Eiroth, and lying not far from the bottom of the west- 
 ern coast of the Red sea; before which mouth or narrow 
 passage the children of Israel encamped. 
 
 Migdol has been taken notice of in the foregoing chap- 7. 
 ter, where it was observed, that it is in all probability the^*^'^'S''°'- 
 Magdolus mentioned by the old Greek historian Herodo- 
 tus, especially since the Seventy Interpreters render it by 
 the very same word. It is evident, from what is said of it 
 in this encampment of the Israelites, that it lay near the 
 Red sea. 
 
 Baal-zephon is thought by many learned men to have g. 
 been the name of an idol, which was esteemed to keep the Of Baal- 
 borders of the country, and to hinder slaves from making 
 their escape out of it. The word Baal does in the Hebrew 
 tongue signify Lord, and hence is the name generally ap- 
 plied to the eastern idols. The other word, Zephon, is 
 thought to be derived from the Hebrew radix Zaphah, 
 signifying to watch, spy, and the like. Hence it is con- 
 jectured, that this idol had its temple on the top of the 
 adjacent mountains ; and that it is particularly taken no- 
 tice of by the sacred historian, to shew how unable it was 
 (whatever opinion the Egyptians might have of it to the 
 contrary) to hinder the Israelites from going out of Egypt. 
 And thus we have followed the Israelites from Rameses to 
 the coast of the Red sea : their passing the same, and what 
 else is requisite to be taken notice of in relation to the Red 
 sea, shall make the subject of the following distinct sec- 
 tion.
 
 2^2 The Geography of the Old Testament. 
 
 SECT. II. 
 
 Of the Israelites passing through the Red Sea, and of other 
 particulars relating to the same Sea. 
 
 ^- JL HE sacred historian tells us, Exod. xiv. o, &c, that 
 
 The Israel- . 
 
 ites pass Pharaoh with his army overtook the Israelites encamping 
 
 through the ^ Me sea, beside Pi-hahiroth. before Baal-zephon: and 
 
 Red sea on -^ ' _ . . 
 
 dry ground, that when the Israelites saw the Egyptians marching after 
 Egyptrans them, and drawing nigh to them, they zvere sore afraid; 
 are drown- insomuch that they began to mistrust the providence of 
 God, there being no visible way left them to escape ; as 
 being shut in on all sides, either by the wilderness, or by 
 the mountains, or by the sea, or by the army of the 
 Egyptians. But God now quickly began to shew them 
 his almighty power, and that he is able to save in the most 
 imminent and greatest danger. He directs Moses to bid 
 the children of Israel to go forward, on that side where the 
 sea was, and consequently that way which they, probably, 
 least of all thought to have found deliverance in. Withal 
 he directed Moses to lift np his rod, and stretch out his 
 hand over the sea : whereupon the Lord caused the sea to 
 go back by a strong wind all that night, and made the sea 
 dry land, and the waters were divided. And the children of 
 Israel went into the midst of the sea upon dry ground ; and 
 the waters were a wall unto them on their right hand and 
 on their left. And the Egyptians pursued after them into 
 the midst of the sea: but Moses, upon God's command, 
 stretching forth his hand again over the sea, the sea return- 
 ed to its strength, and the waters covered the chariots, and 
 horsemen, and all the host of Pharaoh, that came into the 
 sea: there remained not so much as one of them. Thus the 
 Lord saved Israel out of the hand of the Egyptians. Exod. 
 
 xiv. 15—30- 
 ^- On account of this miraculous passage of the Israelites, 
 
 sea called the Red sca has been famous in all succeeding ages, among
 
 Jourveyivgs of the Israelites. 253 
 
 such as have been acquainted with the sacred Scriptures, chap, ii, 
 or have any other ways had notice of this wonderful and/'^^^' ^^' 
 
 so memorable transaction. It will therefore be proper to in Hebrew 
 insist a little on this so celebrated sea, and to lay before the '^.^ ^^ ^ 
 reader such particulars as relate thereunto, jind deserve 
 peculiar notice. It is then observable, that the name given 
 to this sea in the Hebrew text, and consequently its n)0St 
 ancient name known to us, is ?)1D~C Jam-Si/ph, i. e. the 
 JVeedy sea, so called from the abundance of sea- weed 
 growing there; which is taken notice of by several Hea- 
 then writers, as Diodorus, Agatharchides, Artemidorus in 
 Strabo, &c. whose testimonies are cited at large by the 
 learned Bochart : the sum of them is this ; that the 
 Egyptian Ichthyophagi (i. e. such Egyptians as, living near 
 the Red sea., feed chiefly on the fish they catch therein) did 
 dwell in huts, made of fishes ribs, covered with sea-weed : 
 nay, that there are in those parts great quantities of sea- 
 weed heaped up together like a mountain ; which in pro- 
 cess of time is become so very hard, that the forementioned 
 people dig themselves holes or caves in the same, wherein 
 they dwell. But what is more peculiarly remarkable, the 
 forecited authors tell us expressly, that the Red sea looks 
 of a green colour, by reason of the abundance of sea- weed 
 and moss that grows therein. Indeed there is one place in 
 Diodorus =^, whence we may observe, that the passage of 
 the Israelites through the Red sea was preserved in memo- 
 ry even among the neighbouring Heathens, and by a con- 
 stant tradition delivered down to their posterity for many 
 ages, Diodorus's words are to this effect : " Among the 
 neighbouring /cAZ/iT/opAo^i there is an old tradition, deliver- 
 ed down from their ancestors, that formerly the sea part- 
 ing, and the waters falling back, some on one side, and 
 some on the other opposite to it, the whole gulf, i. e. as to 
 its breadth, was dry, and the bottom of it appeared of a 
 green colour; but some time after, the sea returned again 
 into its usual place." As it is not to be reasonably doubt- 
 
 * Lib. iii. p. 'iOS. Edit. Wesseling.
 
 254 ^^^ Geography of the Old Testament. 
 
 PAilT II. ed, but this tradition is to be understood of the miracu- 
 lous passage of the Israelites through this sea; so we may 
 from this and the other testimonies observe, not only the 
 reason why this sea was called by the Hebrews Jam-Suph, 
 or the Weedy sea, but also the falseness of that opinion, 
 which will have the said sea to be called otherwise the 
 Red sea, from the red colour of its waters, or of the sand 
 at the bottom of it. And what is above said by the Hea- 
 then writers concerning the bottom of this sea appearing 
 of a green colour, is confirmed by one who may be called 
 a sacred writer, viz. the author of the book called the 
 Wisdom of Solomon. For herein, chap. xix. 7. we read 
 thus: IVhere water stood leforei dry land appeared; and 
 out of the Red sea, a way without impediment ; and out of 
 the violent stream, a green field. 
 3. Proceed we therefore, in the next place, to inquire, 
 
 »o^,„L,o^what was the true reason of this appellation. And this I 
 
 sea, why so -rr 
 
 called. have already briefly mentioned in the first Part, chap. i. 
 and shall here insist somewhat longer upon it. It is then 
 well known, that it is usual for seas to take their names 
 from the countries they lie upon, as the British sea, the 
 Irish sea, the Spanish sea, the German sea, 8cc. Now it is 
 very probable, that mount Seir, or the mountainous tract 
 denoted in Scripture by that name, and given by God to 
 Esau, the eldest son of Isaac, for a possession, extended so 
 far southward as to come near the Red sea. Nay, it is 
 certain, that as Ezion-Geber stood on the Red sea, so it did 
 appertain to the kings of this mountainous tract, or the 
 kings of Edom. For Esau being nick-named Edom, i. e. 
 B.ed, on account of his selling his birth-right to his 
 younger brother Jacob, for some red pottage ; hence the 
 mountainous country, that he and his descendants were 
 possessed of, is called in Scripture the Land of Edom, 
 or simply Edom. And it is not to be doubted, but that 
 this was the name, whereby it was generally denoted 
 and known in those early times. Now some of the an- 
 cient Greeks altered the Hebrew word Edom no more 
 than to give it the mode of their own language ; and so,
 
 Joiirneyings of ihe hraeliles. 255 
 
 preserving the Hebrew radicals, turned it into Idumasa. chap. 11. 
 But others of them^ coming to understand that Edom in ^ ' ' 
 
 the Hebrew tongue denoted red, hence they rendered not 
 the word itself, but its signification ; and so, instead of 
 Idumaea, called the country of Edom by the name of Ery- 
 thraea ; or (which comes to the same) denoted Edon) 
 himself, the father of the Edomites, by the name of 
 Erythraeus^ the Greek word Erythrus denoting red, as 
 does the Hebrew word Edom. Now Edom himself, or 
 his posterity, becoming famous by reason of their great 
 power and strength, or at least by reason of the great suc- 
 cess God vouchsafed to give them in those early times; and 
 so this country not only lying upon the sea we are speak- 
 ing of, but also the Edomites being probably for some 
 time masters of this sea ; hence it came to be denoted 
 by the name of the Idumean or Erythrean sea. And, be- 
 cause it seems to have been most frequently denoted 
 among the Greeks by the name of the Erythrean sea, 
 hence the Latins, as well knowing the signification of the 
 common Greek word Erythrus, came to give it the name 
 of Rubrum Mare, and we, from them, the name of the 
 Red sea. Some of the Greek writers have themselves 
 taken notice that it was called the Erythrean sea, from a 
 certain famous and potent king, named Erythraeus ; and 
 not from any redness of its water, or of its sand, it being 
 no redder than any other sea, in either of these respects, as 
 Thevenot assures us, who saw it; and tells us withal, 
 that, as he went to mount Sinai, he did indeed observe 
 some mountains all over red, upon the sides of it; though, 
 as he adds, he thought not, that this was the reason of the 
 common name given to this sea, but much the same as I 
 have above mentioned. 
 
 He truly observes further, that the name of the Ery-; 4. 
 threan sea is in some authors extended beyond the gulf of "^^'^ ,^^'^ 
 
 sea, how 
 
 Arabia, comprehending all the sea between the eastern far extend- 
 coasts of Afric and the Indies. And the reason hereof may f'^' '" '^* 
 
 ■' largest ac- 
 
 be the same with what I have already intimated, namely, ceptation. 
 the great power of Edom and his posterity in the more
 
 256 The Geography of the Old Testament. 
 
 PART II. early times, and consequently the great fame he had 
 through all the adjoining parts of Arabia, the southern 
 and eastern parts whereof were washed by the Erythrean 
 sea, in its larger acceptation, as well as its western coast by 
 the Red sea properly so called. And in the larger accep- 
 tation it is, that the gulf of Persia (which lies on the east- 
 ern coast of Arabia, as the gulf of Arabia does on its west- 
 ern coast) is sometimes denoted by the name of Sinus 
 Erythraeus, or Mare Erythrseum, i. e. the Erythrean gulf 
 or sea. And probably this is the Red sea denoted by 
 Origen, when he saith, that, among all the Indian pearls, 
 those of the Red sea are of the greatest value j as was ob- 
 served. Part I. chap. i. §. 12. 
 5- Thevenot further observes, that the Red sea (so called 
 
 called by ^" Scripture, at least in the Greek, Latin, and other Euro- 
 the Arabs pg^n versions of it, that is, the gulf of Arabia) is by the 
 Calzem, Arabians themselves called Buhr el Calzem, i. e. the sea 
 I.e. the sea of Clvsma; bccausc, says he. of the town named Clysma, 
 
 cfdtowmng. J i-iir- • 
 
 which was built heretofore at the most northern point of 
 that sea. But I find it placed by geographers, not at the 
 northern point, but a little more south, on the west coast 
 of the sea, and much about the place where the Israelites 
 are supposed to have passed from the western or Egyptian 
 coast of this sea, to the eastern or Arabian coast. And in- 
 deed, if it be considered, that the word Clysma may de- 
 note a drowning or overwhelming with ivater, it may not 
 be improbable, that the town built in this place might have 
 such a name imposed on it, in memory of the Egyptians 
 being drowned in the sea, which they went into, as did the 
 Israelites, in this place. And in like manner the Arabs 
 may call this sea Buhr el Calzeni, i. e. the sea of drowning 
 or overwhelming, in memory of the same signal judgment 
 of God upon Pharaoh and his army. It is agreed upon 
 by all, that this sea grows narrower and narrower, the 
 more northward it runs. And Thevenot tells us, that for 
 five days that he kept along the coast of it going to 
 mount Sinai, he could not observe it to be any where 
 above eight or nine miles over.
 
 Jourfieyifigs of the-Israelites. 2^7 
 
 SECT. in. 
 
 Of the Journeyings of the Israelites from the Red Sea, till 
 they came to Mount Sinai, ivith a Description of the said 
 Mount. 
 
 We read Exod. xv. 22. that Moses brought Israel from l. 
 
 the Red sea, ajid they went out into the wilderness of Shut, jerness of" 
 
 and they went three daiis ifi the luilderness. And Num.Shurand 
 
 Etham. 
 
 xxxiii. 8. we read, that the children of Israel passed 
 through the midst of the sea into the wilderness, and went 
 three days journey i?i the wilderness of Etham. From com- 
 paring these two texts together, it is evident, that by the 
 wilderness of Shur, and the wilderness of Etham, must be 
 understood one and the same wilderness. Of Shur there 
 has been frequent occasion to make mention, in the first 
 Part; and it has been there observed, that by this name 
 is denoted in Scripture all the western part of Stony Ara- 
 bia. Etham is mentioned before in the first section of this 
 chapter, as being the second place where the Israelites 
 encamped after they set forth from Rameses. It lay not 
 far from the Red sea, in the edge of the ivilderness, Exod. 
 xiii. 20, to which therefore it gave name. If there was 
 any difference between the wilderness of Shur and that of 
 Etham, it seems to have been only this, that they differ 
 one from the other, as a whole from its part. As Shur 
 seems to have been the general name of all that part of 
 Arabia Petrsea that lay next to Egypt, so by the wilder- 
 ness of Shur was probably denoted all the desert tract 
 thereof: whereas only part of this desert tract, namely so 
 much as lay nearest to Etham, was peculiarly called the 
 wilderness of Etham. It is also further observable, that 
 from what the Scripture saith concerning the Israelites 
 passing out of the Red sea into the wilderness of Shur or 
 Etham, it must follow, that the Israelites did pass the Red 
 sea not far from the very bottom or north end of it ; for- 
 
 VOL. I. s
 
 25^^ The Geography of the Old Testament. 
 
 PART II. asmuch as there it was that Shur and Etham were situ- 
 
 ated. 
 2. Thevenot tells us, that the place where the Israelites are 
 
 ^h^ '''^h^' supposed, by the inhabitants of the country, to have come 
 Israelites out of the Red sca, is at present called Corondal ; and that 
 (lays"saidTo^^^^y ^^J^ ovcr-against it the sea is always tempestuous 
 come out about the place where Pharaoh and the Egyptians were 
 sea. drowned. But indeed, the place where the Israelites came 
 
 out of the sea, seems to have been rather more north, or 
 
 nearer the bottom of the gulf. 
 
 3- Havine; srone three dayc in the wilderness, and found no 
 
 OfMarah. , t i- i i i i 
 
 water, the Israelites came at length to a place where was 
 
 water; but it was so bitter, that they could not at first 
 drink of it : whence the place was named Marah, which 
 word in the Hebrew language signifies bitterness. But 
 upon Moses praying unto the Lord, the Lord shewed him 
 a tree, or sort of wood, ivhich tvhen he had cast into the 
 -waters, the waters were made siveet. Exod. xv. 23 — 25. 
 The son of Sirach, the author of that excellent book call- 
 ed Ecclesiasticus, is plainly of opinion, that this alteration 
 was made by the natural virtue of the wood ; whence be- 
 ginning chap, xxxviii. with the honour and esteem due to 
 a physician, he adds, ver. 5. The Lord has created medicines 
 out of the earth; and he that is wise will not abhor them. 
 Was not the water made sweet luith ivood, that the virtue 
 thereof might be known P I am inclined to think, that this 
 may be the place which Thevenot takes notice of, when 
 he tells us, that in his second day's journey from Suez, 
 they came to a place, where they found several waters, 
 which they call Ain el Mouse, i. e. the wells of Moses ; 
 or else they may be the wells of Elim, where the Israelites 
 encamped next, of which in the next paragraph. 
 4. From Marah the Israelites came to Elim, where were 
 
 twelve wells of water, and threescore and ten palm-trees : 
 and they encamped there by the waters. Exod. xv. 27. As 
 some commentators think, that by the tree, which was 
 put into the waters of Marah, was denoted the cross of 
 Christ, which is able to sweeten the most bitter afflictions
 
 Journeyings of the Israelites. 259 
 
 to truly pious souls ; so they suppose that the number of CFIAP. ii. 
 the twelve wells here nieutioned at Eliin did allude, not 
 only to the twelve tribes of Israel, but also to the twelve 
 Apostles of Christ ; and that the seventy palm-trees did 
 allude, not only to the seventy Elders of the Israelites, 
 mentioned Exod. xxiv. and Num. xi. but also to the se- 
 venty Disciples of our blessed Saviour, mentioned Luke x. 
 But however this be, the place where the Israelites were 
 now encamped seems to have been esteemed as a very plea- 
 sant and fruitful place, at least in comparison of the desert 
 and barren parts about it. Insomuch that some learned men 
 are of opinion, that this is the place particularly taken no- 
 tice of by Agatharchides Gnidius in his treatise concern- 
 ing the Red sea, and by Diodorus, lib. iii. and by Strabo, 
 lib. xvi. We meet in Tacitus and Plutarch with a story, 
 that the Jews being on a certain time ready to perish with 
 thirst, springs of water were discovered to them by some 
 (tame or wild) asses. Which story, Bochart thinks, took ^ 
 its rise from hence: that Josephus calls this place Elim by 
 the name of Ilim, which word in the Syrian language de- 
 notes the foals of asses, or asses colts. 
 
 Thevenot tells us, that these twelve wells are now-a- 5, 
 days shewn to travellers, in or near to a garden of the'^'^^ P'^^"^ 
 monks of Tor, which is a small place, but has a good bar- shewn for 
 hour for ships, lying on the Red sea. But as this writer*^'""" 
 plainly confounds the wells of Elim with the waters of 
 Marah ; so it seems probable, from comparing the sacred 
 history and the account of his travels, that Elim lay to 
 the west or north-west of Tor; and that rather the en- 
 campment of the Israelites by the Red sea (Num. xxxiii. 
 10.) was near Tor. 
 
 From Elim the Israelites came luito the wilderness of 6. 
 Sin, which is between Elim and Sinai. Exod. xvi. i. gutOfthcen- 
 
 ... . . canipnient 
 
 Num. xxxiii. where the sacred historian does professedly by the Red 
 give an account of the several journeys of the Israelites, ^''^" 
 we are informed, ver. 10, 11. that they removedfrovi EHm, 
 and encamped by (he Red sea ; and they removed from the 
 Red sea, and encamped in the wilderness of Sin, Whence 
 
 s 2
 
 2,6o The Geography of the Old Testament. 
 
 PART II. 
 
 7. 
 Of the wil- 
 derness of 
 Sin. 
 
 8. 
 
 Encamp- 
 ments be- 
 tween the 
 wilderness 
 of Sin and 
 Rephidini. 
 
 it is not to be doubted, but that the encampment by the 
 Red sea, mentioned in this last place, is omitted in the for- 
 mer of Exodus, because nothing worth taking notice of 
 happened there. This encampment seems to have been 
 either in the plain, wherein stands the little sea-port town, 
 called Tor, or else in the plain or valley near to the sea, 
 and mentioned by Thevenot, as lying at some distance 
 before one comes to the plain or valley of Tor. 
 
 As to the wilderness of Sin, which the Israelites came 
 into, upon their decamping this second time from the Red 
 sea, the forecited text of Exodus tells us, that it lay be- 
 tween Elim and Sinai. But now the Israelites, in their 
 going from Elim to the wilderness of Sin, making an en- 
 campment by the Red sea, it hence seems probable, that 
 either the Israelites were obliged to wind their course 
 round some mountain that came in their way, and hin- 
 dered them from going directly forward, or else that some 
 bay or creek of the Red sea came up further into land in 
 these parts, or both, as is expressed in the map hereunto 
 belonging. During the Israelites' stay in this wilderness of 
 Sin, it was, that God first sent them manna; which the 
 divine Providence continued to do, for forty years^ till 
 they came to the borders of the land of Canaan. Exod. xvi. 
 "^f^f. Here also it was that God sent quails to eat, ver. ii — 
 13. Thevenot says, that the plain of Tor is called in 
 Scripture the desert of Sin: but this seems not likely for 
 several reasons ; particularly because the encampment in 
 the wilderness of Sin is expressly said in Scripture to be 
 after the encampment by the Red sea. 
 
 Out of the wilderness of Sin the Israelites took their jour- 
 ney, and encamped at Dophkah: and they departed from 
 Dophkah, and encamped in Ahish ; and they removed from 
 Alush, and encamped at Rephidim. Num. xxxiii. 12 — 14. 
 Now none of the stations or encampments here mentioned, 
 between the wilderness of Sin and Rephidim, are taken 
 notice of by Moses In the book of Exodus; and that in all 
 probability for the reasons already mentioned, viz. because 
 nothing remarkable fell out in these stations.
 
 Journey ings of the Israelites. 261 
 
 But at Rephidlm there fell out several remarkable oc- CHAP, 11. 
 
 CU'p'T' ITT 
 
 currences. For the Israelites being come hither, and 
 
 there being no water for them to drink, according to their Q. 
 usual way they presently murmured against Moses : who, jj ^^P^'" 
 applying himself thereupon to God by prayer, was or- 
 dered to take in his hand the rod, wherewith he was wont 
 to work miracles, and to go and smite the rock Horeb; 
 upon which water should come out of the rock for the 
 people to drink. And Moses did so in the sight of the 
 elders of Israel. And he called the name of the place Mas- 
 sak, (i. e. temptation,) and Meribah, (i. e. chiding or strife,) 
 because of the chiding of the children of Israel, and because 
 they tempted the Lord, saying, Is the Lord among us, or 
 not P Exod. xvii. i — 7. Another remarkable occurrence 
 that fell out at Rephidim was the coming of the Ama- 
 lekites, and fighting with the Israelites. But Joshua dis- 
 comfited Amalek and his people with the edge of the sword. 
 And the Lord said unto Moses — I will utterly put out the 
 remembrance of Amalek from U7ider heaven. And Moses 
 built an altar, and called the name of it JEHOFAH-nissi, 
 1. e. The Lord my banner. Exod. xvii. 8 — 16. It has been 
 before observed in the first Part, that Amalek was a de- 
 scendant of Esau, namely, the son of Eliphaz the son of 
 Esau, and so Esau's grandson. I shall only observe here 
 farther, that his descendants settled in the parts adjoining 
 to mount Seir, where Esau dwelt, and that to the west or 
 north-west of it, at least at first. What more is requisite 
 to be said concerning them, shall be taken notice of when 
 we come to speak of the great defeat given them by 
 Saul. 
 
 It will be more proper here to take more peculiar no- 10. 
 tice of the occurrence first mentioned above, namely of?/"'"""^ 
 
 . , ^ •' Horeb and 
 
 the rock smitten by Moses, and from which water gushed Sinai. 
 out thereupon. This rock is expressly said in the sacred 
 text to be in Horeb. But now it is evident, from several 
 places of Scripture, that mount Horeb is either an adjoin- 
 ing mountain to mount Sinai, or that they are only two 
 different heads or risings of one and the same mountain. 
 
 S3
 
 0,62 The Geography of the Old Testament. 
 
 PART II. For what is in one passage of Scripture related as done at 
 Horeb, is in another passage of Scripture related as done 
 at mount Sinai, or at least in the wilderness of Sinai. And 
 as, in the course of the journey ings of the Israelites, this 
 miraculous bringing forth of water out of the rock in 
 Horeb, is related to have been done at Rephidim, from 
 whence the Israelites decamping, pitched next in the wil- 
 derness of Sinai, (Exod. xix. i, 2.) so after they were there 
 pitched or encamped, we read, Exod. xxxiii. 6. that the 
 .children of Israel stripped themselves of their ornaments by 
 mount Horeb; namely, because there it was that they 
 made the calf, as the Psalmist expressly tells us. Psalm cvi. 
 19. And the same is affirmed by Moses, Deut. ix. 8, 9. 
 jilso in Horeb ye provoked the Lord to wrath, — when I luas 
 gone up into the mount (i. e. mount Sinai) to receive the ta- 
 bles of the covenant, 8cc. Nay, the covenant, which God 
 made with the Israelites at mount Sinai, is also said to be 
 made with them in Horeb ; and accordingly the Deca- 
 logue, or Ten Commandments, which are set down Exod. 
 XX. as delivered from mount Sinai, are repeated, Deut. v. 
 as delivered from mount Horeb. 
 
 1 1. Hence as it follows, that the difference between mount 
 be under-° Horcb and Sinai can be no other than one of them above 
 stood by the assigned; so it follows also, that by the Israelites remov- 
 ment from i^g their camp from Rephidim into the wilderness of Si- 
 Rephidim jj^i. Can be understood no more than their removiner from 
 
 to the wil- J.J 1 r I • 
 
 derness of One end or side to another or the same mountam ; or at 
 Sinai. most from one mountain to another adjoining. 
 
 12. Thevenot tells us, that he was shewn the rock, out of 
 „o^/^.(jays which Moses brought water; and that it is only a stone 
 shewn, for of a prodigious height and thickness, rising out of the 
 which Mo- ground : that on the two sides of it he saw several holes, 
 
 ses 
 
 brought jjy vvhich the water has run, as may be easily known by 
 
 the prints of the water, that has much hollowed it; but 
 
 at present no water issues out of them. 
 
 13. The religious in these parts do (now-a-days at least) 
 
 mountains distinguish mount Sinai, which they call the mount of 
 
 <!istin- Mosqs, from mount Horeb, making them to be different, 
 
 guishcd
 
 Journeyings of the Israelites. z6^ 
 
 but adjoining mountains ; and, besides these, there is a CHAP. il. 
 third, which they have a veneration for, and is called by " ' 
 them the mountain of St. Catharine. For on the top ofiierenow- 
 
 , . . , • , 1 1 • 1 • 1 1 a-days, one 
 
 this mountam there is a dome, under which is the place, whereof is 
 whither the body of St. Catharine, as they tell you, was '^^"'^^ ''^^ 
 
 TIP 1 1111 mountain 
 
 brought by angels, immediately alter she was beheaded at of St. Ca- 
 Alexandria. They add, that the body remained there three '^'''"^'"'^• 
 hundred years, until a good monk, having had in the 
 night a revelation, that the body was on the top of the 
 hill, went next morning with all the religious, who in 
 procession brought it down to the monastery, where it was 
 put in a fine silver shrine, that is still there. But though 
 these particulars are fabulous, yet there is one real cu- 
 riosity observed by Thevenotj who tells vis, that there are 
 many stones on this mount, wherein trees are naturally 
 represented, and which, if broken, retain the same figure 
 within ; and that some of them are prodigiously big. 
 
 The St. Catharine, from which this mount is denomi- 14. 
 nated, is said to be the daughter of king Costa, a king of j;-^;^;^^-'^^^ 
 Cyprus, who in the time of Maxentius converted many who said to 
 unto Christ. She was for some time tortured on a wheel, the Catha- 
 whence comes the Catharine wheel, not only talked of""^^*^^^'- 
 sometimes even in these parts of the world, but also fre- 
 quently used for a sign in this very island, and to this very 
 day. She was at last beheaded at Alexandria, where one 
 or two pillars of Theban marble preserve the memory of 
 the place, as was observed in the foregoing chapter. 
 
 For these thousand years, says Thevenot, the Greeks 15. 
 have been in possession of the monastery of St. Catharine, j^^^^^^^ f' 
 it being given them by the Greek Emperor, Justinian. It St. Catha- 
 is a great monastery, and very strong, and is, says Mr. 
 Sandys, to entertain all pilgrims, having an annual re- 
 venue of sixty thousand dollars from Christian princes. 
 They give also, adds Mr. Sandys, alms daily to the 
 Arabs, to be the better secured from outrage; but they 
 will not suffer them to come into the monastery, but 
 let it down from the battlements. Thevenot gives us an 
 account of a tradition they have among them, how they 
 
 s 4
 
 264 The Geography of the Old Testament. 
 
 PART II. came to be obliged to give a certain quantity of corn to 
 any Arab that comes to them. According to this tra- 
 dition, Mahomet was their camel-driver, who being one 
 day weary, fell asleep before the gate of the monastery. 
 While he was asleep, there came an eagle, and hovered 
 for a long time over his head : which the porter of the 
 monastery observing, ran and acquainted the Abbot with 
 it : who immediately coming out saw the same thing ; 
 and reflecting thereupon, as soon as Mahomet awoke, 
 asked him, whether or no he would be kind to them, if he 
 should come to be a great and mighty lord ? Mahomet 
 answered, that he was never like to be such an one. But 
 the Abbot still insisting upon the supposition, Mahomet 
 told him, that he ought not at all to doubt, but that, if it 
 were in his power, he would do them all the good he 
 could; because he had his livelihood from them. The 
 Abbot would needs have that promise from him in writ- 
 ing. But Mahomet assuring him that he could not write, 
 the Abbot sent for an ink-horn ; and Mahomet having 
 inked his hand, clapped it upon a leaf of clean paper, and 
 made thereon the impression of his hand ; which he gave 
 them as a confirmation of what he had said. Having some 
 time after attained to that grandeur, which was presaged 
 to him by the eagle, he called to mind his promise ; and 
 preserved to them their monastery, with all the land be- 
 longing to it, but upon condition, that they should give 
 victuals to all the Arabs in the neighbourhood. And, for 
 that reason, they are obliged, when in the monastery, to 
 give half a peck of corn to every Arab that comes ; and 
 these Arabs grind it in a little mill, that they carry always 
 about with them, who come sometimes to the number of 
 one hundred and fifty, or two hundred, nay four hundred 
 in a day, and must all be served. About two years before 
 Thevenot was there, provisions coming to the monastery, 
 the Arabs robbed them ; which made the Greeks leave 
 the convent, the gate whereof is walled up, and the walls 
 so high, that they cannot be scaled, and without cannon 
 the place cannot be taken, if there were any within to de-
 
 Journeybigs of the Israelites. 265 
 
 fend it. But now for two years there has nobody lived CHAP. ii. 
 
 • • • SFCT Til 
 
 in it, because they would punish the Arabs, by depriving 
 them of the sustenance they daily had of them, till they 
 can bring them to reason. i\nd therefore it was, that we 
 found, adds Thevenot, so many monks in the monastery 
 of Tor, whither they were almost all retired. These 
 monks have a Bishop, who is called the Bishop of mount 
 Sinai, on whom depend all the convents and chapels about 
 that mountain, and the convent of Tor too. This Bishop 
 depends not on the patriarch of Alexandria : he was at 
 Caire, when Thevenot was in these parts. 
 
 This great monastery of St. Catharine stands at the foot 16. 
 of mount Sinai, or that which is now-a-days called the mount of 
 mount of Moses. From which monastery there were for- Moses. 
 merly steps up to the very top of the mountain, and were 
 computed fourteen thousand in number. At present some 
 of them are broken ; those that remain are well made, 
 and easy to go up and down. One may judge of the 
 height of St. Catharine's mount by this, which certainly, 
 says Thevenot, is not so high as that by a third part, and 
 yet has fourteen thousand steps up to the top of it. There 
 was much snow both on the mount of Moses and that 
 of St. Catharine, when Thevenot was there, which was in 
 February. There are in several places of Moses's mount 
 good cisterns, especially near the top there is a fair and 
 good one. There are two churches on it, one for the 
 Greeks, and another for the Latins. From the Greek 
 church you enter into that of the Latins, which is de- 
 dicated to the ascension of our Lord. Near to that there 
 is a little mosque ', and by the side of it an hole or little 
 cave, where, you are told, Moses fasted forty days. There 
 is a small grot also, at the side of the Latin church 5 where 
 Moses is said to have hid himself, when having desired to 
 see God's face, the Lord told him he could not see God's 
 face, and live; but that he should hide himself in that 
 rock, and that when he was passed by, he should see his 
 back parts. There are a back and arms very well marked 
 on the rock, under which Moses is said to have hid him-
 
 366 The Geography of the Old Tcslamcnl. 
 
 PART II. self. It was on the top of this mount, that Moses is 
 thought to have received from God the Ten Command- 
 ments written on two tables. 
 
 17. From this place one may easily see down into the con- 
 A fair yent of St. Catharine, which is at the foot of the mount, 
 
 church in . 
 
 the convent and as it were just under those, who are on the top of the 
 dwlne"^" mount. There you see a fair large church covered with 
 lead, where, they say, the body of St. Catharine is in 
 pieces. Before the door of the said church, within the 
 precincts of the monastery, there is also a beautiful 
 mosque. 
 
 18. As we were coming down, says Thevenot, we found by 
 A fabulous the way a great stone : and, as the Greeks say, this is the 
 
 tradition i- 1 1 1 i- 1 1 n 1 - 
 
 concerning place, to which the prophet Ejias came, when he fled irom 
 Elias. Jezebel. They tell you that Elias being come to that 
 place where the stone is, an angel appeared to him, with a 
 rod smiting that great stone, made it fall down in the 
 way J and forbad Elias to go any farther, telling him, that 
 since Moses had not been in the Holy Land, he should 
 not go to the top of this mount. 
 
 19. A little lower is the foot of a camel, so well imprinted 
 The foot of Qj^ the rock, that it cannot be better stamped upon the 
 camel im- sand. Over which a camel passes. The Moors and the 
 themoum. Arabs say, it is the print of the foot of Mahomet's camel, 
 
 which is left there, as he passed that way upon it ; and 
 they kiss it with great devotion. But it is credible, that 
 the Greeks have made it to gain their friendship, to the 
 end they may also reverence those places. 
 
 20. After that, in several places of the mount, we saw, says 
 Several Thcvcnot, little chapels, which have all little houses near 
 
 chapels, ' , . 
 
 &c. about them, and gardens full of fruit trees. Heretofore these 
 t e mount, pjc^^^gg vvere inhabited by hermits, in so great a number, 
 that it is said, that in the mountain of Moses there were, 
 in ancient times, above fourteen thousand hermits. After- 
 wards the Greeks kept monks in all these hermitages, to 
 celebrate divine office ; but at present there are none, be- 
 cause the Arabs too much molested them. Going to see 
 the hermitages, Thevenot found three chapels all toge-
 
 Journey ings of' the Israelites. 267 
 
 ther, with a passage from one to another. Behind the chap. ii. 
 altar of tlie third, which is dedicated to Ehas, there is an 
 
 hole in the rock, where Elias is said to have lived, during 
 his stay in the mount. Then Thevenot came to another 
 place, where are three chapels more, dedicated, one to the 
 honour of the blessed Virgin, another to the honour of St. 
 Anne, and a third to the honour of St. John. After that 
 he came to a chapel dedicated to St. Pantaleon ; then to 
 another, dedicated to the holy Virgin, another to David, 
 another to the baptism of our Lord, another to St. An- 
 thony the hermit. Then he came to three little cells, in 
 which, the Greeks say, two elder sons of a Greek Em- 
 peror shut themselves up, each in his cell, causing the 
 doors to be walled up, and leaving only a window in 
 each, still to be seen 5 by which they received victuals 
 from a servant, who lived in the third cell, that was not 
 shut up ; and that both of them died in their several cells. 
 All these chapels are scattered up and down upon the 
 mount, so that one must go a good way, before he can 
 visit them all. Near to every one of them there is a little 
 house, a garden, and good water. 
 
 At the bottom of the mount is the great monastery of 21. 
 
 St. Catharine, as has been before observed, which vvas'^^^"\°"^^ 
 
 ^^u of St. 
 well built of good free- stone, with very high smooth walls. Catharine 
 
 On the east side there is a window, by which those that^^^^ '^"''** 
 
 were within were wont to draw up the pilgrims into the 
 
 monastery, with a basket which they let down by a rope, 
 
 that runs in a pulley, to be seen above at the window. 
 
 By the same place they also let down victuals to the 
 
 Arabs. 
 
 At some small distance from mount Sinai stands (that 22. 
 
 which is at least esteemed to be) mount Horeb. Our?/'"°"'^'* 
 
 ' , ^ Horeb. 
 
 worthy countryman, Mr. Sandys, says, that mount Sinai 
 
 has three tops of a marvellous height; whereby he pro- 
 bably meant the mount of Moses, the mount of St. Ca- 
 tharine, and mount Horeb ; and this last, he saith, is on 
 the west side, or is the most western of the three tops or 
 mountains; which agree very well to the circumstances
 
 368 The Geography of the Old Testament. 
 
 PART II. of the sacred history : for, according to this situation, 
 
 ' "mount Horeb must lie nearest to Rephidim, 
 
 23 . 
 
 Of the mo- Near to this mount Horeb is the monastery of the 
 
 nastery of Forty Martyrs. It is pretty neat, hath a fair church or 
 Martyrs, chapel, dedicated to the blessed Virgin, and a fine large 
 garden. In this garden are apple-trees, pear-trees, wal- 
 nut-trees, orange-trees_, lemon-trees, olive-trees, and all 
 other fruit-trees, that grow in this country. And indeed, 
 that little of good fruit which is eat at Cairo, comes from 
 mount Sinai. Besides this garden, there are fine vine- 
 yards, and very good water there. A Greek monk lives 
 always in this monastery ; and he, whom we found there, 
 says Thevenot, told us that he had been twenty years in 
 it. He takes care to see the gardens dressed, and kept in 
 order, by some Arabs who willingly serve him. 
 
 24. Not far from this garden is shewn the stone, or rather 
 The place place, where the golden calf was molten. It is in the very 
 
 shewn for ^ , ° ■' 
 
 that, where rock, where one may see a great head of a calf cut to the 
 life. And within this place it was, as the Greeks say, 
 that the riches and ornaments of the Israelites were cast, 
 of which they made the head of the golden calf that they 
 worshipped, whilst Moses was with God upon mount Si- 
 nai. But it is more probable, as Thevenot observes, that 
 the Greeks have in that place cut the head of a calf in 
 the rock, to shew the place where it was cast. 
 
 25. Not far from hence there is on high a great stone, with 
 A great some inscription upon it, but so defaced that none of it 
 
 stone with i /t'i A i i i • 
 
 an inscrip- Can be read. The Greeks say, that this stone was to mark 
 *'°"' the place where Jeremiah hid the vessels of gold and silver, 
 
 and other costly furniture of the temple of Solomon, when 
 the Israelites were carried captive to Babylon ; and that 
 it is not knov/n how it has been brought thither, but 
 that there is a very ancient author that speaks of it, as 
 being on mount Sinai. The Jesuit Kircher pretends to 
 explain the inscription in his Prodroraus Copticus. 
 
 26. It remains now only to observe, that as from other ac- 
 Mount Si- counts, SO particularly from that of Thevenot, it appears 
 from the that mount Sinai lies at no great distance from the Red 
 
 Red sea. 
 
 the calf was 
 molten or
 
 Journeyings of the Israelites. 269 
 
 sea, as may be seen better in the map, than expressed in chap. ii. 
 
 T SECT. HI. 
 
 words. «____^ 
 
 SECT. IV. 
 
 Of the Journeyings of the Israelites from Mount Sinai to 
 their coming to Kadesh, in or near the Wildeiness of Pa- 
 ran, and otherwise called Kadesh-larnea. 
 
 xtlLL the remaining part of the book of Exodus, from ] . 
 chap. xix. inclusively, and the whole book of Leviticus, ^ ^*^°" ^'^- 
 
 j 1 • r 1 . 1 -IIP 'countofthe 
 
 and the nme first chapters, together with the former parttransac- 
 of the tenth chapter of the book of Numbers, are taken oc^ur!"*^ 
 up with an account of what was transacted at mount Si- rences, that 
 nai. At ver. 11,12. of chap. x. of the book of Numbers, from^the^ 
 we read, that on the twentieth day of the second month, m Israelites 
 the secondyeaVf (namely, from the Israelites coming out offrommount 
 Egypt,) the cloud was taken up from off the tabernacle c/"^^"?'','"^ 
 the testimony. And the childreji of Israel took their jour- cumplng 
 neys out of the wilderness of Sinai; ajid the cloud rested in\omK^^ 
 the wilderness of Par an. In the following chapter we aredesh-bar- 
 acquainted with God's punishing the Israelites, for their 
 murmurings and lustings, with a fire which consumed 
 some of them, and also with a very great plague, which 
 took off others. On account of the former sad occurrence, 
 the name of the place where it happened was called Ta- 
 berah, i. e. burning, ver. 3 ; and, on account of the latter, 
 the place where it happened was called Kibroth-hat- 
 taavah, i. e. the graves of lust, because there they buried 
 the people that lusted, ver. 34. In the next and last verse 
 of this chap. xi. we read, that the people journeyed from 
 Kibroth-hattaavah unto Hazeroth. Here Miriam and 
 Aaron speaking against Moses, because of the Cushite or 
 Arabian woman whom he had married, Miriam was pu- 
 nished with leprosy ; and hereupon, by God's command, 
 shut out from the camp seven days. After which, the
 
 jS70 The Geography of the Old Testament, 
 
 PART II. Israelites removed from Hazeroth, and pitched in the wil- 
 derness of Parav. This is tlie sum of Num. xii. In cliap. 
 xiii. we are informed, that Moses, by the comrnandviejit of 
 the Lord, sent men from the wilderness of Paran to search 
 the land of Canaan, ver. i, 2, And ver. 25, 26, &:c. we 
 read, that the nien, that were sent, returned from search- 
 ing of the land after forty days, and came to Moses — unto 
 the ivilderness of Paran, to Cadesh. Being returned, they 
 al], but Joshua and Caleb, gave such an account of the 
 strength of the Canaanites, as disheartened the rest of the 
 Israelites from thinking they should ever become masters 
 of it, as God had promised them. By this their infidelity, 
 God was so justly provoked, that he swore in his wrath, 
 that none of all the Israelites, from tv\'enty years old and 
 upwards, should live to come into the land of Canaan, 
 save Joshua and Caleb. As for the rest, they should die 
 in the wilderness, and their children should wander in the 
 wilderness forty years, after the number of the days in 
 which the spies searched the land of Canaan. And as for 
 those spies, that brought up the evil report upo7i the land, 
 they died hy the plague before the Lord, ch. xiv. 37. But 
 notwithstanding God had thus plainly and positively de- 
 nounced the punishment they were to undergo for their 
 infidelity, yet they, according to their wonted obstinacy 
 and perverseness, rose up early in the morning, with a re- 
 solution to make forward for to enter into the land of Ca- 
 naan. And no dissuasions of Moses being able to prevail 
 upon then), they presumed to go up unto the hill top. Then 
 the Amalekites came down, and the Canaanites ivhich dwelt 
 in that hill, and smote them unto Hormah. This is the 
 sum of chap. xiv. of the book of Numbers. In Deut. i. 
 19 — 46. Moses repeats in short these same transactions ; 
 and adds particularly, that the Israelites having received 
 this defeat from the Amalekites and Canaanites at Hor- 
 mah, thereupon they returned and wept before the Lord ; 
 but the Lord would not hearken to their voice, nor give ear 
 unto them, namely, as to enable them to overcome the 
 Canaanites, and to enter forthwith into the promised
 
 Journeyings of the Israelites. 27 1 
 
 Land. Wherefore havino; found to their cost, that It was CHAP. 11, 
 
 ... SECT IV 
 in vain for them to atten)pt the same without the divine ". 
 
 permission or assistance, they were forced at length to sub- 
 mit to the judgment they had brought upon themselves 
 by their infidelity ; and so, laying aside all thoughts of en- 
 tering into Canaan, and having abode in Kadesh many 
 days, they turried, a?id took their journey into the unlder- 
 7iess, by the way of the Red sea ; as God had commanded 
 them. Deut. i. 46. and ii. i. compared with Num. xiv. 
 
 25- 
 
 Having thus laid together the historical part of the 2. 
 
 journeys of the Israelites from mount Sinai to Kadesh, we^ah, Ki- 
 must now speak a little more distinctly as to the geogra- ^"^o'lY^^^- 
 phical part of them. As for Taberah and Kibroth-hat- Hazeroth. 
 taavah, they are never mentioned in Scripture, but in re- 
 lation to the Israelites marching from Sinai to Kadesh, 
 and so nothing more can be certainly said of them, than 
 that they lay not far from n)0unt Sinai, in the way thence 
 to Kadesh, and so to the north or north-east of mount Si- 
 nai. Hazeroth is more frequently mentioned in sacred 
 writ, but so as that little more of certainty can be 
 grounded thereon, as to the particular situation of the 
 place. It is probably enough supposed to be the same 
 with Hazerim, wherein the Avims are said (Deut. ii. 23.) 
 to have dwelt, even unto Azzah or Gaza. That Kibroth- 
 hattaavah lay without the desert of Sinai, Is plainly to be 
 Inferred from Num. xxxiii. 16. where it is said, that they re- 
 moved from the desert of Sinai, and pitched at Kihroth-hat- 
 taavah. And it is as plain that Hazeroth lay without the 
 wilderness of Paran, at least more properly so called. For 
 it being said. Num. xii. 16. that the Israelites removed 
 from Hazeroth, and pitched in the wilderness of Paran, 
 this plainly implies, that Hazeroth was not in the wilder- 
 ness of Paran, at least in the sense it is there taken in. 
 
 To proceed to the wilderness of Paran Itself; there is 3. 
 frequent mention made of it in the sacred history. The ^^^^ JJ^'j-* 
 first place Is Gen. xxl. 21. where we are informed, that Paran. 
 Ishmael settled himself in this wilderness, or mountainous
 
 272 The Geography of the Old Testament. 
 
 PART n. and less fruitful and inhabited tract. Whence by the way 
 it may be observed, that since we no where read, that the 
 Ishmaeiites went about to stop or molest the Israelites in 
 their marches, but suffered them to march through their 
 country quietly, they were probably more kindly affected 
 towards the Israelites, than the descendants of Edom and 
 Esau, particularly than the Amalekites. The wilderness 
 of Paran seems to have been a name taken in a larger and 
 stricter sense. In the larger sense it seems to have denoted 
 all the desert and mountainous tract lying between the 
 wilderness of Shur westward, or towards Egypt, and 
 mount Seir, or the land of Edom eastward ; between the 
 land of Canaan northwards, and the Red sea southwards. 
 And in this sense it seems to have comprehended under it 
 the wilderness of Sin, and the wilderness of Sinai, as also 
 the adjoining tract, wherein lay Kibroth-hattaavah and 
 Hazeroth. And in the same sense of it is probably to be 
 understood Deut. i. 19. where it is said: When we de- 
 parted from Horeb, we went through all that great and 
 terrible wilder^iess, which you saw by the way of the moun- 
 tain of the Amorites ; — and we came to Kadesh-barnea. 
 Where by that great and terrible wilderness is probably 
 to be understood the wilderness of Paran in its larger ac- 
 ceptation. For in its stricter acceptation it seems not to 
 have been so great and terrible a wilderness, namely, as it 
 is taken to denote more peculiarly that part of the desert 
 of Stony Arabia^ which lies between mount Sinai and Ha- 
 zeroth to the west, and mount Seir to the east. It remains 
 only to observe further, that since we find a city in these 
 parts near the Red sea, called Pharan, it may probably be 
 supposed, that this gave name to the adjacent wilderness 
 of Paran or Pharan.
 
 Journeyings of the Israelites. 273 
 
 SECT. V. mt 
 
 Of the Journeyings of the Israelites from their leaving Ka- 
 desh'harnea, to their coming to Kadesh iti the Wilderness 
 of Zi7i. 
 
 J. HE Israelites having by their infidelity, as has been ob- 1. 
 served in the foregoing section, provoked God to swear, ^^^^*'^- 
 and so irrevocably to decree, that none of them, that were distinct 
 then above twenty years of age, should enter into Canaan^ Kadesh^i^ 
 save Joshua and Caleb, but should die in the wilderness ; the wiider- 
 hereupon they were commanded by God to turn and get 
 them again into the wilderness by the way of the Red sea. 
 Num. xiv. 25. Accordingly Moses expressly tells us, 
 Deut. ii. I — ^4. that the Israelites turned^ and took their 
 journey into the wilderness, hy the way of the Red sea, as 
 the Lord spake unto him: and they compassed moxint Seir 
 many days. And the Lord spake unto me, adds Moses, 
 saying, Ye have compassed this mountain long enough; turji 
 you northward. And command thou the people, saying, Ye 
 are to pass through the coast of your brethren the children 
 of Esau, which dwell in Seir, &c. In the book of Num- 
 bers, after that Moses has observed, (chap. xiv. 25.) that 
 God, upon the infidelity of the Israelites, commanded 
 them to turn, and get them again into the icilderness by the 
 way of the Red sea, he does not expressly take notice that 
 they did so turn back, but in the five following chapters, 
 viz. from chap. xv. to xix. inclusively, he proceeds to take 
 notice of some laws and rites prescribed by God, and of 
 the great rebellion of Korah and his companions. After 
 which chap. xx. begins thus: Then came the children of 
 Israel, even the whole congregation, into the desert of Zin, 
 in the first month; and the people abode in Kadesh. By 
 which words is plainly implied, (what is expressly said 
 Deut. ii. I. namely,) that the people, upon God's ordering 
 them so to do, had departed from Kadesh, and turned 
 
 VOL. I. T
 
 274 I'he Geography of the Old Testament. 
 
 PART II. back into the wilderness; and that their coming, here 
 ' 'mentioned, Num. xx. i. unto Kadesh, is to be understood, 
 
 either of their second coming to the same Kadesh they 
 had been at before, or else of their coming to another Ka- 
 desh, distinct from the former. The generality of writers 
 seem to be of the former opinion, supposing whatever is 
 said of Kadesh in the journeys of the Israelites, to be un- 
 derstood of one and the same Kadesh. But the other opi- 
 nion seems to be much more agreeable to truth, or the 
 sacred history. For herein are plainly distinguished two 
 different places, both called by the name of Kadesh ; 
 namely, one lying in or adjoining to the wilderness of 
 Paran, which is mentioned Num. xiii. 26. and the other 
 lying in the wilderness of Zin, and mentioned Num. xx. i. 
 and xxxiii. 36. 
 2. That these two were distinct places one from the other 
 
 areument ^^Y? ^ think, be easily inferred from the description given 
 for the opi- of the south coast of the Israelites in the land of Canaan, 
 mentioned. Num. xxxiv. 3, 4. and Josh. XV. 1,3. In the former place 
 it is said of the south coast of the Israelites in general. 
 Your south quarter shall he from the wilderness of Zin, 
 along by the coast of Edom : — and your border shall turn 
 from the south to the ascent of Akrahhim, a7id pass on to 
 Zin; and the going forth thereof shall be from the south to 
 Kadesh-barnea. And, agreeably to the directions here 
 given by God, we are told in the other place above cited, 
 that the lot of the tribe of Judah (to which fell the most 
 southern part of the land of Israel) was even to the border 
 of Edom ; the wilderness of Zin southward was the utter- 
 most part of the south coast. And their south border ivent 
 out to the south side to the ascent of Akrabbim, and passed 
 along to Zin, and ascended up on the south side unto Ka- 
 desh-barnea. In both which places, as we have the situa- 
 tion of the wilderness of Zin plainly enough set forth, so 
 we have mention made of Zin (from which the wilderness 
 of Zin doubtless took its name) and of Kadesh-barnea, as 
 two distinct places; forasmuch as it is said in both places, 
 that the south border passed on to Zin, and ascended up unto
 
 Journeyings of the Israelites. 275 
 
 Kadesh-larnea ; whereby is plainly intimated, that Zin ^^^-J^^* 
 
 and Kadesh-barnea lay at some distance one from the other, 
 
 and so were distinct places. But now Kadesh-barnea is the 
 same with Kadesh, lying in or near the wilderness of Pa- 
 ran; as is plain from comparing Num. xiii. 26, &c. with 
 Deut. i. 19, &c. And Zin, which lay in the wilderness of 
 Zin, and from which the said wilderness took its name, is 
 expressly said. Num. xxxiii. ^6. to be the same which is 
 Kadesh, namely, that Kadesh which is mentioned in Scrip- 
 ture as lying in the wilderness of Zin. 
 
 AtKadesh-barnea, or Kadesh near the wilderness of Pa- 3. 
 ran, it was that the spies returned from searching the land^^^^^g"" 
 of Canaan to Moses, and where they, by reason of their 
 infidelity, brought upon themselves the judgment of wan- 
 dering in the deserts of Arabia, till they should have filled 
 up the space of forty years from their coming out of 
 Egypt. But the Israelites came not to Kadesh in the wil- 
 derness of Zin, till the last year of the said forty, as may 
 be inferred from the death of Aaron, mentioned Num. 
 xxxiii. 38. And as it is probable, that Miriam died but a 
 few months before Aaron, so it is certain that she died at 
 Kadesh in the wilderness of Zin, it being expressly ob- 
 served Num. XX. I. And in the following verses of this 
 chapter we have an account of the people's murnmring 
 again for water; whence the place was called Meribah, 
 ver. 13. and (to distinguish it from the place so named 
 before, and lying near Rephidim, and not far from Horeb, 
 Exod. xvii. T, Sec.) this is usually distinguished by the 
 name of Meribah- kadesh, or the like, as Deut. xxxii. 51. 
 Num. xxvii. 14. 
 
 It will be proper here to consider chap, xxxiii, of the 4. 
 book of Numbers; where Moses prof esscdly (as is evident jj^^^,^^" 
 from ver. i, 2.) gives us an account of the journeys of the Numbers 
 Israelites, from their setting forth from Rameses in Egypt, 
 to their coming to Abel-shittim near the river Jordan. 
 As to the encampments, reckoned up in this chapter, be- 
 tween Rameses and mount Sinai, they agree well enough 
 with them that are mentioned irt the former part of the 
 
 T a
 
 276 The Geography of the Old Testament. 
 
 PART II. Mosaic history, and in the foregoing sections of this chap- 
 ter, and so there is no difficulty in them. But as to the 
 encampments reckoned up Num. xxxiii. 16 — 36. namely, 
 between that at mount Sinai and that in the wilderness of 
 Zin, there are several difficulties. The said encampments 
 are thus mentioned by Moses, in short, ver. 16, Sec. And 
 they removed from the desert of Sinai, and pitched at Ki- 
 Iroth-hattaavahf then at Eiazeroth, then in Rithmah, then 
 at Rimmon-parez, then in Libnah, then at Rissah, then in 
 Kehelathah, then in mount Shapher, then in Haradah, 
 then in Makheloth, then at Tahath, then at Tarah, then 
 in Mithkah, then in Hashmonah, then at Moseroth, then 
 in Bene-jaakan, then at Hor-hagidgad, then in Jotbathah, 
 then at Ebronah, then at Ezion-gaber, then in the ivilder- 
 7iess of Zin, which is Kadesh. Num. xxxiii. 16 — 36. 
 5. In this account we find, that Moses does no where ex- 
 
 ^am^m'ent pi'^ssly mention the encampment at Kadesh-barnea, whi- 
 at Kadesh- ther the spies returned from searching the land of Canaan. 
 specTfiedIn -^"*^ therefore it cannot be positively determined, by what 
 Num. other name, among those here mentioned, the said en- 
 campment is denoted. However, since we are told Num. 
 xii. 16. that the people removed from Hazeroth, and 
 pitched in the wilderness of Paran ; hence it is very pro- 
 bable, that the said encampment at Kadesh in the wilder- 
 ness of Paran, or Kadesh-barnea, is here denoted by some 
 one or more of the encampments, that are mentioned in 
 the three or four next verses after the encampment at Ha- 
 zeroth, that is, by some one or more of the encampments 
 mentioned Num. xxxiii. 18 — 23. I say, by some one or 
 more of these encampments, because it not only plainly 
 enough appears from Num. xiii. but is expressly asserted 
 Deut. i. 46. that the Israelites abode in Kadesh many days } 
 (which must be understood of this Kadesh, as is before ob- 
 served ;) and therefore it is likely, that they made several 
 movements, or new encampments, during their stay in the 
 neighbourhood of this Kadesh ; which may be the reason 
 that Moses did not expressly mention their stay there, 
 under the single and general name of Kadesh, but denoted
 
 Journeyings of the Israelites. 277 
 
 it by the several particular names, whereby their several CHAP. ii. 
 
 particular encampments were distinguished one from the , 
 
 other. 
 
 As for the encampments, mentioned from Num. xxxiii. ^• 
 22. or thereabout, to ver. 36. they were probably such as as to Num. 
 were between the Israelites decamping from Kadesh-bar- ''''^'"•^^ 
 
 ——33 Dtir- 
 
 nea, and their encamping at Kadesh in the wilderness of ticularly 
 Zin. None of these encampments to ver. ^4. are men- ^^ ^° ^^^, 
 
 r _ ^^ names of 
 
 tioned any where else in sacred writ, except those con- the places 
 tained ver. ^i — 33. which are again mentioned Deut. x. 6, tion^ed™^"^' 
 7. There is indeed some variation as to the very names 
 of the encampments ; which yet is not so great, but that 
 it plainly enough appears, that the same places are de- 
 noted respectively by their respective names, though some- 
 what different. Thus it Is not to be doubted but Mose- 
 roth (Num. xxxiii. 31.) is the same with Mosera, (Deut. x. 
 6.) and Jotbathah (Nuni. xxxiii. 33.) the same with Jot- 
 bath, (Deut. X. 7.) And such as have but little acquaint- 
 ance with the Hebrew tongue, know that Bene-jaakan in 
 the former place is the same with the children of Jaakan 
 in the latter. And therefore, whereas it is said in this 
 latter place, that the children of Israel took their journey 
 from Beeroth of the children of Jaakan, the word Beeroth 
 (mentioned in Deuteronomy, but not in Numbers) denotes 
 the particular place among the children of Jaakan, where 
 the Israelites encamped. The word is indeed rendered in 
 all the old versions, as well as ours, as a proper name ; 
 but it may be taken appellatively to denote wells; and so 
 imports, that the Israelites pitched by the wells belonging 
 to the children of Jaakan : and this is the more probable, 
 if we consider of what value wells or water was in those 
 desert places. As for what is rendered in our Bible (Num. 
 xxxiii. 32,33.) Hor-hagidgad, the same is rendered in the 
 Septuagint Version, Chaldee Paraphrase, and other Ver- 
 sions, the mount Gadgad. And hereto agrees the old He- 
 brew text, wherein it is read the mourrt Gadgadah ; be- 
 tween which name and Gudgodah, Deut. x. 7. there is no 
 difference, but that of the vowels, which is of no weight. 
 
 T3
 
 278 
 
 The Geography of the Old Testament. 
 
 PART II. 
 
 7' 
 
 Further re- 
 marks as to 
 the differ- 
 ent order 
 of the en- 
 camp- 
 ments. 
 
 8. 
 Of Ezion- 
 gaber and 
 Elath. 
 
 9- 
 
 The wilder- 
 ness of Zin 
 was j)roba- 
 
 In short, the names are all of them exactly the same In 
 both places of the Hebrew- Samaritan, or old Hebrew 
 text; which plainly decides the matter, that by the said 
 names are denoted the same encampments. 
 
 But there still remains a greater difficulty to be solved, 
 which arises from two of the said encampments being 
 mentioned in a quite contrary order (Deut. x.) to that 
 wherein they are mentioned Num. xxxiii. In this chapter 
 it is said, that the Israelites departed from Moseroth, and 
 pitched in Bene-jaakan: but in Deuteronomy we read, 
 (according to the present Hebrew text and our translation,) 
 that the children of Israel took their journey from Bee- 
 roth of the children of Jaakan to Moserah. Several critics 
 and commentators have taken great pains to reconcile 
 these texts ; but they have but lost their labour. Others 
 have passed the difficulty over, as too great for them. 
 Others have rightly guessed, that the difference arose from 
 some mistakes of transcribers; but then they have pro- 
 duced nothing to confirm their guess. I say these guessed 
 so rightly, because the matter may, I think, be put be- 
 yond conjecture, by the authority of the old Hebrew text ; 
 according to which, this place in Deuteronomy is to be 
 rendered thus, And the children of Israel lueiit from Mose- 
 rah, ajid pitched in Bene-jaakan : which exactly agrees to 
 the account of the encampments, as set down Num. xxxiii. 
 31. It is true, that the reading of the common Hebrew 
 text is followed by all the ancient versions ; but this only 
 shews, that the mistake made in this place of Deutero- 
 nomy by transcribers happened early. I shall have occa- 
 sion to speak more of it under the next sectiooi. 
 
 As for Ezion-gaber, mentioned Num. xxxiii. "^^^ '^6. it 
 frequently occurs in the sacred history, and I shall speak 
 more fully of it elsewhere. 1 shall only observe here, that 
 it, and Elath mentioned with it, Deut. ii. 8. both lay on 
 the Red sea, adjoining to the south or south-east part of 
 mount Seir, or the land of Edom. 
 
 I liave already observed, that the wilderness of Zin lay 
 in the south-east of the land of Israel, along the coast of
 
 Journeyhigs of the Israelites. 279 
 
 Edom, as is evident from Num. xxxiv. ;?, 4. and Josh. xv. chap. ii. 
 
 • . • SECT V 
 
 I, 3. I have also observed, that Kadesh lying in the wil- 
 
 derness of Zin was in all probability different from Kadesh bly situated 
 in the wilderness of Paran. But it remains further to be north-east 
 considered, how the wilderness of Zin lay in respect to°^^^^*°^ 
 mount Seir, or the land of Edom. The generality of writ- 
 ers do indeed make it lie to the west of Edom, and the 
 same with Kadesh-barnea. That it was not the same with 
 Kadesh-barnea, but a place distinct from it, the reasons 
 above alleged, sect. v. paragr. 3, 3. seem so clear to me, 
 that I could not but readily dissent from the opinion ge- 
 nerally received. However there are some expressions in 
 the sacred history, which induced me, for some time after, 
 to look on the encampment of the Israelites in the wil- 
 derness of Zin to have been (according to the general opi- 
 nion) on the west of Edom. But upon further consider- 
 ation I have been induced to recede still further from the 
 common opinion, and to think that more probable, which 
 places the encampment of the Israelites in the wilderness 
 of Zin on the east side of Edom, as may be seen in the 
 n)ap of the journeys of the Israelites. The chief motive 
 for altering my first opinion herein was this. We read, 
 Deut. ii. 3. that God said to Moses, Ye have compassed this 
 mountain (viz. mount Seir, ver. i.) long enough; turn you 
 northward. It is plain from Num. xxxiii. 36. that the 
 Israelites were then at Ezion-gaber. Now if the encamp- 
 ment of the Israelites in the wilderness of Zin (which was 
 next after that at Ezion-gaber) was on the west or north- 
 west of Edom, then the Israelites first marched from Ezion- 
 gaber northward to the wilderness of Zin, on the west of 
 Edom, and then (being denied passage through Edom) 
 marched back again southwards towards Ezion-gaber, and 
 so round the land of Edom to the east side: but as it seems 
 not only inconsistent with the divine wisdom, to order 
 them to march so far north on the v/est side of Edom, only 
 to come back again ; so it plainly contradicts the reason 
 of the orders being given to turn northivard, namely, be- 
 cause they had compassed inount Seir long enough. For by 
 
 T 4
 
 a8o The Geography of the Old Testament* 
 
 PART II. their march, according to the common opinion, they were 
 put under a necessity of compassing it still longer. Which 
 absurdity and some other difficulties are removed by sup- 
 posing the encampment in the wilderness of Zin to have 
 been on the east of Edom. 
 
 SECT. VI. 
 
 ron aies. 
 
 Of the Journeyings of the Israelites ^ from Kadesh in the 
 Wilderness of Zin, to the plains ofMoab near Jordan. 
 
 J* xSOTH in Num. xx. 22 — 29. and Num. xxxiii. 37, 38. 
 itesencampwe read, that the Israelites removed from Kadesh in the 
 HoT°and wildcmess of Zin, a7id pitched in motmt Hor, in the edge 
 there Aa- of the land of Edom ; and that Aaron went up into mount 
 Hor, at the commandment of the Lord, ajid died there, in 
 the fortieth year after the children of Israel were come out 
 of the land of Egypt, in the first day of the fifth month. In 
 Num. XX. 24. the reason is expressed, why God would not 
 permit Aaron to enter into Canaan, namely, because he re- 
 belled against my word at the water of Meribah. Where 
 that by Meribah is to be understood Meribah in Kadesh in 
 the wilderness of Zin ; and that by ye is to be understood 
 more peculiarly Moses and Aaron, is evident from Num. 
 xxvii. 12. And the Lord said unto Moses, Get thee up into 
 this mount Abarim, and see the land which I have given 
 unto the children of Israel. And when thou hast see?i it, 
 thou also shalt be gathered unto thy people, as Aaron thy 
 brother was gathered. For ye rebelled agaijist my com- 
 mandment in the desert of Zin, in the strife of the congre- 
 gation, to sanctify me at the water before their eyes : that 
 is the water of Meribah in Kadesh, m the wilderness of Zin. 
 Whence we learn, that the occasion of Moses and Aaron's 
 not entering into the land of Canaan was one and the 
 same.
 
 Journeyings of the Israelites. 281 
 
 It is expressly said in the text, that mount Hor was bit chap. ii. 
 
 SFCT VI 
 
 the coast, (Num. xx. 23.) or by the edge of the land of_ 
 
 Edom. Num. xxxiii. 37. And we are expressly told, Deut. 2. 
 ii. 12. that the Horims dwelt in Seir beforetime; and ac- ^j^ ™°""* 
 cordingly we read, Gen. xiv. 6. that Chedorlaomer king 
 of Elam with his confederates smote the Horites in their 
 mount Seir. Now whether the Horites took their name 
 from mount Hor, or the mount from them, cannot be 
 possibly determined. But since it is plain, that places did 
 at first take generally their names from the inhabitants, it 
 seems not unlikely, that both the tract or country after- 
 ward denoted by mount Seir, and also the inhabitants 
 thereof, took the names, one of mount Hor, the other of 
 the Horims or Horites, from one Hor, of whom these 
 were descended, and who in the more early ages of the 
 world possessed this tract : and that although, in process 
 of time, the name of mount Seir came to be used to denote 
 the said tract, yet the old name of mount Hor was pre- 
 served in that part of it, where stood the mountain here so 
 called by Moses, and on which Aaron died. Since it was 
 the very next encampment of the Israelites, after that in 
 the wilderness of Zin ; and since, by what has been before 
 observed, it is probable that the wilderness of Zin lay to 
 the east or north-east of Edom ; hence it will follow, that 
 mount Hor must lie likewise on the eastern coast of 
 Edom. 
 
 It will be proper here to take notice of a great difficul- 3. 
 ty, which arises concerning the place of Aaron's death and ^g^J|!^^^"* 
 burial, from comparing the two forecited places, Num. xx. text, Deut. 
 23 — 29. and xxxiii. ^y, 38. with Deut. x. 6. In both thcrupted, and 
 two former places of the book of Numbers, it is expressly ^^^ 'T"^ 
 said, that Aaron died on the top of mount Hor; but in stored from 
 Deut. X. 6. it is said, that the children of Israel took their^^^^^"^^"' 
 
 , r • '^" Penta- 
 
 journey Jro7n Beeroth of the children ofJaakan, to Mosera : teuch. 
 
 there Aaron died, and there he was buried. But it is clear 
 
 enough from the account given us of the encampments of 
 
 the Israelites in Num. xxxiii. that Mosera or Moseroth, 
 
 ver. 31. was a very dilferent encampment from that at
 
 a82 The Geography of the Old Testament. 
 
 PART II. mount Hor, ver. 37. Great pains have been taken to re- 
 concile these texts one with the other; but all hath been 
 only lost labour. For it is plain from the Hebrew-Sama- 
 ritan text, that Deut. x. 6, 7. is extremely corrupted by 
 the mistake of transcribers. I have above shewn the true 
 ancient reading of the former part of ver. 6. I shall now 
 here set down the whole passage as it still stands, rightly 
 preserved, in the Hebrew-Samaritan or old Hebrew text; 
 which in English runs thus : The children of Israel took 
 their journey from Moseroth, and pitched in Bene-jaakan 
 (or, among the children of Jaakan.) Thence they took their 
 journey, and pitched at Gidgad (or Hagidgad.) Thence 
 they took their journey, and pitched in Jothatha, a land of 
 brooks of icaters. Thence they took their journey, and 
 pitched at Ebronah. Thence they took their journey, and 
 pitched at Ezion-gaher. Thence they took their journey, 
 and pitched in the desert of Zin, which is Kadesh. Thence 
 they took their journey, and pitched in mount Hor. And 
 there Aaron died, atid ivas buried; and Eleazar his son 
 ministered in the priest'' s office in his stead. At that time the 
 Lord separated the tribe of Levi, &c. Thus stands the He- 
 brew-Samaritan text in the forementioned place of Deut. 
 X. 6, 7. which as it exactly agrees with the order of the 
 encampments mentioned Num. xxxiii. 31 — 38. so it is not 
 to be doubted, but it is therefore the true ancient read- 
 ing ; and that the present reading in the Hebrew Chaldaic 
 or common Hebrew text has arisen from some mistake in 
 transcribers, or other accident. 
 4. The Israelites decamping from mount Hor, continued 
 
 Other en- ^j^gjj. jjiarch round mount Seir, and pitched (as we read 
 campments _ . 
 
 of the Is- Num. xxxiii. 41, &c.) in Zalmonah, then in Punon, and 
 Thelites. ^j^^^ j^ Oboth. And Num. xxi. 4 — 10. we read, that be- 
 tween their decamping from mount Hor and encamping 
 at Oboth, the soul of the people was much discouraged be- 
 cause of the way ; insomuch that they spake against God 
 and against Moses. Whereupon the Lord sent fiery ser- 
 pents among them, and they bit them, and many of them died. 
 But upon their confessing their sin, and Moses praying for
 
 Journeymgs of the Israelites. 283 
 
 them, God ordered a serpent of brass to be made, and put CHAP. 11. 
 
 ^7/ ^ c- 1 - iij SECT. VI. 
 on a pole ; (supposed to prengure the cross oi our biessea 
 
 Saviour, who has delivered mankind from the old serpent;) 
 and it came to pass, that if a serpent had bitten any man, 
 ivhen he beheld (or looked up upon) the serpent of brass, he 
 lived. 
 
 Departing from Oboth, the Israelites encamped at Ije- 5. 
 aharim, in the border of Moab, (Num. xxxiii. 44.) in lhe^^°^^^^_ 
 wilderness that is before Moab, toward the sun-rising. Num. tion of the 
 xxi. II. And what Moses saith, Deut. ii. 9. The Lord -^Q'f^ Hebrew 
 u?ito me, Distress not the Moabites, neither contend ivith^^^^- 
 them in battle : for I have not given thee of their land for a 
 possession, but I have given Ar to the children of Lot for a 
 possession. This whole passage immediately follows in the 
 Hebrew-Samaritan text, that which is above cited from 
 Num. xxi. II. a.nd it is very likely, that it was originally 
 inserted here, being very apposite; though it is omitted in 
 the common Hebrew text. 
 
 From Ije-abarim the Israelites removed, (more north- 6. 
 ward,) and pitched in the valley of Zered, Num. xxi. I2.ieyyf2e-' 
 The same may be otherwise rendered, the brook Zered, and red, and 
 so it is actually rendered in our translation, Deut. ii. I3.eraenda- 
 Indeed it is very likely, that in the valley of Zered there "°" °^^^ 
 might be a brook, which therefore went by the same brew text, 
 name. Moses particularly remarks, Deut. ii. 14, &c. that 
 the space in which the Israelites came from Kadesh-barnea, 
 until they were come over the brook Zered, was thirty and 
 eight years ; and that in that time all the generation of the 
 men of war (i. e. all from twenty years old and upward, 
 Num. xiv. 29.) was wasted out (i. e. dead)^;-om among the 
 host, as the Lord sware unto them, Num. xiv. 28 — '^^. And 
 luhen all the men of war luere thus coTisumed and dead, then 
 the Lord spake unto Moses, saying : Thou art to pass over 
 through Ar, the coast of Moab, this day. And when thou 
 comest nigh over-against the children of Amman, distress 
 them not, nor meddle with them: for I will not give thee 
 of their land any possession, because I have given it unto the 
 children of Lot Jor a possession. Deut. ii. 16 — 19. Now
 
 284 The Geography of the Old Testament. 
 
 PART II. though we meet with nothing of this, Num. xxi. la. In 
 the present common Hebrew text, yet we have all the 
 passage inserted there, in the old Hebrew text, as spoken 
 by God to the Israelites, during their encampment in the 
 valley of Zered. And this place was very proper for this 
 charge to be given to the Israelites; because they were 
 now drawing nigh to the confines of the children of Am- 
 nion, as soon as they were passed over the river Arnon. 
 But at the same time God tells them, that Jie had given 
 into their hand Sihon the king of the Amorites, and his 
 land, Deut. ii. 24. Accordingly we are told, Num. xxi. 
 13. that the Israelites removed from the valley of Zered, 
 and pitched on the other side of Arnon, which is in the wil- 
 derness that comes out of the coasts of the Amorites : for 
 Arnon is the border of Moab, between Moab and the 
 Amorites, 
 y Whereas Moses in the forecitedNum. xxi. 12, 13. saith, 
 
 How Num. that the Israelites removed from Ije-abarim, and pitched in 
 sicrlces-with^^^^ '^^^^^y of Zered ; and from thence they removed, and 
 
 Num. pitched on the other side of Arnon; there is no mention 
 xxxiii. 45. , 1 f 1 • TVT ••• 1 
 
 made expressly or these encampments m Num. xxxni. but 
 
 at ver. 45. of this chapter it is said, that they removed from 
 
 Urn, (which is the same as Ije-abarim, as appears from 
 
 ver. 44.) and pitched in Dibon-Gad. Now Dibon-Gad 
 
 here mentioned being very probably the same with Dibon, 
 
 which is said. Num. xxxii. 34. to be built (i. e. rebuilt) 
 
 by Gad; and this lying on the other side of Ar?io7i; hence 
 
 it seems plain, that this ver. 45. of Num. xxxiii. brings us 
 
 much to the same place as Num. xxi. 13. 
 
 8. From Dibon-Gad we read. Nun), xxxiii. 46. that the Is- 
 
 Thelasten- |-j.gg removed, and pitched in Almon-diblathaim, only 
 campment ' '^ _ •' 
 
 of the Is- mentioned in this place of Scripture. Thence they re- 
 
 thecast°of "lOved and pitched in the mountains of Abarim, before 
 
 Jordan, Nebo. And they departed from the mountains of Abarim, 
 
 by Moses, ond pitched iji the plains of Moab, by Jordan near Jericho. 
 
 And they pitched by Jordan, after such a manner, that 
 
 their camp extended yVow Beth-jesinioth unto Abel-shittim, 
 
 both these places being situated in the plains of Moab.
 
 Journeyings of the Israelites. 385 
 
 And so ends the account ffiven us. Num. xxxiii. by Moses, chap. ii. 
 
 SFCT VI 
 
 of the several encampments of the Israelites, from their 
 
 mountains 
 
 setting forth from Rameses in Egypt, to their encamping 
 by Jordan. 
 
 The mountains of Abarim were a ridge of mountains or 9. 
 hills, between the river Arnon and the river Jordan. One ^^ ''^^ 
 
 ' ^ ... mounta 
 
 part of these mountains was distinguished by the name of Abarim, 
 mount Nebo, as may be plainly inferred from Deut. xxxii. b^^and Pis- 
 49. where we read, that God said unto Moses, Get thee up gah. 
 into this mountain Abarim, unto mount Nelo, which is in 
 the land of Moal over-agavnst Jericho. From this place 
 compared with Num. xxxiii. 47. as it is plain that the 
 mountains of Abarim extended a great way between the 
 rivers Arnon and Jordan ; so it is evident from it alone, 
 that Nebo was a part of the mountain Abarim, lying near 
 to Jordan, and over-against Jericho. And if w^e compare 
 herewith also Deut. xxxiv. 1. where it is said, that Moses 
 u'snt up from the plains of Moah unto the mountain of 
 Nebo, to the top of Pisgah that is over-against Jericho ; it 
 will hence follow, that Nebo and Pisgah were one and the 
 same mountain; and that if there was any distinction be- 
 tween the names, it was probably this, either that the top 
 of the mountain was more peculiarly called Pisgah, or 
 else some other part of it where were steps cut out to go 
 up it. For the word being derived from a root or primi- 
 tive, denoting to elevate or raise tip, is therefore capable 
 to denote itself the smnmity or top, as being the most ele- 
 vated part of an hill or mountain. But, on the other hand, 
 Eusebius has observed, that by Aquila, who translated the 
 Bible into Greek, the Hebrew word Pisgah is all along 
 rendered by a Greek word, signifying cut out ; and that 
 the Seventy Interpreters do likewise in some places render 
 it after the same manner. Whence some conjecture that 
 there were, in one part of mount Nebo, steps cut out, so as 
 that one might go up it with the less difficulty; and that 
 this part was more properly denoted by Pisgah. Eusebius 
 and Jerom tell us, that some part of this ridge of moun- 
 tains, that was seen as one went up from Livies to Esbus
 
 286 The Geography of the Old Testament. 
 
 PART II. or Heshbon, did retain the old name of A.barim in their 
 time. They tell us also, that the part peculiarly called 
 mount Nebo was over-against Jericho, not far from Jor- 
 dan, and six miles from Esbus to the west. And as there 
 was a city in the tribe of Reuben called Nebo, probably 
 from this mountain j so there was also a city of the Amor- 
 ites called Pisgah, as the same writers tell us: though in 
 the Bible no city occurs simply under that name, but with 
 an addition ; as Ashdoth- Pisgah, mentioned Joshua xiii. 20. 
 among the cities of the tribe of Reuben; and so doubtless 
 the same denoted under the simple name Pisgah, by the 
 forementioned writers; who further add, that the country 
 thereabout was also called Pisgah. 
 
 10, In what sense the plains, wherein the Israelites are 
 iesimoth. ^bove said to pitch, when they removed from the moun- 
 tains of Abarim, are there and elsewhere in Scripture 
 called the plains of Moab, shall be shewn in the following 
 chapter, §. 14. Beth-jesimoth, to which the camp of the 
 Israelites extended on one side, was a city of these parts, 
 given afterwards to the tribe of Reuben. It is mentioned 
 Joshua xii. 3. as lying in the south border of the kingdom 
 of Sihon, not far from the Salt or Dead sea. Eusebius 
 mentions a place under the name of Bethsinmth (which 
 probably is the same with this Beth-jesimoth) lying on 
 the east of Jordan, about ten miles from Jericho, towards 
 the south. 
 
 11. Abel-shittim, to which the camp of the Israelites ex- 
 shittim and tended on the other side, is never mentioned in Scripture, 
 Shittim. but in this place, at least under this very name. Indeed 
 
 it was in all likelihood no other place than what is called 
 Shittim, Num. xxv. i. Josh. ii. i. and iii. i. At most, the 
 difference was only this, that Shittim was the place, and 
 Abel-shittim the valley or plain adjoining to it. Hence 
 for Abel-shittim in the text of our Bible, Num. xxxiii. 49. 
 is put in the margin, the plain of Shittim. And of the 
 valley of Shittim we have particular mention made, Joel 
 iii. 18. However, the word Abel denoting in the He- 
 brew tongue mourningy others rather think this place to
 
 Jounieijings of the Israelites. 287 
 
 be called here Abel-shittim, in respect of the great lamen- chap, h, 
 tation made here by the Israelites, on behalf of the great 
 number of their brethren that died here, some being by 
 God's particular command hanged, others slain, and others 
 dying of the plague, to the number of twenty-four thou- 
 sand; and this for their great wickedness in committing 
 whoredom with the daughters of Moah ; and in joitiwg 
 themselves unto Baal-peor, eating of the sacrifices offered 
 to the idol gods of the country, and lowing down to them, 
 Num. XXV. T — 9. We have also mention made of Shittim, 
 Joshua ii. i. and iii. i. as the place from whence Joshua 
 sent the two spies to Jericho, and from which they de- 
 camped, in order to encamp close by the river Jordan, 
 when they were about to pass over that river. From 
 which, and what has been before observed both from 
 Scripture and Eusebius concerning the situation of Beth- 
 jesimoth, it seems plainly enough to follow, that of the 
 two places, between which the Israelites are said, Num. 
 xxxiii. 49. to encamp, namely, Beth-jesimoth and Abel- 
 shittim, the former lay to the south, and the latter to the 
 north of the camp ; quite contrary to the position assigned 
 them by some geographers. Some are of opinion, that 
 in the neighbourhood of this place called Shittim, there 
 grev/ a great deal of the sort of wood, called in Scripture ' 
 Shittim-wood, and of which the ark was made, Exod. xxv. 
 5, 10, &c. 
 
 It remains now, before we conclude this chapter, only 12, 
 to take notice of the several movements or encampments, mony be- 
 mentioned Num. xxi. 11 — ^o, &c. and to adjust them totween 
 
 ^, ^, ^ • -NT ••• T Num. XX!. 
 
 the other account given Num. xxxiii. 44 — 49. In ver. 11. n—ao. 
 of the former chapter, and in ver. 44. of the latter, we^"''.^"'" 
 
 xxxiii. 44, 
 
 have mention made of Ije-abarim, lying in the borders of —49. 
 Moab, and more particularly lying iw the luilderness which'^^^''^^' 
 is before Moab, towards the sun-rising. In Num. xxi. 12, 
 13. we read, that the Israelites removed from Ije-abarim^ 
 and pitched in the valley of Zered, and then on the other 
 side of Arnon: and Num. xxxiii. 45. we read, that they 
 removed from Urn, (or Ije-abarim^) and pitched in Dibon-
 
 288 The Geography of the OM Testament. 
 
 PART n. Gad. Now this place (as has been before observed) lying 
 on the other side of Anion, and being mentioned Num. xxi. 
 30. as the utmost city of the kingdom of Sihon southward, 
 or towards Arnon ; hence it is very probable, that here it 
 was that the Israelites first encamped, after they had 
 crossed the river Arnon. In Num. xxi. 16 — 20. we read, 
 thaty?"om thence {v\z. from the other side of Arnon, which 
 is in the wilderness that covies out of the coasts of the Amo- 
 rites, ver. 13.) the Israelites went to Beer; which that it 
 lay within the aforesaid wilderness, is evident from what 
 follows, ver. 18. For there it is said, thsit froin the wiU 
 derjiess they went to Mattonah; which place Eusebius 
 tells us lay^ upon, or in the Arnon, (whereby he under- 
 stands the rock or rocky tract so called, not the river,) at 
 twelve miles distance from Medeba towards the east. 
 Hence the Israelites removed to Nahaliel, and thence to 
 Bamoth; and from Bamoth to the valley, that is in the coun- 
 try of Mo ah, to the top of Pisgah, which looks toward Jeshi- 
 mon, or the wilderness. And in Num. xxii. i. we read, 
 that the children of Israel set forwards, and pitched in the 
 plains of Moah, on this (i. e. the east) side of Jordan hy Je- 
 richo. Now this encampment, as it is the last (mentioned 
 in any other chapter) of them that were made in the life 
 of Moses, so it is apparently the same with the last en- 
 campment mentioned Num. xxxiii. that being also said 
 ver. 48. to be in the plains of Moah, ly Jordan near Je- 
 richo. In short therefore the encampment on the other 
 side of Arnon, Num. xxi. 13. being probably the same 
 which is more particularly specified Num. xxxiii. 45. by 
 the encampment there said to be at Dibon-Gad ; and the 
 last encampment mentioned Num. xxii. i. agreeing very 
 well with the last encampment mentioned Num. xxxiii. 
 48. as being both said to be in the plains of Moah hy Jor- 
 dan; hence it follows, that the intermediate encampments 
 
 2 'EtJ t5 "a^vuivo;, whicli Je- rocky tract so called, and whicli is 
 
 rom renders in Arnone, which will only taken notice of, either by 
 
 not agree to the river Arnon, but Eusebius or Jerom, under the 
 
 agrees very well to the rock or word A?7ion.
 
 Journey ings of the Israelites. 2S9 
 
 both in the one and the other places must have been be- chap, il 
 tvveen the two encampments aheady mentioned, viz. be- 
 tween the rivers Arnon and Jordan, or more particularly 
 between Dibon-Gad and the plains ofMoab by Jorda?i, over- 
 against Jericho. Certainly to determine the order of these 
 intermediate encampments, is impossible in respect of the 
 short account we have of them in both places of Scripture. 
 What seems to be probable in the matter is this : That 
 the Israelites having crossed the river Arnon, first en- 
 camped at Dibon-Gad, lying in the wilderness; then at 
 Beer, i. e. the Well, which God was pleased to discover to 
 them, being in a great strait for water in that wilder- 
 ness ; then at Almon-diblathaim, lying in the edge of the 
 same wilderness ; then at Mattanah ; then at Nahaliel, a 
 word which taken appellatively denotes the rivers or brooks 
 of God ; and so perhaps named, because here the Israelites 
 began to meet with a country better watered than they 
 had done in their journeys hitherto, namel)^, watered with 
 several rivulets or streams issuing from the neighbouring 
 mountains, and running into the river Arnon, or the river 
 Jordan. From Nahaliel the Israelites decamping, they 
 seem to have encamped next in the mountainous tract of 
 Abarim, and in this tract to have had two particular en- 
 campments, one at Bamoth, (which probably enough may 
 be the same place with that called, Josh. xiii. 17. Bamoth- 
 baal, or the high places of Baal,) and the other afterwards 
 nearer Jordan, at that part (or parts) of the mountains of 
 Abarim, which was particularly called Nebo and Pisgah. 
 Hence they moved, and encamped m the plains. of Moab, 
 between Beth-jeshimoth and Abel- shit tim, which is the last 
 encampment mentioned in either of the chapters we are 
 speaking of, or in the whole Mosaic history, as being the 
 last made during the life of Moses. 
 
 To conclude this chapter concerning the encampments 
 of the Israelites. From comparing Num. xxxiii. with 
 other chapters, where some of the journeys of the Israel- 
 ites are taken notice of, it seems very probable, that 
 though in Num. xxxiii. Moses professes to give an account 
 
 VOL. I. u
 
 290 The Geography of the Old Testament, 
 
 PART II. of the journeys of the Israehtes ; yet he is not thereby to 
 ' be understood, as if he there designed to give an account 
 of all the particular places, where they made any halt or 
 stay, only for a single night or day, or the like ; but only 
 of such places where they encamped, i. e. staid for some 
 considerable time. And thus I have gone through what 
 I judged requisite to observe concerning the journeys of 
 the Israelites from Rameses iri the land of Egypt, to the 
 east side of the river Jordan, during the life of Moses.
 
 mk
 
 Of iKe Country beyond Jordan, 291 
 
 CHAP. in. 
 
 Of the Country heyond Jordan, t. e. on the East of Jordan^ 
 which was divided by Moses between the two Tribes of 
 Reuben and Gad, and one half of the Tribe of Manas seh. 
 
 J. HE Israelites having subdued Sihon and Og, the two '• 
 kings of the Amorites, beyond or on the east of Jordan, try beyond 
 Moses divided their country (from its situation in respect "''V^^^"' ^^ 
 
 ■' ^ ^ whom pos- 
 
 of the land of Canaan, called by the Greeks Peraea, i. e.sessed suc- 
 the country beyond Jordan) between the two tribes of Reu-'^"*'^^ ^' 
 ben and Gad, and one half of the tribe of Manasseh. And 
 because it will be of good use for the clearer understand- 
 ing of the sacred history, I shall briefly premise here a short 
 account of the several masters, under whom these coun- 
 tries successively were, as far forth as may be gathered 
 from Scripture; and so shall have opportunity to take 
 notice by the way of the lands of Moab and Ammon. 
 
 I have in the former Part of the Geography of the Old 2. 
 Testament observed, that it is generally agreed, that upon probable'^ 
 the first plantation of the earth after the Flood, as great by the de- 
 part of Mesopotamia, and the adjoining parts of what was of Uz. 
 called by the Greeks and Latins Syria, fell to the lot and 
 possession of Aram, one of the sons of Shem ; so Uz, one of 
 the sons of Aram, settled himself in the parts of Syria 
 about Damascus ; and so these parts beyond Jordan, of 
 which we are now speaking, were probably at first pos- 
 sessed by the descendants of Uz. Whence it is, I think, 
 most probably thought by many ancient as well as mo- 
 dern writers, that the land of Uz, mentioned in the book 
 of Job, is to be understood of the country lying originally 
 between Damascus to the north, and the plantation of 
 Cush or Arabia to the south, and the land of Canaan to 
 the west, and Arabia Deserta to the east. 
 
 But be this as it will, in process of time, namely, at the 3. 
 time when Abraham first sojourned in the land of Canaan, jhe^Re-^ 
 
 u %
 
 292 The Geography of the Old Testament. 
 
 PART II. we find that this country was possessed by the Rephaim, 
 "7" ~ Zuzim or Zamzummim, and the Emims; names, which 
 zim, and all of them import men of more than « ordinary strength, 
 Emims. ^^^ of a ^ gigantic race. It is conjectured, that these were 
 not descendants of Uz before mentioned, but some who 
 were of another breed, and perhaps of the Anakims and 
 the Rephaims among the Canaanites ; who as being neigh- 
 bours might easily invade the descendants of Uz, and, dis- 
 possessing them, the original planters or masters, might 
 seize on their country for themselves. This opinion re- 
 ceives strength from its being said, that Og was of the Re- 
 phaim, (Deut. iii. 11.) and from his being reckoned never- 
 theless one of the tivo kings of the Amorites, ver 8. of the 
 same chapter. But whencesoever they were descended, 
 and how strong soever they might have been formerly, yet 
 it seems they were not able to withstand the forces of 
 Chedorlaomer king of Elam ; who with his confederates, 
 bringing an army into these parts, smote (as we read 
 Gen. xiv. 5.) the Rephaims in Ashteroth-Karnaim, a7id 
 the Zuzims in Ham, and the Emims in Shaveh-Kiria- 
 thaim. 
 
 As to the Ashteroth-Karnaim, it was in all likelihood 
 Of Ashte- the same with Ashtaroth, mentioned Josh. xiii. 12. as one 
 roth-Kar- ^f ^^ capital cities of Og king of Bashan, and again, ver. 
 
 naim,acity ^ o o ' o ' 
 
 of the Re- 3T. as given by Moses to the half tribe of Manasseh. The 
 phaim. v^rord Karnaim denotes in the Hebrew tongue t wo- horned ; 
 whence some suppose this city to have been so called, as 
 standing upon two hills, or built so as to resemble tivo 
 horns : but it seems more probable, that as Ashtaroth was 
 an idol much worshipped in those times and parts, (as ap- 
 pears from Judg. ii. 13. and i Kings xi. 5.) and that by 
 the said name was denoted the moon ; so by Carnaim is 
 denoted the usual way of picturing the moon with two 
 horns. And it is very probable, that, from the worship 
 paid there to this idol, the place canie to be denoted by 
 the name of Ashtaroth-Carnaim, and simply Ashtaroth, or 
 
 » See Deut. H. 10, 11,20, 21.
 
 Of the Country beyond Jordan. 293 
 
 simply Carnaim, as i Maccab. v. 26, 43, 44. which last CHAP. iii. 
 name is somewhat altered into Camion, 2 Maccab. xii. 21, 
 26. And agreeably hereto Jerom tells us, it was called 
 Carnea in his time, and was a considerable town, lying six 
 miles from Adra or Edrei ; and that there was shewn the 
 house wherein Job dwelt. 
 
 As for the word, which in our English and some old 5. 
 translations is rendered Ham, as the proper name of a [^""'^ 
 place; the same is by the Seventy Interpreters, and inZuzims. 
 other old versions, rendered as an appellative, with them: 
 whereby is denoted, according to the meaning of such in- 
 terpreters, that Chedorlaomer smote the Rephahns, and to- 
 gether with them also the Zuzims. There being no men- 
 tion made, in any other part of Scripture, of such a place 
 as Ham, at least lying in these parts, there is no room left 
 but for bare conjecture, concerning the Ham here men- 
 tioned, supposing it to be the proper name of a place. We 
 learn from Scripture, that the country of the Zuzims was 
 afterwards possessed by the Ammonites; and since it is 
 likely, that this Ham was the chief city of the Zuzims, it 
 might possibly be the same that was afterwards the chief 
 city of the Ammonites, called in Scripture Rabbah, and 
 afterwards in Greek and Latin writers, Philadelphia. And 
 this may be the more likely, forasmuch as Rabbah does 
 literally denote only the Great City; and therefore the 
 more proper and peculiar name of the said Rabbah of the 
 children of Ammon might be Ham; of which more by 
 and by, §. 12. 
 
 Shaveh-Kiriathaim, where the Emims were smitten by 6. 
 
 Chedorlaomer, may otherwise (as is observed in the mar- ^^j^ j^^^";^, 
 
 gin of our Bible) be translated the plain of Kiriathaim. thaim 
 A 1 ^ . • 1 -».T •• 1 T 1 ••• among the 
 
 And of such a city we read. Num. xxxn. 37. and Josh. xni. Emims. 
 
 19. as belonging to the tribe of Reuben, and built (i. e. re- 
 built) by the Reubenites. Which city since it lay in the 
 country (formerly) of the Emims, there is no reason why 
 it should not be looked on to be the same with Kiriathaim, 
 in the plains whereof the Emims were overthrown by the 
 army of Chedorlaomer. That the country of the Emims 
 
 U3
 
 294 "^'^^ Geography of the Old Testament, 
 
 PART II. was in process of time inhabited partly by the tribe of 
 " Reuben, will appear from what follows. 
 
 7, For the country beyond Jordan being thus depopulated, 
 TheMoab-by the great overthrow given to the several aforemen- 
 Ammon- tioned inhabitants thereof, the Rephainis, Zuzims, and 
 ites possess- EfnJi^s, bv the victorious army of Chedorlaomer; and also 
 
 ed them- ' •' ^ 
 
 selves of by the great numbers of them, that were, as is probably 
 
 fQ^j^°^"'[jf inferred from Gen. xiv. 14. carried away captive : here- 
 
 the Emims upon the descendants of Lot, the Moabites and Ammon- 
 
 zims. ites, found it no difficult matter to settle themselves in 
 
 these parts. Accordingly we read, Deut. ii. 9, 10. that the 
 
 Moabites possessed the country, wherein the Emims dwelt 
 
 in times past ; and in like manner we read, ver. 19, 20. 
 
 that the Ammonites possessed the country, wherein the 
 
 Zamzummims (or Zuzims) dwelt in old time. 
 
 8. As for the Rephaims, the river Jabbok seems to have 
 Thecoun- ^ggn the boundary between them and the Zamzummims: 
 
 try of the ^ •' _ ' 
 
 Rephaim and it does not appear from the sacred history, that the 
 "^fl^^j^'^^^' country of the Rephaims was ever possessed by the de- 
 Moabites sccndants of Lot. On the contrary, it being particularly 
 observed, Deut. iii. r i. that Og the king of Bashan was of 
 the remnant of the Rephaims, (for that is the Hebrew 
 word in this place, which in our translation is rendered 
 Giants,) it is very probable, that the Rephaim, notwith- 
 standing the overthrow they received from Chedorlao- 
 mer, stood their ground so well as not to be dispossessed of 
 their country by any of their neighbours; but still kept 
 up their kingdom, under a king of their own nation, to the 
 time that the Israelites invaded them, and, by the divine as- 
 sistance, conquered and quite put an end to their kingdom. 
 And this is confirmed by what we read, Judg. xi. 13. for 
 there we find the king of the Ammonites laying to the 
 charge of the Israelites, that they took away his land, ivlien 
 they came out of Egypt, from Arnon even unto Jabbok, and 
 unto Jordan. Whence it may be fairly inferred, that the 
 Ammonites had possessed nothing, or very little, on the 
 north of Jabbok, or of the kingdom of Og. For had they 
 ever been possessed of the country north of Jabbok, they 
 
 monites.
 
 Of the Land of the Ammonites. 295 
 
 might have as well charged the Israelites with taking that chap. hi. 
 
 from them, as with taking from them what lay between 
 
 Jabbok and Arnon. 
 
 From this passage of Scripture, Judg. xi. 13. there 9- 
 
 arises some difficulty, viz. in what sense the king of the^^^jjl, 
 
 Ammonites, speaking of the country from Arnon ei'ew arising 
 
 unto Jabbok, could call it his land; (for his words are, /^-xi. uj. how 
 
 rael took awa^i my land, from Arnon even unto Jabbok, and^°^^'^'^ ^y 
 
 ... • r • 1 some. 
 
 7(nto Jordan;) since it is certam from Scripture, that a 
 
 great part of it, namely, to the south, or towards Arnon, 
 was formerly inhabited by the Moabites ; and so the 
 claim thereof belonged to them, not to the Ammonites. 
 And this seems to be particularly referred to by Jephthah, 
 in his answer to the message of the king of Ammon, 
 where he puts this question to him, Judg. xi. 25. And noiv 
 art thou any thing better than Balak, the son of Zippor, 
 king of Moab P Did he ever strive against Israel, or did he 
 ever fight against them P Now, to solve this difficulty, 
 some have conjectured, that the Moabites either formerly 
 had been, or then were, tributary to the Ammonites; and so 
 the king of the Ammonites might, upon that considera- 
 tion, lay claim to what belonged to the Moabites as be- 
 longing to him. Others suppose the king of the Ammon- 
 ites to have used the forementioned expression, on account 
 of the near alliance and confederacy there was all along 
 between these two branches of Lot's posterity, the Moab- 
 ites and Ammonites; on consideration of which, the king 
 of the Ammonites might look on what belonged to his con- 
 federates the Moabites, as belonging in some sense to him. 
 
 But perhaps there is no need of supposing any other 10. 
 than a literal meaning in the forementioned expression ; ^°^^^° ^^ 
 forasmuch as what formerly belonged to the Ammonites, otherwise, 
 and was taken from them by the Amorites, and so came ^"ob^J"^^ 
 to the Israelites, might literally reach yVom Arnon unto 
 Jabbok, and unto Jordan ; just as (or at least, nmch as) the 
 tribe of Gad is supposed to have done, according to the 
 situation of it described in the map hereunto belonging. 
 For it is not improbable, but that, upon the conquest of 
 
 u 4
 
 296 The Geography of the Old Testament, 
 
 PART II. Sihon, Moses, in dividing his kingdom between the tribes 
 of Gad and Reuben, might have some regard to the old 
 division of tlie country between the Moabites and Ammon- 
 ites ; so as to assign to the Reubenites what had formerly 
 belonged to the Moabites ; and to the Gadites, what had 
 formerly belonged to the Ammonites j at least, as to the 
 main of each country. 
 
 11, Now besides what the descendants of Lot possessed for- 
 The tract merly between Arnon, and Jabbok, and Jordan, they 
 Scripture, were also possesscd oftwo Other tracts. The Ammonites 
 'h^ ^A^^ °^ enjoyed a considerable tract more to the east, and beyond 
 monites. the bills that bounded the eastern part of the country be- 
 yond Jordan. And though they were dispossessed of what 
 lay on the west of these hills by the Amorites, yet they 
 still kept their ground, in what lay on the east of these 
 hills; which therefore is that which is in Scripture called, 
 the land of the children of Anmion. Indeed these hills 
 seem to have been the barrier which stopt the Amorites 
 from invading the rest of the country, possessed by the 
 Ammonites on the east side of these hills ; and hence pro- 
 bably it is, that it is expressly observed. Num. xxi. 24. 
 that the border of the children of Ammon was strong. 
 
 12. The principal city of the Ammonites was Rabbah, a 
 OfRabbah, word importing great ox populous, and therefore is applied 
 city of the to Other cities as well as this. And hence in Scripture it is, 
 Ammon- ^^j. distinction sake, styled Kabbah of the children of Ammon, 
 
 Deut. iii. 11. We learn from the old geographer Stepha- 
 nus, that it was also known by the name of Ammana, 
 which it is generally thought to have taken, either from 
 Ammon the founder of the nation, or from its being the 
 chief city of the children of Ammon. And indeed the 
 great likeness between Ammana and Ammon mightily 
 conduces to lead men into this opinion. But since we are 
 expressly told in Scripture, that the Ammonites succeeded 
 the Zuzims in this country ; and since it thence appears 
 also that the Zuzims had a city called Ham, and which 
 probably was their principal city ; on these considerations 
 it is not only possible, but probable, that the name Am-
 
 Of the Land of Moah. 297 
 
 mana or Amana, mentioned by Stephanus, might be de- chap. hi. 
 duced from Ham or Am, the ancient name of this city, 
 before it fell into the hands of the Ammonites. But we 
 have greater certainty that this city was in after-ages called 
 Philadelphia, and that, as it is said, from Ptolemy Phila- 
 delphus. King of Egypt; who, having made himself master 
 of these parts, and liking the situation of this place, repair- 
 ed and beautified it, and honoured it with the name of Phi- 
 ladelphia. But it never occurs under this name in Scrip- 
 ture; wherein it is taken notice of, Deut. iii. 11. on ac- 
 count of the vast iron bed of Og king of Bashan being 
 there. It is also memorable in the sacred history for its 
 being besieged and taken in the reign of King David ; as 
 also for the death of Uriah, slain there by a design of Da- 
 vid's during the siege. This city seems to have consisted 
 of two parts, one whereof was more peculiarly called 
 Kabbah, the other the City of Waters, as better watered 
 than the other, and so perhaps more pleasant, whence the 
 King seems to have had his palace here; on which ac- 
 count it is otherwise called the Royal City, 2 Sam. xii. 26, 
 27. The waters, whence this part of Kabbah took the 
 name of the City of Waters, are thought to be those of 
 the river Jabbok ; and indeed Eusebius tells us, that this 
 river or brook runs between Philadelphia and Gerasa ; but 
 he does not say, that it comes up to the very place. And 
 this may suffice of the Ammonites. 
 
 As for the Moabites, besides the country they possessed 13. 
 on the north of the river Arnon, which Sihon king of thecountn' of 
 Amorites took from them, they possessed also a tract tof^eMoab- 
 the south of the river Arnon, between Edom to the west, south of 
 and Midian to the east and south. And this they enjoyed ^'^^ "^^^ 
 
 , ■' •' ■^ Arnon. 
 
 all along, after the loss of the other part of their country. 
 The chief city of the Moabites in this country was Ar, 
 called by the Greek writers Areopolis, and thought by 
 them to have been so named from their worshipping the 
 God of war, called by the Greeks "A^*)?, Ares, by the 
 Latins Mars, But the likeness between the Hebrew 
 word Ar and the Greek word Ares seems to be the only
 
 2g8 The Geography of the Old Testament. 
 
 PART II. foundation for this etymology. This city, we are told by 
 
 Eusebius and Jerom, was also called Moab, from Moab 
 
 the father of the Moabites. It is also said by writers to be 
 otherwise called Rabba, and to be the same that occurs in 
 the Geography of Ptolemy under the name of Rhalma- 
 thura. Some take this city Ar to have been the same 
 with Aroer; but the contrary opinion is the most proba- 
 ble ; forasmuch as Aroer was given to the tribe of Gad, 
 and so on the north side of the river Arnon; whereas Ar 
 was all along inhabited by the Moabites, and so was situ- 
 ated on the south side of the said river. 
 14. It is farther here to be remarked, that after the capti- 
 
 Several vity of the ten tribes, and so of the tribes of Reuben and 
 
 places lying .^ , , i p i i i • 
 
 between Gad, that were possessed or the country between the river 
 
 the river Arnon and Jabbok, the Moabites repossessed themselves of 
 
 Jordan, several places on the north of the river Arnon. Whence it 
 
 and so be- - ^j j. -^^ ^.j^^ prophecies against Moab we find mention 
 
 longing to ' r r c 
 
 the Israel- made of Hcshbon, and several other places, once belong- 
 
 what ac- ^^S ^° ^^® Reubenitcs and Gadites, as belonging then to 
 count as- the Moabitcs. Not but that even in the writings of Mo- 
 the Moab- ses we find the plain on the east of Jordan, called the 
 itesin plains of Moab, namely, as appertaining once to the Mo- 
 abites, and so retaining their old name. 
 ig Having said thus much of the country of the Ammon- 
 
 Of the ites and Moabites, I need say no more as to the kingdom 
 of'slhon'. of Sihon, than that it lay from south to north, betvyeen 
 the river Arnon, which bounded it from the Moabites, 
 and the river Jabbok, which bounded it from the kingdom 
 of Og; and from east to west, between the mountains or 
 hills, which parted it from the Ammonites, and the river 
 Jordan, which parted it from the land of Canaan. The 
 capital city of this kingdom was Heshbon, of which more 
 in the tribe of Reuben, §.17. 
 16. To the north of the river Jabbok lay the kingdom of 
 
 Of the Qcr^ reaching as far northwards as to mount Lebanon, or 
 
 kingdom , ,• • i • i • i i n i tt 
 
 of 6g. that part or it which was particularly called mount Her- 
 mon ; and from east to west, between the hills of Gilead and 
 the river Jordan. It is also called the kingdom of Bashan,
 
 Of the Tribe of Reuben, &c. 299 
 
 whence came the Greek word Batanea, denoting likewise chap. hi. 
 these parts in after-ages. As it is remarked in Scripture 
 for its high hills, and great oaks ; so also is it for its good 
 breed of cattle, and good pasturage, Psal. Ixviii. 15. Isai. 
 ii. 13. Deut. xxxii. 14. Psal. xxii. 12. Ezek. xxxix. 18. 
 Amos iv. I, &c. The capital cities of this kingdom were 
 Ashtaroth and Edrei ; of the former we have spoken al- 
 ready, of the latter we shall speak in the half tribe of Ma- 
 nasseh. 
 
 Moses having conquered Sihon and Og, and so made 17, 
 the Israelites masters of all the country o/i the east ofJor-^J^^^}'^^^ 
 
 •' ^ ___ of Reuben, 
 
 dan, from the river of Arnon unto mount Hermon, Deut. iii. and the city 
 8. he divided it among the two tribes of Reuben and Gad, °"* 
 
 and the half tribe of Manasseh. To the Reubenites he 
 gave the southern, or rather the south-west part of this 
 country, so that the Reubenites were bounded to the south 
 with the river Arnon, to the west with Jordan, to the 
 north and east with the tribe of Gad. In this tribe stood 
 Heshbon, the capital city of the kingdom of Sihon, who 
 is therefore styled, Deut. ii. 26, Sec. King of Heshbon, and 
 is expressly said. Josh. xiii. 10. to have reigned in Heshbon. 
 Though it appertained to the tribe of Reuben, yet it stood 
 in the confines of the tribe of Gad, as appears from com- 
 paring Josh. xiii. 17. with ver. 26. For as it is in the 
 former verse reckoned among the cities given to the Reu- 
 benites, so in the latter verse the coast of the Gadites is said 
 to be from Heshbon iinto Ramath-mizpeh, &c. It was 
 remarkable for its G\ce\\tnt fish-pools, which are taken no- 
 tice of Cant. vii. 4. After the carrying away of the ten 
 tribes into captivity, it was repossessed by the Moabitesj 
 whence in the Prophecies both of Isaiah and Jeremiah, Is. 
 XV. xvi. Jer. xlviii. xlix. against Moab, we have frequent 
 mention made of it. It was, whilst in the hand of the Is- 
 raelites, a Levitical city, i. e. one of the cities set apart for 
 the Levites to dwell in. It continued a great and noble 
 city till the days of Eusebius and Jerom, being by the 
 Greeks called Esbus ; and it was situated, as we are told 
 by these writers, on the hills over-against Jericho, at about
 
 300 The Geography of the Old Testament. 
 
 PART II. twenty miles distance from the river Jordan. It was in 
 their days reckoned a city of Arabia, under which name 
 was then comprehended a good part of Peraea, or the 
 country beyond Jordan. The other remarkable cities of 
 this tribe shall be taken notice of, as they occur in the 
 series of the sacred history. 
 
 18. The tribe of Gad was bounded with the river Jordan to 
 ^^^^l^^*"^*^ the west, with the half tribe of Manasseh to the north, with 
 
 the Ammonites to the east, and with the tribe of Reuben 
 to the south. 
 
 19. The half tribe of Manasseh, that lay east of Jordan, was 
 [JJ^'J^^j^^^ bounded with the tribe of Gad to the south; with the sea 
 nasseh, on of Cinncrcth, (afterwards called the lake of Genesaret, and 
 Jordan. '^^ ^^^ of Galilee,) and the course of the river Jordan from 
 
 its head to the said sea, (which course is sometimes styled 
 the Upper Jordan, sometimes the Lesser Jordan,) to the 
 west; with mount Lebanon, or more peculiarly mount 
 Hermon, to the north and north-east; and with the 
 mountains of Gilead to the east. 
 
 20. It is evident from Josh. xiii. 26, 30. that Mahanaim was 
 A remark \^ ^\^q confines of the tribe of Gad, and the half tribe of 
 
 concerning 
 
 the mid Manasseh, which we are here speaking of; and it is evi- 
 
 t'wetn the' ^^"^' ^- ^7* ^^^^ ^^^ ^"'^^ °^ ^^^ reached unto the edge of 
 tribe of the Sea of Cinnereth, on the other side Jordan eastward. So 
 half'tribe that the boundary between these two divisions must pass 
 of Manas- from the said edge of the sea of Cinnereth to Mahanaim. 
 the method As for the remarkable places lying within these two divi- 
 
 observedas gions, I luds-e it bcst to defer taking notice of them, till we 
 to the cities ^ J o _ o ' 
 
 of each come, by following the thread of the sacred history, to 
 ^' those occurrences for which they are remarkable. And 
 
 the same method I shall observe as to the cities or towns 
 lying in the tribes on the west side of Jordan. 
 
 21. But, according to this method, it will be requisite to 
 
 Of the city ^q^q notice here of such places as are mentioned in the his- 
 and wilder- '■ , r -i ^ r\ 
 
 nessof Ke- tory ofthe conquest of the two kmgdoms of Sihon and Og. 
 
 emoth. -^g redid, then, Deut. ii. 26. that Moses sent messengers out 
 
 of the wilderness of Kedemothy unto Sihon king of Heshbon, 
 
 with words of peace. Now as it is clear, from the cir-
 
 Of the Country beyond Jordan. 301 
 
 cumstances of the sacred history mentioned in that chap- chap, nr 
 
 ter, that this wilderness lies near the river Arnon; so Josh. 
 
 xiii. 18. we have among the cities given to the Reubenites 
 one named Kedemoth, from which therefore, as lying 
 within or near it, this wilderness in all probability took 
 its name. As this wilderness lies on the river Arnon, so it 
 lies along that which was the eastern coast of the country 
 beyond Jordan. For as the extent of this country from 
 north to south is described, Judg. xi. 32. to he. from Arnon 
 even unto Jahhok; so the extent of it from east to west is 
 there described to he from the wilderness even unto Jordan. 
 Where by the wilderness is probably meant the wilderness 
 of Kedemoth. 
 
 Sihon rejecting the words of peace sent him by Moses, 22. 
 and refusing to give the Israelites passage through hisOfJ^haz 
 country, gets an army together, and went out against Is- 
 rael into the wilderness ; and he came to Jahaz, aiid fought 
 against Israel. It is evident hence, that Jahaz lay near, if 
 not in, the wilderness of Kedemoth, from which the Israel- 
 ites had sent their ambassadors to Sihon ; and agreeably 
 we find, Josh. xiii. 18. among the cities of the Reubenites, 
 one named Jahaza, (which we need not doubt but was 
 the same with Jahaz,) and named just before Kedemoth; 
 from which the wilderness took its name. So that hence 
 it may be reasonably inferred, that this Jahaz lay in the 
 eastern or south-east part of the tribe of Reuben, not far 
 from Kedemoth. 
 
 The Israelites having conquered Sihon, they went up by 23 
 the way to Bashan : whereupon Og came out against them Of the city 
 to battle at Edrei, Deut. iii. i. It is probably thought, 
 that this Edrei lay in the southern part of the kingdom of 
 Og; and this is confirmed in that it is joined, ver. 10. with 
 Salchah, which plainly lay there, as appears from 1 Chron. 
 V. II. For the south part of the kingdom of Og was that 
 which was next to the Gadites. EusSbius and Jerom sup- 
 pose it to be the same that was in their time called Adara, 
 and was then a considerable city of what was then called 
 Arabia, lying at the distance of four and twenty miles
 
 302 The Geographj/ of the Old Testament. 
 
 PART II. from Bostra; (for which is corruptly read in Jerom's 
 version Osdra;) whereby may be understood either Bos- 
 tra, a city of Arabia, mentioned by Ptolemy and others, 
 or else Ashtaroth-Carnaim. For whereas. Josh. xxi. 27. 
 mention is made of Beesh-terah, as a Levitical city in 
 Bashan, instead thereof, i Chron. vi. 71. Ashtaroth is men- 
 tioned. And the words, setting aside B, are written both 
 much alike in the Hebrew; and Beesh-terah may be 
 easily moulded by the Greeks into Bestra or Bostra. 
 24. Og being totally defeated, we read, Deut. iii. 4. that 
 
 ferencebe"- ^^^ Israelites took all his cities, all the region of Argoh, the 
 
 tweenAr- kingdom of Op in Bashan. It is controverted anions; writ- 
 gob, and , , A , , T^ , . 1 
 
 Bashan, ^rs, whether Argob and Bashan were equivalent terms, or 
 and Gilead. quJtg distinct, or whether the former denoted only some 
 part of the country denoted by the latter. Now this mat- 
 ter may, I think, be cleared from ver. 13, 14, 15. for here 
 Moses saithj I gave unto the half tribe of Manasseh all the 
 regio7i of Argoh, with all Bashan. — Jair the son of Manasseh 
 took all the country of Argoh, — and I gave Gilead unto 
 Machir. Here in ver. 13. the region of Argoh seems 
 plainly to be spoken of as a part of Bashan ; and ver. 14, 
 15. the region of Argob is said to be given unto Jair, and 
 Gilead unto Machir; so that these two together seem to 
 have made up the country, or at least the kingdom of 
 Bashan. As to the particular situation of these two tracts, 
 viz. Argob and Gilead, it is evident enough, that Gilead 
 properly so called was the tract, wherein lies the mount 
 or hills of Gilead ; and consequently, that the remaining 
 tract of the kingdom of Og was that called the region of 
 Argob, which therefore lay to the north of the other. 
 25. The king of Moab being terrified at the great success 
 
 OfPethor, j-j^jg Israelites had against the two kings of the Amorites, 
 Balaam. Sihon and Og, he sends for a famous diviner of those 
 times, called Balaam, who lived at Pethor, which lay in 
 Aram, as we read Dfiut. xxiii. 7. whereby is to be under- 
 stood, that part of Aram which was more peculiarly styled 
 Aram-naharaim, or Mesopotamia, as we are expressly told,. 
 Deut. xxiii. 4. Balaam being met by Balak the king of
 
 Of the Country beyond Jordan. 303 
 
 Moab at the utmost coast of his kingdom, is brought to chap. III. 
 the king to Kirjath-huzoth ; then on the morrow to the 
 high, places of Baal, (Num. xxii. 39, 41.) then into the 
 field ofZophim, then to the top of Peor, Num. xxlii. 14, 28. 
 Of these places, Kirjath-huzoth and the field of Zophim 
 being only mentioned here, nothing more can be said of 
 them, than that they lay in the country of Moab, in that 
 part of it which lay next to the tribe of Reuben. As for 
 the high places of Baal, it is in Hebrew Bamoth-baal ; 
 and therefore probably the hills that lay near Bamoth be- 
 fore mentioned, ch. ii. §. 12. 
 
 As for Peor, it is thought to be a part of the moun- 26, 
 tains Abarim. Upon this mount there seems to l^^ve ^^^^ g°g'j_ 
 stood the temple of an idol, called thence Peor or Baal- Peor. 
 Peor. By partaking of the sacrifices offered to this idol, 
 and worshipping it, the Israelites greatly provoked God, 
 whilst they lay encamped at Shittim, Num. xxv. 1 — 5. 
 
 In ver. 17, 18. of this chapter, we find God command- 27. 
 ing the Israelites to vex the Midianites, and smite them . jj^ ^^^3^ '' 
 Now these Midianites, as has been observed. Part I. of 
 this Geography of the Old Testament, ch. xi. were de- 
 scendants of Midian, one of the sons of Abraham by Ke- 
 turah; and who together with his other brethren were 
 sent away from Isaac, during the life of Abraham, east- 
 ward unto the east country, namely, into the parts of Ara- 
 bia lying to the east of Canaan, east of that part of Ca- 
 naan where Abraham then sojourned, which was the most 
 southern part adjoining to Beersheba. Accordingly, in 
 process of time, we find the Midianites settled next to 
 the Moabites, namely, to the east or south-east of them. 
 And we find some colonies of them settled elsewhere, near 
 to the Red sea, and mount Sinai or Horeb, in the times of 
 Moses ; who fled out of Egypt into this land of Midian, 
 Exod. ii. 15. and married Zipporah, the daughter of Je- 
 thro, or Reuel, the priest or prince of Midian, a city and 
 country thus lying near the Red sea. A branch of these 
 Midianites near the Red sea were the Kenites; some of 
 which turned proselytes, and dwelt with the Israelites in
 
 304 The Geograplnj of the Old Testament. 
 
 PART II. the land of Canaan : of which race was undoubtedly He- 
 
 " ~ber the Kenite, the husband of Jael, who slew Sisera. The 
 
 rest continued mingled with the Amalekites, till the time 
 of Saul. But the Midianites here mentioned in Num. 
 XXV. were those adjoining to the Moabites, and who op- 
 posed the Israelites after the death of Barak, as we read in 
 the book of Judges. And so much for the geographical 
 part of the history of Moses.
 
 The Conquest of Canaan. 305 
 
 CHAP. IV. 
 
 Of the Conquest of the Land of Canaan, under the conduct 
 of Joshua. 
 
 iVIOSES being dead, by the commandment of God Jo- j 
 shua succeeds him, as leader in chief of the Israelites; and The Israel- 
 prepares to pass over the river Jordan. Hereupon ^^ ^'^-from^Shit'-^ 
 moved from Shittim (where the Israelites had encamped ''"i' and 
 
 (, • V 1 r 1 • 1 pitch near 
 
 tor some time) on the morrov^' after the two spies returned, Jordan, 
 that he had sent from thence to Jericho, and came to Jor- 
 dan, Josh. iii. 1. And after three days stay there, proper 
 directions being given, the Israelites passed over Jordan 
 right against Jericho, on dry ground; the waters which 
 came down from above, i. e. from the upper part of the 
 stream, standing and rising up upon an heap very far, i. e. 
 for a long way together, namely, as far as from the city 
 Adam (or Adom, which is only here mentioned, and said 
 to be) beside Zaretan. 
 
 This latter place is mentioned twice more in Scripture, 2 
 VIZ. I Kings iv. 12. and vii. 46. from which two places itOfZareun. 
 appears, that it lay not far from Succoth, (of which we 
 have spoken in the first Part,) and Bethshean, (of which we 
 shall speak hereafter,) and so not far from the southern 
 part of the sea of Galilee. 
 
 The Israelites having crossed Jordan, and the priests that 3 
 bare the ark of the covenant of the Lord being come outof Gilgal. 
 of the channel of the river, the waters thereof returned 
 unto their place. The place where they encamped was 
 called Gilgal, because here circumcision was renewed. 
 For all the people that came out of Egypt were circum- 
 cised; but all the people, that were born in the ivilderness 
 by the way, as they came forth out of Egypt, them they 
 had not circumcised. Wherefore upon this renewing of 
 circumcision, the Lord said unto Joshua : This day have I 
 rolled away the reproach of Egypt (i.e. uncircumcision) 
 
 VOL. I. x
 
 3o6 The Geography of the Old Testament. 
 
 PART U.from off you: wherefore the name of the place is called 
 Gilgal (i. e. rolling) unto this day. Josh. v. 2 — 9. Here it 
 was that Joshua pitched the twelve stones, which were 
 taken up out of Jordan, by one man of every tribe. And 
 here the people abode, till they were whole again, after 
 their having been circumcised ; and here they celebrated 
 the Passover : lastly, here the people ate of the old corn of 
 the land, on the morrow after the Passover ; and here on 
 the morrow after that the manna ceased. It has been al- 
 ready observed, that it is expressly said, Josh. iii. 16. that 
 the Israelites passed over Jordan right against Jericho; and 
 it is expressly said. Josh. iv. 19. that they encamped in Gil- 
 gal in the east border of Jericho. Whence it is plain, that 
 Gilgal must be situated between Jordan and Jericho. And 
 since Josephus ^ tells us, that Jericho was sixty furlongs 
 distant from Jordan, and that the camp of Gilgal was fifty 
 furlongs distant from the same river; hence it follows, that 
 Gilgal was ten furlongs from Jericho eastward ; that is, 
 according to the common computation of eight furlongs 
 to one mile, a mile and a quarter. But it is observed by 
 some learned men, that five of the furlongs used by Jose- 
 phus do make up an Italian mile ; and so the distance be- 
 tween Gilgal and Jericho will be just two miles. And 
 this exactly agrees with v/hat St. Jerom saith, when he 
 tells us, that the place was shewn in his days at two miles 
 distance from Jericho, and was had in very great venera- 
 tion by the inhabitants of that country. 
 4, The Israelites being recovered of the sore made by cir- 
 
 Of Jericho, cumcision, and fit for action, the first city that was taken 
 by them was Jericho, which lay nearest to them. It was 
 delivered into their hands after a miraculous manner, the 
 wall falling down flat, so that the people went up into the 
 city^ every man strait before him; and they took the city. 
 I have spoken of this city already in the first Part of my 
 Geography of the New Testament, chap. vi. §. 14. To 
 what is there said I shall only add from Eusebius, that the 
 city built by Hiel the Bethelite, and which was honoured 
 
 '^ Antiq. b. v. c. 1. And the War of the Jews, b. v. c. 4.
 
 TJie Conquest of Canaan. 307 
 
 with our Saviour's presence, and mentioned in the Gospel chap. IV, 
 history, was destroyed for the treachery of its inhabitants, 
 during the siege of Jerusalem by the Romans ; and that 
 the city standing in his days was a third city, built after 
 the siege of Jerusalem, and, as it seems, not in the very 
 same place where either of the two former had been built. 
 For he tells us, that the ruins of both the former were still 
 shewn. It is sometimes in Scripture called, the city of 
 Palm-trees, from the plenty of these trees, or the excel- 
 lency of them above others, in the territory of this city. 
 
 Old Jericho being taken and destroyed, Joshua having 5, 
 
 first informed himself of the strength of Ai, sent about two P^ '^e val- 
 
 . . . Icy of 
 
 or three thousand men against it, as judging them suffi-Achor. 
 
 cient to take the place, according to the information he 
 had received. But this party of the Israelites being 
 worsted by the men of Ai, contrary to expectation, here- 
 upon Joshua addresses himself to God in the most humble 
 manner ; who acquaints him, that the reason why the 
 party he had sent against Ai had not met with their ex- 
 pected success was, because some of the Israelites had 
 sinned. Hereupon a scrutiny being made by lot, Achan 
 was discovered to be the offender, and hereupon he toge- 
 ther with his sons and daughters, &c. were put to death 
 in the valley of Achor, so called from the trouble brought 
 upon the Israelites by the sin of Achan, as appears from 
 chap. vii. ver. 26. compared with chap, vi, ver. 18. for the 
 Hebrew word Achor denotes trouble. It is evident enough, 
 from the circumstances of the history, that this valley lay 
 not far from Jericho ; and Josh. xv. 7. we read that it lay 
 in the north border of the tribe of Judah. 
 
 The wrath of God being turned away by the punish- 6. 
 ment of the ofTenders, Joshua marches a second timeP/.'^'' ""^ 
 
 Hal. 
 
 against Ai, and takes it by stratagem, and burns it. We 
 have this place mentioned in the history of Abraham, who, 
 both before and after his going into Egypt, pitched his 
 tent between Bethel and Hai or Ai : for the place is writ- 
 ten the same way in the Hebrew text, though it is written 
 thus differently in our translation. It appears both from 
 
 X 2
 
 3oS The Geography of the Old Testament. 
 
 PART II. Gen. xii. 8. and Josh. vii. 2. and viii. 9. that this city Ai 
 Jay to the east of Bethel ; and that it was not far from 
 Bethel, may be gathered from Josh. viii. 17. though Eu- 
 sebius and Jerom had not told us so ; who add, that in 
 their time there were shewn some small remainders of the 
 ruins of it. Masius tells us, that Ai was three leagues 
 from Jericho, and Bethel one league from Ai. 
 
 7. In Josh. vii. 2. we read that Ai was beside Beth-aven, on 
 Of Beth- iJig gQ^f gifig of Bethel, Whence it seems clearly enough 
 
 to follow, that Beth-aven there was a distinct place from 
 Bethel, though not far from it. It lay in the north border 
 of the tribe of Benjamin, as appears from Josh, xviii. 12. 
 For the wilderness of Beth-aven there mentioned was in 
 all probability so called, from this Beth-aven mentioned 
 chap. vii. ver. 2. It is true indeed, that the prophet Hosea 
 does elegantly call Bethel, on the account of Jeroboam's 
 placing there one of the golden calves, and of the idola- 
 trous worship performed thereto, by the name of Beth- 
 aven ; and this seems to be the occasion that some have 
 thought there was no other Beth-aven, but Bethel. 
 
 8. The Gibeonites being terrified at what had befallen Je- 
 
 The cities j-j^ho and Ai, obtained by a trick a league from Joshua 
 
 of the Gi- . , •' ° 
 
 beonites, or and the Israelites, sending men as ambassadors to Gilgal, 
 
 tion^to^or ^^^° were so equipped, as if they had come from a very 
 
 in confe- far country. The league being made and sworn to, the 
 
 thecfbeon- Israelites quickly became sensible how they had been im- 
 
 ''es. posed upon. For at the end of three days, after the league 
 
 was made, they heard that they ivere their neighbours ; arid 
 
 they came unto the cities of the Gibeonites on the third 
 
 day, (viz. after they had heard so.) Noiv their cities ivere 
 
 Gibeon, and Chephirah, and Beeroth, and Kirjath-jearim. 
 
 Josh. ix. 16, 17. 
 
 Q As for Gibeon, we learn, Josh. x. 2. that it was a great 
 
 Of Gibeon. city, greater than yli, Eusebius and Jerom tell us, it was 
 
 the metropolis of the Hivites, and a regal city: but we 
 
 no where read in Scripture of the king of Gibeon; and in 
 
 the text last cited it is said to be as one of the royal (or 
 
 regal) cities. Whereby seems to be implied, that it was
 
 The Conquest of Canaan. 309 
 
 not a regal city, but however was as considerable a city as CHAP. iv. 
 the regal cities were. Eusebius further tells us, that it 
 was a town or village in his time, still going under its old 
 name, being four miles westward from Bethel. 
 
 That Gibeon was a city of principal note, further ap- 10. 
 pears from that it had the other cities, mentioned Josh. ix. [ ^ 
 17. either subject to it, or confederate with it. Of which 
 cities we have nothing more remarkable of Chephirah, 
 than what is here said of it. 
 
 Beeroth lay, as we are told by Eusebius and Jerom, n. 
 under the hill Gibeon, i. e. under the hill whereon stood ^'^ ^^^"^o'^- 
 Gibeon ; being a town or village in their days, lying in 
 the road from -^lia or Jerusalem to Neapolis, (or Sichem,) 
 at seven miles distance from Jerusalem. They were of 
 this town that killed Ishbosheth, the son of Saul, and cut- 
 ting off his head, brought it to David to Hebron ; who 
 ordered the murderers to be themselves slain, 2 Sam. iv. 
 Mr. Maundrell, who seems to take this place to be the 
 same with Beer, whither Jotham fled from Abimelech, 
 Judg. ix. 21. tells us, that It enjoys a very pleasant situa- 
 tion, on an edge declining southwards. At the bottom of 
 the hill it has a plentiful fountain of excellent water; from 
 which it has its name. At its upper side are remains of 
 an old church, built by the Empress Helena. 
 
 The last place Kirjath-jearim is frequently mentioned in 12. 
 the sacred history. It appertained afterwards to the tribe Of Kirjath- 
 of Judah, and it lay in the confines of that tribe and the^^^*^"^* 
 tribe of Benjamin, being nine miles distant from Jerusalem 
 in the road thence to Diospolis, i. e. Lydda. In this place 
 the ark of the Lord abode for twenty years, namely, from 
 the time that it was sent away out of the land of the Phi- 
 listines, to the time it was removed hence by king Da- 
 vid, I Sam. vii. compared with i Chron. xiii. Of this city 
 was Uriah, a prophet slain by Jehoiakim, as we read, Je- 
 rem. xxvi, 20, &c. „• , 
 
 , . F've kings 
 
 The king of Jerusalem, understanding that the Gibeon- war against 
 ites had made peace with the Israelites, sends to the king^l^j^.h^sre- 
 of Hebron, to the king of Jarmuth, to the king of La-''^vfdby 
 
 JoBhua. 
 X ^
 
 3IO The Geography of the Old Testament. 
 
 PART II. chish, and to the king of Eglon, to come and with their 
 joint forces to fall upon the Gibeonites. Accordingly 
 these five kings go together and encamp before Gibeon; 
 the inhabitants whereof presently dispatch away messen- 
 gers to Joshua at Gilgal, to give him notice of their con- 
 dition, and to desire succour without delay. Hereupon 
 Joshua marches all night from Gilgal to their relief; and 
 falling upon the army of the confederated kings, slew 
 them with a great slaughter at Gibeon^ and chased them 
 along the way that goes up to Beth-horon, and smote them 
 to Azekahi and unto Makkedah. 
 j4 There is express mention made in Scripture of two 
 
 Of Beth- Beth-horons : for i Chron. vii. 24. we are told, that a wo- 
 man of the tribe of Ephraim, by name Sherah, built Beth- 
 horon the nether and the upper. It is accordingly agreed 
 among writers, that they both lay within the bounds of 
 the tribe of Ephraim. But it is not agreed, in what part of 
 the tribe each lay ; some placing Beth-horon the upper in 
 the northern border of the tribe, and Beth-horon the ne- 
 ther in the southern border; whilst others place them 
 nearer one to another, and both in the south border. Cer- 
 tain it is, that the Beth-horon mentioned in this action of 
 the Israelites must lie in the south border of the tribe of 
 Ephraim, as being adjoined to the tribe of Benjamin, 
 wherein Gibeon stood. It is also plain, that this Beth- 
 horon stood on a hill ; which, as the Canaanites fled from 
 Gibeon, they went up ; whence it is said, Josh. x. 10. that 
 the Lord chased them along the way that goes up to Beth- 
 horon. But from Beth-horon to Azekah the way lay 
 down the hill on another side; whence ver. 11. it is said, 
 that as the Canaanites were in the going doivn (namely, of 
 the hill) of Beth-horon, the Lord cast down great stones 
 upon them, unto Azekah. 
 15. This Azekah is expressly reckoned among the cities of 
 
 Of Azekah. t]^e tribe of Judah, Josh. xv. ^^. and this situation thereof 
 agrees very well with the circumstances of this action. 
 For, to say no more, we find it in the forecited text named 
 together with Jarmuth, the king of which was one of the
 
 The Conquest of Canaan. 311 
 
 five confederate kings that were conquered. Eusebius CHAP. iv. 
 and Jeroni tell us, that there was a town in their time, 
 named Ezeca, between Eleutheropolis and Jerusalem ; 
 which might be probably enough the same with this Aze- 
 kah, forasmuch as this lay in those parts. 
 
 Joshua being very desirous to pursue the advantage he l6- 
 had obtained over his enemies to the uttermost, that no ^^ °°' 
 stop might be put thereto by the coming on of the night 
 too soon upon him, through a divine impulse of a miracu- 
 lous faith, he said, Swi, stand thou still vpon G'lheon ; and 
 thott moon, in the valley of Ajalon. And the sun stood still, 
 and the moon stopped, until the people had avenged them- 
 selves upon their enemies. Josh. x. 12, 13. Of Gibeon 
 enough has been said already : Ajalon, which is the other 
 place here mentioned, lay in the tribe of Dan, Josh. xix. 
 42. and was one of the cities that were given in that tribe 
 to the Levites, Josh. xxi. 24. But it seems, the Danites 
 could net drive out the Amorites from Ajalon, as we read 
 Judg. i. ^s- 
 
 Joshua being acquainted, that the five kings that had 17- 
 fled were hid in a cave at Makkedah, orders them to be J^j^'y^^^^^'J^j^^'^ 
 secured therein, till he had made an end of pursuing the of Eieuthe- 
 enemy. After which he comes and encamps at Makke- p°ace'from 
 dah, and puts the five kings to death. And that day he which Eu- 
 took Makkedah, Josh. x. 28. which we find reckoned jerom often 
 araona; the cities afterwards given to the tribe of Judah, ':^^''°" ^^^- 
 
 o ... ... distances of 
 
 Josh. XV. 41. It stood, as Eusebius informs us, eight miles Scripture 
 to the east of Eleutheropolis; which Eleutheropolis being P^*"**' 
 a place often mentioned by Eusebius and Jerom, as from 
 which they reckon the distance of many places mentioned 
 in the Bible, it will be requisite to observe here, once for 
 all, that this city is never mentioned itself in the Bible, at 
 least not under that name; and it is said to have been of 
 much later date than the Scripture history, being not built 
 till after the destruction of Jerusalem. The name im- 
 ports as much as the free city ; and it was a considerable 
 place in those later times ; and accordingly is particularly 
 taken notice of, and its situation assigned by Ptolemy the 
 
 X 4
 
 312 The Geography of the Old Testament. 
 
 PART II. geographer, as it is set down in the tribe of Judah. For 
 'though it be not mentioned in the Scripture itself, yet I 
 judged it requisite to insert this place as to the nanie, for 
 the reason above mentioned, viz. in respect of the distances 
 of several Scripture places being reckoned from it by Eu- 
 sebius and Jerom. 
 
 18. Having taken Makkedah, Joshua marches with his 
 OfLibnah. victorious army unto Libnah, which he likewise takes, 
 
 Josh. X. 29, 30. This also was a city afterwards assigned 
 to the tribe of Judah, and probably lying very near Mak- 
 kedah; whence it is mentioned. Josh. xv. 42. next af- 
 ter Makkedah. It was also a Levitical city, as appears 
 from Josh. xxi. 13. It was besieged by Sennacherib 
 king of Assyria, in the days of Hezekiah, 2 Kings xix. 8. 
 Eusebius and Jerom tell us, that it was a town or village 
 in their time, lying within the district of Eleutheropolis. 
 
 19. From Libnah Joshua marched unto Lachish, and en- 
 OfLachish.^jjj-j^pgj against it, and took it the second day, Josh. x. 31, 
 
 32. The king of this city was one of the five that joined 
 their forces against the Gibeonites. There is frequent 
 mention made of it in the sacred history. It was one of 
 the places besieged by Sennacherib king of Assyria, in the 
 reign of Hezekias king of Judah : for upon the division of 
 Canaan this city fell to the tribe of Judah, together with 
 the neighbouring cities mentioned in this tenth chapter of 
 Joshua. It was a town in the days of Eusebius and Je- 
 rom, being seven miles distant from Eleutheropolis to the 
 south. 
 
 20. We read. Josh. x. 33. that Horam king of Gezer came 
 Of Gezer. (q Jiglp Lachish: and Joshua smote him and his people. It 
 
 appears from Josh. xvi. 3. that this Gezer lay in the south 
 coast of the tribe of Ephraim, not far from Beth-horon, 
 between it and the sea, that is, the Mediterranean sea. 
 Hence it follows, that it lay at some considerable distance 
 from Lachish ; and consequently we may observe, that it 
 is said in Josh. x. 33. only that Joshua smote the king of 
 Gezer and his people, until he had left him none remain-' 
 ing ; that is, quite destroyed all the forces this king
 
 The Conquest of Canaan. 3.13 
 
 brought with hun to the relief of Lachish : but nothing is CHAP. IV. 
 said of Joshua's taking the city of Gezer itself, as being at 
 too great a distance, and so too much out of the way, to 
 march against at present. Indeed this seems to have been 
 a very strong place, and to have held out against the Israel- 
 ites till the reign of Solomon : for we read, 1 Kings ix. 16. 
 that Pharaoh king of Egypt had gone up and taken Gezer, 
 and burnt it ivith fire, and slain the Canaanites that divelt 
 in the city, and given it for a present unto his daughter, 
 Solo7no?i's wife. And in the following verse we read, that 
 Solomon rebuilt it together with Beth-horon the nether, 
 and some other places. It was standing in the days of 
 Eusebius and Jerom, being then a town called Gazara, 
 four miles from Nicopolis (i. e. Emmaus) to the north. 
 
 From Lachish Joshua passed with his army to Eglon, 21. 
 and took it on that day. Josh, x- 34, ^^. The king of this ^^ Eglon- 
 city was another of the five kings above mentioned. The 
 city lay not far from Lachish, as may be gathered, not 
 only from the circumstances here mentioned, but also from 
 its being mentioned with Lachish, Josh. xv. 39. where it 
 is reckoned among the cities assigned to the tribe of Ju- 
 dah. Eusebius and Jerom tell us, that it was a very large 
 town in their days, distant twelve miles froin Eleutheropolis 
 to the east : but then these writers take Eglon to be the 
 same with Adullam ; whereas they are apparently distin- 
 guished. Josh. xv. 35, 39. 
 
 From Eglon Joshua marched unto Hebron, and took it. 22. 
 The kinff of this city was another of the five kincjs above Of D^bir, 
 
 ^ ■' ^ ^ '-' anditsseve- 
 
 nientioned. There having been frequent mention of this ral names, 
 place in the history of Abraham, I need say no more of it 
 here, than what is already said in the first Part. From He- 
 bron therefore Joshua returned and marched to Debir, 
 and took it. Josh. x. 36 — 39. This Debir is called by two 
 other names in this book of Joshua. For Josh. xv. 15. we 
 are told, that the name of Debir before (i. e. in former times) 
 was Kirjath-sepher ; and ver. 49. among the cities assigned 
 to the tribe of Judah, we have mention made of Kirjath- 
 sannahj which (as is there added) is Debir. Now the
 
 314 The Geography of the Old Testament. 
 
 PART II. word Kirjath denotes the same as the city ; and hence we 
 have it in the beginning of the names of several places, as 
 Kirjath-arba, otherwise called Hebron, Kirjath-jearim, 
 &c. The word Sepher in the Hebrew tongue denotes a 
 Look : whence some conjecture that this was an old aca- 
 demy of the Canaanites. Others conjecture it to have ra- 
 ther been the place, where their archives or old records 
 were kept. The word Debir, whereby it is also called, 
 ruay be applied to either of the foregoing senses. For it 
 is derived from a root, that signifies to speak ; and so may 
 be understood to import a school of eloquence, or of litera- 
 ture in general : and the very word Debir used as an ap- 
 pellative denotes the inmost and most secret part of a tem- 
 ple, where the oracles were wont to be spoken or deli- 
 vered, and into which none might enter but the priests; 
 and in this acceptation the word is very applicable to the 
 places, where archives are wont to be laid up, they being 
 usually very secret places, and such as admittance into is 
 allowed but to peculiar persons. As for Kirjath-sannah, 
 which is the third name whereby this city is called, it 
 may be understood to denote, either the city oj the Bush, 
 as lying among bushes or thickets, and so the more secret 
 and retire ; or else, the city of Ingenuity or Politeness, 
 where the faculties of men's minds are sharpened, (for the 
 root, from which Sannah may be derived, signifies to 
 sharpen or whet;) and in this sense Kirjath-sannah may 
 very properly Import an university or place of literature. 
 And thus much for the import of the several names given 
 to this city. 
 23. As to the situation of this city, all the light we have 
 
 3,1 J^^^fj^"' concerning it is from Josh. xv. 15, 49. where we have it 
 bir. reckoned among the cities given to the tribe of Judab, 
 
 and more particularly among such as lay in the southern 
 tract of that tribe, and probably not far from Hebron. 
 And it is observable, that in Josh. x. 38. Joshua is said to 
 return to Debir, andfght against it. Where by returning 
 is probably denoted, that Joshua, having carried his con- 
 quests in these southern parts as far as to Gaza, ver. 41.
 
 The Conquest of Canaan. 315 
 
 which was the south-west angle of the land of Canaan, he chap. iv. 
 then marched back again, and in this his return laid siege 
 to Debir, and took it. 
 
 And this is farther confirmed from what is said ver. 41. 24. 
 viz. that Joshua smote all (this south part) from Kadesh- j^ canaan. 
 harnea, even unto Gaza ; and all the country of Goshen, 
 even unto Gibeon. For the country of Goshen (which is 
 the only place here mentioned, that has not been spoken 
 of already) is generally by writers placed in the south 
 tract of the tribe of Judah, and that not without ground, 
 since Josh. xi. 16. we find the land of Goshen mentioned 
 together with and next to the south country. And since 
 by this very name we find the fruitful tract of Egypt, 
 wherein the Israelites sojourned, frequently called; hence 
 this land of Goshen within Canaan is thought to have 
 been of the like nature with that in Egypt, that is, very 
 fruitful. Indeed it is evident, that here in Canaan there 
 was a city called Goshen, and that the country round it 
 was that which is here styled the land or country of 
 Goshen ; whereas we do not find there was any city or 
 town of that name in Egypt. But this hinders not but 
 the city Goshen in Canaan might be so called, as lying in 
 a fat good soil. 
 
 Joshua having thus, at one time, i. e. at one expedition, 25. 
 conquered all the southern tract of the land of Canaan, he ^[^''^^ ^^^_ 
 turns with his army to Gilgal ; where it is evident there rom. 
 was a fixed camp of the Israelites for a considerable time, 
 ^fter their first coming on the west of Jordan, Josh. x. 42, 
 43. After this, the kings in the north parts of Canaan, 
 hearing what success the Israelites had had in the soulii 
 parts, joined all their forces together, and came and 
 pitched at the waters of Merom, to fight against Israel. 
 By the waters of Merom are here denoted, as is probably 
 thought by learned men, the lake that lies between the 
 head of the river Jordan and the lake of Genesarcth, and 
 which was peculiarly styled the Semechonite lake. It is 
 nothing near so large as the lake of Genesareth, and the 
 tract about it marshy ground.
 
 3i6 The Geography of the Old Testament, 
 
 PART II. Near to these waters of Merom was situated (as Is con- 
 
 ^g jectured by the learned) Hazor, the regal city of Jabin, 
 Of Hazor. who was the chief and most powerful prince in those 
 parts, ver. lo. and who therefore it was (as we read 
 Josh. xi. I.) that summoned the other princes in the north 
 of Canaan to come and join him with their forces. Which 
 accordingly they did, and so encamped all together, near 
 the waters of Merom, or the Semechonite lake. But 
 being all entirely routed by the Israelites, Joshua took 
 Hazor, and also burnt it, and put the king thereof to the 
 sword. He took also the cities of the other kings, and 
 killed the kings, but did not burn any of the cities but 
 Hazor. 
 
 27. The other cities, the kings whereof joined Jabin king 
 Of Madon. of Hazor, and which are particularly specified, are the 
 
 cities of Madon, Shimron, and Achshaph. As to the 
 former of these, Madon, it is never mentioned in Scrip- 
 ture, but in relation to this fight, and then but barely 
 named, so that nothing more particular can be said of its 
 situation. Josh. xi. i. and xii. 19. 
 
 28. Shimron here is doubtless the same with Shimron- 
 Of Shim- meron, whose king is reckoned among the one and thirty 
 
 kings slain by Joshua, chap. xii. especially since the king 
 hereof is mentioned together with the kings of Madon, 
 Hazor, and Achshaph. It is also scarcely to be doubted 
 but this is the same with Shimron, reckcned among the 
 cities given to the tribe of Zebulun, chap. xix. ver. 15. 
 2C). Achshaph is mentioned only chap. xi. ver. i. and chap. 
 
 Of Ach- xii. ver. 20. and chap. xix. ver. 25. In the two former it 
 
 is mentioned in reference to the fight before spoken of; 
 
 in the latter place it is reckoned among the cities assigned 
 
 to the tribe of Asher. 
 
 30. Besides the kings of the cities already specified, we are 
 
 Of Cinne- ^^|j ^|^^j. j^j^jp g^jut to the kinffs of the plains south of 
 
 roth, and ^ r 
 
 the sea of Cinucroth, in the borders of Dor on the west ; chap. xi. 
 ver. 2. Now Cinneroth was an ancient city, that stood 
 on the sea of Galilee, and from which, as being of princi- 
 pal note, that sea is frequently styled in the Scripture of
 
 The Conqvest of Canaan. 317 
 
 the Old Testament, the sea of Cinneroth. And perhaps CHAP. IV. 
 from this old word Cinneroth or (as it is sometimes writ- 
 ten) Cinnereth, might be framed the word Genesaret; the 
 sea of Cinnereth being the same that is called the lake of 
 Genesaret in the New Testament. 
 
 Dor was a considerable city on the coast of the Medi- 31. 
 , . ■' , ^ J Of Dor. 
 
 terranean sea; whence it gave name to the country round 
 
 about it. It was given to the half tribe of Manasseh on 
 
 this, i. e. the west side of Jordan. Eusebius and Jerom 
 
 tell us, that it lay between Cesarea of Palestine (which is 
 
 simply called Cesarea in the New Testament) and Tyre ; 
 
 and Jerom adds, that it lay at the distance of nine miles 
 
 from Cesarea, and was gone quite to decay in his time, so 
 
 as to be uninhabited. 
 
 In ver. 3. of this eleventh chapter we read, that Jahin 32. 
 sent to the Hivite under Herman, in the land of Mizpeh;^!^.^^ J^ 
 and ver. 8. that the Israelites smote these Canaanites, and 
 chased them unto Great Zidon, and unto Mizrephoth-maim , 
 and unto the valley of Mizpeh eastward. The land of 
 Mizpeh here mentioned does denote the tract of mount 
 Gilead, otherwise called Mizpeh, as we learn from the 
 story of Jacob and Laban, Gen. xxxi. 49. And so the 
 valley of Mizpeh here spoken of must denote some valley 
 adjoining to mount Gilead. In like manner, the word 
 Gilead is frequently used to denote the whole tract of the 
 same mountain with the adjacent country, as far as to 
 mount Hermon, which together with mount Halak and 
 Seir are only branches of mount Lebanon ; and shall be 
 more peculiarly taken notice of, when we come to speak 
 of mount Lebanon. 
 
 Zidon is frequently mentioned in the New Testament, 33. 
 and so described in the geography thereof. Near to this ^^ Misre- 
 do writers agree in placing Misrephoth-maim, which maim, 
 word is understood by some appellatively, so as to denote 
 salt-pits ; others render it burnings of waters, and under- 
 stand it of sand dug out of this place, and melted down by 
 the heat of fire, for to make glass withal. They are led
 
 Of Jar 
 muth. 
 
 318 The Geography of the Old Teslamenl. 
 
 PART II. into this opinion, because this country abounds with sand 
 fit for this purpose. 
 
 34, The eleventh chapter of Joshua concludes with telling 
 us, that there was none of the Anakhns left in the land <f 
 Israel ; only in Gaza, and in Gath, and in Ashdod, ver. 22. 
 Gaza and Ashdod (this last being the same with Azotus in 
 the New Testament) have been spoken of already; and Gath 
 I shall have a more fit occasion to speak of hereafter. 
 I shall proceed therefore to take notice here of those cities 
 of the one and thirty kings, mentioned in the next chapter 
 as slain by the Israelites, that have not yet been spoken of. 
 And the first of this sort is the city of Jarmuth, ver. 11. 
 For though mention is made, chap. x. of the king of 
 Jerusalem's sending to the king of Jarmuth, yet no parti- 
 cular account is there given of the Israelites taking the 
 city of Jarmuth : for which reason it was not particularly 
 spoken of before. Tt was then one of the cities given to 
 the tribe of Judah, chap. xv. ver, 35. and, as Eusebius and 
 Jerom tell us, about four miles from Eleutheropolis ; but 
 in another place, under the name of Jermus, (which was 
 probably the same with Jarmuth,) the distance of it from 
 Eleutheropolis is by both the aforementioned writers 
 assigned to be ten miles ; which for some reasons is 
 thought by writers to be the truest. 
 
 35, The king of Geder was another of the kings slain by 
 Of Geder. \}^q Israelites, and whose city has not been yet spoken of. 
 
 And indeed it is no where else mentioned in the sacred 
 history, exactly under the same name. But it is very pro- 
 bable, that this Geder is the same either with Gederah, or 
 Gederoth, or Gedor, all distinctly mentioned. Josh. xv. '^6, 
 41, 58. as lying in the tribe of Judah ; but which of these 
 it is, cannot be determined. 
 
 36, Another city to be here taken notice of is Hormah, a 
 OfHor- city first assigned to the tribe of Judah, as appears from 
 
 chap. XV. ver. 30. but afterwards given to the tribe of Si- 
 meon, as we read, chap. xix. 4. Hence it follows, that it 
 lay in the south border of the land of Canaan, and there-
 
 The Conquest of Canaan. 319 
 
 fore may very well be the same place which we had men- CHAP. IV. 
 tion of in the journeys of the Israelites from Egypt; and 
 which was at first so named by the Israelites from the de- 
 feat the Israelites received from the Amalekites in the 
 neighbourhood thereof, Num. xiv. 45. Which name was 
 afterwards confirmed by an overthrow given by the Is- 
 raelites in the same parts to Arad, a Canaanite king, in 
 this south tract. 
 
 From this king Arad, or some other of the same name, 3/. 
 the city Arad (whose king is mentioned next to the king 
 of Hormah as slain by the Israelites) might probably take 
 its name. It is not to be doubted, but this city lay in the 
 south part of the land of Canaan, not only because of 
 what is said of king Arad, Num. xxi. i. and xxxiii. 40; 
 but also because we read of the wilderness ofJudah, which 
 lay in the south of Arad, i.e. in the south parts of the tribe 
 of Judah about the city Arad, Judg. i. 16. 
 
 Among the kings slain by Joshua is also the king of 38. 
 Adullam, a city assigned to the tribe of Judah, chap, xv.iam. 
 ver. 35. It is remarkable in the sacred history on account 
 of a cave in the neighbourhood thereof, whereunto David 
 retired, when he withdrew from Achish the king of Gath ; 
 and whither his brethren and all his father's house came 
 to him ; and whither every one that was in distress, or in 
 debt, or discontented, gathered themselves unto him, to 
 the number of about four hundred men, over whom he 
 became captain, i Sam. xxii. i. Eusebius tells us, that 
 it was in his days a very great town, about ten miles to the 
 east of Eleutheropolis; and Jerom says, that in his days it 
 was not a small town. 
 
 Another city here to be taken notice of is Tappuah, Sp. 
 chap. xii. ver. 17. We find a city of this name mentioned ^^j^''''' 
 among the cities of the tribe of Judah, chap. xv. ver. 34. 
 and chap. xvi. 8. and xvii. 8. we find also a Tappuah men- 
 tioned, as lying on the border of Manasseh, but belong- 
 ing to the children of Ephraim. It is scarcely possible to 
 suppose both these to be one and the same place ; and it 
 is as hard to determine, which of them (supposing them
 
 320 The Geography of the Old Testament. 
 
 PART II. two distinct places) it was, that had its king slain by 
 Joshua. 
 
 40. The city Hcpher is here mentioned but ver. 17. of this 
 ^ d^^'h^k ^^"^^ chapter of Joshua. And as this city Aphek is men- 
 tioned ver. 18. so we find a city of that name among them 
 that were given to the tribe of Asher, chap. xix. ver. 30. 
 There is also mention made chap. xv. ver. 53. of a place 
 called Aphekah, lying in the tribe of Judah. And because 
 there is a very small difference between Aphek and Aphe- 
 kah, and no other than what is frequently to be observed 
 in Scripture history, in raference to one and the same 
 place; hence it becomes uncertain, which is the Aphek, 
 the king whereof was slain by Joshua. 
 
 41. The king of Lasharon is mentioned next, a name only 
 
 Of Lasha- mentioned here in all the Scripture; unless, as some con- 
 ion. ^ . . 
 
 jecture, the first syllable of it La is to be looked on as an 
 
 article, and so the name itself be Sharon ; which occurs 
 
 both in the Old and New Testament. In the latter we find 
 
 it mentioned, Acts ix. 35. as a city or town not far from 
 
 Lydda, and which therefore might be the city, the king 
 
 whereof was killed by Joshua. There is also mention of 
 
 a city called Sharon, i Chron. v. 16. but this being there 
 
 attributed to the Gadites, who lived on the east of Jordan, 
 
 it cannot be understood of the Sharon, or Lasharon, which 
 
 is spoken of in this twelfth chapter. Eusebius and Jerom 
 
 tell us, that all the country from Cesarea to Joppa was 
 
 called Saron ; and also, that the country between mount 
 
 Tabor and the lake of Tiberias was called by the like 
 
 name. The country of Sharon is represented as a fruitful 
 
 and pleasant tract. Cant. ii. i. and in more than one place 
 
 of Isaiah. In the former it is particularly taken notice of 
 
 on account of its roses ; in the prophecy of Isaiah it is 
 
 represented as having excellent pasturage. 
 
 42. Taanach, the king whereof was slain by Joshua, is a 
 OfTaa- city, which is several times mentioned in Scripture. It 
 
 nach. . , 
 
 was given to the half tribe of Manasseh, on the west of 
 Jordan, and was a Levitical city. Eusebius and Jerom tell 
 us, that there was standing in their time a town of this
 
 The Conquest of Canaan. 321 
 
 naniCj being four miles distant from Legeon, another town chap. \v. 
 frequently mentioned in the geographical treatise of Ease- 
 bius; but it being not certain where this Legeon itself 
 stood, thence the distances of other places from it are but 
 of little use to us. It seems probable from Judg. v. 19 — 
 
 21. that Taanach lay not far from the river Kishon, nor 
 yet from the city of Megiddo, of which next. 
 
 Megiddo did also appertain to the half tribe of Manas- '*3. 
 seh on the west of Jordan; but the Canaanites continued do. 
 to dwell in it, being tributary to the Israelites, Josh. xvii. 
 II, 12. It was one of the cities rebuilt by Solomon, 
 I Kings ix. 15. And it is farther remarkable in the sacred 
 history for the death of two kings of Judah, viz. of Aha- 
 ziah and Josias. 
 
 Another of the kings slain by Joshua and the Israelites 44. 
 was the king of Kedesh. There are two distinct places of ^ " '* 
 this name; one lying in the tribe of Judah, Josh. xv. 23. 
 and the other lying in the tribe of Nephtali, mentioned 
 chap. xix. ver. 37. and in several other places of Scripture. 
 It is not certainly to be determined, which Kedesh it was, 
 the king whereof is mentioned chap. xii. ver. 22. but it is 
 highly probable that it was Kedesh-Naphtali, as it is 
 sometimes expressly called in Scripture by way of distinc- 
 tion from that of the tribe of Judah. The reasons for this 
 opinion are these two ; that Kedesh of the tribe of Judah . 
 appears throughout the whole Scripture history to have 
 been of little note, especially in comparison to Kedesh- 
 Naphtali, which was not only a Levitical city, but also 
 one of the six cities of refuge, as appears from chap. xx. 
 ver. 7. where it is styled Kedesh in Galil-ee in mount 
 Nephtali. The other reason is, that in this chap. xii. ver. 
 
 22. it is named in the midst of several other cities, lying in 
 these northern parts of Canaan. Of this town was Barak, ' 
 who, by the direction of Deborah thcvprophetess, led the 
 Israelites, that vanquished the army of Sisera, a general of . 
 Jabin king of Hazor, Judg. iv. &c. 
 
 Jokneam (the king whereof is mentioned next to that 45. 
 of Kedesh) was a city near the mountain Carmel, whence ^'^•'°''" 
 
 "' neam. 
 
 VOL. I. Y
 
 32a The Geography of the Old Testament. 
 
 PART II. it Is here styled, ver. 22. Jokneam of Carniel. It lay in 
 the tribe of Zebulun, and was one of the Levitical cities 
 in that tribe. 
 46. The last king mentioned in Josh. xii. is the king of Tir- 
 
 OfTirzah. jjah, a city frequently mentioned in the sacred history, 
 forasmuch as it was for a long time the regal city of the 
 kings of Israel, after the ten tribes revolted from the house 
 of David. Indeed Jeroboam, who was the first king of 
 Israel, though he dwelt for some time at Shechem ; yet 
 he seems to have, in his latter days at least, fixed his royal 
 residence at Tirzah, as may be probably inferred from 
 I Kings xiv. 17. And the succeeding kings of Israel kept 
 their residence in the same city, till that Omri, having 
 reigned six years in Tirzah, built Samaria, and removed 
 the royal seat thither, where it continued all along after- 
 wards, till a final period was put to the kingdom of Israel. 
 The reason, which induced the former kings of Israel to 
 make choice of Tirzah for the place of their residence, 
 may be very probably gathered from Cant. vi. 4. where 
 we find this expression : Thou art hea^itiful, my love^ as 
 Tirzah. For hence it appears, that Tirzah was a very 
 beautiful, and so pleasant, city to dwell in. But notwith- 
 standing it was the seat-royal of the former kings of Israel, 
 and is often mentioned in Scripture ; yet there is nothing 
 said any where therein of it, from which the situation of it 
 may be with any certainty determined. Nor is any light 
 afforded us herein from Josephus, Eusebius, or any other< 
 good author. So that {here can be nothing more pro- 
 duced, than conjecture built upon some degree of proba- 
 bility. Since therefore Jeroboam was of the tribe of 
 Ephraim, it is thought that he would be thereby inclined 
 to make clwice of a place within his own tribe, for his re- 
 gal city. And this opinion is thought to be further con- 
 firmed from this, that the name Ephraim is frequently 
 used in Scripture to denote the whole kingdom of Israel, 
 because (among other reasons) the capital city of the said 
 kingdom was situated in that tribe. 
 
 There remains still one king more to be spoken of.
 
 The Co7ique!>t of Canaan. 323- 
 
 which I Imve reserved to this last place, (though not men- CHAP. iv. 
 tioned last in this twelftii chapter of Joshua,) partly be- ~ 
 cause he is not said to have been the king of a city, as all of the king 
 the others are, but ihe k'wp of the nations of GiltraL at °.^ '^^ "^" 
 
 ' . ./ b ' tions of 
 
 least as the words are rendered in our English and other Gilgai. 
 translations ; and partly, because one good means to dis- 
 cover the true meaning of this expression may be this, to 
 consider together all the other kings mentioned in this 
 chapter, from ver. g. to ver. 24. and then to consider whe- 
 ther any tract remains in the land of Canaan, about Gil- 
 gal, wherein none of these kings were seated, and which 
 consequently might be denoted by the Jiations of Gilgai. 
 The only king then mentioned near Gilgai in this chapter 
 is the king of Jericho, which lay to the west of Gilgai. 
 To the south of Jericho, and so of Gilgai, lay the Salt sea. 
 But to the north of Gilgai, towards and as far as the sea 
 of Cinneroth or Galilee, is a considerable tract, within 
 which it does not appear that there was seated any one of 
 the cities, the kings whereof are related here to be slain 
 by the Israelites. Whence it follows, that by the nations 
 of Gilgai may be denoted the inhabitants of this tract. 
 Some take Goim, which we render the iiations, to be a 
 proper name ; and so it might be but the name of one 
 city lying on the north of Gilgai. Others suppose Gilgai 
 to be a corrupt reading for Gelil, and consequently that 
 by the nations of Gilgai, or rather Gelil, is denoted the 
 country elsewhere called in Scripture, Galilee of the 
 Nations or Gentiles. These are the several chiefest opi- 
 nions; and the reader is left to follow which he pleases, 
 nothing of certainty being determinable. 
 
 In the following chapters of Joshua, viz. from chap. xiii. 43. 
 to xxi. inclusively, after a short account of what then re-^^'^^'^'''** 
 mained of the land of Canaan unconquered by the Israel- 
 ites ; and a recapitulation of the division of the country 
 beyond Jordan by Moses between the two tribes of Gad 
 and Reuben, and the half tribe of Manasseh ; there follows 
 an account of the division of the land of Canaan itself 
 between the other nine tribes, and the other half ti ihe of 
 
 V 2
 
 324 ^^^ Geography of the Old Testament. 
 
 PART II. Manasseh ; of which I shall speak distinctly in thefollow- 
 ing chapter of this treatise. I shall here proceed with the 
 history of the book of Joshua, to the end thereof; and, in 
 relation hereunto, there is nothing to be here remarked in 
 all the forementioned chapters, but the assembling of the 
 whole congregation of the children of Israel at Shiloh, 
 and setting up there the tabernacle of the congregation, 
 which is mentioned chap, xviii. ver. i. It is to be ob- 
 served, that in this tabernacle was the ark kept. And ac- 
 cordingly we find, that the ark remained here in Shiloh, 
 not only all the remainder of Joshua's life, but also all the 
 times of the judges of Israel, to the time of Samuel the 
 prophet, and just before the death of Eli the priest; as ap- 
 pears from I Sam. iv. 3, &cc. This place was situated in 
 the tribe of Ephraim, about ten or twelve miles from 
 Neapolis, (or Sichem,) in the Acrabatene region, as Euse- 
 bius and Jerom inform us. Others tell us, that it lay but 
 two hours travelling from Jerusalem, and consequently in 
 the south part of the tribe of Ephraim. Some will have 
 the ark to be placed here by the immediate direction of 
 God, because it is said, Deut. xii. 10, ii. When ye go over 
 Jordan, and dwell in the land; — then there shall he a place 
 which the Lord shall choose to cause his name to dwell thexe, 
 8cc. But this seems rather to be understood of Jerusalem, 
 that being all along in Scripture said to be the place, 
 where God caused his name to dwell; and the royal 
 Psalmist expressly says, that God chose not the tribe of 
 Ephraim, but the tribe of Judah, for an habitation for 
 himself, Psal. Ixxviii. 67, 68. and cxxxii. 13. The reason 
 therefore of placing the ark in the tribe of Ephraim, at 
 first, might be no other than this, because Joshua was him- 
 self of that tribe ; who was to be, during his life, the chief 
 administrator of the government; and therefore it was 
 but proper for the tabernacle and the ark to be in the 
 same tribe. It is further to be remarked here, that, toge- 
 ther with the tabernacle and ark, the camp of the Israel- 
 ites was removed from Gilgal to Shiloh, that is, the camp 
 of the seven tribes, that had not yet their lots assigned
 
 The Conquest of Canaan. 325 
 
 them. For before the removal to Shiloh we find, that chap. iv. 
 only the two tribes of Judah and Ephraim and the half 
 tribe of Manasseh had their inheritances allotted them : 
 the description of which therefore is contained in the 
 preceding chapters, viz. xv. xvi. and xvii. Whereas the 
 division of the land among the other seven tribes (Benja- 
 min, Simeon, Zebulun, Issachar, Asser, Nephtali, and 
 Dan) is not related till after the removal to Shiloh, viz. 
 chap, xviii. and xix. In chap xx. and xxi. we have an ac- 
 count of the cities of refuge, and of the Levitical cities, 
 and in chap. xxii. of Joshua's dismissing the tribes of Reu- 
 ben and Gad, together with the half tribe of Manasseh on 
 the east of Jordan, in order to their return to their own 
 inheritances. 
 
 Then chap, xxiii. and xxiv. the book of Joshua con- 49, 
 eludes, with giving an account of his exhortation to the ^^^'g'^^jj^ 
 Israelites before his death, and his renewing the covenant 
 between God and them at Shechem j and that he died at 
 the age of an hundred and ten years, and was buried in 
 the border of his inheritance in Timnath-serah, which is in 
 mount Ephraim, on the north side of the hillof Gaash, chap, 
 xxiv. ver. 30. We find chap. xix. ver. 50. that this city 
 was given by the Israelites to Joshua, upon his choice 
 thereof, and upon God's direction to them for to gratify 
 so worthy a person in such his request. It lay in mount 
 Ephraim, i. e. in the mountainous, and so the southern 
 part of that tribe, wherein (as we before observed) lay also 
 Shiloh. As to the expression, on the north side of the hill 
 of Gaash, it is capable of several senses, either that the 
 city took up the north part of the said hill, or that it lay 
 northwards of the said hill, or that Joshua was buried on 
 the north part of the hill, or northwards of it. The city 
 is, by a transposition of two letters in the latter part of 
 the name, otherwise called Timnath-heres, Judg. ii. 9. 
 Eusebius and Jerom suppose this to have been the same 
 with Timnath in the tribe of Dan, (mention whereof is 
 made in the history of Sampson ;) but this must be a mis- 
 take, it being expressly said in the text above cited, that it 
 
 Y 3
 
 3a6 The Geography of the Old Teslumcnl. 
 
 PART II. lay in mount Ephraim. It seems probable from Judg. 5. 
 35. that TImnath-serah or Timnath-heres lay near to the 
 tribe of Dan, for there we read of mount Heres in Aijalon 
 belonging to the children of Dan. But on one part of 
 this mount probably lay Tinmath-hercs, where the sepul- 
 chre of Joshua was shewn in the days of Eusebius and 
 Jeron). 
 50. As to Gaash, we have it mentioned in Scripture only in 
 
 OfGaash. reference to Joshua, and in the catalogue of David's 
 mighty men ; among whom was Hidden of the brooks or 
 valleys of Gaash, 1 Sam. xxiii. 30. which brooks or valleys 
 might be so called, as adjoining to the foot of the hill 
 Gaash. And thus we have gone through the geogra- 
 phical part of the book of Joshua, excepting what relates 
 to the division of the land of Canaan among the nine tribes 
 and a half, which we come now to speak of in the chapter 
 following.
 
 The Division of Canaan. 327 
 
 CHAP. V. 
 
 Of the Division of the Land of Canaan, and the Levilical 
 CiiieSj and Cities of Refuge ; as also of the more remark- 
 able Mountains or Hills, lying round or within the whole 
 Land of Israel. 
 
 in the book of Joshua we have an account given us l. 
 
 As 
 
 of the conquest of Canaan by the Israelites, so in the same jj^^^^^j^J^^^'' 
 we have also given us an account of the division of theguisiiediu- 
 said country among the Israelites. For the better under- tribes. 
 standing of which division, it seems requisite to observe 
 here, that the Israelites (so called, as being the descendants 
 of Jacob, otherwise named by God hin)self Israel) were 
 distinguished into twelve tribes, according to the number 
 of the immediate sons of Israel, who are therefore styled 
 the twelve Patriarchs, as being the heads of the said tribes, 
 Acts vii. 9. 
 
 Now the names of the twelve Patriarchs, according to 2. 
 the order of their birth, were these : Reuben, Simeon, of \hc^"^" 
 Levi, Judah, Dan, Naphtali, Gad, Asher, Issachar, Zebu- twelve 
 lun, Joseph, and Benjamin. Of these Reuben, Simeon, 
 Levi, Judah, Issachar, and Zebulun, were born to Israel 
 by his wife Leah ; Joseph and Benjamin, by his wife Ra- 
 chel; Dan and Naphtali, by Bilhah, Rachel's maid; and 
 Gad and Asher, by Zilpah, Leah's maid. And it is re- 
 markable, that this last order (not that of their nativity or 
 birth) is observed by Moses, in naming the Patriarchs, 
 that went down with Jacob into Egypt, Cxod. i. 2 — 4. 
 
 Of these twelve tribes, it pleased God to choose that of 3. 
 
 Levi to minister about holy things, and to wait at his altar, tribes, 
 
 and therefore to ordain, that this tribe should live or be^i"ong 
 
 maintained of the things of the temple, and should be par- land of Is- 
 
 takers with the altar ; and so be freed from the common "^^ 7^^ '^'" 
 
 , ... vided, now 
 
 concerns of life. Hereupon in the division of the land of to be rec- 
 Canaan, as also of the country beyond Jordan, though °"^ "P" 
 
 Y 4
 
 338 The Geography of the Old Testament. 
 
 VART II. the whole was divided into twelve parts, according to the 
 number of the tribes, yet not one of these twelve parts 
 was allotted to the tribe of Levi. But the two branches 
 of the posterity of Joseph, viz. Elphraim and Manasseh, 
 were reckoned as two distinct tribes, and so had distinct 
 divisions allotted them. Whence the twelve tribes, in a 
 geographical sense, or among whom the land of Canaan 
 and the country beyond Jordan were divided, are to be 
 reckoned up thus, according to their geographical order 
 or situation, beginning from the south of the land of Ca- 
 naan, viz. the tribe of Judah, Simeon, Dan, Benjamin, 
 Ephraim, Manasseh, (namely, one half of it,) Issachar, Ze- 
 bulun, Asher, Naphtali, (these lay all west of Jordan; and 
 to the east of that river, besides the other half of the tribe 
 of Manasseh, lay the two remaining tribes of) Gad and 
 Reuben. Of each of these I shall speak, in the order 
 wherein they have been here reckoned up. 
 4. To begin then with the tribe of Judah, the most con- 
 
 of Judah. siderable, as upon other accounts, so especially because our 
 blessed Lord was descended of it. And it is not to be 
 thought, that it was merely casual, that, in the division 
 of the land of Canaan, regard was primarily had to this 
 tribe ; and that accordingly, in the sacred history, the lot 
 which fell to this tribe is first taken notice of, namely. 
 Josh. XV. 
 .^. In this chapter we are told, ver. i. that the lot of the 
 
 border. "" ^^ibe of Judah was next to the border of Edom, i. e. in the 
 southern part of the land of Canaan. And then from ver. 
 2. to ver. 12. we have the bounds of this tribe specified as 
 to the four quarters of the world. We learn, ver. 2 — 4. 
 that the south border thereof was from the shore of the Salt 
 sea, and more particularly yro7/z the bay of it that looks 
 southward, i. e. from the south part of the Salt sea, or As- 
 phaltite lake, which is narrowed into the shape of a bay. 
 This was the east end of the south border, which from 
 hence stretched itself west ward, pai-^i/?^ along to Zin, (men- 
 tioned in the journeys of the Israelites, and there seems to 
 be otherwise called Kadcsb,) and thence going up on the
 
 The Division of Cayiaan. 329 
 
 south side to (the other Kadesh near the wilderness of Pa- chap. v. 
 ran, and for distinction sake called) Kadesh-harnea, and so 
 coming unto the river of Egypt, (lying, as has been already 
 observed, near Gaza on the west side,) and so running 
 along with the course of that river to the Mediterranean 
 sea. Such was the south coast of the tribe of Judah. 
 
 Its east coast or border was the length of the Salt sea, 6. 
 from its southern point to its northern, even nnto the end^l^^^^"^ 
 of Jordan, i. e. unto the north part of the Salt sea, where 
 Jordan falls into it. Compare Josh, xviii. 19. 
 
 The border in the north quarter was from the bay of the 7- 
 Salt sea, which is at the uttermost part of the river Jordan, ern'b'order 
 (that is, where Jordan empties itself into the Salt sea; and^ndwest- 
 so this north border was in short from the north bay or 
 end of the Salt sea.) Hence it ran westward by the valley 
 of Achor, and by Enrogel, and so by the valley of the son 
 of Hinnom, to the south side of Jerusalem, thence to the top 
 of the mountain that lies before the valley of Hinnom west- 
 ward, which is at the end of the valley of Giants north- 
 ward. Thence the border luas drawn to Kirjath-jearim, 
 and so passed along unto the side of mount Jearim, and went 
 down to Bethshemesh, and passed on to Timnah ; and so to 
 the side of Ekron northward, arid the goings out or end of 
 this north border westward ivere at the Mediterranean sea. 
 And this same Great sea (the name whereby in Scripture 
 is denoted the Mediterranean sea) luas the west border of 
 this tribe. 
 
 In Josh. xix. i — 9. we read that the lot came forth for 8, 
 the tribe of Simeon, and that its inheritance was luithinT^^ ^^l^^' 
 
 ' . . tionofthc 
 
 the inheritance of the children of Judah, or out of the p or- tube of Si- 
 
 lion af first allotted to the children of Judah. For thepart^^^'^' 
 f the children of Judah was too much for them. Therefore 
 the children of Simeon had their inheritance within the in- 
 heritance of them. Accordingly the same cities, which we 
 find ch. XV. ver. 26 — 33. allotted at first to the tribe of 
 Judah, are afterwards, ch. xix. ver. 2—8. assigned to the 
 tribe of Simeon. And, forasmuch as these cities appear 
 from chap. xv. ver. 21. to be some of the uttermost cities of
 
 330 The Geography of the Old Te.slamenl. 
 
 PART II, the tribe of the children ofJudah, toward the coast of Edom 
 southward ; hence it is not without good reason, that the 
 tribe of Simeon is placed in the south part of the tribe of 
 Judah, after such a manner as may be better apprehended 
 by looking on the map belonging to this chapter, than de- 
 scribed by words. 
 9< In like manner, because by comparing Josh. xv. 33, &c. 
 
 tionofthe ^^^''^^ ^^^' 4^' ^^' '*- ^PP^ars, that some other of the cities 
 tribe of at first allotted to the tribe of Judah were afterwards as- 
 signed to the tribe of Dan; hence it is rationally supposed, 
 that the inheritance of the tribe of Dan was within the 
 inheritance of the tribe of Judah; and consequently it is, 
 I think with universal agreement, placed by geographers 
 in the western part of the portion at first allotted to the 
 children of Judah. As to the more particular situation 
 thereof, there is not so universal an agreement ; some 
 making it to take up at the north-west part of the portion 
 at first allotted to the tribe of Judah, and so to join on to 
 the tribe of Benjamin or Ephraim ; others supposing some 
 part of the tribe of Judah to come in between those of 
 Dan and Benjamin, or Ephraim. 
 10. To the north, at least to the north-east, of the tribe of 
 
 The situa- j^jjai-, ^y^g situated the tribe of Benjamin : as is evident 
 
 tion or the _ _ J _ ^ 
 
 tribe of from Comparing Josh, xviii. 15 — 19. with xv. 5 — 9. For 
 enjamin. ^^^ same border, which is assigned in this last place for the 
 north border of Judah, is in the former place assigned for 
 the south border of Benjamin. Whence it follows, that 
 these two tribes must be contiguous one to the other, 
 Judah lying to the south, and Benjamin to the north. 
 Th2^. Jordan was the border of this tribe on the east side, we 
 are expressly told Josh, xviii. 20. And we read in the 
 same chapter, ver. 12 — 14. that the border on the north 
 side \va.sf7'om Jordan to the side of Jericho, on the north side 
 thereof, and luent np th?-ough the mountains ivestward, and 
 the goings out thereof were at the wilderness of Beth- av en. 
 Hence seems to be reckoned the west border, when it is 
 said, ver. 13, 14. that the border went over from the7ice to- 
 ivards Bethel, to the side of Bethel southward, and thence
 
 The Division of Caiiami. 33 r 
 
 descended near the hill that lies on the south side of the ne- CHAP. V. 
 ther Betk-horon; and was drawn thence, and compassed the ~ 
 
 corner of the west southward, from the hill that lies before 
 Beth-horon southward ; and the goings otit thereof luere at 
 Kirjath-jearim, a city of the children of Judah. This was 
 the west quarter. 
 
 It is not to be omitted, that there are some who make ^ ' • 
 the tribe of Benjamin to extend from tlie river Jordan east- cleared. 
 ward to the Mediterranean sea westward. And this opi- 
 nion seems to be entirely grounded on the Hebrew ex- 
 pression used in the beginning of the fourteenth verse: 
 where, according to a literal translation, it is said of the 
 west border, that it compassed the cor?ier of the sea south' 
 ward. But it is evident enough from what is said in other 
 places of Scripture, that the tribe of Benjamin did not 
 reach to the sea westward. And indeed it is, I think, 
 plainly enough intimated in ver. 12. of this very chapter, 
 that the Hebrew word signifying the sea is not to be in 
 this description understood literally, but figuratively, so as 
 to import the west, on which side the sea (i.e. the Great 
 or Mediterranean sea) lay. Hence the word in our Eng- 
 lish translation is rendered ver. 12. as importing, not the 
 sea, but the west ; and so it would, I conceive, have been 
 best rendered in the fourteenth verse also. And the plain 
 meaning of the expression there used, viz. compassed the 
 corner of the west, seen)s to be this, that the west border 
 did there make an angle or corner, as may be seen in the 
 map. 
 
 To the north of the tribe of Benjamin was situated the 12. 
 
 lot that fell to the children of Joseph; as is clear from ^j^^^^^^j- 
 
 Josh. xviii. 11. where it is said, that the coast of the lot o/'Ephraim, 
 
 Benjamin came forth between the children of Judah a?id the^J^lyQ^{^^, 
 
 children of Joseph. Since therefore the children of Judah "^sseh, 
 
 west ot 
 lay to the south of the children of Benjamin, it follows, Jordan. 
 
 that the children of Joseph lay to the north of them. It 
 
 is also evident from Josh. xvi. i — 3. that the lot of the 
 
 children of Joseph reached from Jordan eastward to the 
 
 Mediterranean sea westward ; and from comparing chap.
 
 ^^2 The Geography of the Old Testament. 
 
 PART 11. xvi. ver. 7. with chap. xvii. ver. 11. it appears, that it 
 reached from the tribe of Benjamin southwards to the 
 tribe of Asher and Issachar northward. Lastly, it is also 
 clear, that, of the two branches of the house of Joseph, 
 the lot that appertained to Ephraim was south to that 
 which appertained to Manasseh, as to the main. For from 
 chap. xvi. ver. 5 — 7. it appears, that the tribe of Ephraim 
 bordered on the tribe of Benjamin, Ataroth-addar and .Je- 
 richo being mentioned as lying in the coast of Ephraim, 
 as well as they are mentioned in the coast of Benjamin, 
 chap, xviii. ver. 12, 13. As for the more particular de- 
 scription, either of the general coast of the children of Jo- 
 seph, or of the particular coasts, which bounded Ephraim 
 from Manasseh, it carries in it a great deal of obscurity, 
 and consequently of difficulty, and therefore I have not 
 troubled the reader here with it. Only it must be noted, 
 that what is here said of Manasseh is to be understood of 
 that half of it, which was situated on the west of Jordan. 
 
 13. To the north, and more particularly to the north-east, 
 SVs^achaT °^ ^^^® half tribe of Manasseh lay the tribe of Issachar; the 
 
 coast or border whereof went by Jezreel, and the famous 
 mountain Tabor; and its outgoings were at Jordan, Josh. 
 xix. 17 — 33. Some extend this tribe quite to the Medi- 
 terranean sea. But it being plainly said. Josh. xvii. 10. 
 that the lots of Ephraim and Manasseh met together in 
 Asher on the north, and 171 Issachar on the east ; hence it 
 seems necessarily to follow, that Issachar could not reach 
 westward to the sea. 
 
 14. To the north and west of Issachar lay the tribe of Zebu- 
 o/zebuV'n^^""' That it lay to the north, is agreed on by geogra- 
 phers. And that it must turn round likewise to the west 
 of Issachar, seems easy enough to be inferred from Judg. v. 
 19. For there is mention made of Taanach and Megiddo, 
 two cities of the half tribe of Manasseh, as lying near or 
 upon the river Kishon ; which is agreed to be one of the 
 boundaries of Zebulun, forasmuch as in this tribe lay 
 mount Tabor, from which the river Kishon arises. In 
 short, the Jewish historian Josephus tells us, that the tribe
 
 The Division of Canaan, 333 
 
 of Asher, the tribe of Zebulun, and half tribe of Manasseh, chap. v. 
 came up all of them to mount Carmel. Jewish Antiq. " 
 
 book V. chap. i. 
 
 From what has been already said occasionally, it plainly 15. 
 appears, that the tribe of Asher lay to the north of the^/^^^JJ''^^ 
 half tribe of Manasseh, and to the west of Zebulun, and 
 consequently was a maritime country. Hence it is said of 
 the people thereof in the Song of Deborah, Judg. v. 17. 
 Asher continued on the seu'shore, and abode in his creeks. 
 The length of this tribe is clearly set out in the sacred ac- 
 count of it ; inasmuch as therein it is said, that it reached 
 to mount Carmel, and to great Zidon ; the former where- 
 of was its boundary to the south, as the latter was to the 
 north, being the boundary of the whole land of Canaan 
 on this north point. Gen. x. 19. So that within this tribe 
 lay also the strong and celebrated city Tyre, called by the 
 Hebrews, Tzor or Zor; whence the whole adjoining coun- 
 try came to have the name of Syria given it by the 
 Greeks. Within the same tribe lay also the city Achzib, 
 probably thought to be the same that by the Greeks was 
 called Ecdippa ; and which at present is called Zib ; and 
 also Accho, once a celebrated port, and called by the 
 Greeks Ptolemais, but now-a-days it goes by a name 
 somewhat resembling, if not framed from, its old name, 
 viz. Acra or Acri. 
 
 Of the nine tribes and a half, that lay on the west of 16. 
 Jordan, there remains now only one to be mentioned, pfj^g^j^*[^^i'^ 
 which is the tribe of Nephtali orNaphtali. And this took 
 up most of the northern part of the land of Canaan, lying 
 between mount Lebanon to the north, and the tribe of 
 Zebulun and the sea of Cinneroth to the south ; and be- 
 tween Asher to the west, and the river Jordan to the east. 
 Josh. xix. 34. There is indeed in this verse no mention 
 made, that Nephtali reached to the sea of Cinneroth ; but 
 it is plain to be inferred from the next verse, where Cin- 
 nereth (from which the sea took that name) is mentioned 
 as one of the fenced cities of Nephtali. 
 
 Before we leave this tribe, we must take notice of a
 
 334 'flif- Gengrap/u/ of the Old Testament. 
 
 PART II. difficulty, which occurs as to the description given of its 
 
 J- extent in the forecited Josh, xix.34. The words whereof 
 A difficulty run thus : The coast — reaches to 'Zehuloii o?i the south side, 
 ^° ^^ ' and reaches to Asher on the west side, and to Jndah upon 
 Jordan toward the sun-rising. It is then asked, liow 
 Nephtali could be said to reach to Judah, when there were 
 several tribes situated between. And to solve this ques- 
 tion, commentators have produced several expositions, but 
 such as to me seem to be forced. I shall not here stand 
 to shew the weakness of the opinions produced by them ; 
 but shall only observe, that it seems most natural and 
 easy, by Judah here to understand, not the tribe of that 
 name, and lying at a considerable distance, but rather 
 some place so called, and lying on the river Jordan in the 
 border of Nephtali eastward. Had the tribe of Judah 
 been here meant, there had been no occasion for adding 
 thereto the word Jordan ; nor could it be properly added, 
 that tribe lying not upon Jordan. Whereas the tribe 
 being not meant, but some other place, hence it became 
 requisite to distinguish this place from the tribe of Judah, 
 by calling it Jndah of Jordan or upon Jordan, this name 
 being not truly applicable to the tribe of Judah; foras- 
 much as that lay wholly on the Salt sea, the north border 
 of it beginning eastward, y)om the hay of the Salt sea, at 
 the nitermost part of Jordan, Josh. xv. 5. and as it is ex- 
 pressed more clearly Josh, xviii. ig.from the north bay of 
 the Salt sea, at the south end of Jordan. For the north 
 border of Judah was the same with the south border of 
 ' Benjamin, as far as this last reached westward. What I 
 have here offered receives some strength from the Seventy 
 Interpreters ; who take no notice of the word Judah, 
 but only of the river Jordan, which they make the eastern 
 border of Nephtali, agreeably to truth. Whence it fol- 
 lows, that either there was no such word in the copy or 
 copies they used, but that it has since crept in some how 
 or other ; or else if the word Jehudah or Judah was in 
 their copies, they were apprehensive it could not be 
 rationally understood of the tribe of Judah, but nujst be
 
 The Divhmi of Canaan, 335 
 
 understood of some place lying on the river Jordan in the CHAP. V. 
 borders of Nephtali. And because they did not know at 
 that time of day where the place was, which was so par- 
 ticularly distinguished by the name oiJiidah upon Jordan, 
 therefore they thought it advisable to make no mention of 
 it, but to mention only Jordan (on which it stood) as the 
 east border of Nephtali. 
 
 And thus I have shewn the situation of the nine tribes, 18. 
 and the half tribe that lay on the west of Jordan. As for J,^f Jf P/'^' 
 
 -' live SltUo." 
 
 the other two tribes and a half, that lay on the east oftionofthe 
 Jordan, T have spoken of them before, chap. iii. §. 17 — 19' of Jordan, 
 and therefore shall only observe here further, what tribes '« 'hose 
 lay on each side of Jordan, opposite one to the other, of the same 
 Over-against then the tribes of Nephtali and Zebulon, and"^'^^*^- 
 the upper part of Issachar on the west of Jordan, lay on 
 the east of that river the half tribe of Manasseh. And 
 over-against the lower or southern part of Issachar, and 
 the other half tribe of Manasseh on the west, lay the tribe 
 of Gad to the east. And lastly, over-against the children 
 of Joseph, and the tribes of Benjamin and the north part 
 of the tribe of Judah, on the west, lay the tribe of Reuben 
 to the east. 
 
 In laying down the situation of the forementioned 19. 
 tribes, I have purposely avoided mentioning abundance of concern^nc 
 names, (some of cities or towns, others of other places,) the method 
 which are mentioned on this account in the sacred his- (legcribing 
 tory ; forasmuch as they are most of them very seldom tlie situa- 
 mentioned any where else m the sacred history ; and tribes, &c. 
 therefore are not only of uncertain situation, but also of 
 very little use to be known by us, as giving little or no 
 light to the understanding of the more remarkable trans- 
 actions recorded in the sacred volumes. Such places as 
 are requisite to be known in reference to such more re- 
 markable transactions, and of whose situation we have 
 any account worth the taking notice of, I have judged it 
 more proper to speak of as the said transactions occur in 
 the series of the sacred history, than here under their se- 
 veral tribes, to which they appertained.
 
 336 Tile Geagruijlnj of Uw Old Testcutwnf. 
 
 PART 11. There are Indeed two or three sorts of cities which I 
 ~ judged proper to take notice of here, (at least in general,) 
 OftheLe- though many of them may be remarkable on no other 
 vitical account in the sacred history, than for those I am going 
 to speak of. It has been above observed, that, in the di- 
 vision of the land, the Levites had no part among the rest 
 of the Israelites ; for the priesthood of the Lord ivas their 
 inheritarice. However they could not be without habita- 
 tion; and therefore there were certain cities assigned them 
 to dwell in, which from thence are generally styled the Le- 
 vitical cities. Of these we have a very particular account 
 Josh. xxi. For the better understanding whereof, it must 
 be observed, that Levi had three sons, Gershon, Kohath, 
 and Merari; and that of Kohath was descended Aaron 
 the priest, or high-priest. 
 
 21. Now as the division of the land of Canaan was assigned 
 Theirnum-to each tribe by lot, so also were the cities assigned to 
 method each branch of the Levites by lot. Thus we read. Josh, 
 werea'-^ xxi. 4 — 7. that the children of Aaron the priest had hy lot, 
 signed to out of the tribes of Judah, Simeon, and Benjamin, thirteen 
 families of (^^t^^s : and the rest of the Kohathites had hy lot, out of the 
 the Levites. tribes of Ep/iraim, Dan, and the half tribe of Manasseh 
 
 westward, ten cities. And the children of Gershon had by 
 lot, out of the tribes of Issachar, Asher,'and Naphtali, a?id 
 out of the half tribe of Manasseh in Bashan, i. e. on the 
 east of Jordan, thirteen cities. And the children of Merari 
 had, out of the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and Zebulun, twelve 
 cities. So that the number of the Levjtical cities were in 
 all forty-eight. 
 
 22. Among these Levitical cities there were, as is above 
 Of the said, thirteen assigned to the children of Aaron, the 
 cities. priests, which are therefore by some writers distinguished 
 
 by the name of the sacerdotal or priests' cities. For 
 though Aaron and his children, the priests, were of the 
 tribe of Levi, and so were Levites; yet all that were 
 Levites were not priests ; but the priesthood appertained 
 to the children of Aaron. So that from the beginning 
 of God's giving rules for the outward order and govern-
 
 Th£ Division of Canaan, 337 
 
 nient of bis church here on earth, there have been three chap v. 
 orders instituted among those that minister about holy 
 things; namely, the high priest, the priest, and the Le- 
 vite, under the legal economy, or in the Jewish church; 
 and, answerable hereunto, the bishop, the priest, and the 
 deacon, under the Gospel dispensation, or in the Christian 
 church. 
 
 Concerning the thirteen sacerdotal cities, it is obser- 23. 
 vable, that they all fell within the tribes of Judah, Si- tion provi-* 
 nieon, and Benjamin; which is not improbably thought 'lemiaiiy 
 to have been so ordered by a peculiar direction of divine within the 
 Providence. Not that this providential care consisted so ^'"^^""* °^ 
 much in providing that the sacerdotal cities should be 
 such of the Levitical cities as were at the least distance 
 from Jerusalem, (where the service of the Lord was 
 especially to be performed during the Levitical dispensa- 
 tion ;) for some of the other Levitical cities assigned to 
 other families of the Levites in other tribes were as near 
 to Jerusalem as some of the sacerdotal cities. For in- 
 stance, Shechem in Ephraim was as near and nearer than 
 Debir in Judah, or Ain in the tribe of Simeon, according 
 to the situation assigned them by those that favour the 
 opinion above mentioned. Hence it seems more natural 
 to suppose, that the providential care in assigning the 
 sacerdotal cities consisted not so much in providing, that 
 they should be such as were nearest to Jerusalem, but in 
 some other respect ; namely, in providing that they 
 should be such, as (upon the revolt of the ten tribes from 
 the house of David) should be situated in those parts of 
 the Holy Land, which should remain subject to the house 
 of David, as should Jerusalem itself, the place of God's 
 more especial worship in those days, and where conse- 
 quently the priests were to attend in their several courses. 
 Had the sacerdotal cities been situated in such tribes as 
 revolted, it is not to be doubted but the kings of Israel 
 would not have permitted the priests to have gone up to 
 Jerusalem, to perform their offices as they ought ; and 
 therefore they must either have quitted the cities assigned 
 
 VOL. I. z
 
 33^ The Geography of the Old Testarnent. 
 
 PART II. them within the kingdom of Israel, so called in dis- 
 tinction to that of Judah, and have had others assigned 
 them within the limits of the kingdom of Judah, or else 
 must have quitted the office and service they were set 
 apart for. To prevent both which great inconveniencies, 
 we may reasonably suppose, that the all- wise God did at 
 first so order the lots, that, of the thirteen sacerdotal 
 cities, twelve fell within the tribes of Judah and Ben- 
 jamin, which adhered to the house of David. And though 
 the other (whether it was Ain, as is said Josh. xxi. i6. or 
 Ashan, as is said i Chron. vi. 59.) was in the tribe of Si- 
 meon, which was one of the ten tribes that revolted from 
 the house of David ; yet it is not to be doubted but this 
 sacerdotal city still adhered to the house of David, and 
 was in all probability situated on the very edge of the 
 tribe of Judah, or so as that the Simeonites could or 
 durst give it no disturbance on that account. Indeed it 
 seems probable, not to say certain, from several places of 
 Scripture, that though ten tribes are said in general to 
 revolt from the house of David, yet this is not to be so un- 
 derstood, as if every particular city within the said tribes 
 were presently in the hands of the kings of Israel. On 
 the contrary, though the said tribes in general did so re- 
 volt, yet it appears plain from sacred history, that several 
 places within such of the said tribes, that bordered on the 
 kingdom of Judah, still remained in the hands of the 
 kings of Judah. And among these was the sacerdotal 
 city Ain, or Ashan, reckoned among the cities of the tribe 
 of Simeon, Josh xix. Which is put beyond all doubt, by 
 what is said i Chron. vi.57 — 60. where we have the sa- 
 cerdotal city Ashan reckoned as a city of Judah ; and 
 no mention made of any sacerdotal city lying in the 
 tribe of Simeon, but only in the two tribes of Judah and 
 
 Benjamin. 
 24. I need not stand here to give the reader a catalogue of 
 
 The six ci- ^j^g eight and forty Levitical cities, since they are plainly 
 fuge. set down Josh. xxi. and such as are more remarkable 
 
 among them I either have taken or shall take notice of, as
 
 mon. 
 
 The Division of Canaan. 339 
 
 I go along the series of the sacred history. The cities qf'cHA?. V. 
 refuge, being but six in all, I shall name here, viz. Kedesh 
 in Galilee in mount Nephtali, and Shechem in mount 
 Ephraim, and Hebron in the mountain of Judah, and 
 Bezer in the tribe of Reuben, and Ramoth-Gilead in the 
 tribe of Gad, and Golan in the tribe of Manasseh. Of 
 these the three former lay on the west of Jordan, the 
 three latter on the east. And it is observable, that all 
 the cities of refuge were also Levitical cities. The design 
 of these cities of refuge is taught us, Josh. xx. 2, &c. 
 namely, that the slayer, that kills any person unawares, 
 might fee thither for refuge from the avenger of Hood. 
 
 I proceed now to speak of the principal mountains, or 25. 
 hills, that lie round or within the Holy Land. And I Lei,^,*"""' 
 shall begin with mount Lebanon, as not only lying along 
 the north coast of the Holy Land, but being also the 
 largest mountain here to be taken notice of; and of 
 which several other of the mountains, that are mentioned 
 in the holy Scripture, are only branches. This moun- 
 tain then, called in Hebrew Lebanon, is by the Greeks 
 (and Latins from them) called Libanus; and extends 
 itself from the neighbourhood of Sidon westward, to the 
 neighbourhood of Damascus eastward. It consists of two 
 principal ridges or ranges, which are distinguished by 
 Greek writers by two different names ; one ridge being 
 peculiarly called Libanus, the other Anti-Libanus, i. e. 
 the ridge opposite to the ridge properly called Libanus. 
 And these two ridges are not only opposite one to an- 
 other, but also parallel, as Mr. Maundrell^ informs us, 
 and exactly resembling each other. Which of these ridges 
 was properly called Libanus, which Anti-Libanus, is not 
 well agreed upon among writers. Some make the south- 
 ern or south-west ridge, lying next to the Holy Land and 
 Sidon, to be the Libanus properly so called; and the 
 northern or north-east ridge, lying towards Damascus, to 
 be the Anti-I^^ibanus. Others are of a quite contrary 
 
 *• Journey fiotH Aleppo, &t. p. 1 18. 
 
 z a
 
 340 The Geography of the Old Testament. 
 
 PART 11. opinion ; among whom is the famous geographer Pto- 
 lemy, and also the Seventy Interpreters; who, when they 
 speak of that part of mount Lebanon, which lies next to 
 the Holy Land, render the Hebrew word Lebanon by the 
 Greek Anti-Libanus ; plainly denoting thereby, that by 
 this latter name they understood the southern ridge of 
 Lebanon to be peculiarly distinguished. However, it 
 appears both from Le Bruyn and our countryman Mr. 
 Maundrell, that the former opinion obtains among those 
 that inhabit these parts now-a-days. But enough of these 
 names. 
 26. Mr. Maundrell (p. 140. of his Journey from Aleppo, 
 
 snow there. &c.) tells US, that in a certain part of this mountain, 
 which is free from rocks, and only rises and falls with 
 small easy unevennesses, for several hours riding, he found 
 it to be perfectly barren and desolate. The ground, where 
 not concealed by snow, appeared to be covered with a sort 
 of white slates, thin and r.mooth. The chief benefit it 
 serves for, adds the same writer, is, that by its exceeding 
 height it proves a conservatory for abundance of snow ; 
 which, thawing in the heat of summer, aftbrds supplies of 
 water to the rivers and fountains in the valleys below. 
 We saw in the snow (says he, and that May 6.) the prints 
 of the feet of several wild beasts, which are the sole pro- 
 prietors of these upper parts of the mountain. Le Bruyn 
 tells us, p. 220, that it was January the 12th, that he set 
 out for to see this mountain, and that they were con- 
 strained to take along with them some people of the 
 country, who knew the road across the snow ; for without 
 such assistance it would have been impossible for them to 
 have reached to their journey's end. He adds, that at 
 that time of the year the snow before sun-rising was 
 almost as hard as ice, which made the road very tiresome ; 
 and yet however they were obliged to make all the haste 
 they could back again, that they might repass the snow, 
 before the heat of the sun had melted it. For when the 
 snow begins to melt, a man runs a great risk ; and it 
 often happens, that the too long stay of the curious costs
 
 Of Mount Lebanon. 341 
 
 tlieni their lives, they being drowned in the water of the CHAP. v. 
 snow, which is on all sides like so many movintains. He 
 adds, that it was between ten and eleven o'clock before 
 they began to return; at which time the sun began to 
 draw near to his height, and to be warm. Insomuch that 
 in their return they found the snows so much melted in 
 several places, that sometimes one, sometimes another, 
 sunk in them, and that some of them up to the waist. 
 Upon the top of this mountain, Le Bruyn tells us, there 
 was nothing else to be seen, when he was there, but the 
 sky and mountains of snow; which is in so great plenty, 
 that many of the cedars are almost covered with it ; and 
 were it not for the wind, they would be all quite buried 
 under it. 
 
 As for the cedars of Lebanon, these noble trees (says Mr, 27. 
 Maundrell, p. 142. of his Journey, &c.) grow amongst the 9*^ '*^^ S^' 
 snow, near the highest part of the mountain, and are re- banon. 
 markable, as well for their own age and largeness, as for 
 those frequent allusions made to them in the word of God. 
 Here are some of them very old, and of a prodigious 
 bulk; and others younger, of a smaller size. Of the 
 former, adds he, I could reckon up only sixteen ; the lat- 
 ter are very numerous. I measured one of the largest, 
 and found it twelve yards six inches in girt, and yet sound ; 
 and thirty-seven yards in the spread of its boughs. At 
 about five or six yards from the ground, it was divided 
 into five limbs, each of which was equal to a great tree. 
 Le Bruyn also tells us, that he had the curiosity to mea- 
 sure the bigness of two of the most remarkable cedars ; 
 and that he found one to be fifty-seven spans about, and 
 the other forty-seven. Le Bruyn adds, that whilst he was 
 upon the snow, he gathered off the top of the cedars some 
 of its fruit; and broke off several little branches to pre- 
 serve the leaves of them, which are like to rosemary leaves. 
 Though these trees were, when he saw them, covered 
 almost all over with snow, yet they are always green ; 
 the little leaves of the branches shooting upwards, 
 
 Z3
 
 34^ The Geography of the Old Testamejil. 
 
 PART II. whilst the fruit, much like to a pine-apple, hangs down- 
 
 ' wards. 
 
 28. We must not leave mount Lebanon, before we have 
 
 ven'uff Ca- taken notice of a convent here, which is generally visited 
 
 nobin. by travellers. The name of it is Canobin, or, as Le Bruyn 
 adds, Stinoba, which signifies a convent of monks. It is 
 a convent of the Maronites, or Christians of those parts, 
 and tlie seat of their patriarch, who was (when Mr. Maun- 
 drell visited it) F. Stephanus Edenensis, a person of great 
 learning and humanity. The patriarch of these Maronites 
 is said to take to himself ihe style of the patriarch of An- 
 tioch. As for the convent, it is a very mean structure; 
 but its situation is admirably adapted for retirement and 
 devotion. For there is a very deep rupture in the side of 
 Libanus, running at least seven hours travel directly up 
 into the mountain. It is, on both sides, exceeding steep 
 and high, clothed with fragrant greens from top to bot- 
 tom, and every where refreshed with fountains, falling 
 down from the rocks in pleasant cascades, the ingenious 
 work of nature, as the ingenious Mr. Maundrell ^ expresses 
 it. These streams all uniting at the bottom, make a full 
 and rapid torrent, whose agreeable murmuring is heard 
 over all this place, and adds no small pleasure to it. These 
 waters seem to be referred to Cant. iv. 15. A fountain of 
 gardens; a well of living waters, and streams from Leba- 
 non. Canobin is seated on the north side of this chasm, 
 on the steep of the mountain, at about the midway be- 
 tween the top and the bottom. It stands at the mouth of 
 a great cave, having a few small rooms fronting outward, 
 that enjoy the light of the sun; the rest are all under 
 ground. It had for its founder the Emperor Theodosius 
 the Great ; and though it has been several times rebuilt, 
 yet the patriarch assured Mr. Maundrell, that the church 
 was of the primitive foundation. But whoever built it, it 
 is a mean fabric, and no great credit to its founder. It 
 
 P. 142, 143. of Journey from Aleppo, &c.
 
 Of Mount Lebanon. 343 
 
 stands in the grot, but fronting outward, receives a little chap. v. 
 light from that side. In the same side there hung in the 
 wall two small bells, to call the monks to their devotions; 
 a privilege allowed no where else in this country; nor 
 would they be suffered here, but that the Turks are far 
 enough off from the hearing of them. 
 
 The valley of Canobin was anciently very much re- 29. 
 sorted to for religious retirement. You see here still her- jg where" 
 mitages, cells, monasteries almost without number. There Canobin 
 is not any little part of rock that jets out upon the side of 
 the mountain, but you generally see some little structure 
 upon it, for the reception of monks and hermits ; though 
 few or none of them are now inhabited. 
 
 Le Bruyn tells us, that in his esteem Canobin is a very ^^• 
 
 , , , , . . , , Of the wine 
 
 pleasant place; and though it was wmter when he was of mount 
 there, yet he must needs own, that he never saw any thing Lebanon, 
 more charming in his life ; insomuch that he could have 
 wished to have spent some months there. Here are par- 
 tridges as tame as our yard-fowls. They fly about ten 
 paces, and then light on the ground again, and seem to 
 have no mariner of fear of a man. But, besides this, Cano- 
 bin would be, adds he, preferable to all other places, upon 
 the account of its wines, which are the richest and finest 
 in the world. They are of a very sweet red colour, and 
 so oily that they stick to the glass. The prophet Hosea 
 alludes to them, chap. xiv. ver. 7. They that dwell under 
 his shadow shall return ; they shall revive as the corn, and 
 groiv as the vine ; the scent thereof shall he as the luine of 
 Lebanon. 
 
 Some there are, who believe that Adam lived here, and 31. 
 the patriarch gave Le Bruyn to understand, that he was of concerning 
 that opinion. For proof whereof he alleged, that there '^^^^ P^"^- 
 are two mountains adjacent to Anti-Lebanon, which at 
 this day are called, the one Cain, the other Abel. In the 
 same place is likewise a town, with a very fine lake ; and 
 the natives believe it to have been built by Cain, and to 
 be the most ancient city in the world. To this they add, 
 that in process of time it was called Heliopolis, i. c. the 
 
 Z4
 
 344 The Geography of the Old Testament. 
 
 PART II. city of the Sjin; and agreeable hereto it is thought to be 
 the same which is at this clay called Balbeck. This city 
 enjoys indeed (as Mr. Maundrell tells us, p. 135.) a most 
 delightful and commodious situation. And at the south- 
 west side of it is a noble ruin, being the only curiosity for 
 which this place is wont to be visited. It was anciently 
 an heathen temple, together with some other edifices be- 
 longing to it, all truly magnificent. At present it is con- 
 verted into a castle, and under that name goes at this day. 
 
 32. Five leagues likewise from Canobin is another little 
 Of Eden, town, inhabited by Christians, and called at present Eden: 
 
 which name helps to confirm the Christians hereabouts in 
 the opinion above mentioned, that in these parts was the 
 terrestrial Paradise, or Eden, wherein Adam lived. Of this 
 Eden I have taken notice elsewhere. Part I. chap. i. of 
 this Geography of the Old Testament. 
 
 33. Le Bruyn concludes his chapter about mount Lebanon, 
 dar-apDlc" ^^^^ giving "s a description of the cedar-apple, or fruit 
 
 that these trees produce, in the same form and bigness as 
 really they are. He tells us, that in order hereto he cut 
 one of the apples in two, and found that the smell within 
 was exactly like turpentine. There came out likewise 
 some juice, though he had kept them by hin) for some 
 time. This juice, which resembles turpentine, not only in 
 smell, but likewise in its clamminess, proceeds from small 
 oval grains, with which a great many small cavities are 
 full. And thus much for mount Lebanon, so called in. 
 Scripture. 
 
 34. The north-east part of this mountain, adjoining to the 
 Of mount j^ojy Land, is in Scripture distinguished by the name of 
 
 mount Hermon ; which is consequently mentioned as the 
 northern boundary of the country beyond Jordan, and 
 more particularly of the kingdom of Og, or of the half 
 tribe of Manasseh on the east of Jordan, Deut. iii. 8, 9, &c. 
 In the verse last cited we are expressly told, that this Her- 
 mon went under divers names among divers people ; that 
 the Sidonians called it Sirion, and the Amorites called it 
 Shenir. And chap. iv. ver. 48. we find this same mount,
 
 Of Mount Hermon. S4S 
 
 instead of Sirion, called Sion ; which, though in our Eng- cHAP. V. 
 Hsh tongue it be written the very same way as the cele- 
 brated mountain of Jerusalem is frequently written, yet 
 in the Hebrew text is spelt very differently; the name, 
 whereby mount Hermon is here said to be called, being 
 It^"^^ Smi; the name, whereby the mount in Jerusalem, 
 jVi^ Tzijon. In like manner, the same mountain called by 
 the Amorites Shenir, is elsewhere called Seir, (Josh. xi. 
 17.) where is mention made also of mount Halak, which 
 seems to be no other than some part of mount Lebanon, 
 perhaps so called from its smoothness, mount Halak de- 
 noting in the Hebrew the same as the smooth mountain. 
 Again, this mount Hermon is, not without some ground 
 of probability, thought to be the same which is called 
 mount Hor, Num. xxxiv. 7, 8. For it is there said of the 
 north border, that it should be Jrom mount Hor, unto the 
 entrance ofHamath; and in like manner Joshua, speaking 
 chap. xiii. of the land that yet remained to be possessed, 
 among other parts mentioned, ver. 5. All Leba?icn, toward 
 the sun rising, from Baal- gad (a valley) under mount Her- 
 mon unto the entering into Hamath. From comparing 
 which two texts together, it seems probable, tha.t from 
 mount Hermon unto the entering into Hamath, and from 
 mount Hor unto the entrance of Hamath, are equivalent or 
 much the same expressions ; and consequently mount Hor 
 here mentioned the same with mount Hermon, 
 
 But besides this mount Hermon, lying on the north 35. 
 border of the country beyond Jordan, there is said to be ^"y'^" 
 another mount of the same name, and lying within the Hermon on 
 land of Canaan, on the west of the river Jordan, and not joj-ja^f ° 
 far from mount Tabor. Of this is understood Psalm 
 Ixxxix. 12. The north and the south, thou hast created them; 
 Tab or a?id Hermon shall rejoice in thy name ; as also Fsalm 
 cxxxiii. 3. As the dew of Hermon, and as the dew that de- 
 scends upon the mountains of Zion. Mr. Maundrell takes 
 notice of this mount Hermon, (p. 57. of his Journey from 
 Aleppo,) telling us, that, in three hours and a half from 
 the river Kishon, he came to a small brook, near which
 
 346 Tile Geography of the Old Testavienl. 
 
 PART II. was an old village and a good kane called Legune : not 
 ' far from which, his company took up their quarters that 
 
 night. From this place they had a large prospect of the 
 plain of Esdraelon, At about six or seven hours distance 
 eastward stood within view Nazareth, and the two moun- 
 tains. Tabor and Hermon. We were, adds he, sufficiently 
 instructed by experience, what the holy Psalmist means by 
 the dew of Hermon, our tents being as wet with it, as if 
 it had rained all night. 
 36. But to return to the coast or border of the Holy Land. 
 
 Gilead. ^^ '^^^^ branch of mount Lebanon, which bounded the 
 country beyond Jordan northward, was peculiarly called 
 mount Hermon ; so that other branch, which ran from 
 mount Hermon southward, along the eastern coast of the 
 country beyond Jordan, for a considerable way, namely, 
 along the eastern coast of the half tribe of Manasseh, and 
 great part of the tribe of Gad — this other branch or spur 
 of mount Lebanon is in Scripture denoted by the name of 
 mount Gilead, for the reason assigned Gen. xxxi. 48. and 
 above spoken of, Part L of the Geography of the Old Tes- 
 tament. Hence we read of some places lying in this tract 
 or country, that were distinguished by the name of Gilead 
 added to them, as Jabesh- Gilead, Kamoth-Gilead. It is 
 also observable from Gen. xxxi. 49. that this mountain or 
 mountainous country had also the name of Mizpah, or 
 Mizpeh, imposed upon it. And hence we read of the 
 Land of Mizpeh under mount Hermon, (Josh. xi. 3.) this 
 being the same that is otherwise called the Land of Gilead, 
 and so denoting the mountain and adjacent tract that lies 
 next to mount Gilead, or Mizpah, and reaches up as far 
 northward as mount Hermon. And on the same account 
 I think it is not to be doubted, but that Ramath-Mizpeh 
 (mentioned Josh. xiii. 26.) was no other than that city 
 which in other parts of Scripture is called Raraoth-Gilead. 
 Lastly, the word Gilead seems in some places of Scripture 
 to denote, if not all, yet the greatest part of the country 
 beyond Jordan, namely, all the half tribe of Manasseh, 
 and the greatest part of the tribe of Gad.
 
 Of Mount Gilead. 347 
 
 But besides this mount Gilead on the east of the half chap, v, 
 tribe of Manasseh and the tribe of Gad, beyond Jordan, ~~ 
 there is mention made (Judg. vii. 3.) of a mount Gilead, of mount 
 as lyinff west of Jordan in the lot of the children of Jo- Gilead on 
 
 1 A 1 Ti 1 • T-. • • the west of 
 
 seph. And Brocard the monk, m his Description of the Jordan. 
 Holy Land, chap. vii. makes mention of a mount Gilead, 
 lying towards Jezreel, and so towards the mountains of 
 Gilboa, which agrees well enough with the history of Gi- 
 deon; in reference to which history, we shall speak more 
 of this mount Gilead, supposed to lie on the west of Jor- 
 dan. 
 
 In the south part of the country beyond Jordan He the 38. 
 mountains, called in Scripture the mountains of Abarim *, *^" '^^ . 
 
 . . '■ , mountains 
 
 part whereof was distinguished by the narmes of mount of the south 
 Nebo and Pisgah : and of these I have spoken enough al- JJ^j^ ^and! 
 ready ; as also of mount Seir, lying to the south of Ca- 
 naan, and inhabited by the posterity of Esau, or Edom. 
 Beyond mount Seir westward runs a ridge of mountains, 
 which part Canaan from Arabia, and which seems to be 
 denoted in Scripture by the name of the mountain of the 
 Amorites ; some spurs or branches whereof run up north- 
 ward to Hebron. 
 
 On the western coast of the Holy Land, the only re- 39, 
 markable mountain is that of mount Carmel, lying on the^^"""""' 
 sea-coast at the south end of the tribe of Asher, and fre- 
 quently mentioned in Scripture. Mount Carmel is, as 
 Thevenot tells us, ten miles from Acre, or Ptolemais. At 
 the foot of it stands the village Cayphas, which was for- 
 merly a town. Here is a convent of bare-footed Carmel- 
 ites, a sort of monks so named. Thevenot found here two 
 French ' fathers, and an Italian brother, who had been 
 twenty years there. They observe a very severe rule ; for 
 beside that they are removed from all worldly conversa- 
 tion, they neither eat flesh nor drink wine; and if they 
 need it, they must go to another place. Nor do they suffer 
 pilgrims to eat flesh in their convent; only they allow 
 them to drink wine. This convent is not on the top of
 
 348 Tkc Geography of the Old Testament, 
 
 PART 11. the mount, (where was once a very fine monastery, before 
 the Christians lost the Holy Land, the ruins whereof are 
 still to be seen;) but it is a very little one, somewhat 
 lower, and needs no more than three monks to fill it; 
 who would have much ado to subsist, if they had not some 
 alms given them by the French merchants of Acre, that 
 often go thither to their devotions. They have possessed 
 this place thirty years, says Thevenot, since the time they 
 were driven out of it, after that the Christians lost the 
 Holy Land. It is the place where the prophet Elijah 
 lived, and their church is the very grot, where some time 
 he abode, which is very neatly cut out of the rock. From 
 this convent they have an excellent prospect, especially 
 towards the sea, where there are no bounds to their sight. 
 About their convent they have a pretty hermitage, very 
 well cultivated by the Italian brother, who has brought 
 thither all the earth that is in it. And indeed it is very 
 pleasant to see flowers and fruits growing upon a hill that 
 is nothing but rock. Though the convent be very little, 
 yet they have made a small, commodious, and very neat 
 apartment for to lodge pilgrims ; but they must not exceed 
 the number of six. At a good league's distance from the 
 convent is a well that the prophet Elijah is said to make 
 spring out of the ground ; and a little over it is another, 
 said to be no less miraculous : the waters of both are very 
 pleasant and good. The Arabs say, that all the while the 
 monks were absent, after they had been driven hence, 
 these wells yielded no water. Close by the last fountain 
 are stately ruins of the convent of St. Brocard, who was 
 sent thither by St. Albert, patriarch of Jerusalem, to re- 
 form the hermits that lived there without rule or commu- 
 nity. 
 40. Not far from thence is the garden of the stone-melons, 
 
 Of the concerning which they tell you, that Elijah passing that 
 stone-me- ,., ir i T- 
 
 Ions. way, desired a melon from a man that was gatnermg 
 
 some ; who in contempt answered the Prophet, that they 
 
 were stones, and not melons ; whereupon all the melons
 
 Of Mount Carmel. 349 
 
 were Immediately turned into stones. Le Bruyn has ob- chap. v. 
 
 liged us with the figure of these melons in two forms, one 
 melon being represented whole, the other opened in the 
 middle. Le Bruyn tells us withal, that these stone-me- 
 lons have the same shape on the outside as the true ones ; 
 and if one opens them, there are the same cavities as in 
 the true ones : they have also some smell, which is pretty 
 pleasant. There are also to be seen (adds the same writer) 
 capotonde, as the Italians call them, or stone-oysters ; and 
 also stone-olives. 
 
 Near to the convent are shewn the grots of the pro- 41. 
 phets Elijah and Elisha; there is also a third, but it is pj^°'^^^^^^ 
 walled up. Lower down tov/ards the foot of the moun- about 
 tain is the cave where the prophet Elijah instructed the ^^^ 
 people. It is all cut very smooth in the rock, both above 
 and below; it is about twenty paces in length, fifteen in 
 breadth, and very high ; and I think, says Thevenot, that 
 it is one of the finest grots that can be seen. The Turks 
 have made a little mosque there. Mount Carmel, and all 
 the country thereabouts, is commanded by a prince 
 named Emir Tharabee, says Thevenot, who pays yearly 
 to the Grand Seignior a tribute of twelve horses. 
 
 As for mount Tabor, and the mount of the Beatitudes, 42. 
 and some other lying in the Holy Land, they have been Of '^e 
 already spoken of in my Geography of the New Testament, mountains 
 And as for mount Gilboah, I shall speak of it in the his- °^^^[y^,"^ 
 tory of Saul ; and so what other mountains are worth Land, 
 taking notice of lying in the Holy Land, I shall speak of 
 them, as they come in my way, following the series of the 
 sacred history. 
 
 And thus I have in this chapter laid before the reader 43. 
 what I judged proper to take notice of to him, concern- '|j^^.'^°"" 
 ing the division of the land of Canaan, and the country 
 beyond Jordan, among the twelve tribes of Israel ', as also 
 concerning the Levitical cities, and the cities of refuge ; 
 and lastly, concerning the mountains or hills lying round
 
 ^^o The Geography of the Old Testament. 
 
 PART II. or within the Holy Land. And hereby 1 have brought the 
 series of this my geographical undertaking as far as to 
 the end of the book of Joshua. I shall now proceed to the 
 geography of that part of the sacred history which is con- 
 tained in the book of Judges.
 
 Remurkahle Places in Judges. 35 1 
 
 CHAP. VI. 
 
 Of the remarkable Places mentioned in the Book of Judges, 
 and not before spoken of, 
 
 xxFTER the death of Joshua, by the direction of God 1. 
 the men of Judah went up against the Canaanites, and^^^"^"^* 
 slew of them in Bezek ten thousand men. Here they 
 found Adonibezek, whose thumbs and great toes they cut 
 off, he having treated (as himself confesses) threescore and 
 ten kings after that barbarous manner; after which being 
 brought to Jerusalem, there he died. Judg. i. i — 7. There 
 is likewise mention made of Bezek, 1 Sam. xi. 8. as the 
 place where Saul mustered the army, wherewith he gave 
 the Ammonites a signal overthrow there related. These 
 are the only two places of Scripture where Bezek is men- 
 tioned. And since Eusebius and Jerom tell us, that there 
 were in their days two towns so called, and near one an- 
 other, and distant seventeen miles from Neapolis or Sichem, 
 as one goes down to Scythopolis or Bethshan ; and since 
 either of these places (which perhaps were both but one 
 city in former times) was well enough situated for the ar- 
 my of Saul to muster at, in order to march to the succour 
 of the men of Jabesh-Gilead ; hence it may be probably 
 enough thought, that the Bezek mentioned i Sam. xi. 8. 
 stood here; and I see nothing of moment to hinder, but 
 that the same might be the Bezek taken by the men of 
 Judah in Judg. i. without supposing another Bezek to lie 
 within the tribe of Judah. 
 
 In the remaining part of Judg. i. we have several places 2. 
 mentioned; but either such as are spoken of already, or^^^°'^^""' 
 will more fitly be spoken of hereafter, when we come to 
 the passages of the sacred history, which have rendered 
 them remarkable; or else are barely mentioned, and not 
 memorable on any particular account, and so not worth 
 the mentioning here. The second chapter begins with
 
 352 The Geography of the Old Testament. 
 
 PART II. informing us, that an angel of the Lord came up from 
 Gilgal to Bochim, and there reproved the Israelites for 
 breaking their covenant with God, by making a league 
 with the inhabitants of the land, 8cc. Whereupon God 
 had said, that he would not drive out the said inhabitants 
 from before them ; but they should be thorns in their sides, 
 &c. Upon which message the Israelites fell a weeping, 
 whence they called the name of the place Bochim, i. e. 
 weepers. That this place lay near to Shiloh is probably 
 thought, because it follows, that there they sacrificed unto 
 the Lord; whereas sacrifices were to be offered only there, 
 where the Lord shall choose, and where the tabernacle 
 was set up ; which then was at Shiloh. 
 3. The Israelites giving themselves over to wickedness, we 
 
 and the co- ^^^^ chap. iii. that God delivered them into the hands of 
 lumnsof the king of Mesopotamia for eight years; after which 
 God re-delivered them upon their repentance. But falling 
 back again into their former impiety, God permitted the 
 Moabites to subdue them, and to possess the city ofPalm- 
 Tree5, or Jericho. And they continued in subjection to the 
 Moabites for eighteen years; when, upon renewing their 
 repentance, God delivered them by the hand of Ehud, 
 who slew the king ofMoab, and afterwards escaping unto 
 Seirath, blew a trumpet in mount Ephraim, to call the Is- 
 raelites together; with whom he made a great slaughter 
 of the Moabites. The place to be remarked in this ac- 
 count is Seirath, which from the context plainly enough 
 appears to have lain in mount Ephraim, not far from Gil- 
 gal. It is remarkable, because it is very probably thought 
 to be the place denoted by the Jewish historian Josephus, 
 when he tells us, that the posterity of Seth, knowing by 
 Adam's predictions that the world should first perish by 
 water, and then by fire ; and being desirous that after-ages 
 » should know the discoveries they had made in astronomy, 
 
 they engraved them upon two columns or pillars, one of 
 stone to resist the water, the other of brick to resist the 
 fire; and that they placed those columns in Syrias, that is, 
 the Seirath here mentioned in the sacred history. Which
 
 Remarkable Places in Judges. 353 
 
 opinion is confirmed, in that it appears also from the sa- CHAP. vr. 
 cred history, that there were some engravings to be seen ~ 
 
 in these parts. For the word, which we render in our 
 English translation quarries, does denote also, and is ac- 
 tually rendered in the Septuagint version, graven images, 
 or engravings, which is taken notice of in the margin of 
 our Bible. Hence some have imagined, that Adam and 
 his posterity dwelt in Judea, but very erroneously. For it 
 is a mere fable to ascribe those columns to the posterity of 
 Seth, and to think them elder than the deluge; they be- 
 ing rather a work of the ancient inhabitants of Canaan, 
 who might follow herein the example of their neighbour^ 
 the Egyptians. 
 
 In chapters iv. and v. we have an account of the deli- 4 
 very God vouchsafed the Israelites, from Jabin king ofandHau)- 
 Canaan, by the hands of Deborah and Barak. That thisst^ethofthe 
 Jabin must be different from the Jabin mentioned Josh. xi. 
 is evident, because it is expressly said ver. 10. of that chap- 
 ter, that Joshua took Hazor, and smote the king thereof 
 with the sword. It is also there said, ver. 11. that Joshia 
 burnt Hazor wiihjire. When therefore it is here said, 
 Judg. iv. 2. that this Jabin was king of Canaan, and reign- 
 ed in Hazor, the captain of whose host ivas Sisera, which 
 dwelt in Harosheth of tlie Gentiles ; it hence follows, that 
 between the time of Joshua and Deborah, the Canaanites 
 had found opportunities to reestablish their ancient king- 
 dom in these parts, and to rebuild Hazor, and to set up 
 one of the old royal line to be their king, who, according 
 to the common usage of those ages, retained one and the 
 same name with his predecessors. Some indeed under- 
 stand the words thus; that this Jabin was king of that 
 part of Canaan, which lay in the country where Hazor 
 formerly stood, and whose seat then was at Harosheth of 
 the Gentiles. For they understand this place to be men- 
 tioned in the text, as the dwelling-place, not of Sisera, but 
 of Jabin himself, whose general Sisera was. This place 
 being only mentioned in this transaction, the situation of 
 it can be no further known, than that it lay probably not 
 
 VOL. I. A a
 
 354 "^l^f- Oeogrnphij oj' the Old Teslameiit. 
 
 PART 11. far from the place where Hazor stood, and so not far from 
 the waters of Merom, or Semechonite lake, and in Galilee 
 of the Gentiles, or the Upper Galilee ; this being intimat- 
 ed by its being called Harosheth of the Gentiles. 
 5. The battle between the Israelites and Canaanites was 
 
 Of thenver^j^jg ^j^^^ fought at the river Kishon, near mount Tabor. 
 Of this mount I have spoken in my Geography of the 
 New Testament. From it come the waters which make the 
 river Kishon, which is related by some to run two ways, 
 partly westward into the Mediterranean sea, and partly 
 eastward into the sea of Galilee. And hence in several 
 maps of the Holy Land we may see one continued course 
 or stream from the sea of Galilee to the Mediterranean sea, 
 drawn to represent the river Kishon. Now was this river 
 a course or stream by which some of the waters of the sea 
 of Galilee, or lake of Genesareth, were conveyed into the 
 Mediterranean sea, then such a continued channel would 
 be agreeable enough to the course of the river : but that 
 the waters which make this river should rise from mount 
 Tabor, and in one such continued channel run two differ- 
 ent ways, is altogether incredible, and of what there is no 
 other instance to be found, as I ever heard of, in the whole 
 world. And this is still the more incredible, because no no- 
 tice is taken of it by Eusebius or Jerom. Upon the whole, 
 the matter seems to be this ; from mount Tabor (as from 
 several other mountains) How waters on two several sides 
 of it ; they on one side take their course westward to the 
 Mediterranean sea; they on the other side take their 
 course eastward to the sea of Galilee; so that there are 
 two spring-heads, and two distinct rivers, though both 
 arising from the same mountain. And perhaps both these 
 might be called Kishon, one the Greater Kishon, the other 
 the Lesser Kishon; that running westward, this eastward. 
 But whatever becomes of the Lesser Kishon, or the river 
 so called, and running eastward into the sea of Galilee ; 
 certain it is from another passage of Scripture, that the 
 Kishon mentioned in Scripture ran westward to the Medi- 
 terranean sea. For we read i Kings xviii. that when EH-
 
 Remarkal U' I'laccs in Judges. '^^^ 
 
 jah had convinced the people of Israel assembled together chap. vi. 
 at mount Carmel, tliat Baal was not a true God, the 
 prophet ordered the people to seize all the prophets of 
 Baal, and to bring them down to the brook Kishon, where 
 he slew them. So that the brook Kishon must run along 
 near the mount Carmel, which mount standing on the 
 sea shore, and the Kishon rising at mount Tabor, it fol- 
 lows that its course must be from mount Tabor to mount 
 Carmel, that is, westward, and so it must empty itself into 
 the Mediterranean sea. Mr. Maundrell tells us, that this 
 river cuts its way down the middle of the plain of Esdrae- 
 lon ; and then continuing its course close by the side of 
 mount Carmel, falls into the sea at a place called Caypha. 
 In the condition he saw it, its waters were low and incon- 
 siderable ; but in passing along the side of the plain, he 
 discerned the tracts of many lesser torrents falling down 
 into it from the mountains, which must needs make it 
 swell exceedingly upon sudden rains. 
 
 In the song of Deborah and Barak there Is mention 6. 
 made of Meroz, the inhabitants whereof the Israelites are^*^^^""^" 
 excited to curse bitterly, and that by the direction of the 
 angel of the Lord; because they came not to the help of the 
 Lord, &c. This Meroz is no where else mentioned in 
 Scripture ; and therefore, as to its situation, it can only 
 be said in general, that it seems probably to have been a 
 place not far from mount Tabor, or the river Kishon, in 
 the neighbourhood whereof the battle was fought be- 
 tween Barak and Sisera : so that the inhabitants thereof 
 could allege no tolerable pretence for their not assisting 
 the rest of their brethren, on account of which their inex- 
 cusableness they were so accursed. 
 
 In chap. vi. vii. and viii. we have an account of the 7. 
 Israelites beina; for their impieties delivered into the hand^'^^P'"^''' 
 
 _ p " the native 
 
 of the Midianites for seven years; after which, upon their place of 
 repentance, they were freed again from this their subjec- 
 tion by the hands of Gideon. This person was of the fa- 
 mily of Abi-ezer, of the tribe of Manasseh ; and so the 
 Ophrah, which he dwelt at, must be understood to be 
 
 A a 2
 
 35^ The Geography of the Old Testament. 
 
 PART II. situated in the half tribe of Manasseh, on the west side of 
 Jordan; whence it is styled Ophrah of the Abi-ezrites, 
 (chap. viii. 32.) to distinguish it from another Ophrah, 
 lying in the tribe of Benjamin. 
 8. Though the Midianites were the principal people con- 
 
 children of cerned in the invasions or inroads mentioned in the history 
 the East, of Gideon, yet they were not the only people therein 
 concerned, but were assisted therein with the con- 
 federate forces of the Amalekites and the children of the 
 East, as we read chap. vi. 3, 33. Where by the children 
 of the East may be denoted the Ammonites and Moabites, 
 as lying to the east of the land of Israel, if not some of 
 the Ishmaelites and others that inhabited the parts of 
 Arabia lying eastward in respect of the Israelites. It 
 is evident, that by the children or people of the East, are 
 understood Gen. xxix. i. the inhabitants of Mesopotamia; 
 but these seem to lie too far off to be concerned in these 
 incursions into the land of Israel. And therefore, since 
 we read Gen. xxv. 6. that Abraham sent away the sons 
 of his concubines (particularly the sons of Keturah, one 
 whereof was Midian, the father of the Midianites) east- 
 ward unto the east country ; it may be probably inferred, 
 that by the children of the East in this history of Gideon 
 are denoted the descendants of the other sons of Keturah, 
 and of the brothers of Midian, who had settled them- 
 selves in the eastern parts adjoining to Midian. 
 9' The Midianites, together with their auxiliaries or confe- 
 
 and the ' derates, gathered together, and went over, (namely, the river 
 valley of Jordan,) and pitched in the valley of Jezreel, chap. vi. 33. 
 This valley took its name from Jezreel, a very consider- 
 able city standing in it. To speak first of the city: it is 
 very frequently mentioned in Scripture, particularly in 
 the history of the kings of Israel ; some of whom had a 
 royal palace here, where they sometime resided, (the situa- 
 tion of this city being very pleasant,) though their regal 
 city was Samaria. We find that Ahab in particular had 
 a palace here, hard by which was the vineyard of Naboth 
 the Jezreelitej who (poor man !) was forced to part with
 
 Remarkable Places in Judges. 357 
 
 his life, because he would not part with his vineyard. CHAP. VI. 
 But that infamous queen Jezebel, the author of Naboth's 
 death, was at length overtaken by the divine vengeance 
 in this very city, being flung out of a window, and 
 thereby so bruised, that her blood was sprinkled on the 
 wall, and on the horses that were by ; after which she was 
 trodden under footy and her flesh eat by the dogs ; insomuch 
 that, when orders were given to bury her, no more was 
 found of her, than the skull, and the feet, and the palms of 
 her hands, 2 Kings ix. 30 — 37. This city appertained to 
 the half tribe of Manasseh on the west of Jordan, lying in 
 the confines of this half tribe and the tribe of Issachar, as 
 appears from Joshua xix. 18. Eusebius and Jerom tell 
 us, that it was a very considerable large town in their 
 time, situated between ScythopoHs or Bethshan, and the 
 city called in their time Legeon, in a great plain. As the 
 name Jezreel was moulded into Esdraela by the Greeks, 
 (which was the name of the town in Eusebius's time,) so 
 the adjoining plain is thence still denoted by the name of 
 the plain of Esdraelon ; which is, as Mr.Maundrell in- 
 forms us, of a vast extent and very fertile, but unculti- 
 vated, only serving the Arabs for pasturage. Of these 
 there were two clans encamped in this plain, when Mr. 
 Maundrell went over it. This plain may be the same that 
 is denoted in this passage of the book of Judges, by the 
 valley of Jezreel, these words plain and valley being used 
 promiscuously in the sacred writ. Otherwise the valley 
 of Jezreel must denote some other lesser valley near Jez- 
 reel, and, as son)e think, lying between mount Hermon 
 and mount Gilboa. 
 
 As the Midianites pitched in the valley of Jezreel, so 10. 
 Gideon pitched beside the well of Harod: so that the Mi- ^^ ^^^^^^^^ 
 dianites were on the north side of them, by the hill ©/"and the hill 
 Moreh, in the valley, Judg. vii. i. From whence it ap- °^^ ' 
 pears plainly that this well of Harod, and this hill of 
 Moreh, must be in or near the valley of Jezreel. And it 
 is not improbable, that the well of Harod is the same de- 
 noted elsewhere by a fountain which is in Jezreel, where 
 
 Aa3
 
 35 8 The Geography of the Old Testament, 
 
 PART II. the Israelites pitched before the battle at mount Gilboa, 
 when Saul was slain, i Sam. xxix. i. From whence it 
 may also be probably inferred, that the hill of M or eh is 
 only a branch of the mountains of Gilboa, or the very 
 mountains themselves; whence some render the Hebrew- 
 words the High Hill, taking them appellatively, and to 
 denote properly mount Gilboa. 
 11. In this chap. vii. ver. 3. we have mention made of 
 
 A difficulty j^Q^^j. QiJead, which in its common acceptation is well 
 
 concerning ' ^ ^ _ ^ 
 
 mount Gi- enough known to lie on the east of Jordan. But in this 
 moved' sense it cannot be well understood here to be said, that 
 whosoever is fearful, let him depart early from mount 
 Gilead ; since the place where Gideon was encamped was 
 apparently on the west side of Jordan. The solution of 
 this difficulty has much perplexed commentators and 
 other writers. And among the opinions produced by 
 them, the best seems to be, that Gilead is taken to denote 
 the tribe of Manasseh in general, and so applicable to both 
 the half tribes, that on the west as well as that on the east 
 of Jordan ; and so by mount Gilead here is denoted no 
 more than the monnt lying in Manasseh, and so may be 
 understood of Gilboa, near to which Gideon was en- 
 camped. This, I say, seems the best opinion of those 
 produced by commentators and others. I must profess, 
 that I rather think this difficulty to have arisen only from 
 a mistake of some transcriber in the more early times, 
 who for J^l7^ wrote *7J^73, that is, for Gilboa wrote Gi- 
 lead. The Hebrew words differ but in one letter, and 
 therefore such a mistake might easily be committed ; and 
 the present reading being followed by all the old versions, 
 is not a sufficient argument, that such a mistake was never 
 made, (as is evident from Deut. x. 6. of which see chap, 
 ii. sect. 6. §. 3.) but only that the mistake was made 
 before any of those versions were made. And upon this 
 supposition the whole difficulty is easily taken away. 
 12. The army of the Midianites being put into a con- 
 
 fnehoiath sternation by a stratagem made use of by Gideon, did not 
 Zererath, stand a fight, hxxijled to Belhshittah towards Zererath, and 
 
 &c.
 
 Places in Ike Bonk of Judges, 359 
 
 to the border of Ahelmeho lathy unto Tabbath, ver. 22. Beth- CHAP. Vi. 
 shittah and Tabbath are no where else mentioned in 
 Scripture, and so nothing can be known more of their 
 situation, than that they were not far, one from Zererath, 
 and the other from Abehiieholath. Of these two, Zere- 
 rath is thought to be the same with Zeretan, or Zar- 
 tanah, and so to lie on the river Jordan, not far from 
 Bethshan. Abelmeholath is conjectured likewise to lie 
 near the river Jordan ; which is thought to be denoted by 
 the Hebrew word, rendered in our Bible border, but de- 
 noting also the Up, (as is observed in the margin of our 
 Bible,) and so frequently used to denote the brbik of 
 a river. This place is remarkable for being the birth- 
 place of Elisha the prophet. 
 
 The enemy flying, the Israelites took the waters unto 13. 
 Beth-barah and Jordan, ver. 24. that is, secured all the fords ^^^^1^'''" 
 or passes along the river Jordan, from Beth-barah, (which 
 is thought to be the same with Bethabarah, mentioned in 
 the Gospel of St. John,) lying near the south end of the 
 river Jordan, to the beginning of Jordan, or its coming 
 out of the sea of Galilee. For somewhere between these 
 places the enemy was to make his escape over Jordan 
 homewards. Accordingly the Israelites took (as several 
 other common soldiers, so particularly) two princes of the 
 Midianites, Oreb and Zeeb, ver. 25. 
 
 But the two kings of Midian, Zeba and Zalmunna, got 14. 
 over unto the other side of Jordan, to a place called ^^^^,3!^°'^' 
 Karkor ; which word some understand rather as an appel- and Jogbe- 
 lative, denoting that they (being escaped so far as to think ' 
 themselves out of danger of being pursued thither, where 
 they staid) ivere in security ; and indeed it is expressly 
 said of then), ch. viii. ver. 11. that the host ivas secure. But 
 they found themselves mistaken ; for Gideon coming vpon 
 them (not directly, but round about) by the luay of them 
 that dwelt in tents, on the east of Nobah and Jogbehah, 
 smote them; and afterwards taking the two kings, killed 
 them. We have Jogbehah mentioned Num. xxxii. 35. 
 among the cities of Gad; and Nobah we have there also 
 
 A a 4
 
 360 The Geography of the Old Testament. 
 
 PART II, mentioned ver. 43. as appertaining to the half tribe of 
 Manasseh on the east side of Jordan. And therefore by 
 them that dwelt in tents, are to be understood the Ara- 
 bians living on the east of Perasa, or the country beyond 
 Jordan. The other places mentioned in the history of 
 Gideon have been before spoken of. 
 
 15. In chap. ix. ver. 21. we read that Jotham, one of the 
 sons of Gideon, dwelt at Beer, for fear of Abimelech his 
 brother. This Beer, according to Eusebius and Jerom, 
 was seated eight miles from Eleutheropolis to the north, 
 and so must lie in the tribe of Judah. But others make it 
 to be the same with Beeroth mentioned above, chap. iv. 
 §. II. 
 
 16. It is not certain, whether the house of Millo, ver. 30. 
 
 OfMillo, denotes a place or not: but if it was a place, it appears, 
 mount Zal- f rii. i-i i 
 
 mon, &c. from the circumstances of the history, that it lay near She- 
 chem. And the same is to be said of the plain of Meone- 
 nim, ver. 37. and the mount of Zalmon, ver. 48. This 
 last is probably the same mentioned Psalm Ixviii. 14. as 
 remarkable for the snow lying on it. 
 
 17. At ver. 50. we read that Abimelech encamped against 
 OfThebez.-j^j^g^g^^ and took it. But whilst be was besieging the 
 
 tower of Thebez, he had his skull broke by a piece of a 
 mill-stone. Eusebius and Jerom tell us, that there was a 
 town of the same name in their time, in the neighbour- 
 hood of Neapolis or Sichem, and about thirteen miles 
 from Scythopolis. 
 
 18. Of Gilead, mentioned ch. x. ver. 4. I have already » 
 ^/^^.^^^ '^"^ spoken. I proceed therefore to the history of Jephthah, 
 
 who is said ch. xi. ver. 3. to have fled from his brethren, 
 and dwelt in the land of Tob. This country occurs only 
 here and ver. 5. under this name; but it is not impro- 
 bably conjectured, that it is the same with Ish-tob, 2 Sam. 
 X. 6, 8. Whence it appears, that this was a country of the 
 Syrians, and lying near the other countries of Syria there 
 mentioned together with it, viz. the countries of Zoba, 
 
 Chap. V. §. '66. of lliis Part.
 
 Places in the Book of Judges. 361 
 
 Rehob, and Maachah ; and accordingly it must He adjoin- CHAP. VI. 
 ing, or not far from Gilead, the country of Jephthah. 
 
 All the other places that occur in the account of Jeph- 19- 
 thah are spoken of before, except where it is said, that he j,j(jj^ j^^d 
 smote the Ammonites from Aroer, even till thou come <o Abel of the 
 Mifinithj even twenty cities, and wito the plain of the Vine- 
 yards. Chap. xi. '^'^. Minnith we have mention of again, 
 Ezek. xxvii. 17. as lying in a good wheat country. 
 Whether these two were one and the same place, cannot 
 be affirmed ; or whether either be the same with Minnith 
 mentioned by Eusebius, lying four miles from Esbus, or 
 Heshbon, towards Philadelphia. The Minnith here men- 
 tioned in the history of Jephthah is thought more proba- 
 bly to lie in the country of Ammon, as Abel-ampelonon 
 is asserted to do, by Eusebius and Jerom, who tell us there 
 was in their days a town called Abel, six or seven miles 
 from Philadelphia, (1. e. Rabbah,) the chief city of the 
 Ammonites, and that the country round this Abel was 
 full of vineyards. This Abel-ampelonon is rendered in - 
 our text the plain of the Vineyards ; but in the margin it 
 is observed, that it may be rendered Ahel of the Vineyards, 
 which is the literal signification of Abel-ampelonon in Eu- 
 sebius. 
 
 We come next to the history of Sampson, who was of 20. 
 the tribe of Dan, and of the town of Zorah belonging to^^ ^"*'* 
 that tribe, and lying in the borders of it and the tribe of 
 Judah. Hence, upon the revolt of the ten tribes, Reho- 
 boam seems to have kept this place, though lying in one 
 of the ten tribes, and to have fortified it for a barrier- 
 town on that side of the kingdom of Judah, as he did also 
 Aijalon, belonging likewise to the tribe of Dan. This 
 Zoara was a town in Eusebius and Jerom's time, on the 
 north of Eleutheropolis, as one goes to Nlcopolis or Em- 
 maus, at about ten miles distance from Nlcopolis. 
 
 Another principal city of the Danites, and mentioned 21. 
 in the history of Sampson, is Eshtaol, ch. xiii. ver. j^.Of Eshtaol. 
 From this Eshtaol, and Zorah, the men were sent by the 
 Danites that took the city Laish, afterwards called Dan
 
 ^6% The Geography of the Old Tcslameril. 
 
 PART II. from the Danltes that possessed it. It was afterwards 
 named in the times of the New Testament, Cc-esarea Phi- 
 lippi, and has been spoken of before. 
 
 22. The camp of Dan, oh. xiii. ver. 25. is the same place 
 Of the with Mahaneh-dan, ch. xviii. ver. 12. the former beinc; 
 
 camp O' , , , . , 
 
 Dan. only the latter expressed in English. It was so called from 
 
 the Danites encamping here, in their expedition against 
 Laishj and it was situated near Kirjath-jearim in Judah, 
 as we are expressly told, ch. xviii. ver. 12. Of Kirjath- 
 jearim we shall speak in the next chapter. 
 
 23. Timnath is remarkable for Sampson's falling in love 
 nath""' with a woman of that place. It is not improbably thought 
 
 to be the same that is Josh. xv. to. called Timnah, and 
 Josh, xix.43. Timnatha. It was first assigned to the tribe 
 of Judah, but afterwards to the tribe of Dan. Hither it 
 probably v/as, that Judah, the patriarch of the tribe of 
 Judah, went up to his sheep-shearers. Gen. xxxviii. 12. 
 In Eusebius and Jerom's days there was a great town, 
 named Thamna, lying in the borders of Diospolis, towards 
 Jerusalem. But this seems to have been rather Timnath- 
 heres, the city of Joshua. 
 
 24. Another woman beloved by Sampson was Delilah, 
 Of Sorek. vvhose name, on account of her treacherous behaviour to 
 
 Sampson, is become proverbial. She lived hi the valley of 
 Sorek, chap. xvi. ver. 4. There was in the time of Euse- 
 bius and Jerom a town called Caphar-Sorek, (1. e. the 
 town of Sorek,) on the north of Eleutheropolis, near Zo- 
 rah, where Sampson was born. What we render the valley 
 of Sorek is rendered by others the brook of Sorek. The 
 other places mentioned in the history of Sampson are such 
 as are only there mentioned, and of which nothing of cer- 
 tainty can be had as to their situation, except the cities 
 of Gaza and Ashkelon ; of which I shall speak when I 
 come to treat of the five lordships of the Philistines. 
 25 The next place here to be spoken of is Ramah, men- 
 
 Of Ramah. tioned in the story of the Levite, whose concubine was 
 abused at Gibeah. For this Levite setting out in the 
 evening from Bethlehem -Judah, when he was come by
 
 Places in the Book of Ruth, 363 
 
 Jebus, or Jerusalem, would not go thither to lodge all CHAP. vi. 
 night, but said to his servant, Co77ie and let us draw near to 
 one of these places to lodge all ?i'ight, in Gibeah, or in Ra- 
 moth, chap. xix. ver. 13. From this text it is evident, that 
 these two places were at no great distance from Jebus, or 
 from one another. We are told by Eusebius and Jerom, 
 that Ramah lay six miles to the north of Jerusalem, over- 
 against Bethel. And Josephus (Antiq. viii. c. 6.) makes 
 the city Ramathon to be distant forty furlongs from Jeru- 
 salem, which agrees pretty well with the distance assigned 
 by the two other writers. This is supposed to be the Ra- 
 mah mentioned in the New Testament out of Jeremy, in 
 reference to the murder of the infants about Bethlehem. 
 And it is styled by Eusebius and Jerom Ramah, the city of 
 Saul, probably as lying near to Gibeah, of which I shall 
 speak when I come to the history of Saul ; as also of Miz- 
 peh and Jabesh-Gilead. The other places that occur in 
 the history of the Levite, and the fight between the Ben- 
 jamites and other Israelites, are of uncertain position, 
 being either mentioned there only, or so little said of them 
 elsewhere, as to give no good light in the matter. There 
 is indeed mention. Josh. xv. 32. of Rimmon, a city in the 
 tribe of Judah, and i Chron. vi. 77. of another Rimmon 
 in the tribe of Zebulun ; but it is not likely that the rock 
 Rimmon, to which the remainder of the Benjamites be- 
 took themselves, was so called, as lying near either of 
 these. 
 
 In the history of Ruth there occur, I think, only two 26. 
 
 names of places, viz. Moab, the name of a country so^^^'^*^^* . 
 r ' ^ J mentioned 
 
 called, and already spoken of; and Bethlehem-Judah, in tbe book 
 which has also been spoken of in the New Testament al- ° "* ' 
 ready, of which somewhat more will be said, as we go 
 along the history of David, in the second Volume.
 
 CHRONOLOGICAL ACCOUNT 
 
 OF THE 
 
 SACRED HISTORY 
 
 Contained in the Books of 
 
 EXODUS, LEVITICUS, NUMBERS, DEUTERONOMY, 
 JOSHUA, JUDGES, AND RUTH, 
 
 Described, together with the general Chronology of part 
 
 of Genesis, of the two Books of Samuel, and part of 
 
 the first Book of Kings, in Two Tables. 
 
 The first is a Chronological Table of the Sojourning 
 of the Children ©/"Israel, and their Fathers, in the Land 
 of Canaan, and in the Land of Egypt, containing the 
 space of four hundred and thirty years, Exod. xii. 40. 
 
 The second is a Chronological Table of the interval 
 from the Exodus to the beginning of the Building of 
 Solomon's Temple, containing the space of four hundred 
 and fourscore years, i Kings vi. i .
 
 AN drawing up the Chronology of those books of the sa- 
 cred Scripture, whose Geography is described in the fore- 
 going Treatise, we must guide ourseh'es by two remark- 
 able intervals of time, expressly mentioned in the sacred 
 history, viz. one in Exod. xii. 40. the other in 1 Kings 
 vi. I. 
 
 In the former text we are told, (according to the true 
 original reading, as it still stands in the Samaritan or old 
 Hebrew Pentateuch, and also is followed by the Seventy 
 Interpreters; by which therefore the present reading of 
 the common Hebrew and our English Bible ought to be 
 corrected,) that the sojourning of the children of Israel, 
 and of their fathers, ichich they sojourned in the land of 
 Canaan, and in the land of Egypt, ivas four hundred and 
 thirty years. Whence it clearly appears, that the aera or 
 head of this interval of time Is to be placed at Abraham's 
 first coming into the land of Canaan, from Haran in Me- 
 sopotamia. And therefore from it I shall begin the first 
 Chronological Table hereunto belonging, which 
 distinctly shews the several parts of the said interval of 
 sojourning, mentioned in Scripture, to the Exodus or go- 
 ing of the children of Israel out of Egypt.
 
 368 
 
 A Chronological Table. 
 
 I. A Chronological Table of the Sojourning of 
 the Children of Israel, and of their Fathers^ in the 
 Land of Canaan, and in the Land of Egypt, con- 
 tabiing the space of 430 Years, Exod. xii. 40. 
 
 Years of the 
 World. 
 
 Years before 
 the com- 
 mon Year 
 of Christ's 
 Nativity. 
 
 Years of 
 sojourn- 
 ing. 
 
 REMARKABLE PARTICULARS. 
 
 2023 
 
 1927 
 
 1 
 
 Abraham departs from Haran, and 
 goes to sojourn in Canaan, being 
 seventy-five years old. Gen, xii. 
 4. 
 
 2048 
 
 1902 
 
 25 
 
 Isaac is born, Abraham being an 
 hundred years old. Gen. xxi. 5. 
 
 2108 
 
 1842 
 
 85 
 
 Esau and Jacob are born, Isaac 
 their father being threescore 
 years old. Gen. xxv. 26. 
 
 2199 
 
 1751 
 
 176 
 
 Joseph is born. How the time 
 of Joseph's birth is deduced from 
 Scripture, see p. 206. of this vo- 
 lume. 
 
 2238 
 
 1712 
 
 215 
 
 Jacob goes down into Egypt, in 
 the second year of the seven years 
 of famine. Gen. xlv. 1 1. at which 
 time he was an hundred and 
 thirty years old. Gen. xlvii. 9. 
 
 2255 
 
 1695 
 
 232 
 
 Jacob dies, having lived in the 
 land of Egypt seventeen years, 
 and being in all an hundred and 
 forty-seven years old. Gen. xlvii. 
 
 28.
 
 A Chronological Table. 
 
 3<^9 
 
 Years of the 
 World. 
 
 Years before 
 the com- 
 mon Year 
 of Christ's 
 Nativity. 
 
 Years of 
 sojourn- 
 ing. 
 
 REMARKABLE PARTICULARS. 
 
 2309 
 
 1641 
 
 286 
 
 Joseph dies, being an hundred and 
 ten years old. Gen. 1. 22. 
 
 2370 
 
 1580 
 
 347 
 
 Aaron is born *. 
 
 2373 
 
 1577 
 
 350 
 
 INIoses is born*, sixty-four years 
 after Joseph's death. 
 
 2453 
 
 1497 
 
 430 
 
 The Exodus, or going of the chil- 
 dren of Israel out of the land of 
 Egypt, Exod. xii.40, 41. 
 
 * Though the times of Moses and Aaron's birth are no where expressly 
 mentioned in Scripture, yet that it was at the times here specified, may be 
 thus deduced from the sacred history. From the sera or beginning of the 
 sojourning, viz. from the 75th year of Abraham, to Joseph's death, were 
 286 years, as appears by the foregoing particulars. But 430 — 2S6 = 144. 
 and Moses was 80 years old when he spake to Pharaoh, a little before the 
 Exodus, Exod. vii. 7 : therefore 144 — 80=64^ the time between Joseph's 
 death and Moses' birth ; and consequently, Joseph dying Anno Mundi 
 230Q, before Christ 1641. Moses was born A. M. [2309 4-64 = ] 2373, 
 before Christ [i64i — 64=] 1577, as in the Table. Now the birth of 
 Moses being known, the birth of Aaron is obvious to be assigned, "being 
 expressly said in the forecited Exod. vii. ' . tliat Moses -was founcore years 
 old, and Aaron fourscore and three years old, -when they spake unto Pharaoh, 
 Wherefore Aaron was born A. M. 2370, before Christ 1580. 
 
 In fixing the chronology of such particulars as are mentioned in the 
 sacred history after the Exodus, we must be all along guided principally 
 by the other text above mentioned, viz. 1 Kings vi. 1. wherein we are 
 expressly told, that from the Exodus to Solomon's beginning to build the 
 Temple were four hundred and fourscore years. Wherefore the intermediate 
 particulars mentioned in Scripture must be so adjusted, as to fall within, 
 and just make up the said interval of time assigned in the forecited text. 
 And it being evident from the sacred history, that the Exodus was in the 
 beginning of their as well as our year, viz. in Nisan or March, hence the 
 same year of the world and before Christ, as answers to the 430th or last 
 year of the interval of sojourning, must also be esteemed, at least as to its 
 greatest part, the first year of the interval from the Exodus, to the laying 
 of the foundation of Solomon's Temple. 
 
 VOL. X. 
 
 Bb
 
 370 
 
 A Ckronologicul Table. 
 
 II. A Chronological Table of the Interval 
 from the Exodus to the beginning of the Building 
 of Solomons Temple^ containing the space of A^O 
 Years, i Kings vi. i. 
 
 Years of the 
 World. 
 
 Years before 
 the com- 
 mon Year 
 of Christ's 
 Nativity. 
 
 Years 
 from the 
 Exodus. 
 
 REMARKABLE PARTICULARS. 
 
 2453 
 
 1497 
 
 1 
 
 In the third month, when the 
 children of Israel were gone forth 
 out of Egypt, the same day they 
 came into the wilderness of Sinai, 
 and encamped before the mount, 
 Exod. xix. 1, 2. The law given 
 them, and other statutes, &c. con- 
 tained Exod. XX. to the end of 
 Leviticus. 
 
 2454 
 
 1496 
 
 2 
 
 In the first month of the second 
 year, the celebrating of the pass- 
 over is again commanded. Num. 
 ix. 1, 2, &c. 
 
 On the first day of the second 
 month, in the second year, God 
 commands the sum of the Isra- 
 elites to be taken, or the peo- 
 ple to be numbered, (whence the 
 book of Numbers has its name,) 
 Num. i. 1. 
 
 On the twentieth day of the second 
 month, in the second year, the 
 Israelites took their journeys out 
 of the wilderness of Sinai, and, 
 after two or three encampments, 
 came to Kadesh-barnea, in the 
 wilderness of Paran, Num. x. 1 1 , 
 12. compared with Num. xi. 1, 
 2, 3, 34, 35. Num. xii. IG. and 
 Num. xiii. 2, 26.
 
 A Chronological Tabic. 
 
 371 
 
 Years of the 
 Woikl 
 
 Years before 
 tlie com- 
 mon Year 
 of Christ's 
 Nativity, 
 
 Years 
 from the 
 Exodus. 
 
 REMARKABLE PARTICULARS. 
 
 2454 
 
 14D6 
 
 From Kadesh-barnea the spies are 
 sent to search out the land of 
 Canaan 5 who, upon their return, 
 disheartening the people, God, 
 by reason of their unbelief and 
 diffidence, decrees, that they 
 should wander in the wilderness 
 of Arabia forty years, viz. thirty- 
 eight years, besides the two al- 
 ready spent in those parts. Num. 
 xiii. and xiv. Caleb was then 
 forty years old, Josh, xiv. 7, 
 
 2492 
 
 1158 
 
 40 
 
 God refusing to assist the Israelites 
 (after their unbelief) in attempt- 
 ing to go into Canaan, and the 
 people having experienced that it 
 was in vain to attempt it without 
 God's assistance (Num. xiv.) turn- 
 ed and took their journey (from 
 Kadesh-barnea) into the wilder- 
 ness again, by the way of the 
 Red sea, (Deut. ii. 1.) and so 
 wandered from place to place, 
 keeping roiuid mount Seir, and 
 making the several encampments 
 mentioned Num. xxxiii. 19 — 
 36. 
 
 At length, viz. in the first month 
 of the thirty-eighth year, as ap- 
 pears from what follows, the Is- 
 raelites came into the desert of 
 Zin, and abode in (the other) 
 Kadcsh ; and there Miriam died, 
 and was buried. Numb. xx. 1. 
 compared with Numb, xxxiii 
 36. 
 
 Removing from Kadesh in the 
 wilderness of Zin, they encamped 
 in mount Hor, where Aaron dies, 
 being an hundred and twenty- 
 three years old. Num. xxxiii, 
 37—39. 
 
 E b 2
 
 372 
 
 A Chronological Tabic. 
 
 Years of the 
 
 World. 
 
 Years before 
 the com- 
 mon year 
 of Christ's 
 
 Nativity. 
 
 Years 
 from the 
 Exodus. 
 
 REMARKABLE PARTICULARS. 
 
 2492 
 
 1458 
 
 40 
 
 After some few more marches, 
 mentioned Num. xxxiii. 41 — 44. 
 they passed over the brook Zeredj 
 to which time from their leaving 
 Kadesh-barnca, we are expressly 
 told, was thirty and eight years, 
 Deut. ii, 14. 
 
 Lastly, in the same year died Mo- 
 ses, viz. in the 120th year of his 
 age, Dent, xxxiv. 7. 
 
 2499 
 
 1451 
 
 47 
 
 The land of Canaan divided a 
 mong the nine tribes and half 
 tribe of Manasseh, an end being 
 put to the v.ar with the Canaan- 
 ites, after it had been carried 
 on prosperously by the Israelites 
 for six years together, from the 
 death of Moses. This year of the 
 division of the land is thus de- 
 duced from the sacred history. 
 Caleb tells Joshua, Josh. xiv. 7. 
 that he was forty years old, when 
 Moses sent him from Kadesh- 
 barnea, to spy out the land ; and 
 that there were forty-five years 
 from that time to the time he was 
 speaking, which was at the divi- 
 sion of the land, as is clear from 
 the sacred history. Now the 
 spies were sent from Kadesh- 
 barnea in the second year of the 
 Exodus : so that it Avas the forty- 
 seventh year of the Exodus, when 
 Caleb spoke this to Joshua, and 
 consequently A. M. 2499. Be- 
 fore Christ 1451. 
 
 2524 
 
 1426 
 
 7'^ 
 
 This may be probably supposed to 
 be the year that Joshua died. For 
 it is reasonable to suppose, that 
 all that were sent by Moses to spy
 
 A Chronological Table. 
 
 373 
 
 Years of the 
 World. 
 
 Years before 
 the com- Years 
 
 mon Year 
 of Christ's 
 Nativity. 
 
 from the 
 Exodus. 
 
 REMARKABLE PARTICULARS. 
 
 >524 
 
 1426 
 
 72 
 
 out Canaan, were in the vigom- 
 of their age, and so much of the 
 same age, or about forty years 
 old. And consequently, as Ca- 
 leb, who was one of the spies, 
 expressly tells us, that he was 
 then forty years old ; so it is 
 highly probable, that Joshua was 
 likewise of or about the same age, 
 being also one of tlie spies. Now 
 supposing Joshua to be forty years 
 old, when he went to spy the 
 land, which was in the second 
 year of the Exodus, it follows 
 tluit he died in the seventy-second 
 year of the Exodus : for we are 
 expressly told, that when he died, 
 he was an hundred and ten years 
 old, (Josh. xxiv. 29, Judg. ii. 8.) 
 and 40 + 70 = 110. The year 
 therefore above specified may be 
 most reasonably conjectured to 
 be the year wherein Joshua died. 
 I say conjectured, because from 
 the forty-seventh of the Exodus, 
 when the division of the land was 
 made, to the 397th of the same, 
 we have no certain grounds from 
 the sacred history for affixing 
 the intermediate particulars, men- 
 tioned in the sacred history, to 
 their respective years. That the 
 land was divided in the 47th year 
 of the Exodus, is })lainly dedu- 
 cible from express Scripture, as 
 is before observed. And by count- 
 ing upwards from the 4th year of 
 Solomon's reign, when he began 
 to build the Temple, and which 
 fell in with the 480th year of 
 the Exodus, we learn from ex- 
 press Scripture, that Saul began 
 B b 3
 
 374 
 
 A Chronological Table. 
 
 lYears of the 
 World. 
 
 2524 
 
 Years before 
 the com- 
 mon Year 
 
 of Christ's 
 Nativity. 
 
 2.548 
 
 1426 
 
 Years 
 from the 
 Exodus. 
 
 1402 
 
 96 
 
 REMARKABLE PARTICULARS. 
 
 his reign in the 397th year of 
 the Exodus. For the Scriptin-e 
 expressly tells us, that David 
 reigned 40 years, and likewise 
 that Saul reigned 40 years, which 
 two reigns, with Solomon's 4 
 years, make together 84 years. 
 But from 480 years of the Exo- 
 dus subtract 84 years, and there 
 will remain 396 years for the 
 last year of the Judges, or the 
 year before Saul began his reign. 
 Wherefore the 47th year of the 
 pjxodus being ascertained by 
 Scriptural evidence, for the year 
 of the division of the land, and 
 the 397th of the Exodus for the 
 first year of Saul's reign, it fol 
 lows, that the intermediate ac 
 count given us in Scripture, in 
 relation to the years of the seve 
 ral Judges, must be so adjusted, 
 as not to exceed 349 years, that 
 is, the space between the division 
 of the land, and the beginning of 
 Saul's reign ; forasmuch as it is 
 evident from Scripture, that be- 
 tween these two there intervened 
 but 349 years. And having said 
 thus much by way of introduc- 
 tion^ I proceed now to (what 
 seems the most rational way, to) 
 adjust the sevei'al years assigned to 
 the Judges in the Book of Judges. 
 
 To this time may be probably 
 enough referred what is said, 
 Judg. ii. 7, 10, 1 1. and iii, 7. ^11 
 that generation (viz. who lived i« 
 the days of Joshua, and in the days 
 of the Elders that outlived Joshua) 
 were gathered unto their fathers.
 
 A Chronoloatcal Table. 
 
 375 
 
 Vears of the 
 World. 
 
 Vcars before 
 the com- 
 mon Year 
 of Christ's 
 Nativity. 
 
 Years 
 from the 
 Exodus. 
 
 REMARKABLE PARTICULARS. 
 
 25 4 S 
 
 1402 
 
 96 
 
 and there arose another generation 
 after them, which knew not the 
 Lord, nor yet the works which he 
 had done for Israel. And they did 
 evil in the sight of the Lord, and 
 served Baalim, S^c. 
 
 2.5 5 G 
 
 1394 
 
 104 
 
 The Lord's anger was hot against 
 Israel, (viz. for their idolatry in 
 serving Baalim,) and he sold them 
 into the hand of Cushun-rishathaim, 
 king of Mesopotamia; and they 
 served him eight years, Judg. iii. 
 8. 
 
 2596 
 
 1354 
 
 144 
 
 Upon the repentance of the Israel- 
 ites, they are delivered from the 
 bondage of Cushan-rishathaim, by 
 Othniel, son of Kenaz, Caleb's 
 younger brother j and the land 
 had rest forty years, Judg. iii. 
 11. 
 
 2G14 
 
 133(i 
 
 1G2 
 
 The children of Israel did evil again 
 in the sight of the Lord, and he 
 delivered them into the hand of 
 Eglon, king of Moab, and they 
 served Eglon eighteen years, Judg. 
 iii. 14, During this time also 
 happened what is related in the 
 Book of Ruth. 
 
 2094 
 
 125G 
 
 242 
 
 Upon their repentance, the Israel- 
 ites are delivered from their sub- 
 jection to the Moabites, by the 
 hand of Ehud } and the land had 
 rest fourscore years, Judg. iii. 15 
 —30. 
 
 2701 
 
 1249 
 
 249 
 
 * The children of Israel did evil 
 
 * What is related Judg. iv. v. is prohably supposed to have concerned
 
 37^ 
 
 A Chronological Table. 
 
 Years of the 
 World. 
 
 Years before 
 the com- 
 mon Year 
 of Christ's 
 Nativity. 
 
 Years 
 from the 
 Exodus. 
 
 REMARKABLE PARTICULARS. 
 
 2701 
 
 1249 
 
 249 
 
 again in the sight of the Lord; 
 and the Lord delivered them into 
 the hand of Midian seven years, 
 Judg. vi. 1 . 
 
 2741 
 
 1209 
 
 289 
 
 Upon their returning again to 
 God, be of his infinite mercy de- 
 livers them from the Midianites, 
 by the hand of Gideon; and the 
 land was in quietness for t7j years in 
 the days of Gideon. So that to 
 this year seems to be referred also 
 the death of Gideon, Judg. vi. 
 7. &c. to Judg. viii. 28—32. 
 
 2744 
 
 HOG 
 
 292 
 
 After the death of Gideon, Abi- 
 melech, a son of his by a concu- 
 bine, gets himself made king ; 
 and reigns three years, Judg. ix. 
 1—22. 
 
 27fi7 
 
 1183 
 
 315 
 
 y^fter Abimelecli, there arose to defend 
 Israel, Tola, the son of Piiah, and 
 he judged Israel twenty and three 
 years, and he died, Judg. x. 1,2. 
 
 2789 
 
 1161 
 
 337 
 
 After him arose Jair, a Gileadite, 
 and judged Israel twenty and two 
 years, Judg. x. 3. 
 
 2829 
 
 1121 
 
 377 
 
 And the children of Israel did evil 
 agai7i in the sight of the Lord, and 
 
 only part of Israel, viz. the north part of Israel; and in like manner, what 
 is related J udg. xi. and xii. is probably supposed to relate only to the north- 
 east part of Israel ; and consequently that the years allotted to each Judge, 
 specified in these chapters, are not to be reckoned as succeeding, in their 
 respective places, the years above contained in the Table, but rather fell in 
 with some of them. Namely, what is related chap. iv. and v. to be con- 
 tained, or to have happened between the year 1316 and 12 56 before 
 Christ ; and what is related chap. x. 7 — chap. xii. 1-3. to have happened be- 
 tween the year 1161 and 1120 before Christ. What is related chap. xvii. — 
 chap. xxi. is supposed to have happened about 1406 years before Christ.
 
 A Chronological Table. 
 
 311 
 
 Years of the 
 World. 
 
 y'cars before 
 the com- 
 mon Year 
 of Christ's 
 Nativity. 
 
 Years 
 from the 
 Exodus. 
 
 REMARKABLE PARTICULARS. 
 
 2829 
 
 1121 
 
 377 
 
 he delivered them into the hand of 
 the Philistines forty years, Judg. 
 xiii. 1. 
 
 During twenty years of this their 
 servitude to the Philistines, Sam 
 son seems to have judged the 
 south-west part of Israel ; for it 
 is said, Judg. xv. 20. And he 
 
 judged Israel in the days of the 
 Philistines twenty years. Conse- 
 quently this year Samson seems 
 to have been killed, together 
 with the Philistines, by the fall 
 of the house he plucked down. 
 
 It is likewise highly probable, that 
 the battle recorded 1 Sam. vii. 
 put an end to this forty years 
 servitude, and so was fought this 
 377th year of the Exodus. 
 
 2848 
 
 1102 
 
 396 
 
 This is the last year of the Judges, 
 or the year before the first of 
 Saul's reign. According to which 
 from the battle recorded 1 Sam. 
 vii. to this time, were 19 years, 
 wherein Samuel judged Israel, 
 before Saul was made king. 
 
 2888 
 
 1062 
 
 43() 
 
 Saul is slain, having reigned forty 
 years, as we are told Acts xiii. 
 21. 
 
 2928 
 
 1 022 
 
 47() 
 
 David dies, after a reign of forty 
 years, viz. Seven years he reigned 
 in Hebron, and thirty and three 
 years he i-eigued in Jerusalem, 
 1 Kings ii. 11. 
 
 2932 
 
 1018 
 
 480 
 
 ft came to pass, in the four hundred 
 and fourscore years after the chil- 
 dren of Israel were come out of the 
 land of Egypt, in the fourth year nf\
 
 378 
 
 A Chronological Table. 
 
 Years of the 
 World. 
 
 Years before 
 the com- 
 mon Year 
 of Christ's 
 
 Nativity. 
 
 Years 
 from the 
 Exodus. 
 
 REMARKABLE PARTICULARS. 
 
 2932 
 
 1018 
 
 480 
 
 Solomon's reign over Israel, in the 
 month Zif, vihich i.v the second 
 month, that he began to build the 
 house of the Lord, 1 Kings vi. 1. 
 
 And thus I have laid before the reader the more re- 
 markable particulars, contained within the interval of time 
 between the Exodus, and the beginning to build the Tem- 
 ple of Solomon, containing the space of 480 years, as we 
 are taught by express Scripture, i Kings vi. i . And there- 
 by I have given the reader a Chronological Account of the 
 several Sacred Books, whose Geographical Part is the sub- 
 ject of the foregoing Treatise j and not only so, but have 
 also carried the Chronology somewhat further, namely, as 
 far as to i Kings vi. judging it improper to put an end to 
 this second Table, till I had brought it down to the end of 
 the forementioned interval. 
 
 END OF VOL. I.
 
 AN 
 
 HISTORICAL GEOGRAPHY 
 
 OLD AND NEW TESTAMENT.
 
 AN 
 
 HISTORICAL GEOGRAPHY 
 
 OF THE 
 
 OLD AND NEW TESTAMENT: 
 
 IN TWO VOLUMES. 
 
 BY 
 
 EDWARD WELLS, D.D. 
 
 RECTOR OF COTESBACH IN LEICESTERSHIRE. 
 
 VOL. IL 
 
 OXFORD, 
 
 AT THE CLARENDON PRESS. 
 MDCCCXIX.
 
 CONTENTS 
 
 OF 
 
 VOL. II. 
 
 HISTORICAL GEOGRAPHY of the OLD TESTAMENT. 
 
 PART TIL 
 
 Chap. I. 
 
 Of the Places mentioned in the Jirst Book of Samuel y and 
 not spoken of before. p. i , 
 
 Sect. I. 
 
 Of the Places mentioned from the Birth of Samuel, to his 
 anointing Saul to he King over Israel. p. i. 
 
 Sect. TI. 
 
 Of the Places mentioned in the first Book of Samiiel, from 
 Saul's being anointed King, to his Death. p. lo. 
 
 Chap. II. 
 
 Of the Places mentiojied in the second Book of Samuel, and 
 
 not yet spoken of; that is, of the Places mentioned in the 
 
 History of David, from the beginning of his Reign, to his 
 
 appointing his Son Solomon to be anointed King. p. 23. 
 
 VOL. II. a
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 Chap. III. 
 
 Of such Places as are mentioned in thejirst Book of Kings, 
 and not spoken oflefore. p. 57. 
 
 Chap. IV. 
 
 Places mentioned in the second Book of Kings, and not 
 spoken of before. p. 90. 
 
 Chap. V. 
 
 Of Places situated in, or bordering on, the ancient Persian 
 Empire, and mentioned in the Old Testament, but not 
 spoken of already. p. 99, 
 
 Chap. VI. 
 
 Of the more remarkable Places mentioned in the Apocry- 
 phal Books, and not spoken of before. p. 103. 
 
 A Chronological Table of the Kings of Judah and Israel, 
 and such other more remarkable Particulars, as oc- 
 curred within the Reigns of the said Kings, and are men- 
 tioned in the Books of Samiiel, of Kings, and the other 
 following Books of the Old Testament. p. 119.
 
 AN 
 
 HISTORICAL GEOGRAPHY 
 
 OF THE 
 
 OLD TESTAMENT. 
 
 PART III.
 
 '3
 
 AN 
 
 HISTORICAL GEOGRAPHY 
 
 OLD TESTAMENT. 
 
 CHAP. r. 
 
 Of ihe Places mentioned in the first Book of Samuel, and 
 not spoken of before. 
 
 JL HAT the reader may the more easily apprehend, how The intro- 
 tlie series of this geographical treatise answers to the se- 
 ries of the sacred history, I judge it best to comprehend 
 all the places, mentioned in the first book of Samuel, 
 under one chapter, dividing the same into two several 
 sections, as follows. 
 
 SECT. I. 
 
 Of the Places mentioned from the Birth of Samuel, to his 
 anointing Saul to he King over Israel. 
 
 IN the first chapter of the book commonly called by us, l. 
 the first look of Samuel, we are informed ver. iq, 20. that^^o^'"^''' 
 
 'J 'J ' _ •^' or Rama- 
 
 Samuel was born at Ramah, otherwise called (as appears thaim-Zo- 
 
 from ver. i .) Ramathaim-Zophim, probably to distinguish binh'-piace 
 
 It from other places in the Holy Land, which were also °f '^^ Pfo- 
 
 called by the name of Ramah. One place of this name much* 
 
 VOL. II. B
 
 2 The Geography of the Old Teslameiit. 
 
 PART III. was spoken of in the last section but one of the last chap- 
 ter of Vol. I. viz. chap. vi. §. 25. And chap. v. §. 36. of 
 Vol. I. Part. II. we have taken notice of another place of 
 the like name, lying in the land of Gilead, or Mizpeh, 
 and thence called Ramoth- Gilead, and Ramath-Mizpeh. 
 The Ramah we are here speaking of seems to be called 
 Ramathaim-Zophim on a like occasion, namely, from its 
 being situated in a tract called Zuph, or Zophim, and 
 (as the text, ver. 1. tells us) in mount Ephraim ; and, ac- 
 cording to Eusebius and Jerom, in the (then) district of 
 Timnath near Diospolis or Lydda, being the very same 
 that is called Arimathea in the history of the Gospel. 
 2. From this account of its situation, it is not to be 
 
 The present jQy]3t;g J but that this is the place which to this day goes 
 state of . . •' ° 
 
 Rama, vinder the name of Rama, and lies in the usual road taken 
 
 by pilgrims from Jaffa, or Joppe, to Jerusalem, and is ac- 
 cordingly taken notice of by Thevenot^ and Le Bruyn. 
 From these we learn, that whereas this Rama was an- 
 ciently a city, it is now no more than an open town, under 
 the government of the Bassa of Gaza. It is still pretty 
 large, and looks well enough on the outside, as may be 
 seen by the draught which Le Bruyn has given of it. 
 Hard by the place where stood part of the ancient city, 
 is still to be seen a large square tower, much like to a 
 steeple. They say, that formerly it was as high again as 
 it is at present, and was erected in honour of the forty 
 martyrs that suffered death in Armenia. It joins on to 
 a church, and is by Thevenot represented as the steeple to 
 that church, built in honour of the forementioned martyrs. 
 At this tower are likewise to be seen some ruins, which 
 seem to be the remains of a monastery. Thevenot ex- 
 pressly says, that heretofore there was a stately large con- 
 vent here, of which the cloister seems to be still very entire, 
 by what could be observed in passing by the gate, for he 
 was told, that Christians were not permitted to enter into 
 it. The Latin monks have a convent or monastery at 
 
 " Thevenot, Part I. chap, xxxvi, Le Bruyn, chap. xlvi.
 
 Places mentioned in the first Book of Sanmel. 3 
 
 present in Rama, where there commonly resides a father CHAP. i. 
 superior with two monks. The pilgrims usually lodge 
 there till they go to Jerusalem. This convent, which 
 hath a very neat church, was built, as they say, in the 
 very place where the house of Nicodemus anciently stood. 
 The inhabitants, as far as Le Bruyn could guess, amounted 
 to about three thousand souls, as well Christians as Turks. 
 All the caravans, which go from Cairo in Egypt to Da- 
 mascus, Aleppo, and Constantinople, pass by this Rama. 
 All the doors in this town are very low, not three feet 
 high, says Thevenot, to hinder the Arabs from riding 
 into their houses. There is in Rama another church, 
 besides that above mentioned, dedicated to the honour of 
 St. George. 
 
 All round about Rama one meets with a great many 
 wells, which served, as they say, to keep wheat and oats. 
 We threw, says Le Bruyn, into one of them, which was 
 very deep, a great many stones, which, in falling to the 
 bottom, made a very extraordinary and hollow noise at 
 top. 
 
 Hard by Rama is also a very fine cistern, made with a 
 great deal of art upon two rows of piazzas. It certainly 
 served, says Le Bruyn, to supply the town with water, 
 as several for the same use are to be seen in Italy. 
 
 Le Bruyn adds, that, whilst he stayed at Rama, he 
 walked as far as Lydda, which lies on one side of Rama, 
 about three miles from it : which confirms the opinion, 
 that this Rama is the same called Arimathea in the New 
 Testament, and so the same with Ramah, the birth-place 
 of the prophet Sanmel ; forasmuch as Eusebius and Jerom 
 expressly tell us, that this lay near to Lydda. 
 
 I shall conclude what relates to Ramah with a par- 
 ticular taken notice of by Le Bruyn. It is, says he, no 
 extraordinary matter for men to take a journey to Jeru- 
 salem ; but that women should have such wandering 
 heads, may seem somewhat strange. However, there are 
 instances of it. A little before I arrived at Rama, an 
 English middle-aged gentlewoman was come thither, at- 
 
 B a
 
 4 The Geography of the Old Testament. 
 
 PART III. tended only with one footman. After she had completed 
 " her journey to Jerusalem, and there paid her devotions,, 
 
 she went into France, where she settled, because of some 
 
 affronts she had met with in England. 
 
 3. - In chap. iv. of this first Book of Samuel we have an 
 Of Aphek. account of a fight between the Israelites and the Phi- 
 listines; the former encamping beside Eben-ezer, the 
 latter in Aphek, ver. i. Eben-ezer is here mentioned 
 proleptically, this name being not given to the place till 
 some time after, as we read, chap. vii. ver. 12. Of which 
 therefore more, when we come to that chapter. I have 
 in chap. iv. §. 40. of Vol. I. Part II. observed, that there 
 were apparently two Apheks, one lying in the tribe of 
 Asher, the other in the tribe of Judah ; and this last must 
 be understood here, as lying in all probability not far 
 from Eben-ezer, which lay in the tribe of Judah, as will 
 appear hereafter, viz. §. 14. 
 
 4. The Israelites in their first engagement with the Phi- 
 ^^^^^ r listines were worsted by them, losing about four thousand 
 
 country of j ■> o 
 
 the Philis- men. Whereupon they fetched the ark from Shiloh 
 
 """• into their camp, thinking that the presence of that would 
 
 certainly save them from their enemies ; inasmuch as God 
 
 would not permit the ark to fall into the hands of the 
 
 Heathens. But they found their confidence ill -grounded. 
 
 For upon joining battle a second time, they were quite 
 
 routed, and the ark taken by the Philistines, and carried 
 
 into their country. Which it will be here requisite to 
 
 speak more distinctly of, for the better understanding the 
 
 several particulars related concerning the ark, during its 
 
 stay in this country. 
 
 5. We learn then, that the Philistines were descendants 
 Itwasdi- of Mizraim, the father of the Egyptians, and the second 
 five lord- son of Ham, and so brother to Canaan, the father of the 
 ships. Canaanites, Gen. x. 6 — 14. We learn also from Gen. x. 
 
 19. that the coast lying along the eastern end of the Me- 
 diterranean Sea, from Sidon unto Gaza, did originally 
 belong to the Canaanites. Whence it follows, that 
 whereas we find by the Scripture-history, that the Phi-
 
 Places meiitioned in thejirsi Book of Samuel. 5 
 
 llstlnes were possessed of a considerable tract of this coast CHAP. I. 
 to the south; these must become masters of it by dis- '_J_ 
 
 possessing the Canaanites, the original masters of it. And 
 this is the more probable, because that, the Philistines 
 being descended of Mizraim, it is not to be doubted, but 
 they settled in Egypt, or the parts adjoining, and so to 
 the south-west of Canaan. And if mount Casius was so 
 called from Casluhim, of whom the Philistines were more 
 immediately descended ; then it is evident, that they were 
 seated in the tract next adjoining to the Canaanites, on 
 the south or south-west, and so lay ready to make an in- 
 vasion upon the south-west coast of the Canaanites, as 
 soon as they became strong enough. That they had ac- 
 tually made themselves masters of some part of Canaan 
 in the days of Abraham, seems to be countenanced by 
 the history of Abraham. And Josh. xiii. 3. we learn, that 
 they had then extended their conquests from Gaza so far 
 northwards as to Ekron; dividing this tract into five 
 lordships, or lesser principalities or kingdoms. For as the 
 princes hereof are in the forecited place of Joshua, and 
 also I Sam. vi. 17, 18. called the Jive Lords oj" the Phi- 
 listines, and are thus reckoned up, Gaza, Askelon, Ashdod, 
 Gath, and Ekron ; so we have Abimelech called King of 
 Gerar in the history of Abraham, and the same, or an- 
 other of the same name, called King of the Philisiines in 
 the history of Isaac, Gen. xx. 2. and xxvi. i : and what is 
 still of more weight, we have the prince of Gath called 
 King of Gath more than once in this first book of Samuel. 
 In short, though they were subdued by David, and kept 
 in subjection by some others of the succeeding kings ; yet 
 they afterwards became so considerable, as that from them 
 the Holy Land came to be called by the Greeks, Pa- 
 lestine, under which name it frequently occurs both in 
 Greek and Latin writers, and that Christian as well as 
 Heathen. 
 
 Of the five lordships, into which the country of the 6. 
 Philistines was distinguished, that of Gaza was the most^^^*^^" 
 southern J the city of Gaza, from which it took its name, 
 
 B3
 
 & The Geography of the Old Testament. 
 
 PART III. Standing as it were in the very south-west angle or corner 
 of the land of Canaan. Of this city I have spoken already 
 in Part II. chap. ii. §. 6. of my Geography of the New 
 Testament. 
 7' North of Gaza lay next the city of Askelon, called by 
 
 ' the Greeks and Latins, Ascalon, and situated likewise on 
 the sea-side. It is said to have been of great note among 
 the Gentiles, for a temple dedicated to Derceto, the mo- 
 ther of Semiramis, here worshipped in the form of a mer- 
 maid; and for another temple of Apollo, wherein Herod, 
 the father of Antipater, and grandfather of Herod the 
 Great, (who, from his being born in this city, was called 
 Herod the Ascalonite,) served as priest. It had in the first 
 times of Christianity an episcopal see ; and in the course 
 of the holy wars it was beautified with a new wall, and 
 many fair buildings, by our King Richard the First. 
 8. Above Ascalon to the north lay Ashdod, called by the 
 
 Of Ashdod. Qj.ggj^s Azotus, and under that name mentioned in the 
 history of the Acts of the Apostles, and so taken notice 
 of in my Geography of the New^ Testament, Part II. 
 chap. ii. §. 9. I there observed, that it was memorable 
 for the temple of Dagon ; to which I must add here, that 
 this was the temple, into which the ark of God was 
 brought, and set by Dagon. And when they of Ashdod 
 arose early on the morrow, behold, Dagon was fallen upon 
 his face to the earth, before the ark of the Lord: and they 
 took Dagon, and set him in his place again. And when 
 they arose early on the morrow mornings behold, Dagon 
 was fallen upon his face to the ground, before the ark of 
 the Lord: and the head of Dagon, and both the palms of 
 kis hands, were cut off upon the threshold, only the stump 
 of Dagon was left to him. Nor was this all, but the hand 
 of the Lord luas heavy also upon the vien of Ashdod, and 
 he destroyed them, and smote them with emrods, even Ash- 
 dod, and the coasts thereof. And when the men of Ashdod 
 saw that it was so, they said, The ark of the God of Israel 
 shall not abide ivith us: for his hand is sore upon us, and 
 upon Dagon our God. They sent therefore, and gathered
 
 Places mentioned in tliejirst Book of Samuel, 7 
 
 all Ike Lords of the Philistines unto them, and said, What CHAP. i. 
 shall ivedo luith the ark of the God of Israel P And thetj J^f^^J^ 
 a7iswered, Let the ark of the God of Israel he carried about 
 unto Gath. And they carried the ark of the God of Israel 
 thither, i Sam. v. 2 — 8. 
 
 Gath lay still more north than Ashdod, and is me- 9 
 morable for being the birth-place of the giant Goliath, 
 slain by David, as also of several others of the same gi- 
 gantic race, slain by David's worthies. It was dismantled 
 by David, rebuilt afterward by Rehoboam his grandson ; 
 but again dismantled by Ozias King of Judah^, and finally 
 laid waste by Hazael King of Syria. However it reco- 
 vered, and was in being, and retained its old name in the 
 days of Eusebius and Jerom, and is placed by them about 
 four miles from Eleutheropolis, towards Diospolis or 
 Lydda. 
 
 After the ark was brought to Gath, the hand of the 'O* 
 Lord was against the city with a very great destruction ; 
 and he smote the men of the city, both small and great, and 
 they had emrods in their secret parts. Therefore they sent 
 the ark of God to Ekron. 1 Sam. v. 9, 10. This city was 
 the most northern of all the five cities, which gave name 
 to the five lordships of the Philistines, lying in the north 
 border of Judah, as appears from Josh. xv. it. It was 
 called by the Greeks, Accaron, and was a place of great 
 wealth and power, and held out a long while against the 
 Israelites. It is much spoken of in the holy Scriptures, 
 and particularly for the idolatrous worship of Beelzebub, 
 i. e. the Lord of Flies, so called by the Jews, either in 
 contempt of the idolatrous worship paid to him, or be- 
 cause of the great multitude of flies which did attend his 
 sacrifices ; from which, some say, the temple of Jerusalem 
 was wholly free. But whatsoever he was, or for what- 
 ever cause so named, certain it is, that he was here had 
 in special honour, and is therefore called in Scripture, the 
 God of Ekron. And hither it was, that Ahaziah, the 
 King of Israel, sent his messenger to inquire of this idol 
 concerning his health. 
 
 B 4
 
 8 The Geography of the Old Testament, 
 
 PART in. The ark being brought to Ekron, the Ekronites cried 
 ~' oui, saying, They have hrought about the ark of the God 
 Of Beth- of Israel to ns, to slay us, and our people. So they sent and 
 shemcsh. gathered together all the Lords of the Philistines, and said. 
 Send away the ark of the God of Israel, and let it go to 
 its oiun place. Hereupon, by the advice of their priests 
 and the diviners, the ark of God was laid on a new cart ; 
 and two miich-kine, on which there had been no yoke, 
 were tied to the cart, their calves being brought home 
 from them. Notwithstanding which, the said two kine 
 took the straight way to Bethshemesh, a town belonging 
 to the tribe of Judah; whereby the Philistines were 
 taught that the evils that had befallen them came not ly 
 chance, but that the God of Israel had afflicted them there- 
 with. I Sam. vi. 9. This Bethshemesh lay in the north 
 border of Judah (as appears from Josh. xv. 10.) and not 
 far westward from Kirjath-jearim, of which we are to 
 speak next. 
 
 12, From Bethshemesh the ark was quickly removed to 
 9*^ !^"^^'*^" Kirjath-jearim, where it continued for twenty years; 
 
 namely, till it was fetched from thence by King David, 
 as we read i Chron. xiii. 5, 6. This Kirjath-jearim is ex- 
 pressly reckoned among the cities of the tribe of Judah, 
 Josh. xv. 60. And ver. 9, 10. of that chapter, we find 
 it lay in the north border of that tribe, not far from Beth- 
 shemesh, and that it was otherwise called Baalah, and 
 thence sometimes Kirjath-baal (ver. 60.) as well as Kir- 
 jath-jearim; this last name being taken from mount 
 Jearim, upon or near which it lay. It frequently occurs 
 in Scripture. 
 
 13, After the ark was settled at Kirjath-jearim, Samuel 
 OfMizpeh jook occasion to exhort the people to turn away from 
 
 on the west ..,, iri- 
 
 cf Jordan, their idolatry; and, for their encouragement hereto, pro- 
 mised them, that, upon their repentance, God would de- 
 liver them out of the hand of the Philistines, The Israelites 
 took the Prophet's advice : whereupon Samuel summoned 
 them together to Mizpeh, and there kept a solemn fast. 
 The Mizpeh here mentioned must be (as appears from the
 
 Places mentioned in the first Book of Samuel. 9 
 
 circumstances of this story) different from that above men- chap. I. 
 tioned in the history of Jephthah : accordingly we have " ' ' 
 another Mizpeh, mentioned among the cities of Judah, 
 (Josh. XV. 38.) and a third mentioned among the cities of 
 Benjamin, (Josh, xviii. 26.) Some are of opinion, that 
 these two were really but one and the same city, lying 
 in the confines of Judah and Benjamin. If they were not 
 the same, then it seems most probable, that Mizpeh in the 
 tribe of Benjamin was that which is here spoken of, as 
 also Judg. XX. I, 3. and 2 Kings xxv. 23. and also i Mac- 
 cab, iii. 46 ; where it is called Maspha, and is said to be, 
 not only over against Jerusalem, but also the place where 
 they prayed aforetime in Israel; alluding to this passage 
 in Samuel, and the other in Judges. 
 
 The Philistines, hearing that the Israelites were ga- _ J4. 
 thered together at Mizpeh, went up against them; and 
 joining battle, the Philistines were routed, the Israelites 
 pursuing them unto Beth-car. Then Samuel took a stones 
 and set it between Mizpeh and Shen, and called the name 
 of it Ehen-ezer, (i. e. the stone of help,) saying. Hitherto 
 hath the Lord helped us. Chap. vii. ver. 11, 12. Now 
 this stone lay near Bethshemesh, as Eusebius and Jerom 
 inform us ; and it being plain from Scripture, that Beth- 
 shemesh lay in the north border of Judah, it will follow, 
 that this Eben-ezer did so likewise ; and therefore, that 
 Mizpeh was situated also thereabout, as being not far from 
 Eben-ezer : and the like inference is to be made, as to 
 the situation of Beth-car and Shen ; namely, that as Miz- 
 peh was situated not far from Eben-ezer on one (probably 
 the east or north-east) side; so Shen was situated not far 
 from it on the opposite side, or to the west or south-west; 
 and that Beth-car was so likewise. 
 
 Of Eben- 
 ezer.
 
 lO The Geography of the Old Testament. 
 
 PART 111. 
 
 SECT. II. 
 
 Of the Places mentioned in the Jirst Book of Samuel, from 
 Saul's being anointed King, to his Death. 
 
 1. xaFTER this the Philistines came no more into the coast of 
 ofZuph. Isfael, all the days of Samuel. And the cities, which the 
 
 Philistines had taken from Israel, were restored to Israel. 
 Chap. vii. ver. 13, 14. Notwithstanding which, Samud 
 being grown old, and his sons not walking in his ways, 
 the elders of Israel wait on Samuel at Raniah, and desire 
 him to make a King over them, like as all other nations 
 had. Hereupon the sacred history takes notice, upon 
 what account Saul happened to come to Samuel, and how 
 he was anointed by Samuel King over Israel, chap, ix — x. 
 ver. I. As for the land of Shalisha and Shalim, mentioned 
 chap. ix. ver. 4. it being no where else mentioned, nothing 
 of certainty, or tolerable probability, can be said of them. 
 As for the land of Zuph, ver. 5. it is evident, that thereby 
 is denoted that part of mount Ephraim, where stood Ra- 
 mah, the city of Samuel, which was thence called Rama- 
 thaim-Zophim. 
 
 2. In chap. x. ver. 2. we have mention made of Rachel's 
 Oi ^^chtW g^piilcJire, where it is expressly said to be in the border of 
 
 Benjamin, and near a place then called Zelzah. Of this 
 sepulchre, see my Geography of the New Testament, 
 . Part I. 
 
 3. In the latter end of this chapter we read, that Saul was 
 Of Gibeah. publickly made King at Mizpeh ; after which he went 
 
 home to Gibeah, a city of Benjamin, and which, as it was 
 his native place, so it was afterwards made his royal seat; 
 whence it is styled in Scripture, Gibeah of Saul, as well 
 as Gibeah of Benjamin. It was here, that the concubine 
 of the Levite was abused ', which proved almost the en- 
 tire ruin of this tribe of Benjamin. It lay to the north 
 of Jerusalem, being between twenty and thirty furlongs 
 from it. (Jos. Ant. v. chap. 2. and Jewish War vi. chap, a.) 
 It stood on an hill, as the name imports.
 
 Places mentioned in the first Book of Samuel, 1 1 
 
 Not long after this, Jabesh-Gllead being besieged by CHAP. i. 
 the Ammonites, was timely relieved by Saul, and a great SECT, ii. 
 
 slaughter made of the enemy. The very name of this 4. 
 place imports, that it lay in Gilead, and so on the east of ^l^-'*^^**'- 
 Jordan, and adjoining to the country of the Ammonites 
 who besieged it. It was a town in Eusebius and Jerom's 
 times, being six miles distant from Pella, and standing 
 upon an hill, as one goes to Gerasa. It is sometimes 
 simply called Jabesh in Scripture; and the inhabitants 
 thereof are remarked in the sacred history, for their 
 grateful remembrance of this benefit they received from 
 Saul, when after his death, having heard that the Phi- 
 listines had fastened his body to the luall ofiBethshan, they 
 went all night, and took the body of Saul and the bodies of 
 his sons from the wall of Bethshan, and came to Jabesh, and 
 burnt them there ; and took their bones, and buried them 
 under a tree at Jabesh, and fasted seven days. Chap, xxxi, 
 ver. 10 — 13. For which their gratitude they were highly 
 commended by King David, 2 Sam. ii. 5 — 7. 
 
 In chap. xiii. ver. 5. we read, that the Philistines came 5. 
 up, and pitched in Michmash. This place, the text tells ^^ ^•'^h- 
 us, was eastward from Beth-aven. And Eusebius and 
 Jerom inform us, that in their time it was a great town, 
 retaining its old name, and lying nine miles from Jeru- 
 salem, near to Ramah. But now these two accounts are 
 irreconcileable ; and the fault seems to be either in the 
 present reading of the Hebrew Text, or our rendering of 
 it. The Seventy Interpreters read it Bethoron, and the 
 Syriac and Arabic Interpreters read it Bethel ; and Mich- 
 mash might lie east of Bethel, and certainly did lie east 
 of Bethoron the Nether (which the LXX. understood) ; 
 but it could not lie east of Beth-aven (taken as distinct 
 from Bethel), and yet be so near Rama or Jerusalem as 
 Eusebius and Jerom say. If therefore Beth-aven be the 
 true reading, then the Hebrew word rendered by us east- 
 ivard ought to be rendered before, or (as it is by the LXX.) 
 over-against ; and so both accounts are very rcconcileable, 
 as may be seen by the map.
 
 la The Geography of the Old TestameJit. 
 
 PART 111. In the same chap. xiii. ver. 3. we read, that Jonathan, 
 Z the son of Saul, smote the garrison of the Philistines that 
 OfGeba. was lu Geha, Now among the cities of Benjamin men- 
 tioned Josh, xviii. we read of Gaba, Gibeath, and Gibeon ; 
 and Josh. xxi. ver. 17. we read, that the two cities given 
 to the children of Aaron out of the tribe of Benjamin, 
 were Gibeon and Geba. Whence it is not to be doubted, 
 but that Gaba, chap, xviii. was the same with Geba, chap. 
 xxi. Some have been of opinion, that this Geba or Gaba 
 was also the same with Gibeah ; but this opinion is dis- 
 countenanced, not only by Gibeath (which in all pro- 
 bability was the same with Gibeah) being expressly named 
 as a distinct city from Gaba, (Josh, xviii.) but also by the 
 circumstances mentioned in this T3th chapter of i Samuel, 
 and elsewhere. For we read, chap. x. ver. 26. that Gi- 
 beah was the city where Saul dwelt, and hence, chap. xi. 
 ver. 4. it is called Gibeah of Saul ; and agreeably, chap, 
 xiii. ver. a. we read, that Saul chose him three thousand 
 men of Israel ; whereof two thousand were ivith Saul in 
 Michmash arid mount Bethel, and a thousand with Jona- 
 than in Gibeah of Benjamin, i. e. in the royal city of Saul. 
 And in ver. 3. we presently read next, that Jonathan smote 
 the garrison of the Philistines that was in Geba : which 
 was therefore distinct from Gibeah, it being not likely, 
 that the Philistines should have a garrison in the city where 
 Saul was wont to reside. The words Geba and Gibeah 
 do in the Hebrew tongue denote an hill ; and hence some 
 understand, by Geba in this place, some hill on the coasts 
 of the Philistines. So the word Gibeah is rendered in our 
 Bible, chap. vii. ver. i. The men of Kirjath-jearim brought 
 the ark of the Lord into the house of Abinadab in the hill, 
 which others render in Gibeah ; and so it is rendered in 
 our own Bible, 2 Sam. vi. 4. 
 7, The other places mentioned in chap. xiii. have been al- 
 
 Of the land ready spoken of, except the land of Shual, ver. 17. (which 
 and valley sccms to havc been that part of Ephraim which lay about 
 ofZeboim. Qphrah, the city of Gideon, before ^ spoken of) and the 
 
 b Chap. vi. §. 7. of Vol. I. Part II.
 
 Places mentioned in thejirst Book of Samuel. 13 
 vallet/ ofZeloim. Of this last name we read of two places chap. i. 
 
 • • • • 1 SECT II 
 
 in Scripture ; one whereof was one of the four cities de- 
 
 stroyed with Sodom ; the other appertained to the tribe 
 of Benjamin, as we learn from Neh. xi. 34. And this, 
 without doubt, is the Zeboim here meant, which gave 
 name to the adjoining valley, called here the valley of 
 Zeboim, 
 
 In chap. xiv. we have mention made of a place called 8. 
 Migron, (ver. 2.) and two rocks, one called Bozez, thCg^^^^'"^^ 
 other Seneh. Migron was not far from Gibeah, as isSeneh. 
 plain from ver. 2 ; and as to the two rocks, the text ex- 
 pressly says, that the forefront of the one was situate north- 
 ward over against Michmashf and the other southward over 
 against Gibeah, ver. 5- 
 
 In ver. 47. of this chapter we are informed of the power p. 
 of Saul, that he fought against all his enemies; amongst Of Zobah. 
 whom are mentioned the Kings of Zobah. That the 
 country of Zobah pertained to the Syrians, is evident 
 from 2 Sani. x. 6, 8. where we read expressly of the Syr 
 rians of Zobah ; and from their being hired by the Am- 
 monites, (as is mentioned in the same place,) it appears, 
 that Zobah lay in the parts of Syria adjoining to the Am- 
 monites. And this is further confirmed from 2 Sam. viii. 
 3. compared with i Chron. xviii. 3. where we are in- 
 formed, that David smote the King of Zobah unto Hamath, 
 as he went to establish his dominion by the river Euphrates ; 
 and a Chron. viii. 3. we read, that Solomon went to Ha- 
 math-Zobah, and prevailed against it, and there built Tad- 
 mor, or Palmyra. From comparing together these several 
 texts of Scripture, it seems clear, that the kingdom of 
 Zobah lay on the borders of Nephtali, and the half tribe 
 of Manasseh beyond Jordan, and so between the land of 
 Israel and the river Euphrates, stretching from the neigh- 
 bourhood of the Ammonites, to the land of Hamath. 
 Hence Sabe and Barathena, mentioned by Ptolemy as 
 cities of Arabia Deserta, in the confines of Palmyrene, 
 seem to have been no other than Zobah and Berothai men-
 
 14 The Geography of the Old Testament. 
 
 PART III. tioned in the Scriptures, 2 Sam. viii. 8. See more, chap, 
 ii. §. 29. 
 10. In I Sam. xv. we read, that Saul was by God's direction 
 
 OfTelaim. ^^^^ ^^ destroy the Amalekites. To which end he ga- 
 thered the Israelites together to Telaim, which in all pro- 
 bability was the same place with Telem, reckoned among 
 the cities of Judah, Josh. xv. 24. And this place was 
 very proper for this purpose, as lying in the south part 
 of the tribe of Judah, and so in the part adjoining to the 
 Amalekites, as wall as Edomites. 
 !!• Saul having smitten the Amalekites, and took their 
 
 Carmel. King, came to Carmel, ver. 12. whereby is to be under- 
 stood in this text, not the famous mountain so called, but 
 a city of the south part of the tribe of Judah, mentioned 
 Josh. XV. c^^, and which seems to have given name to the 
 territory round it. Of this city or country was Nabal, 
 the husband of Abigail, whom David married; and from 
 chap. XXV. we find that it lay in the south parts of Judah. 
 Eusebius and Jerom tell us, that there was in their time 
 a town, called Carmelia, ten miles from Hebron to the 
 east, and wherein the Romans kept a garrison, which 
 might very well be the same with the Carmel here men- 
 tioned. 
 12. In chap. xvi. Samuel is sent by God to Bethlehem, to 
 
 Of Bethle- anoint David. I have spoken of this place in chap. ii. 
 §. 3. of our Saviour's Journeyings, or the first part of my 
 Geography of the New Testament, it being the birth- 
 place of our blessed Saviour, as well as of King David, 
 from whom our Saviour was descended according to the 
 flesh. To what is there said, I shall add here, that this 
 place is otherwise called Ephrath, or Ephratah ; and so 
 sometimes Bethlehem -Ephratah, sometimes Bethlehem- 
 Judah, namely, to distinguish it from another Bethlehem, 
 lying in the tribe of Zabulon. It lies about six miles from 
 Jerusalem to the south, or south-west, in the way to 
 Hebron, as Eusebius and Jerom tell us ; who add, that 
 the monument of Jesse, the father of David, was shewn
 
 Places mentioned in thejirst Book of Samuel. 15 
 here in their time. Mr. Maundrell tells us, that about CHAP. I. 
 
 SECT II 
 
 one hour and a quarter's distance from Bethlehem south- ' 
 
 ward, are shewn those famous fountains, pools, and gar- 
 dens, which are said to have been the contrivance and 
 delight of King Solomon. To these works and places 
 of pleasure that great prince is supposed to allude, Eccles. 
 ii. 5, 6. where, amongst the other instances of his mag- 
 nificence, he reckons up his gardens, and vineyards, and 
 pools. 
 
 As for the pools, they are three in number, lying in 
 a row above each other; being so disposed, that the waters 
 of the uppermost may descend into the second, and those 
 of the second into the third. Their figure is quadrangular. 
 The breadth is the same in all, amounting to about ninety 
 paces. In their length there is some difference j the first 
 being about one hundred and sixty paces long, the second 
 two hundred, the third two hundi'ed and twenty. They 
 are all lined with wall and plaistered, and contain a great 
 depth of water. Close by the pools is a pleasant castle 
 of a modern structure ; and about the distance of one 
 hundred and forty paces from them, is the fountain, from 
 which principally they derive their waters. This the friars 
 will have to be that sealed fountain, to which the holy 
 spouse is compared. Cant. iv. 12. And, in confirmation 
 of this opinion, they pretend a tradition, that King So- 
 lomon shut up these springs, and kept the door of them 
 sealed with his signet, to the end that he might preserve 
 the waters for his own drinking, in their natural freshness 
 and purity. Nor was it difficult thus to secure them, 
 they rising under ground, and having no avenue to them, 
 but by a little hole like to the mouth of a narrow well. 
 Through this hole you descend directly down, but not 
 without some difficulty, for about four yards ; and then 
 arrive in a vaulted room fifteen paces long, and eight 
 broad. Joining to this is another room of the same fashion, 
 but somewhat less. Both these rooms are covered with 
 handsome stone arches, very ancient, and perhaps, says 
 my author, the work of Solomon himself.
 
 l6 The Geography of the Old Testament. 
 
 PART III. You find here four places, at which the water rises. 
 From these separate sources it is conveyed by little rivulets 
 into a kind of bason, and from thence is carried by a large 
 subterraneous passage down into the pools. In the way, 
 before it arrives at the pools, there is an aqueduct of brick- 
 pipes, which receives part of the stream, and carries it by 
 many turnings and windings about the mountains to Je- 
 rusalem. 
 
 Below the pools here runs down a narrow rocky valley, 
 inclosed on both sides with high mountains. This the 
 friars will have to be the inclosed garden, alluded to in the 
 same place of the Canticles before cited : A garden in- 
 closed is my sister, my spouse ; a spring shut up, a fountain 
 sealed. What truth there is in this conjecture, I cannot, 
 says Mr. Maundrell, absolutely pronouftce. As to the 
 pools, it is probable enough they may be the same with 
 Solomon's, there not being the like store of excellent 
 spring-water to be met with any where else, throughout 
 all Palestine, or the Holy Land. But for the gardens one 
 may safely affirm, that if Solomon made them in the 
 rocky ground, which is now assigned for them, he de- 
 monstrated greater power and wealth in finishing his de- 
 sign, than he did wisdom in choosing the place for it. Le 
 Bruyn says, that he knows not how to be of their mind, 
 that take them to be the work of Solomon, since he per- 
 ceives not the least probability for it; yet he has given 
 us a draught of them. 
 
 What has hitherto been spoken of lies to the south of 
 Bethlehem. On the west thereof is shewn the well of 
 David, so called, because it is held to be the same with 
 that, the waters whereof David so passionately thirsted 
 after, 2 Sam. xxiii. 15. It is a well, or rather a cistern, 
 supplied only with rain, without any natural excellency 
 in its waters to make them desirable; but we are told, 
 that David's spirit had a further aim. The forementioned 
 passage of Scripture runs thus : And David luas then in an 
 hold, and the garrison of the Philistines was then in Beth- 
 lehem, And David longed, a^d said, that one would
 
 Places mentioned in the first Book of Samuel. 17 
 
 give me drink of the water of the well of Bethlehem, which CHAP. I. 
 is hy the gate! And three mighty men broke through the _ 
 
 host of the Philistines, aiid drew ivater out of the well of 
 Bethlehem, that was hy the gate, &c. Now, according 
 to this passage of Scripture, if that now-a-days shewn for 
 the well of David is really such, then it appears from 
 thence, that Bethlehem was of a greater extent than it is 
 at present, since this well was formerly at the gate ofBefh- 
 lehe7n, whereas it is now at some distance from the town. 
 
 About two furlongs beyond this well, are to be seen 
 some remains of an old aqueduct, which anciently con- 
 veyed the waters from Solomon's pools to Jerusalem. 
 This is said to be the genuine \\'ork of Solomon, and may 
 well, says Mr. Maundrell, be allowed to be in reality what 
 it is pretended for. It is carried all along upon the sur- 
 face of the ground, and is composed of stones — ffcet square, 
 and — thick, perforated with a cavity of — inches diameter, 
 to make the channel. These stones are let into each 
 other with a fillet, framed round about the cavity to pre- 
 vent leakage; and united to each other with so firm a 
 cement, that they will sometimes sooner break (though 
 a kind of coarse marble) than be separated. This train 
 of stones was covered, for its greater security, with a case 
 of smaller stones, laid over it in a very strong mortar. The 
 whole work seems to be endued with such absolute firm- 
 ness, as if it had been designed for eternity. But the 
 Turks have demonstrated in this instance, that nothing 
 can be so well wrought, but they are able to destroy it. 
 For of this strong aqueduct, which v/as carried formerly 
 five or six leagues, with so vast expense and labour, you 
 see now only here and there a fragment remaining. And 
 so much for Bethlehem. To proceed now with the sacred 
 history. 
 
 We have in chap. xvii. the relation of the celebrated 13. 
 victory of David over Goliath, the giant of Gath. The^j^^^°' 
 Philistines were encamped at that time between Shochoh va.\\cy oi 
 and Azekah, in Ephes-davimim, and the Israelites by the ^'^>^^' 
 valley of Elah, ver. 1, 2. Of Azekah f have spoken al- 
 
 VOE. II. C
 
 1 8 The Geography of the Old Testament. 
 
 PART III. ready ; and it is plain from these texts, that Shochoh lay 
 not far from Azekah. And accordingly there were in 
 Eusebius and Jerom's time two towns or villages of this 
 name, lying in the road from Eleutheropolis to Jerusalem, 
 (as Azekah did,) at nine miles distance. Whence it fol- 
 lows, that the valley of Elah, where the Israelites pitched, 
 was likewise thereabouts, as also Ephes-dammim. 
 
 14- Saul havina; conceived an implacable hatred against 
 
 OfNaioth. ^ .J ° , • 1 1^ -J r, J J J 
 
 David, we read chap. xix. that David fled, and escaped to 
 
 Samuel to Ramah, and told him all that Saul had done 
 unto him. And he and Samuel went and dwelt at Naioth, 
 which (as we are told the next verse) was in Ramah; 
 i. e. in the district of Ramah, otherwise called Ramathaim- 
 Zophim, the birth-place and usual dwelling-place of Sa- 
 muel. And consequently Sechu mentioned ver. 1%. lay 
 in the way from Gibeah of Saul to Ramah. 
 
 15. After this David withdrew to Nob, to Ahimelech the 
 ° ' priest, who delivered to him Goliath's sword, chap. xxi. 
 
 I — 9. That this Nob was a sacerdotal city, or a city 
 assigned to the priests, is evident from chap. xxi. 19. and 
 also from Nehem. xi. 32. where we find it not only reck- 
 oned among the Levitical cities, but also reckoned among 
 the cities appertaining to the tribe of Benjamin. Indeed 
 this is not reckoned among the cities first assigned to the 
 priests, and it seems to have been added afterwards, and that 
 only occasionally, whilst the ark was at Kirjath-jearim. 
 
 16. From Nob, David went to Achish King of Gath ; where 
 rest' of Ha- thinking himself in danger, he feigned himself mad, and 
 reth. so escaped thence to the cave Adullam. Thence he with- 
 drew to Mizpeh of Moab, together with his father and 
 mother, where these continued all the time of David's 
 troubles. But David himself, at the direction of the pro- 
 phet Gad, returned into the land of Judah, and came info 
 the forest of Hareth, a place only mentioned here, (chap. 
 xxii. ver. 5.) but lying in the tribe of Judah, as appears 
 from the clause immediately foregoing, and probably not 
 far from Keilah, of which we read in chap, xxiii. 
 
 17. For it being told David, that the Philistines had be- 
 
 Of Keilah.
 
 Places mentioned in the first Book of Samuel. 19 
 
 sieged Keilab, he went and relieved it. Now this we find CHAP. I. 
 reckoned among the cities of Judah, Josh. xv. 44. and it ! — 1 
 
 appears from several circumstances, that it lay on that 
 part of Judah, which adjoined to the country of the Phi- 
 listines, that is, in the west or south-west part of that 
 tribe. 
 
 David being informed by God, that the men of Keilah '8. 
 would not be faithful to him, withdrew into the vvilder- ^£^^^5^.^^ " 
 ness of Ziph. We find a city of this name mentioned Ziph. 
 Josh. XV. 55. together with Carmel and Maon; and there- 
 fore it probably adjoined to them ; and accordingly here 
 in the story of David we have mention made of Carmel 
 and Maon, as adjoining to Ziph. So that it is not to be 
 doubted, but by the Ziph, in the wilderness whereof 
 David now lay, and where was the hill of Hachilah, is to 
 be understood Ziph near Carmel and Maon. This is 
 placed by Jerom eight miles eastward from Hebron. 
 
 From the wilderness of Ziph David withdrew into the 19. 
 adjacent wilderness of Maon, which was a neighbouring ^ '^'^""' 
 town to Carmel. Hence it is said of Nabal, chap. xxv. 
 ver. 2. that there was a man in Maon, whose possessions 
 were in Carmel ; and Nabal, though he might dwell ge- 
 nerally in Maon, yet is styled Nabal the Carmelite, from 
 the place where his estate lay. See 2 Sam. ii. 3, 4, &c. 
 
 From the wilderness of Maon David went and dwelt 20. 
 in strong holds at Engedi, i Sam. xxiii. 29, &c. The old "^^ 
 name of this place was Hazezon-tamar, as appears from 
 Gen. xiv. 7. compared with 2 Chron. xx. 2. It was a city 
 in the tribe of Judah, as appears from Josh. xv. 62. and 
 that not far from the Salt sea, and in a wilderness or de- 
 solate country. Hence it is not improbable, that the 
 Jeshimon, or wilderness, on the south of which Ziph and 
 Maon are said to be situated, i Sam. xxiii. 19, 24. is to be 
 understood of the great wilderness lying from the Salt 
 sea, for some way westward, along the north coast or" Ju- 
 dah. Engedi is taken notice of. Cant. i. 14. for its cam- 
 phire, or (as others render it) cypress. And Jerom tells 
 us, it was remarkable for opolalsamum (supposed to be 
 
 c 2
 
 ao 
 
 The Geography of the Old Testament. 
 
 PART III 
 
 21. 
 
 Of Ziklag. 
 
 22. 
 
 Of the Ge. 
 shu rites 
 and Ger- 
 
 zites. 
 
 23. 
 
 Of Shu- 
 nem. 
 
 24. 
 
 Of mount 
 Gilboa. 
 
 . the same now-a-days called by the name of Lalm of Gi- 
 lead), and that it was a great town in his days. But it is 
 most remarkable on account of" the great instance of 
 loyalty sliown by David in an adjoining cave towards Saul. 
 And a like instance we have again shewn by David to Saul 
 in the wilderness of Ziph, after his return thither from the 
 wilderness of Paran, i Sam. xxvi. 
 
 From the wilderness of Ziph David went again to 
 Achish King of Gath, who gave him Ziklag, chap, xxvii. 
 ver. 6. This was a city at first assigned to the tribe of 
 Judah, but afterwards given to the tribe of Simeon, Josh. 
 XV. 31. and xix. 5. But being a city bordering on the 
 Philistines, if they had ever been driven out of it by the 
 Israelites, it seems they had got it again at this time from 
 the Israelites ; whence the text says, that Achish gave 
 David Ziklag. 
 
 Whilst David stayed here, which was a full year and 
 four months, he went up and invaded the Geshurites, and 
 the Gezrites, or Gerzites, and Amalekites ; who then in- 
 habited the parts on the south-west going to Shur and 
 Egypt, I Sam. xxvii. 8. These Gerzites seem to be the 
 same that are called Gerrhenians, a Mace. xiii. 24. from 
 their chief town Gerra, mentioned by Strabo, as lying 
 between Gaza and Pelusium in Egypt. 
 
 After this, the Philistines making war with the Israelites, 
 came and pitched in Shunem ; and the Israelites pitched 
 in Gilboa, chap, xxviii. ver. 4. Shunem was a city in the 
 border of the tribe of Issachar, Josh. xix. 18. and it being 
 in this text placed next to Jezreel but one, it was in all 
 probability the Shunem where the Philistines now en- 
 camped. For Jezreel is placed by writers at the west end 
 of mount Gilboa; hence chap. xxix. ver. i. we read, that 
 the Israelites pitched by a fountain which is in Jezreel, be- 
 fore the fight at Gilboa. This Shunem is also remarkable 
 for the Shunamite woman who was so kind to Elisha. The 
 Aphek mentioned chap. xxix. ver. i. was probably that 
 which lay in the tribe of Judah, and is before spoken of. 
 
 Mount Gilboa, as Eusebius and Jerom tell us, was a
 
 Places mentioned in Ihejirst Book of Samuel. 2i 
 
 ridge of mountains, six miles distance from Scythopolis or CHAP. i. 
 Bethshan ; among which was a town called Gilboa. These ^^^^' "' 
 mountains are remarkable for the death of Saul and Jona- 
 than, who were slain here. 
 
 While the armies lay in the camps already mentioned, 25. 
 Saul, desirous to know the event of the approaching battle, ^^ Endor. 
 goes to a woman that had a familiar spirit, at Endor. 
 (chap, xxviii. ver. 7.) This was a city of the half tribe of 
 Manasseh, on the west of Jordan. And Eusebius and 
 Jerom tell us, that in their days there was a great town 
 of that name, near mount Tabor, being about five miles 
 to the south of it. And this might very well be the En- 
 dor here spoken of. 
 
 David being dismissed by the Philistines, returned back 26. 
 to Ziklag, before the engagement at Gilboa. Being re- 9^ *^^ 
 turned thither, he finds that the Amalekites had made an Besor. 
 incursion into those parts, and took his wives captive, and 
 burnt Ziklag. Whereupon David, by the direction of 
 God, pursues after the enemy, and comes to the brook 
 Besor. It is evident from the circumstances of this story, 
 that this brook must be in the south-west border of the 
 land of Israel, and so empty itself into the Mediterranean 
 sea. The more particular situation of it is what writers 
 are not agreed about. Crossing this brook, David over- 
 takes the enemy, and recovers all they had carried away ; 
 and so returning to Ziklag, sent presents of the booty he 
 had taken to his friends^ at several places in these southern 
 parts, which are either mentioned already, or not of note 
 enough to be here particularly insisted upon. Only it 
 may be of use to remark, that whereas it is said (i Sam. 
 XXX. 27.) that David sent of the spoil to them that were in 
 Bethel, by Bethel here is to be understood, not Bethel 
 lying in the north of the tribe of Benjamin, but Bethul 
 mentioned among the cities of Simeon, Josh. xix. 4. 
 
 After the fight on mount Gilboa, the Philistines took 27. 
 the body of Saul, and fastened it to the wall of Bethshan. ^^^^'^'^" 
 This was a city appertaining to the half tribe of Manasseh 
 on the west of Jordan, and not far from Jordan, and the
 
 11 The Geography of the Old Testament. 
 
 PART III. south coast ot the sea of Galilee. It was a considerable 
 city in the times of Eusebius and Jerom, and was then, 
 and had been for some ages, called by Greek writers, Scy- 
 thopolis, i. e. the city of the Scythians. It is supposed to 
 take this name from some remarkable occurrence here, 
 when the Scythians made an inroad into Syria. It is said 
 3 Mace. xii. 29. to lie six hundred furlongs fron) Jeru- 
 salem. And thus much for the places mentioned in the 
 first book of Samuel.
 
 A n \u ol J> K I S V I h M / 11/ ' lUn^ VSol in ii t /'^ / / Twi t,s t In \\1i
 
 Of Jerusalem. 23 
 
 CHAP. II. 
 
 Of the Places mentioned in the secoiid Book of Samuel, and 
 not yet spoken of; that is, of the Places mentioned in the 
 History of David, from the beginning of his Reign, to 
 his appointing his Son Solomon to be anointed King. 
 
 J. WO days after David was returned to Ziklag, from 1. 
 the slaughter of the Amalekites, news were brought him ^^ ^ahu- 
 of the death of Saul, % Sam. i. i, 2, Sec. Hereupon, by 
 the direction of God, he removed to Hebron, and there 
 was anointed King over the house of Judah, chap. ii. 1 — 4. 
 But Abner, captain of Saul's host, took Ishbosheth the son 
 of Saul, and brought him to Mahanaim, and made him 
 King over the other tribes. After this there was long war 
 between the house of Saul and the house of David. One 
 fight near Gibeon is particularly related chap. ii. ver. 12, 
 &c. At length Abner, taking distaste at Ishbosheth, goes 
 and makes his peace with David, upon condition he should 
 bring David his wife Michal; which Abner did, her se- 
 cond husband (to whom Saul had given her, after he had 
 first given her to David) going with her as far as Bahurim. 
 This place is more remarkable, on account of Shimei's 
 behaviour here towards David, when he fled from his son 
 Absalom, of which we read chap. xvi. ver. 5 — 14. It ap- 
 pears, from the circumstances taken notice of in the con- 
 text, that Bahurim was near the mount of Olives, and con- 
 sequently not far from Jerusalem to the east, and situated 
 within the tribe of Benjamin. 
 
 Abner being slain by Joab, and Ishbosheth by two Ben- 2. 
 jamites of Beeroth, David was by the universal consent of^*^*^^ ^"' 
 
 cient state 
 
 all the tribes anointed King over Israel, chap. v. ver. 3.ofJerusa- 
 After which David went to Jerusalem, and took the strong ^'^' 
 hold of Zion. And David dwelt in the fort, and called it 
 The city of David; and David built round about from Millo 
 and inward; and experienced and skilful carpenters and 
 masons, sent by Hiram King of Tyre, built David an house, 
 
 C4
 
 24 
 
 The Geography of the Old Testament. 
 
 PART 111. 
 
 In what 
 sense the 
 same with 
 Salem, the 
 city of Mel- 
 chisedek. 
 
 4. 
 
 Of the 
 name Je- 
 rusalem, 
 or Jerusa- 
 Jaim. 
 
 or royal palace. Chap v. ver 6 — u. I take this to be a 
 proper place to speak of the ancient state oF Jerusalem, or 
 of the several places thereof, mentioned in the history of 
 the Old Testament. 
 
 It is an opinion generally received, and not without 
 much probability, that Jerusalem is the same city which, 
 Gen. xiv. i8. is called Salem, and whereof Melchisedek is 
 there said to be King. Not that Salem, or the city of 
 Melchisedek, was of equal extent with Jerusalem in after- 
 times; but Jerusalem was no other than the city of Salem, 
 enlarged and beautified by the Kings of all Israel, David 
 and Solomon, and by some of the succeeding Kings of 
 Judah, after the division of the twelve tribes into the two 
 distinct kingdoms of Judah and Israel. 
 
 The word Salem does in the Hebrew language signify 
 peace, as St. Paul observes, Heb. vii. 2. And as the city 
 of Melchisedek, called Salem, is probably thought to be 
 the same with Jerusalem ; so it is certain, that Jerusalem 
 was otherwise called Jebus; for we expressly read. Josh. 
 XV. 8. that Jebusi, or rather Jebus, (compare i Chron. xi. 
 4.) was the same with Jerusalem. Now as Jerusalem pre- 
 serves the name of Salem in the last part of it, so it is 
 thought to preserve the name of Jebus in the former part 
 of it, and to be nothing else than a name compounded of 
 Jebus and Salem, and (for better sound sake, by the change 
 of one letter, and omission of another) softened into Jeru- 
 salem, instead of Jebussalem or Jebusalem. It is indeed 
 true, that the word, which in the Seventy Interpreters, 
 and in others, and so in our English translation from them, 
 is rendered Jerusalem, in the original or Hebrew text is 
 most frequently, if not always, written Jerusalaim, as if 
 it were a dual ; whereby may probably be denoted, that 
 the said city did consist principally of two parts, one 
 whereof was the old city, that was in the time of Mel- 
 chisedek and of the Jebusites; and the other part was the 
 addition, or new buildings added to the old city by King 
 David and his son Solomon, or their successors, and which 
 for its largeness might be esteemed as a 7ievj city, or netv
 
 Of Jerusalem. 2^ 
 
 Jerusalem; and so both these two parts together, the old CHAP. ii. 
 city, or old Jerusalem, and the ?ieiv city, or new Jerusalem, ' 
 might give occasion to denote the whole city by the dual 
 name of Jerusalaim. 
 
 It is also further observable, that the Hebrew word Je- 5, 
 rusalem is, I think, always rendered in the Septuagint^^gg^J^^ 
 translation of the Old Testament, Jerousalem, or Jerusalem, name Hie- 
 But in the writings of the New Testament we find it ren- '"^"'y"*' 
 dered, not always by the forementioned name, but fre- 
 quently by the name Hierosolyma. As for the latter part 
 of the said name, we find it given (omitting the former 
 part) not only to this city we are speaking of, but also to 
 another in Pisidia or Lycia. Nay, we are told, that there 
 was in Lycia, or more peculiarly in Pisidia, not only a city 
 called Solyma, but also that all the Pisidians in general 
 were formerly called Solymi. Whether the Pisidian city 
 Solyma (from which likely the people took the name of 
 Solymi) was originally called Salem, as well as the city 
 of Judea we are speaking of; or whether the Greeks, as 
 they turned the former part of the name Jerusalem, viz. 
 Jeru, into a word of their own language somewhat like it, 
 viz. Hiero, (i. e. sacred,) so turned also the latter part 
 Salem into the Greek name Solyma, as somewhat re- 
 sembling it, is uncertain. But certain it is, that Hiero- 
 solyma (into which the Greeks, according to their usual 
 fashion, moulded Jerusalaim or Jerusalem) does import as 
 much as Sacred Solyma ; and perhaps the Greeks were 
 induced to use the forementioned word Hierosolyma, not 
 as a singular, but as a plural, in allusion to the Hebrew 
 Jerusalaim, which seems to be not a singular, but a dual; 
 and to denote (as is above observed) the two principal parts, 
 of which Jerusalem did consist in the times of the Kings, 
 David and Solomon, and their successors, viz. the old city 
 built before it was taken by David, and the new city added 
 thereunto by David and the succeeding Kings. g 
 
 As to the old city, or more ancient part of Jerusalem, Of the old 
 
 (built before it was taken by David, and made his royal f"^' ^^^[^^ 
 ^ J ' J by some the 
 
 seat,) it is styled by some writers the city of Mclchisedek ^f^^^yoiMeX- 
 
 cliisedeW.
 
 26 The Geography of the Old Testament. 
 
 PART III. not that it is certain, that he was the founder thereof, nay, 
 the contrary seems more probable; but because this was 
 the city inhabited in the time of Melchisedek. It is sup- 
 posed to have taken up the north or north-west part of 
 Jerusalem. 
 
 7. In Gen. xiv. 17, 18. we read, that the King of Sodom 
 Of the val- yj^jit out to meet Abraham (after his return from the slauph- 
 
 ley of Sha- r i i i i i • ■ i 
 
 veil, or the ter of Chedorlaomer) at the valley of Shave h, which is the 
 King's dale. ^^-^^.^ f^a/e. And Melchisedek King of Salem brought 
 forth bread and wine. Hence it is reasonably inferred, that 
 this valley of Shaveh lay near to Salem, and that the King's 
 dale here mentioned is no other than the King's dale, 
 wherein Absalom is said to rear up for himself a pillar , 
 2 Sam. xviii. 18. This place was distant (as Josephus in- 
 forms us, Antiq. b. vii. chap. 9.) but two furlongs from 
 Jerusalem, as it was in his time. It is thought by some, 
 that this King's dale was no other than the valley of Je- 
 hoshaphat lying on the east of Jerusalem, between it and 
 mount Olivet ; others make it different, yet so as to come 
 up near to the valley of Jehoshaphat, and to lie on the 
 south-east part of the city, near to the King's gardens. 
 Whether it took the name of the King's dale from this 
 its situation near to the King's gardens or palace, or from 
 its being the place where the Kings were wont to exercise 
 themselves, or at least to entertain themselves in seeing 
 others perform the exercises of running, riding, or the 
 like, is not agreed, and is impossible to be determined. 
 
 8. Another place mentioned in the sacred history as ap- 
 Of the foi pertaining to Jerusalem, before it was taken by David, 
 
 is the /or/ or strong hold ofZion. Zion or Sion is a moun- 
 tain or hill on the south of old Jerusalem, and higher than 
 the hill on which old Jerusalem stood. For this hill seems 
 to be denoted in Josephus^ by the name of Acra, than 
 which he expressly asserts the hill, on which the upper 
 city stood, to be higher. But the upper city is, I think, 
 agreed by all to be the same with the city of David, and 
 
 * Jewish War, b, vi. clwp. 6.
 
 Of Jenisalem. 27 
 
 the Scripture t* expressly asserts the city of David to be the chap. il. 
 same with the strong hold of Zion. Whence it necessarily 
 follows, that the hill of Zion was higher than the other 
 hill, on which the old city of Jerusalem stood. Hereupon 
 this hill of Zion was made choice of as a proper place to 
 build a fort or citadel upon, whilst it was in the hands of 
 the Jebusites. For that there was a fort or strong hold 
 built thereon during that time, is evident from 2 Sam. v. 
 7. where we read, that notwithstanding the great con- 
 fidence the Jebusites seem to have had in the strength of 
 this fort, yet David took the strong hold of Zion; which, 
 I think, plainly implies, that there was a strong hold on 
 Zion before David took it. 
 
 After that David had taken from the Jebusites the fort 9. 
 of Zion, the Scripture tells us, that he called it the "/y ^/^^^j^''^ 
 of David i forasmuch as he built hereon, not only a royal 
 palace for himself, but also several other buildings, so as 
 to rise to the largeness of a city, taking up in after-reigns 
 the greatest part, if not all, of mount Sion. The largeness 
 of this city of David is denoted, 2 Sam. v. 9. by this ex- 
 pression : David built round about from Millo and inward. 
 The meaning whereof has very much exercised com- 
 mentators, especially as to the word Millo; which there- 
 fore I shall somewhat the longer insist upon. 
 
 The Hebrew word, considered as to its etymology or 10. 
 derivation, is probably thought to be deduced from a root i^J'"". 
 signifying to be full, or filled. Hence some, and among 
 them the Rabbi Kimchi, (as the learned Buxtorf has ob- 
 served,) suppose Millo to be used in the sacred history to 
 denote a large capacious place, designed for public meet- 
 ings, and which was therefore called Millo, from its being 
 used to ho, full of people at such times. And this sense 
 of the word is very applicable to Judg. ix. 6. where it first 
 occurs in the sacred history. For when it is there said, 
 that all the men of Shechem gathered together, and all the 
 house of Millo, and went and made ylbimelech King, hereby 
 
 2 Sam. V. 7.
 
 38 The Geography of the Old Testament. 
 
 PART in. may be probably denoted thus much, that as all the men 
 of Shechem, i. e. all the commonalty or inferior inhabitants, 
 so also all the house of Millo, i. e. all the principal inha- 
 bitants who made up the governing part of the city, and 
 were wont to assemble together in the public town-house, 
 or guild-hall, did consent to and attend on the setting up 
 of Abimelech for King. And accordingly the place at Jeru- 
 salem called by the same name of Millo is thought to have 
 been designed for much the same use. That it was some 
 public building may, I think, be probably inferred from 
 the peculiar notice taken of it among the other public 
 works of Solomon. For in i Kings ix. 15. we read, that 
 the reason of the levy, (or tax,) which King Solomon raised, 
 was this ; for to build the house of the Lord, and his own 
 house, and Millo, and the wall of Jerusalem, 8cc. Where 
 since we find Millo joined with the house of the Lord, and 
 the royal palace, it may probably be inferred, that it was 
 also itself a public building, or house, especially since it is 
 expressly called, 2 Kings xii. 20. the house of Millo. And 
 the circumstance, for which it is mentioned in this last 
 text, seems further to confirm the opinion I am speaking 
 of, that Millo was a place where the principal persons of 
 the state did meet together. For we are told in the said 
 text, that the servants of King Joash arose, and 7nade a con- 
 spiracy, and slew him in the house of Millo; namely, when 
 he was come thither probably to debate or consult with 
 his princes, and other principal persons, upon some state 
 affair. An instance of the like nature is very well known 
 to all, that have any acquaintance with the Roman his- 
 tory, in reference to the murder of the famous Julius 
 Caesar, slain in the senate-house at Rome, by a party that 
 had formed a conspiracy against him, and thought no 
 place more proper to put it in execution, than the said 
 Roman Millo, or senate-house. 
 
 As, from what has been said, it may, not without pro- 
 bability, be supposed, that the house at Jerusalem, called 
 Millo, was a public house of state ; so I think, from what 
 is said concerning the same, in 2 Chron. xxxii. 5. it may
 
 Of Jerusalem. 29 
 
 be further inferred, that this pubHc house of state was also chap. ii. 
 a sort of armoury, or place where arms were wont to be 
 kept; or at least a place of more than ordinary strength. 
 For in the chapter last cited we read, that when 'Hezekiuh 
 saw that Sennacherib was come, and icas purposed to fight 
 against Jerusalem, he took counsel ivith his princes ; and, 
 among other things thought proper to be done on that 
 occasion, he strengthened himself and built up all the wall 
 that was broken, and raised it up to the towers, and another 
 ivall without, and repaired Millo in the city of David, and 
 made darts and shields in abundance. Now it being in 
 this place particularly said, that among other methods 
 used by Hezekiah to fortify Jerusalem against Sennacherib, 
 one was this, the repairing Millo; hence it naturally 
 follows, that Millo was a place of more than ordinary im- 
 portance to the strength of the city Jerusalem. And since, 
 immediately after the repairing of Millo, there is mention 
 of making darts and shields in abundance, this may possibly 
 proceed from the defect of these found to be in the house 
 of Millo, where they were usually reserved against times 
 of war, or the like occasions. 
 
 The situation of the house of Millo is expressly said in 11. 
 this 3'2d chapter of Chronicles, ver. 5. to be in the city o/'^/^""^' 
 David ; and so either upon mount Sion, or some place ad- situated, 
 joining thereto. And it is further remarkable, that though 
 it be said in 2 Sam. v. 9. that David built round about from 
 Millo and inward, yet it seems evident, that this must be 
 understood proleptically, i. e. as if it had been said, David 
 built round about, from that place where Millo was after - 
 wards built by Solomon. For it is expressly said, i Kings 
 ix. 15. that Solomon raised a levy to build (among other 
 places) Millo ; and ver. 24. of the same chapter it is said, 
 or at least plainly intimated, that after Solomon had built 
 an house or palace for the daughter of Pharaoh, his queen, 
 then he built Millo. 
 
 But there is another opinion concerning this Millo at 12. 
 Jerusalem, which is not to be passed by in silence, be-^^^l^jj^' 
 cause embraced by several learned men. Whereas thenconcernins 
 
 ■^ Millo.
 
 30 Thb Geography of the Old Testament. 
 
 PART III. there was a valley or hollow, that lay between mount Slon 
 and the other mount or hill, on which the old city, or the 
 city of Melchisedek, stood ; they supposed Solomon filled 
 up this hollow, and had it evened so as that from mount 
 Sion to mount Moriah, on which he built the Temple, 
 there was a plain even way. Whence the way or causey 
 thus made by JilUng zip the forementioned hollow, they 
 suppose to be called Millo, in reference to the signification 
 of the root, whence this word is thought to be derived, 
 the said root (as has been before observed) signifying to 
 be full, OY filled up. That there was a causey raised by 
 Solomon from mount Sion to the Temple, they infer from 
 2 Chron. ix. ii. where it is said, that the King made ter- 
 races to the house of the Lord, and to the King's palace. 
 The word here rendered terraces may be otherwise trans- 
 lated (as is observed in the margin of our Bible) stays, or 
 supports, to keep up the said terraces. But in neither 
 sense will these last words amount to a good proof, that 
 the said terraces or causeys were such as were made by 
 filling up the hollow between mount Sion and mount 
 Moriah. And therefore 1 rather think the opinion I am 
 now speaking of concerning the import of the name Millo 
 is wholly founded on the vulgar Latin version of i Kings 
 xi. 27. For whereas the latter part of this text is rendered 
 in our translation agreeably to the Hebrew, thus : Solomon 
 luilt Millo, and repaired (or closed) the breaches of the city 
 of David his father ; instead hereof, in the vulgar Latin 
 version it is rendered after this manner : Salomon cBdifi- 
 cavit Mello, et cocequavit voraginem civitatis David patris 
 sui; i. e. SalomoJi built Mello, and evened the holloiv of 
 the city of David his father. How the author of this 
 Latin version came thus to render the Hebrew text, is hard 
 to conjecture ; the Hebrew words, which he renders, coce- 
 quavit voraginem, evened the hollow, having no affinity 
 thereto, and therefore he is single in his interpretation, all 
 the other ancient interpreters following the same sense that 
 our translators have done. Particularly it is not so easy to 
 account, how the Latin interpreter came to make choice of
 
 Of Jerusalem. 31 
 
 the word vorago; unless in the said hollow or small deep chap. ii. 
 valley there was a whirlpool or quagmire, as the said word 
 does properly denote in the Latin tongue. 
 
 In short, it seems to me (considering the several ancient 
 versions, and what is said by commentators) most probable, 
 that Solomon made a noble magnificent way from the 
 royal palace on mount Sion, to the temple on mount Mo- 
 riah, and in order hereunto there was a noble causey raised 
 across the valley between the said two mountains ; not so 
 high as to make the way all along upon a level, but, how- 
 ever, so as to make the ascent and descent from one to the 
 other very easy. Hence, as we read (i Kings x. 5.) of the 
 ascent by which Soloinon went np unto the house of the Lordy 
 and (i Chron. xxvi. 16.) of the causey of the going up or 
 ascent; so we read (2 Kings xii. 20.) that Joash was slain 
 in the house of Millo, which goes doivn to Silla. Which 
 word Silla is thought by some learned commentators to 
 denote the same that Mesillah is elsewhere put for; namely, 
 a causey. And it is further thought, that as from the 
 valley between the two mounts, Sion and Moriah, there 
 were two steepnesses, one towards the temple or mount 
 Moriah, the other towards the palace or mount Sion ; so 
 this last was that which is peculiarly denoted by the de- 
 scent of Silla; and that the house of Millo stood near this 
 descent. 
 
 It remains only to observe, in reference to the foremen- 
 tioned expression, viz. David built round abo2it from Millo 
 a?id inward, that the original word rendered inward may 
 also be translated, to the house ; and so thereby might be 
 denoted, that David built round about, from the place 
 where Millo was afterwards built by Solomon, to his own 
 house or palace. And consequently it is not improbable, 
 that the palace and Millo stood on two opposite sides of 
 mount Sion : so that to say, that David built round about 
 from Millo to the palace, was as much as to say, that 
 David built from one part of mount Sion quite round to 
 the opposite part. And consequently by this expression
 
 3 a The Geography of the Old Testament. 
 
 PART III. thus understood was aptly enough described the largeness 
 
 ' of the city of" David. 
 
 j3 In I Kings ii. lo. we are informed, that David was lu' 
 
 Of the royal rieJ 171 the city of David. And the same we read of So- 
 
 sepu c res. ]qjj,qj^^ j Kings xi. 43. And in the series of the sacred 
 history we read that Rehoboam, Abijam, Asa, &c. were 
 hurled with their fathers in the city of David. Whence it 
 appears, that those famous grots at Jerusalem, now-a-days 
 called the sepulchres of the Kings, cannot be the place, 
 • where either the Kings of all Israel, David and Solomon, 
 or their successors in the kingdom of Judah, were gene- 
 ^ rally buried : forasmuch as these grots lie without (what 
 is now-a-days called) the gate of Damascus, and on the 
 north side of the city, and so at a considerable distance 
 from the city of David, where the Scripture expressly as- 
 serts David and SolomoUj and most of the Kings of Judah, 
 to have been buried. 
 
 Whoever was buried here, this is certain, says Mr.Maun- 
 drell, that the place itself discovers so great an expense 
 both of labour and treasure, that we may well suppose it 
 to have been the work of Kings, You approach to it at 
 the east side, through an entrance cut out of the natural 
 rock, which admits you into an open court of about forty 
 paces square, cut down into the rock, with which it is en- 
 compassed, instead of walls. On the south side of the court 
 is a portico nine paces long, and four broad, hewn like- 
 wise out of the natural rock. This has a kind of architrave 
 running along its front, adorned with sculptures of fruits 
 and flowers, still discernible, but by time much defaced. 
 At the end of the portico on the left hand you descend to 
 the passage into the sepulchres. The door is now so ob- 
 structed with stones and rubbish, that it is a thing of some 
 difficulty to creep through it. But within you arrive in a 
 large fair room, about five or six yards square, cut out of 
 the natural rock. Its sides and ceiling are so exactly 
 square, and its angles so just, that no architect with levels 
 and plummets could build a room more regular. And the
 
 Of Jerusalem. 33 
 
 whole is so firm and entire, that it may be called a cham- chap. ii. 
 ber hollowed out of one piece of marble. From this room 
 you pass into (I think, says my author) six more, one 
 within another, all of the same fabric with the first. Of 
 these the two innermost are deeper than the rest, having a 
 second descent of about six or seven steps into them. 
 
 In every one of these rooms, except the first, were 
 coffins of stone placed in niches, in the sides of the cham- 
 bers. They had been at first covered with handsome lids, 
 and carved with garlands ; but now most of them were 
 broken to pieces. The sides and ceiling of the rooms were 
 always dropping, with the moist damps condensing upon 
 them. To remedy which nuisance, and to preserve these 
 chanibers of the dead clean, there was in each room a 
 small channel cut in the floor, which served to drain the 
 drops that fell constantly into it. 
 
 . But the most surprising thing belonging to these subter- 
 raneous chambers was their doors; of which there was 
 only one remaining entire, being left as it were on purpose 
 to puzzle the beholders. It consisted of a plank of stone, 
 of about six inches in thickness, and in its other dimensions 
 equalling the size of an ordinary door, or someu'hat less. 
 It was carved in such a manner as to resemble a piece of 
 wainscot. The stone, of which it was made, was visibly 
 of the same kind with the whole rock, and it turned upon 
 two hinges in the nature of axles. These hinges were of 
 the same entire piece of stone with the door, and were con- 
 tained in two holes of the immovable rock, one at the top, 
 and the other at the bottom. 
 
 From this description it is obvious to start a question, 
 how such doors as these were made? Whether they were 
 cut out of the rock, in the same place and manner as they 
 now hang? Or, whether they were brought, and fixed in 
 their station, like other doors? One of these must be sup- 
 posed to have been done ; and whichsoever part we choose 
 as most probable, it seems at first glance to be not without 
 its difficulty. But thus much I have to say, says Mr. 
 Maundrell, for the resolving of this riddle, which is wont 
 
 VOL. II. D
 
 34 The Geography of the Old Testament. 
 
 PART III. to create no small dispute among pilgrims, viz. that the 
 door, which was left hanging, did not touch its lintel by 
 at least two inches j so that, I believe, it might easily have 
 been lifted up, and imhinged. And the doors, which had 
 been thrown down, had their hinges at the upper end 
 twice as long as those at the bottom : which seems to in- 
 timate pretty plainly, by what method this work was ac- 
 complished. 
 
 To the forementioned account of these sepulchres, given 
 us by our own countryman, the Rev. Mr. Maundrell, I 
 shall adjoin one or two particulars from what Le Bruyn 
 hath said concerning the same place. He observes then, 
 that this place lies, not only to the north of Jerusalem, 
 but also about an Italian mile out of Jerusalem; that the 
 large square room (mentioned also by Mr. Maundrell) has 
 several small doors, that lead out into five or six other 
 apartments, each of them forty or fifty paces square, and 
 round which there are several other less rooms, some of 
 which are made in fashion of ovens. It is in these rooms 
 they laid the dead bodies upon benches, raised about two 
 or three feet from the ground, and which are cut out of 
 the very rock, (called therefore by Mr. Maundrell, niches,) 
 and some they laid upon the ground. Le Bruyn tells us, 
 he found in these rooms as many sepulchres, or places 
 for corpses, as amounted in all to about fifty. In one of 
 these rooms, which seemed to be more lofty than the rest, 
 he saw three coffins, one broken, and the other two whole. 
 They were all open, upon the front of the chief of which 
 were engraven two rounds in the nature of circles, each of 
 them having several lines drawn close to one another. 
 Between these two rounds are three pieces of branch-work 
 like palm-trees, and one at each end, being five in all. 
 The cover of this coffin, which lies upon the ground, is 
 likewise adorned with branch-work. The pieces of the 
 coffin, that is broken, lie upon the ground just by, and 
 had formerly some decoration or ornament. 
 
 The Rev. Mr. Maundrell, speaking of these grots, called 
 now-a-days the sepulchres of the Kings, says, for what
 
 Of Jerusalem. $^ 
 
 reason they go by that name is hard to resolve; it being chap. ii. 
 certain, none of the Kings either of" Israel or Judah were 
 buried here, the holy Scriptures assigning other places for 
 their sepulchres. Unless, adds he, it may be thought 
 perhaps, that Hezekiah was here interred, and that these 
 were the sepulchres of the sons of David, mentioned 
 2 Chron. xxxii. ^'^. Now the words of this text run thus 
 in our English version : And Hezekiah slept with his fa- 
 thers, and they buried him in the chief est of the sepulchres 
 of the sons of David. Where by the sons of David, Mr. 
 Maundrell seems to understand such as were not Kings of 
 Israel or Judah, but his other sons properly so called, and 
 immediately born of him. Whereas, I think, thereby are 
 rather to be understood Solomon, and the succeeding Kings 
 of Judah, called the so7is of David, by a form of speech 
 frequently made use of by the sacred writers, who by the 
 name of sons denote, not only the immediate sons properly 
 so called, but also grandsons, and all others descended from 
 a person in any succeeding generation. So that, when it 
 is said in the forecited text, that Hezekiah was buried in 
 the chiefest of the sepulchres of the sons of David, thereby 
 may be very well meant, that he was buried in the chiefest 
 of the sepulchres of the Kings descended of David. Whence 
 it will follow, that he was probably buried in the city of 
 David. And this opinion is expressly confirmed by the 
 Syriack and Arabick interpreters in their version of the 
 said text. 
 
 The opinion therefore mentioned by Le Bruyn seems to 
 be more probable, namely, that here were the sepulchres 
 of Manasseh, his son Amon, and his grandson Josiah, 
 Kings of Judah. For the Scripture tells us, that Manasseh 
 was buried in the garden of his own house, in the garden of 
 Uzza, 2 Kings xxi. i8; and ver. 26. of the same chapter, 
 it is said of his son Amon, that he was buried in his sepul- 
 chre, in the garden of Uzza, By which expression may be 
 denoted, that these two Kings, Manasseh and Amon, were 
 not buried in the usual sepulchres of the Kings, situated 
 in the city of David; but in another place, where was 
 
 D 2
 
 36 The Geography of the Old Testament. 
 
 PART 111. formerly the garden of" one Uzza; and which perhaps 
 Manasseh might purchase or procure by some other means, 
 and being dehghted with the pleasantness of the said 
 gardens^ might build there an house ; which is called, in 
 the forecited 2 Kings xxi. 18. his oicn house, as it were to 
 distinguish it from the royal palace built and inhabited by 
 his royal ancestors in the city of David, or on Mount Sion. 
 But now that Josiah was also burled here, is not expressly 
 said in the sacred history. In 2 Kings xxiii. 30. it is only 
 said, that he was buried in his own sepulchre; and in 
 2 Chron. xxxv. 24. it is said, that he was buried in the se- 
 pulchres of his fathers ; but it is not added, where those 
 sepulchres lay, whether in the city of David, or in the 
 garden of Uzza. And therefore he might be buried in 
 the sepulchres of his fathers, and yet be buried iji the gar- 
 den of Uzza; forasmuch as his father Amon and grand- 
 father Manasseh are both expressly said to have been bu- 
 ried in the said garden. Since then these three Kings are, 
 I think, the only Kings of Judah, that were buried at Je- 
 rusalem, and are not said to be buried in the city of David; 
 and since these sepulchres we are speaking of, on the north 
 of Jerusalem at a mile's distance, were not within the city 
 of David, and yet still discover so great an expense, both 
 of labour and treasure, as Mr. Maundrell observes, that 
 they may well be supposed to have been the work of 
 Kings ; and since, lastly, nothing hinders, but the garden 
 of Uzza might be in this very place ; on these consider- 
 ations, I think, it is not improbable, that here were the 
 sepulchres of Manasseh and Amon, if not also of Josiah. 
 By what Le Bruyn says, it seems, that it is further sup- 
 posed, that the three coffins mentioned by Le Bruyn were 
 those, wherein the aforesaid three Kings were laid. And 
 thus much for the sepulchres of the Kings at Jerusalem. 
 14. The next thing I shall speak of in relation to old Jeru- 
 
 ^^^'^^f J s^^'^'"* shall be the gates thereof mentioned in Scripture. 
 
 rusalem. They are by some reckoned only nine ; but more occur in 
 sacred history, at least more names. For therein we read 
 of the sheep-gate, the fish-gate, the horse-gale, the old-gate,
 
 Of Jerusalem. 37 
 
 the gate of the valley, the gate of the fount aiUy the dung- chap. ir. 
 
 gate, the water-gate, the high-gate, the g^o/e of Ephrahn, 
 
 &c. 
 
 The sheep-gate is supposed to have been near the Tem- 
 ple, and that through it were led the sheep, which were to 
 be sacrificed, being first washed at the pool Bethesda near 
 the gate. 
 
 The fish-gate is supposed by some to have been on the 
 west side of the city; because the sea, viz. the Mediter- 
 ranean sea, lay that way. But since it is certain, that the 
 sea of Galilee afforded also fish, the westerly situation of 
 the Mediterranean sea is but a very weak argument for 
 the westerly situation of this gate. Hence others place 
 this gate on the north side of old Jerusalem, next after the 
 gate of Ephraim, and the old gate proceeding from west 
 to east. And this supposition seems to be founded on 
 Nehem. xii. 39. where we find the like order observed. 
 
 And it is not to be doubted, but that the gale of 
 Ephraim was on the north side of the city ; because on 
 that side lay the tribe of Ephraim, to which the chief road 
 probably lay through this gate, whence it came to have 
 the name of the gate of Ephraim; there being several in- 
 stances to be found of the like nature amongst us, viz. of 
 gates or streets taking their names from some remarkable 
 country or city, to which they lead. Whether this gate 
 be the same as is now-a-days called the gate of Damascus, 
 as leading to Damascus, is not certain, but seems pro- 
 bable. 
 
 Otherwise the gate of Damascus was probably either 
 the fish-gate already spoken of, or else the old-gate; with 
 much probability supposed to be so called, as remaining 
 from the times of the Jebusites. 
 
 As for the horse-gate, its situation is altogether uncer- 
 tain. Some there are that think, that this gate, and the 
 sheep-gate, and fish-gate, were so called because they were 
 in manner of three several market-places ; and at one 
 gate sheep, at another fish, and at the third horses were 
 sold. 
 
 »3
 
 38 The Geography of the Old Testament. 
 
 PART III. The gate of the valley^ doubtless, took its name from 
 leading into some valley; and it is thought that the valley, 
 into which it thus led, was the valley ofJehoshaphat. And 
 this it must be, if the opinion, mentioned by the ingeni- 
 ous gentleman and our countryman Mr. Sandys, be well 
 grounded; according to which, the gate formerly called the 
 gate of the valley ^ or valley-gate, is supposed to be the same 
 with that which is now-a-days called St. Stephen's gate, 
 which is not far from the golden-gate, or great gate, that 
 leads into that which was formerly the court of the Temple ; 
 namely, at the north-east corner of the wall that surrounds 
 the said court. Mr. Sandys likewise supposes, that this 
 gate of St. Stephen was not only formerly called the val- 
 ley-gate, but also the gate of the flock; whereby, I sup- 
 pose, he means, what is called by others the sheep-gate ; 
 and consequently, according to his opinion, the valley -gate 
 and the sheep-gate were only two different names for the 
 same gate. Perhaps he might be induced to embrace this 
 opinion from the nearness of the pool Bethesda to St. Ste- 
 phen's gate, wherein the sacrifices, as he observes, were 
 washed, before they were delivered to the priests. But 
 since the valley-gate and sheep-gate are distinctly men- 
 tioned in the book of Nehemiah, it seems more probable, 
 that they were two distinct gates. 
 
 The dung-gate mentioned in the Old Testament pro- 
 bably stood in the same place, where that stands which is 
 now-a-days called by the same name ; and consequently 
 a little above the south-west corner of the Temple-court 
 wall. It is supposed to take this name from its use, the 
 dung or filth of the beasts that were sacrificed being car- 
 ried from the Temple through this gate. 
 
 The gate of the fountain is thought to have been so 
 named from its nearness to the fountain, either of Siloam, 
 or of Gihon. The fountain of Siloam is placed by Mr. 
 Sandys, in his draught of Jerusalem, somewhat south of 
 the dung-port or dung-gate. And not far from it he places 
 a fountain, called now-a-days the fountain of the blessed 
 Virgin. And from comparing what is said Nehem. ii. 13,
 
 OJ Jerusalem. 39 
 
 14. it appears not improbable, that the gate of the fountaif/ chap. ii. 
 might be somewhere hereabout. If it be rather snpposec], 
 that this gate stood near the fountain of Gihon, then it 
 must be in a different quarter of the city ; namely, on the 
 west side, at least near the south-west corner of the city. 
 
 The water-gate (as well as several of the former) did 
 doubtless take its name from its use; it being the gate, 
 through which probably was brought the water that 
 served the city, or at least the Temple. Which latter opi- 
 nion seems to be somewhat favoured by Nehem. iii. 26. 
 where it is said, that the Nethinims (i. e. the Gibeonites, 
 whose business, among other things, was to draw water 
 for the service of the Lord) divelt in Ophel (a tower, or 
 part of the wall so called from the said tower) unto the 
 place over against the water-gate toward the east. 
 
 The high-gate is supposed by some comnientators (on 
 a Chron. xxiii. 20.) to have been the principal gate of the 
 royal palace. But from what is said, Jerem. xx. 2. of the 
 high-gate, it appears to have been by the house of the Lord. 
 It is in this latter text styled the high-gate of Benjamin ; 
 and that, as is thought, from its situation towards the 
 land or tribe of Benjamin. Which opinion is much fa- 
 voured by Jerem. xxxvii. 12, 13. where we read, that as 
 Jereyniah was going out of Jerusalem into the land of Ben- 
 jamin, when he was in the gate of Berijamin, a captain of 
 the ward was there, who seized him. And thus I have 
 gone through the several gates of the city Jerusalem above 
 mentioned, and which are, if not all, yet very nigh all, 
 that are mentioned in the Old Testament. 
 
 It remains now to take notice of the mountains, or hills, ^5. 
 
 T , 1 1 • 1 • 1 ... Of the hills 
 
 in or near Jerusalem, and which occur m the sacred nis- or moun- 
 tory of the Old Testament. And the first I shall mention '^'"s- '" °^ 
 
 •' -!• 1 1 1 about Jcru- 
 
 is the celebrated mount Zion or Sion, whereon stood thcsaicm; and 
 city of David, and therein the royal palace : as also the '"'^^ ^^ „. 
 
 •^ ' J fr ' mount Zi- 
 
 ark of the Lord in the midst of the tabernacle, or tent, on or Sion. 
 that David there pitched for it. On this last account it is, 
 that this hill is frequently styled in the book of Psalms, 
 the holy hill, and the like. And, by way of excellency, 
 
 o 4
 
 40 The Geography of the Old Testament. 
 
 PART III. the said hill is used in Scripture to denote the whole city 
 of Jerusalem, and consequently mount Moriah, whereon 
 the Temple of Solomon was built, and whither the ark. of 
 the Lord was afterwards removed. The holy hill of Sion 
 was situated, according to some few, in the north part of 
 Jerusalem ; but it seems a much more probable opinion, 
 and as such is received by much the greater part of the 
 learned, that it is no other hill than that which is now- 
 a-days taken for mount Sion, situated on the south of pre- 
 sent Jerusalem, as being great part of it without the walls 
 thereof; but anciently, viz. from the reign of David, it 
 was the southern and principal part of Jerusalem. 
 
 16. The mount or hill Moriah, on which Solomon built the 
 Moriah"* Temple, lay in the eastern part of the city Jerusalem. But 
 
 then this is to be understood probably of mount Moriah, 
 taken in its more proper or restrained sense. For, taken at 
 large, it seems to denote all that tract whereon the western, 
 if not the northern, part of Jerusalem stood; and to be 
 the same called by Josephus in Greek, Acra. For Moriah 
 in Hebrew is of the same importance with Acra in Greek, 
 each in its respective language denoting high. Whence 
 those words of God, (when he tried Abraham's faith and 
 obedience, by commanding him to offer up Isaac,) get thee 
 into the land of Moriah, are by the Seventy Interpreters 
 rendered, get thee into the high land, Gen. xxii. 2. 
 
 Of mount Olivet, which lies east of mount Moriah, I 
 have spoken elsewhere in my Geography of the New Tes- 
 tament, Part I. chap. vi. §. 9. 
 
 17, I pass on therefore to take notice of the mount of Cor - 
 Of the ruption, as it is styled in our English Bible, 2 Kings xxiii. 
 Corruptron, 13. By Others it is styled, the mountain of Offence. It 
 
 took these names from being the place where Solomon built 
 high places for Ashtoreth, the abomination (or idol) of the 
 Zidonians, and for Chemosh, the abomination of the Moah- 
 ites, &c. For such as follow idols are said in 'Scripture 
 to corrupt themselves thereby ; and it is no less certain, 
 that they do by the same give great offence to God, and 
 for his sake to all good men. This mount of Corruption or
 
 Of Jerusalem. 41 
 
 Offence Is thought by many of the learned to be the same chap. 11. 
 with mount Olivet; insomuch, that in the margin of some 
 of our English Bibles I find it so explained. But there are 
 others that take it to be a difl'erent mount, lying on the 
 south or south-west of Jerusalem, near mount Sion, being 
 separated from this last by the valley, called in Scripture, 
 the valley of Hinnom. Mr. Sandys tells us, that this 
 mount is now-a-days called the mountain of ill Counsel, as 
 being said to be the place where the Pharisees took coun- 
 sel against Jesus. 
 
 The valley of Hinnom, or, as it is sometimes called, the ^^^ 
 valley of the son of Hinnom , is remarkable on account ofieyofl-lin- 
 the unhumane and barbarous, as well as idolatrous, wor- "°"^* 
 ship here paid to Molech ^ ; parents making their children to 
 pass through the f re, or burning them in the fire, by way 
 of sacrifices to the said idol. To drown the lamentable 
 shrieks of the children thus sacrificed, it was usual to have 
 musical instruments playing the while : whence the par- 
 ticular place, where the said sacrifices were wont to be 
 burnt, was peculiarly called Tophet, the word Toph in 
 the Hebrew tongue denoting the same as Tympanum (pro- 
 bably derived from the former) in the Greek or Latin 
 tongue, and so answering to our English word Tymbrel. 
 And from the aforementioned burning of persons in this 
 place, hence Gehinnom, which is in Hebrew the valley of 
 Hinnom, and by the Greeks is moulded into Gehenna, is 
 used in Scripture to denote Hell, or Hell fire. This valley 
 is but straight or narrow, as Mr. Sandys informs us ; and 
 upon the south side of it, near where it meets with the 
 valley of Jehoshaphat, is shewn the spot of ground, for- 
 merly called the potters-field, but afterwards Aceldama, 
 or the field of blood. 
 
 As Gehenna, or the valley of Hinnom, was, for the ip. 
 reason above mentioned, used to denote Hell; so the valleii P*^ '^/,^'^'" 
 
 ' 1 ley of Jeno 
 
 of Jehoshaphat is thought by some to be the place where shaphat. 
 the future judgment shall be; this opinion being founded 
 
 » Compare 2 Kinfjs xxiii. 10. and 3 ("liroii. xxviii. 3.
 
 42 The Geography of the Old Teslamenl, 
 
 PART III. on what is said in the prophecy of Joel, chap. iii. ver. 2, 
 12. where God speaks thus : I will also gather all nations, 
 and will bring them down into the valley of Jehoshaphot, 
 and will plead with them for my people, he. — Let the hea- 
 then he weakened, and come up to the valley of Je ho s hap hat ; 
 for there will I sit to judge all the heathen round about. If 
 Jehoshaphat be taken as a proper name, it is scarcely to 
 be doubted, but that it was so named from the King of 
 Judah of that name. But then it will be difficult to assign 
 any good reason, why it was so named from the said King, 
 if, according to the common opinion, it be the valley lying 
 on the east of Jerusalem, between it and mount Olivet, 
 and through which the brook Kidron, or Cedron, runs, 
 whence it is otherwise called the valley of Cedron. Hence 
 others suppose by the valley of Jehoshaphat to be denoted, 
 in the forecited prophecy, the place where Jehoshaphat 
 had that most signal victory, recorded 2 Chron. xx. which 
 they suppose to make but one continued valley with that 
 between Jerusalem and mount Olivet, the channel of the 
 Cedron being continued from the one to the other. And 
 hence it is further supposed, that by what is said in the 
 forementioned prophecy, is to be understood an allusion to 
 the great overthrow given by Jehoshaphat to his enemies ; 
 that God would in like manner overthrow the enemies of 
 his church in his appointed time. Lastly, others take the 
 word Jehoshaphat to be not a proper name, but appel- 
 lative, and so to denote the judgment of God, or the great 
 judgment. And in this sense it is left wholly uncertain, 
 what valley is there peculiarly spoken of. 
 20. I have reserved the mention of Gihon to this last place. 
 
 Of the because it is not aarreed whether it be a mountain or a 
 mount or _ _ ^ • i i i 
 
 fountain fountain. That it should be a fountain, and head of a 
 
 ' °"' stream, some are induced to think, because they find the 
 
 same name given to one of the rivers of Paradise ; and also 
 
 mention made of the upper water-course of Gihon, which 
 
 Hezekiah stopped, and brought straight down to the icest 
 
 side of the city of David, 2 Chron. xxxii. 30. Others think, 
 
 that it was the name, not only of a fountain, but also of
 
 Places mejitioned iw ihe second Book of Samuel. 43 
 
 an adjoining mountain, or hill. And, from what is before CHAP. H. 
 said of it in the text just now cited, its situation is gene- 
 rally assigned to be near mount Sion, and on the west side 
 thereof. It was at this Gihon, that Solomon, by the spe- 
 cial order of David, was anointed King over Israel, as we 
 read 1 Kings i. 33. And this is thought to carry in it 
 some inducement to suppose, that Gihon was a fountain ; 
 David making choice of this fountain for anointing Solo- 
 mon, in opposition to his other son Adonijah, who was at 
 the same time setting up for King, near Enrogel ; i. e. ihe 
 well, or fountain of Rogel, on another side of Jerusalem, of 
 which more sect. ^6. And thus much for old Jerusalem. 
 Proceed we now with the series of the sacred history. 
 
 The first war David had, after he was made King over 21. 
 all Israel, and had fixed his royal seat at Jerusalem, vi'as i^y of t^e ' 
 with the Philistines, who came and spread themselves in Rephaim, 
 the valley of Rep ha hn, chap. v. ver. 18. It is evident Giants. 
 from Josh. xv. 8. that this valley (there rendered the valley 
 of Gia?its) lies near to Jerusalem, and in the confines of 
 the two tribes of Judah and Benjamin. The road from 
 Jerusalem to Bethlehem, as Mr. Maundrell informs us, 
 lies through this valley, famous for being the theatre of 
 several victories obtained here by David over the Philis- 
 tines. Whence some will have it to be called the valley 
 of the Rephaim, or Giants, as being the place where the 
 Rephaim, or men of gigantic stature and strength among 
 the Philistines, were subdued by David, or his worthies. 
 It might perhaps take this name from some of the Re- 
 phaim living in these parts in the more early times after 
 the flood; this opinion receiving some countenance from 
 the Rephaim being mentioned among the Hittites, Periz- 
 zites, Amorites, &c. Gen. xv. ao, 21. as I above observed 
 in Vol. I. Part I. chap. viii. §. 52. 
 
 As for Baal-perazim, mentioned chap. v. ver. 20. it is ^^23. 
 
 r 1 J 1 • L OfBaal-pe- 
 
 evident, from the circumstances of the sacred history, that razim. 
 it lay either in this valley of Rephaim, or near it; and 
 it seems to be the same that is called mount Perazim, 
 Isaiah xxviii. 21.
 
 44 The Geography of the Old Testament. 
 
 PART III. David having given the Philistines several defeats, is said, 
 
 chap. viii. ver. i. to have subdued them, and to have taken 
 
 23. . 
 
 OfMetheg- Metheg-ammah out of their hands. This name Metheg- 
 
 ammah. ammah is variously understood by expositors ; some taking 
 it for an appellative, others for a proper name. It is evi- 
 dent, that the writer of the book of Chronicles understood 
 thereby Gath and her towns. For whereas it is said, 3 Sam. 
 viii. I. And after this it came to pass, that David smote the 
 Philistines, and subdued them ; and David took Metheg- 
 ammah out of the hand of the Philistiiies ; in the other 
 place, viz. t Chron. xviii. i. it is related thus: Noiu after 
 this it came to pass, that David smote the Philistines, and 
 subdued them; and took Gath and her towns out of the 
 hand of the Philistines. 
 24^ After this we have an account in the remaining part of 
 
 Oftheval- the eighth chapter, how David extended his dominion as 
 ^° ' far as to the river Euphrates, subduing the Syrians of Zo- 
 bah and Damascus ; and how the King of Hamath sent his 
 son to congratulate him upon his victory over the King of 
 Zobah ; and how he dedicated to God the silver and gold 
 which he had taken from the Syrians, and Moabites, and 
 Ammonites, and Philistines, and Amalekites; and how he 
 subdued Edom, making a great slaughter of the Edomites. 
 Of all these people and countries we have spoken already, 
 and shall speak again of Zobah and Hamath in the ensu- 
 ing paragraphs, viz. 28, 29. What is here more particu- 
 larly to be remarked is concerning the valley of Salt, men- 
 tioned ver. 13. of this eighth chapter. As to its situation, 
 it appears from 2 Kings xiv. 7. that it lay near the land of 
 Edom, and therefore in all probability near the Salt sea 
 also, the parts adjacent to the said sea abounding with salt. 
 As to the people who are smitten or overcome in this val- 
 ley, they are said 3 Sam. viii. 13. to be the Syrians; but 
 in I Chron. xviii. 12. they are said to be the Edomites. 
 And it is not to be questioned, but this last is the truest 
 reading, not only on account of the situation of the valley 
 of Salt near to the Edomites, and at a great distance from 
 the Syrians, according to the acceptation of the word in
 
 Places mentioned in the second Book of Samuel. 45 
 
 those days ; but also, because both the Greek, and Syriack, chap. ii. 
 and Arabick interpreters did evidently read it Edom, not 
 Aram, as it now stands in the Hebrew Bibles in this place 
 of Samuel. And the error in the present Hebrew text 
 clearly arose from the similitude of the Hebrew words 
 Dlt"^ and d^, two of the consonants in the Hebrew 
 words, which we render Edom and Aram, being exactly the 
 same ; and the other, viz. the Hebrew D and R being 
 very much alike, as "T and '^; and so easily to be mistaken 
 the one for the other. 
 
 David being established in his kingdom, inquires, chap. 25. 
 ix. whether there was not any left of the house of Saul, ^'^^°''*^'^^'^' 
 that he might shew him kindness for Jonathan's sake. And 
 hearing of Mephibosheth, a son of Jonathan's, he sends for 
 him from Lodebar, which was a place situated on the east 
 of Jordan, and probably in the half tribe of Manasseh on 
 that side the river Jordan ; at least it was not far from Ma- 
 hanaim, as may be gathered from chap. xvii. 27. where we 
 read, that Machir the son of Ammiel of Lodebar (and the 
 same with whom Mephibosheth lived, before that David 
 sent for him) brought beds and other necessaries to David, 
 when he was come to Mahanaim. 
 
 The Ammonites having basely abused the servants of 26. 
 David, hereupon ensued a war. In order to which, the ^J^^^|^^"^' 
 Ammonites sent and hired the Syrians of Beth-rehob, and joining to 
 the Syrians of Zobah, twenty thousand footmen ; and of 3„^'J,°'jti^_ 
 the King of Maacah a thousand men; and of Ish-tobeast of the 
 twelve thousand men : which were all put to flight by the jael. 
 soldiers of David. I have in the former volume spoken 
 something of Ish-tob, and also of Hamath, and in this 
 same volume of Zobah ; but it may not be unuseful how- 
 ever to take notice here together of the respective situation 
 of these several kingdoms, as also of the kingdoms of Re- 
 hob and Maacah, mentioned in this tenth chapter, and of 
 the kingdom of Geshur, mentioned in the thirteenth chap- 
 ter of this second book of Samuel : forasmuch as all these 
 were neighbouring kingdoms bordering on the land of 
 Israel, to the north and north-cast.
 
 46 The Geography of the Old Testament. 
 
 PAUT 111. I shall begin with the kingdom of Rehob, or, as it is 
 27 otherwise called, Beth-rehob. For as we are told, 2 Sam. 
 Oftheking-x. 6. that the children ofAmmon sent and hired the Syrians 
 hob! or oj" Beth-rehob ; so ver. 8. of the same chapter we read, that 
 Beth-re- ffig Syrians of Rehob, &c. were by themselves in the Jield. 
 So that it is not to be doubted, but that Rehob and Beth- 
 rehob were one and the same country or kingdom, so 
 named from its principal city Rehob. For Josh. xix. 28. 
 we find a city of this name allotted to the tribe of Asher; 
 and Judg. i. 31. we read, that the said Rehob was one of 
 the cities, out of which Asher did not drive out his inha- 
 bitants. Whence, as it may be rationally inferred, that 
 it was a great and strong city ; so it may be inferred 
 also, that it lay in the north part of the land of Israel; 
 forasmuch as Asher was one of the northern tribes of 
 Israel. And since it is further certain from the Scripture, 
 that, of the two most northern tribes on the west of Jor- 
 dan, Asher was that situated on the Mediterranean sea ; 
 and since we are also informed, Judg. xviii. 28. that Laish 
 was in the valley by Beth-rehob ; and this Laish was cer- 
 tainly the same afterwards called Dan in the Old Testa- 
 ment, and Caesarea Philippi in the New Testament : from 
 all these circumstances laid together, we are enabled to 
 make more than a conjecture, as to the situation of the 
 city and kingdom of Rehob; namely, that it was situated 
 in the north part of the tribe of Asher, on the west of 
 Laish, or the city Dan. And this situation is still more 
 confirmed by what is said of Rehob, Num. xiii. 21. that 
 the spies went up and searched the land of Canaan, from 
 the wilderness of Zifi unto Rehob ; whereby is denoted the 
 length of Canaan,yro7« the wilderness of Zin southwards, 
 to Rehob northwards. 
 28. Of the abovementioned kingdoms, that which I shall 
 
 Ofthekmg-|^gj.g gpg^k of next is the kingdom of Hamath, as probably 
 math. adjoining to the kingdom of Rehob northwards. Which 
 opinion is, I think, put out of doubt by the text last cited, 
 which in the whole runs thus : So they (i. e. the spies) 
 went up and searched the land, from the wilderness of Zin
 
 Places mentioned in the second Book of Samuel. 47 
 
 mito Reholy as men come to Hamnth. By winch last clause CHAP. II. 
 it seems plainly denoted, that Rehob was that part of 
 Canaan that joined on next to the country or kingdom of 
 Hamath. And this expression in the said clause, as men 
 come to Hamath, is of the same importance with that other 
 expression so frequently used in the sacred writings, unto 
 the entrance of Hamath, or unto the entering into Hamath, 
 or entering in of Hamath. The plain meaning of which 
 seems to be no other, than unto the border of Hamath, or 
 where one began to enter into the kingdom of Hamath, as 
 one travelled out of Canaan. I have formerly observed % 
 that it is most probably thought, that the city Hamath 
 was the same called by the Greeks, Epiphania; the situa- 
 tion of which agrees very well to what we have here said. 
 So that the kingdom of Hamath probably extended itself 
 from the land of Canaan, or more particularly from the 
 kingdom of Rehob southwards, to the city Epiphania 
 northwards, but how much higher is uncertain ; and from 
 the coast of the Mediterranean sea westward, to the king- 
 dom of Damascus (or Syria more properly so called) east- 
 ward 5 as maybe inferred from Ezek. xlvii. 17 — 20. This 
 kingdom is frequently denoted in Scripture by the land of 
 Hamath, and herein lay Riblah, 2 Kings xxiii. ^^. And 
 as the extent of the land of Israel is frequently denoted by 
 this expression, yrom Da7i unto Beersheba, and Num. xiii. 
 21. from the wilderness ofZin unto Rehob ; so 1 Kings viii. 
 6^. it is denoted by this expression,yro7?i the entering in of 
 Hamath, unto the river of Egypt; and in like manner, 
 2 Kings xiv. 25. by t.h\s,from the entering in of Hamath, 
 unto the sea of the plain. 
 
 To the east or south-east of Hamath did adjoin the 29. 
 kingdom of Zobah. For it is plain from Scripture, tl^at JJ^^f '^; 
 it lay between the land of Israel and the river Euphrates, bah. 
 as has been before observed in this chapter. What more 
 is to be added here is this, that though we have very early 
 mention made of Damascus in the Scripture history, even 
 
 ^ Vol. 1. Part I. cliaj). vii. sect. 18.
 
 48 The Geography of the Old Teslament, 
 
 PART III. in the history of Abraham ; yet we do not read of a King 
 of Damascus, till the days of Solomon. In 2 Sam. viii. 5, 
 6. we read, that the Syrians of Damascus came to succour 
 Hadadezer King ofZobah, and that David put garrisons in 
 Syria of Damascus. And i Kings xi. 23, 24. we read, that 
 God stirred him (i. e. Solomon) tip an adversary, Rezon the 
 son of Eliadah, who fled from his lord Hadadezer King of 
 Zobah, And he gathered men unto him, and became cap- 
 tain over a hand, when David slew them of Zobah ; and 
 they went to Damascus, and dwelt therein, and reigned in 
 Damascus. From these circumstances it seems probable, 
 that Damascus then had no King of its own, and was not 
 only tributary to Hadadezer, or Hadarezer, King of Zo- 
 bah, but was more immediately under his government. 
 However this was, certain it is from 2 Sam. x. 19. that 
 Hadarezer was at that time the most powerful Prince of 
 those parts, as having several neighbouring Kings servants 
 or tributaries to him; and that (as it seems probable from 
 ver. 16.) even on the east side of the Euphrates. Whence 
 it is not to be doubted, but that the Syrians of Damascus 
 were also his tributaries, if not his more immediate sub- 
 jects. It is also evident from 2 Sam. viii. 9, 10. that this 
 King of Zobah would have subjected to him the King of 
 Hamath also. For the text expressly saith, that Hadadezer 
 had wars with Toi, who was King of Hamath ; and that 
 Toi sent Joram his son unto King David, to salute (or con- 
 gratulate) him, because he had fought against Hadadezer, 
 and smitten him. Nay, that Hadadezer did get away from 
 Toi some part of his country, seems probable from 2 Chron. 
 viii. 3, 4. where we read, that Solomon went to Hamath- 
 Zohah, and prevailed against it, and built Tadmor in the 
 wilderness, and all the store cities which he built in Hamath. 
 Where Hamath-Zobah was probably so caHed, as being 
 a part of the kingdom of Hamath, seized on by the King 
 of Zobah ; which is confirmed by what follows concern- 
 ing Solomon's building store cities in Hamath; namely, 
 that part of it before mentioned, which the King of Zobah 
 had formerly got by conquest, and which likewise now ap-
 
 Places mentioned in the second Book oj Samuel. 49 
 
 pertained to the Kings of Israel by conquest. From what CHAP. 11. 
 has been said, it plainly appears, that the King of Zobah 
 was the most potent Prince of those parts in those days, 
 and that the Syrians of Damascus were either his subjects 
 or tributaries. Upon Hadarezer's last defeat, recorded 
 1 Sam. X. 19. we read, that when all the Kings that served 
 Hadarezer saw they were smitten before Israel, they made 
 peace with Israel, and served them; and we read before, 
 chap. viii. ver. 6. that David put garrisons in Syria of Da- 
 mascus. When therefore we read i Kings xi. 23. that 
 Rezon, who fled from Hadadezer King of Zobah, gathered 
 men unto him, and became captain over a band, when David 
 slew them of Zobah; and they went to Damascus, and dwelt 
 therein, and reigned in Damasctis ; the beginning of this 
 new kingdom must be referred to the latter end of Solo- 
 mon's reign. And hence the kingdom of Danmscus may 
 be looked upon to have arose out of the kingdom of Zo- 
 bah, or to be no other than one and the same kingdom, 
 which formerly had Zobah, and afterwards Damascus, for 
 its capital city, or the seat of its King. 
 
 To the south of the kingdom of Zobah seems to have 30. 
 been situated the land of Ish-tob, adjoining to mount Gi-<^f 'he land 
 lead on the east, and so bordering on the land of the Am- 
 monites to the north. This is probably the same country 
 that is called barely Tob in the history of Jephthah; it 
 being very usual for the Hebrews to denote the same place, 
 sometimes by a simple name, sometimes by a compound; 
 as Rehob and Beth-rehob have been plainly shewn above 
 to denote one and the same country or kingdom. Whe- 
 ther there was any city of the name Tob or Ish-tob, does 
 not appear from the sacred history. 
 
 As it is but highly probable, that Tob lay without the 3i. 
 borders of the land of Israel, inasmuch as it is no where ^'^'^^H.'iJ^' 
 
 ' _ domsotCje- 
 
 said in Scripture to be given to the Israelites; so foras-shurand 
 much as we read Josh.xiii. n — 13. that the borders of the 
 Geshurites and Maachaihites were given by Moses to the 
 Israelites, that seated themselves on the east of Jordan; 
 and that, nevertheless, the children of Israel expelled not the 
 
 VOL. II. K
 
 5© The Geography of the Old Testament. 
 
 PART 111. Geshiirites, nor the Maachathites : hit the Geshurites and 
 Maachathites dwell amo?ig tlie Israelites unto this day: 
 hence it is evident, that the cities Geshur and Maachah, 
 the two capitals of two small kingdoms, lay within the 
 borders of the land of Israel; and consequently on the 
 south side of mount Libanus; and so on the south of the 
 kingdom of Zobah, and on the west or north-west of the 
 land of Tob. That Geshur and Maachah were the capitals 
 of two kingdoms, is evident from our having express men- 
 tion made of the King of Geshur, 2 Sam. iii. 3. and of the 
 King of Maachah, 2 Sam. x. 6. How these two cities or 
 kingdoms lay in respect one to another, is not to be cer- 
 tainly determined; but it is certain, they both lay in the 
 north part of the half tribe of Manasseh on the east of 
 Jordan. 
 32. It remains only to observe, that, from what has been 
 
 The Sy- said, it appears, that Zobah and Damascus lay without the 
 Rehob, Zo- borders of the land of Canaan, and within the borders of 
 bah, Ge- ^j-j^jjj or Syria, and therefore, that there is no difficulty 
 Maachah, as to the inhabitants being called Syrians of Zobah, and 
 caUed" Syrians of Damascus. But now it seems certain, that 
 Rehob or Beth-rehob lay within the land of Canaan ; and 
 therefore it may be asked, why the inhabitants thereof 
 were called Syrians (and not rather Canaanites) of Rehob 
 or Beth-rehob. And the most probable reason seems to 
 be, either that the descendants of Aram or Syrians did 
 in process of time dispossess the Canaanites, who were the 
 original possessors of this tract; or else, that the then in- 
 habitants, though they were Canaanites, yet were in con- 
 federacy with the Syrians, or tributaries to them, and so 
 esteemed by the Israelites as Syrians. It seems evident 
 from Scripture, that the river Jordan was the eastern boun- 
 dary of the land of Canaan; and it is very probable, that 
 the tract lying on the north-east thereof was originally 
 planted after the flood by the descendants of Aram; and 
 therefore the people of Maachah are properly styled Sy- 
 rians of Maachah ; and also Geshur may properly enough 
 be said by Absalom to be in Syria, 2 Sam. xv. 8.
 
 Places mentioned in the second Book of Samuel. 51 
 
 To return now to the series of the sacred history. The chap. ii. 
 King of the Ammonites (as hath before been said) having 7" 
 put an affront of the highest nature on the servants ofofHdam. 
 David, and a war thereupon ensuing, the Ammonites, with 
 the Syrians their confederates, were vanquished by the 
 Israehtes. Notwithstanding which, Hadadezer King of 
 Zobah, and chief of the confederates, was resolved to try 
 a second battle. And the two armies met and engaged 
 at a place called Helam, on the east of Jordan, 2 Sam. x. 
 16, 17. in which engagement the Syrians received so great 
 an overthrow, that the text, ver. 19. tells us, the Syrians 
 feared to help the children of Amnion any m,ore. This 
 Helam is probably thought to be the same with Ala- 
 matha, mentioned by Ptolemy in the region of Tra- 
 chonitis. 
 
 After this, Rabbah the capital city of the Ammonites 34 
 was taken by David, in the siege whereof Uriah was slain. Absalom 
 Which being brought about by the direction of David, f^"/° ^" 
 in order to conceal the better his wicked practices with 
 Uriah's wife, it pleased God to afflict David, notwithstand- 
 ing his repentance, with several and great temporal afflic- 
 tions through the remaining part of his life. Hence we 
 read chap. xiii. of his son Ammon being killed by another 
 of his sons, Absalom, for forcing his sister Tamar; and 
 that afterwards Absalom fled, and went to Talmai the 
 King of Geshur, his grandfather. For 2 Sam. iii. 3. we 
 are told, that Absalom was the son of David by Maacah, 
 the daughter of Talmai King of Geshur. This kingdom 
 we have just now spoken of in this chapter; and of Rab- 
 bah, the capital city of the Ammonites, I have largely 
 spoken. Vol. I. Part H. chap. iii. sect. 12. 
 
 After some years Absalom is brought again into the 35 
 presence of his father King David, by the means of Joabj OfTekoah. 
 who, to compass this end, employs a woman of Tekoah, of 
 note for her wisdom or cunning. This Tekoah is situated 
 to the south of Bethlehem, about nine miles distant, as Mr. 
 Maundrell tells us, who had a sight of it from Bethlehem. 
 It was one of the cities, fortified by Rehoboam upon the 
 
 E 2
 
 5^ 
 
 The Geography of the Old Testament. 
 
 PART 111 
 
 36. 
 OfEnrogel 
 
 Of the 
 
 wood of 
 Ephraini. 
 
 38. 
 Of Ro- 
 
 eelim. 
 
 39- 
 
 Of Abel- 
 bethmaa- 
 chah. 
 
 revolt of the ten tribes. It gave name to an adjoining 
 wilderness, famous for a signal overthrow there given to 
 the Ammonites, MoabiXes, and Edomites, in the reign of 
 Jehoshaphat, 2 Chron. xx. 20. The city itself is remark- 
 able for being the native place of the prophet Amos, 
 Am. i. I. 
 
 Absalom had not been long received into favour, but 
 he forms a great conspiracy against his father; insomuch, 
 that David was forced to quit Jerusalem, and to withdraw 
 unto the east side of Jordan, to Mahanaim, probably a 
 place of great strength. In the history hereof we have 
 mention made, chap. xvii. ver. 17. of Enrogel, which was 
 a place not far from Jerusalem, on the east or north-east 
 side of it, lying in the confines of the two tribes of Judah 
 and Benjamin, as appears from Josh. xv. 7. and xviii. 16. 
 
 The battle' between the armies of David and Absalom 
 was fought in the wood of Ephraim, chap, xviii. ver. 6. 
 Which is undoubtedly to be understood, not of any wood 
 lying in the tribe of Ephraim, on the west of Jordan, (for 
 Absalom as well as David were passed over Jordan, chap, 
 xvii. 24.) but of some wood lying on the east side of Jordan, 
 and so named on some other account, perhaps as lying 
 over against the tribe of Ephraim. 
 
 As for Rogelim, the dwelling-place of Barzillai, famous 
 for his loyalty and affection to David, it is no where else 
 mentioned, and therefore it is uncertain, in which of the 
 tribes on the east of Jordan it was situated. But certain 
 it is, that it lay near mount Gilead, and so either in the 
 half tribe of Manasseh, or else in the tribe of Gad; be- 
 cause Barzillai is expressly styled a Gileadite, chap. xvii. 
 ver. 27. 
 
 After this, Sheba, a man of mount Ephraim, made a 
 party against King David, and betakes himself to Abel- 
 bethmaachah; where he is beheaded by the inhabitants. 
 This city is placed by Jerom in the way from Eleuthero- 
 polis to Jerusalem, and so in the tribe of Judah. But as 
 this seems not agreeable to the circumstances of this trans- 
 action; so it appears much more probable, that it was
 
 Places mentioned in the second Book of Samuel. 53 
 
 situated in the north part of the land of Israel, in the tribe chap. ir. 
 of Naphtali : for there we find a city of this naire situated, 
 and taken with several others, first by Benhadad King of 
 Syria, i Kings xv. 20. and afterwards by the King of As- 
 syria, 2 Kings XV. 29. 
 
 in chap. xxi. ver. 18, 19. we read of two battles be- 40. 
 tween the Israelites and Philistines at Gob. Now this^^^°^' 
 place being no where else mentioned, no certainty can be 
 had as to its situation, but what may be inferred from the 
 parallel place, \ Chron. xx. 4. where these battles are said 
 to be fought at Gezer, of which we have already spoken. 
 Vol. I. Part II. chap. iv. sect. 20. So that either Gob and 
 Gezer were the same place, or else (which seems more 
 likely) were neighbouring places, and so the battles 
 fought between them, or near them, might be indif- 
 ferently termed, battles at Gob or Gezer; as now-a-days 
 the same famous late fight in Germany is promiscuously 
 styled, Blenheim Jight, or Hoclistedjight. 
 
 This second book of Samuel concludes with an account 41. 
 of David's giving command to Joab and others, to take ;J,°^^^e"th° 
 the number of the Israelites. In order whereto, the offi- Israelites. 
 cers employed therein passed over Jordan^ and pitched in 
 Aroer, on the right side of the city, that lies in the midst of 
 the river of Gad, and towards Jazer. Then they came to 
 Gilead, and to the land of Tahtim-hodshi; and they came 
 to Dan-jaan, and about to Zidon, and to the strong hold of 
 Tyre, and to all the cities of the Hivites, and the Ca- 
 naanites; and they went out to the south ofJudah, even to 
 Beersheba, chap. xxiv. ver. 5 — 7. 
 
 The city of Aroer, we learn ^ from several texts, was 42. 
 situated on the bank of the river Arnon; and Josh. xiii. '^-S-Andx.hc^ciiy 
 it is said to be before Rabbah, (whereby is meant either '" '''^ '"''^" 
 Rabbah the chief city of the Ammonites, or, as some 
 think, Ar the chief city of the Moabites,) and it apper- 
 tained to the tribe of Gad, Num. xxxii. 34. In conjunc- 
 tion with this city Aroer, there is several times mention 
 
 ^ Deut. ii. 36. iii. 12. and iv. 48, and Josh. xii. '2. and xiii. •>, 16 and 
 2 Kings X. 33. 
 
 K3
 
 54 The Geography of the Old Testament. 
 
 PART III. made of a city, which is, Deut. ii. 36. said to be the city that 
 is in the river; and Josh. xiii. 9, 16. the city that is in the 
 midst of the river. Now commentators are very much di- 
 vided as to the import of those expressions ; but I shall 
 take notice of no other difference in their opinions, than 
 that some think, the city said to be in the river, was a dis- 
 tinct city from Aroer; some think, that they are one and 
 the same, which consisted of two parts, one lying on the 
 bank of the river Arnon, and the other lying in the river, 
 or in the midst of the river; that is, on a spot of ground 
 surrounded by the river, or on a little island made by the 
 Arnon. And this last opinion seems to be countenanced, 
 not only from this city in the river being thus mentioned 
 with Aroer, but also from the very name of Aroer. For 
 the Hebrew word '^^'^i^ Aroer, seems to be compounded 
 of the word T^J? Ir (which denotes a city) doubled ; and so 
 to import that Aroer was a double city, or as it were two 
 cities joined together. Nor is there any thing I know of 
 in the Hebrew text, which does discountenance this opi- 
 nion, though it is discountenanced in our translation. 
 What is said of it in the place of the book of Samuel we 
 are speaking of, seems rather, I think, to favour it. For 
 when we here read, that they pitched in Aroer, on the right 
 side of the city that lies in the midst of the river of Gad, the 
 last clause seems to be added only exegetically, or more 
 fully to explain on which side or part of Aroer they 
 pitched; and so to import thus much, that they pitched in 
 ^roer, namely, on the right side of that part of the city, 
 that lies in the midst of the river of Gad. 
 
 43. Whence by the way it appears, that the river of Gad 
 Of then \^Qj.Q mentioned was probably no other than the river Ar- 
 
 veroiGao. .... , , ^ —, 
 
 non; so called, as nsmg m the eastern borders of Gad, and 
 running along the same for a considerable way, till it came 
 to the south border of the tribe of Reuben. 
 
 44. From Aroer, the officers, that were sent to take the 
 andth^s'ea number of the' Israelites, went to Jazer; for so the words 
 ofjazer. Jn the Hebrew text import, rather than towards Jazer. 
 
 This was a considerable city lying also in the tribe of Gad,
 
 Places mejitioned in the second Book of Samuel. 55 
 
 and probably towards, li not on the east border of it. Josh. CHAI». 11. 
 xiii. 35. It lay north of Aroer, and so in the way from 
 the south part of Peraea, (or the country beyond Jordan,) 
 to the north part thereof; which was the way that the 
 officers took their route. Eusebius and Jerom tell us, it 
 lay ten miles west of Philadelphia, and fifteen miles from 
 Heshbon, and at the head of a large river, which running 
 from it fell into the river Jordan. And since we have men- 
 tion made of the sea ofJazer, Jer. xlviii. 32. hence it is 
 very probably conjectured, that Jazer was situated near a 
 lake, lying not far from the bottom of the hills on the east 
 of the tribe of Gad; which lake was denoted by the name 
 of the sea oj' Jazer (as the lake of Gennesareth was other- 
 wise called the sea of Galilee ;) and that the river men- 
 tioned by Eusebius and Jerom issued out of this lake, and 
 ran into the river Jordan. 
 
 From Jazer the officers continued their course still 45, 
 northwards to Gilead, (which was the north-east part of ^^ '^^ '.^"<* 
 the land of Israel, as has been before observed,) and so to hodshi. 
 the land of Tahtim-hodshi. Which words in the Hebrew 
 tongue do import (as is observed in the margin of our 
 Bible) the netherlands newly inhabited; and therefore by 
 this name may probably be denoted the low country, ly- 
 ing about the lake Semechonites, which lake lay north 
 of the lake of Gennesareth, between it and the head of 
 Jordan, and had a great deal of marshy ground about it. 
 Now this marshy tract mi^ht probably be improved by 
 draining, and so rendered more fit for receiving both men 
 and cattle, and therefore might be of late years better in- 
 habited, and so come to have the name of Tahtim-hodshi 
 given to it. 
 
 What is said in the foregoing paragraph concerning the 46. 
 situation of the land of Tahtim-hodshi, seems to me tof-**^^^"' 
 
 . . jaan. 
 
 receive some countenance from the mention of Dan-jaan 
 next to it, in the course of the officers' journey. For this 
 is agreed upon by commentators, to be no other than that 
 which is most frequently denoted by the simple name of 
 Dan, lying at the head of the Jordan, and thought to be 
 
 E4
 
 56 
 
 The Geography of the Old Testament. 
 
 PART III. 
 
 47. 
 
 The course 
 of the jour- 
 ney taken 
 by the offi- 
 cers sent to 
 number the 
 people. 
 
 48. 
 
 Of the 
 threshing- 
 floor of 
 Araunah. 
 
 here called Dan-jaan, from its neighbourhood to the 
 woods of Libanus. 
 
 From Dan-jaan the officers came to Zidon, and so to 
 Tyre, and thence continuing southwards to Beersheba, 
 frequently mentioned as the most southern extremity of 
 the land of Israel, as Dan is for the most northern. So 
 that from hence we plainly learn the course that the offi- 
 cers took. They set out from Jerusalem, first to the south 
 parts of the country beyond Jordan ; thence they pro- 
 ceeded to Gilead, or the north-east parts of the said coun- 
 try ; then they went all along the north parts of the land 
 of Israel, from Gilead, by Dan, and so to Zidon, the north- 
 west city of the land of Canaan ; then turning southwards 
 they came to Beersheba, and thence to Jerusalem, at the 
 end of nine months and twenty days. And the number of 
 the people given up to the King was eight hundred thou- 
 sand men that drew the sword in Israel, and five hundred 
 thousand men of Judah. 
 
 God being offended at David's numbering the people, 
 sent a pestilence upon Israel, of which there died from Dan 
 to Beersheba, seventy thousand men. But David, by the 
 advice of the prophet Gad, went up and reared an altar 
 unto the Lord, in the threshing-floor of Araunah the Jehu- 
 site, (where the destroying angel stayed his hand,) and of- 
 fered burnt-offerings and peace-offerings; and the Lord 
 was intreated for the land, and the plague was stayed. 
 Now this threshing-floor of Araunah is agreed by the 
 learned to be upon mount Moriah, whereon Abraham was 
 ordered to sacrifice Isaac, and whereon Solomon after- 
 wards built the Temple. And here concludes the second 
 book of Samuel.
 
 D
 
 Places mentioned in thejirst Book of Kings. 57 
 
 CtlAP. Tir. 
 
 Of such Places as are mentioned in the first Book of Kings ^ 
 and not spoken of before. 
 
 Th 
 
 Y, first hook of Kings begins with giving us an ac- 1, 
 
 count of David's beiner now srrown old ; and how there- S"'*?"^"" 
 
 '-' o_ _ •" _ anointed 
 
 upon his then eldest son Adonijah set himself up for King, King at 
 making a great entertainment for his party near Enrogel. ''°"' 
 News whereof being brought to David, he ordered his son 
 Solomon to be anointed King at Gihon ; of which place 
 we have before spoken, in our description of the city of 
 Jerusalem, chap. ii. §. 20. as of Enrogel, ibid. §. 36. 
 
 Some time after David's death, Solomon orders Abia- 2. 
 thar the priest, who had sided with Adonijah, to ^'^tire ^^^^"^' 
 from Jerusalem to Anathoth his own city, being one of 
 the cities of the tribe of Benjamin, that were given to the 
 sons of Aaron ; and, as Eusebius and Jerom tell us, no 
 more than three miles distant from Jerusalem, and that to 
 the north, as Jerora further informs us in his comments 
 on Jerem. i. For the prophet Jeremiah was of this same 
 city, as he himself tells us, chap. i. ver. i. 
 
 Solomon going to Gibeon to sacrifice, and there pre- 3, 
 ferring wisdom before other things, God gave him not^f^'^'P'V 
 only wisdom^ but also riches and honour j so that there was the extent 
 not any among the Kings like unto him all his days, chap. ^o„"s°(j(^ 
 iii. I — 13. Accordingly we are informed chap. iv. ver. 21. minion, 
 that Solomon reigned over all kingdoms, from the river 
 (Euphrates) unto the land of the Philistines, and unto the 
 border of Egypt ; or, as it is expressed ver. 24. He had do- 
 minion over all on this side the river, (i. e. on the west side 
 of the Euphrates) y"ro7» Tiphsah, even to Azzah. Where, 
 as by Azzah is denoted Gaza, a city lying in the south- 
 west corner of the land of Israel, and ^ elsewhere spoken 
 of; so Tiphsah is very probably thought to be the same 
 
 ^ Geography dI' the New Testament, Part II. chap. ii. §. 6.
 
 58 The Geography of the Old Testament, 
 
 PART III. with Thapsacus, a considerable city lying on the Eu- 
 phrates, and frequently mentioned by Heathen writers. 
 There is mention made, 2 Kings xv. 16. of a Tiphsah, that 
 Menahem, then King of Israel, smote : but this must be 
 different from the Tiphsah before mentioned, and must, 
 according to the circumstances of the story, lie not far 
 from Tirzah, and so on the west side of the river Jordan, 
 in the land of Israel. 
 4. In the following chapters (from the fifth to the eighth 
 
 moil's °' inclusively) we have an account of the building of Solo- 
 Temple, mon's Temple, of which I have spoken largely in my Geo- 
 graphy of the New Testament, Part I. chap. iii. §. 7. It 
 will not, I suppose, be unacceptable to the reader, to have 
 here represented to him two draughts relating to Solo- 
 mon's Temple, taken from Villalpandus. 
 
 The first draught. No. i. represents the ichnography 
 or ground-plot of the whole Temple, both courts and 
 buildings. 
 
 The second draught, No. 2. represents the ichnography 
 or ground-plot of the Temple, or house of the Lord more 
 properly so called; which consisted of these two principal 
 parts, the sanctuary or holy, and the holy of holies, or 
 most holy. 
 
 From these draughts compared together may be framed 
 a somewhat just idea of the Temple of Solomon, as to the 
 nobleness and magnificence of its structure. And that it 
 was a most noble and magnificent structure, and every way 
 most agreeable to the rules of symmetry and proportion, 
 can in no wise be rationally doubted, or indeed without 
 great impiety, since we learn from i Chron. xxviii. that 
 the Temple was built by Solomon according to the pat- 
 tern which God himself had been pleased to give to David 
 for that purpose. Then David gave to Solomon his son the 
 pattern oj the porch, and of the houses thereof, and of the 
 treasuries thereof, and of the upper chambers thereof, and of 
 the inner parlours thereof, and of the place of the mercy- 
 seat ; and the pattern of all that he had hy the spirit, of the 
 courts of the house of the Lord, and of all the chambers
 
 O 
 
 ^ 
 
 o 
 
 
 r h 
 
 
 o 
 
 <:« 
 
 © 
 
 
 C^ 
 
 > ■? 
 
 "s I 
 
 .i <; 

 
 J f 
 
 Ph I' 
 
 c H 
 
 O 
 
 So w 
 
 
 ? 3 
 
 «HMM M H <* My ** * >»»»»»*"? <ff »>* W! *f> MM fW?f!*!*?!'?''^ 
 
 .J|_l B| TTFM I THr i -——-■--■■■■■■-■■■■■■■ 
 
 1 i-; 
 
 ^' 
 
 [t^ 
 
 
 i'lii ii ii i t ■iiaii Hllii • iisiii ii nai 
 
 tuaiMMiifliiatiiiiinlnSiiMiiiiin] 
 Li i« i ii i i i }"% li ■ 1 1 M i • I ■ • i i^ 11 i M I • i U 
 
 piSiM 11 it^usiigaiilMaiiMi nam 
 
 [iiaiiMiiiaMaiiMaiianBiMiniaMJ 
 )• I II I • M • niia ikfiii ai lai Mil II aiM 
 
 i M W MWaW 
 
 M<iWCTtWy»>Mfii>»>aMi 
 
 The Court of the Gentiles 
 
 ^> M aa » W M W M i M <»W M W M ii' i i Mw i wM »i M iw*^ 
 
 u. 
 
 ■ ■ M ■■■ Bi ^ ■■■■■« a 88 ai3a i! K»aa <w a g aB WHi aB l Mll M M M ai B BM» « 
 
 I 'flT 
 
 H
 
 .s •:.' /i'/'n'iit y.i./i- 68. V,.{:JJ. 
 
 The IclvaoorapliA" or Gi-oxind-plot of 
 West 
 
 East 
 
 T.Coiidei- Sculp'.
 
 Places mentioned in the Jirst Book of Kings. 59 
 
 round about, 8cc. — All this, said David, the Lord made mechiAP. HI. 
 understand in writing by his hand upon me, even all the ' 
 
 works of this pattern, 1 Cliron. xxviii. 11 — 19. 
 
 And as God was pleased thus to impart to David a pat- 
 tern whereby the Temple was at first to be built ; so the 
 measures of the several parts of the Temple, set down in 
 the prophecy of Ezekiel, chap. xl. 8cc. are supposed by 
 Villalpandus to have been exactly agreeable to the pattern 
 first given. 
 
 Now the measures of the several parts of the Temple 
 are expressed in the forecited chapters of Ezekiel, by cubits 
 and reeds: which by Villalpandus are supposed to have 
 such a proportion one to the other, as that sixteen of the 
 said measuring reeds were equal to an hundred cubits, and 
 consequently one measuring reed was equal to six cubits 
 and a quarter of a cubit. Wherefore, supposing these 
 cubits to have been the same with those whereby the mea- 
 sures of the Ark of Noah are described by Moses in the 
 book of Genesis, (and this is most probable, forasmuch as 
 the Divine Wisdom was the designer of the Ark as well 
 as of this Temple,) and consequently supposing (with 
 Bishop Wilkins, and other learned persons that have writ- 
 ten of the Ark) the said cubit to answer to our foot and 
 a half; it will hence follow, that one such measuring 
 reed was equal to nine feet four inches and a half of ours. 
 According to which, supposing the length of one side of 
 the outermost wall of all that belonged to the Temple, to 
 have been one hundred twenty and five reeds, (which is 
 the length assigned to it by Villalpandus,) it will follow, 
 that the same length measured by our feet would contain 
 one thousand one hundred and seventy-one feet ten inches 
 and a half. And forasmuch as the four sides of the said 
 outermost wall were each of them of the same length j 
 hence the whole area or plot of ground inclosed by the 
 said outermost wall was a square, containing about one 
 million, three hundred seventy-three thousand, two hun- 
 dred and eighty feet square ; that is, about one and thirty 
 acres and a half.
 
 6o The Geography of the Old Testament. 
 
 PART III. In like manner, supposing with Villalpandus, that the 
 second wall, which inclosed that which was esteemed the 
 outermost court of the Temple, (for the ground inclosed by 
 the first or outermost wall, spoken of in the foregoing 
 paragraph, was not esteemed one of the courts,) and which 
 by Villalpandus is called the court of the Gentiles ; sup- 
 posing, I say, the wall of this outermost court to have been 
 one hundred and ten reeds long on each of its four sides, 
 it will follow, according to the aforementioned proportion, 
 that each side was a little above one thousand and thirty- 
 one of our feet in length. 
 
 Lastly, supposing with Villalpandus the length of each 
 side of that wall which encompassed that which was called 
 the otiter court, or the court of Israel, (because none but 
 Israelites, or such as observed the whole Mosaick Law, 
 could enter into it,) to have been each side of it eighty 
 reeds long, it follows, that each side was seven hundred 
 and fifty of our feet in length. 
 
 As for the measures of the upright buildings of the 
 Temple, they may be found by the scale inserted in the 
 orthographical draught of the Temple, as to reeds or 
 cubits, and so (by what has been here said) as to our feet. 
 As for the several parts of the Temple, they are, 1 think, 
 sufficiently explained in the draughts of the Temple, by 
 the help either of the numerical references, viz. i, 2, 3, 
 &c. or else of the alphabetical references, viz. a, b, c. 
 I shall therefore say nothing more here, but refer the 
 reader to the several draughts of the Temple adjoining to 
 these pages, for his further information. 
 5. In chap. ix. ver. 10 — 13. we read, that ichen Solomon 
 
 Of the land /^^^ [^j^^f ff^g f^^^ houses, the house of the Lord, and the 
 
 ofCabul. I J /• n 7 rr- l tr- 
 
 King's house, that then King Solomon gave Hiram the King 
 of Tyre (who had furnished Solomon with cedar-trees, and 
 with fir-trees, and with gold according to all his desire) 
 twenty cities in the land of Galilee. Which not pleasing 
 Hiram, when he came to see them, he called them the 
 land of Cahul; the word Cabul denoting in the He- 
 brew tongue displeasure, or dirty. As to the situation
 
 OfTadmor. 61 
 
 of these cities^ it is but reasonable to suppose, that they CHAP. III. 
 
 were such as lay near to Tyre, whereof Hiram was' 
 King. 
 
 In ver. 15 — 18. of the same 9th chapter, among other 6. 
 cities and places said to be built by Solomon, we have °^^^'^'"°'^' 
 mention made of Tadmor in the wilderness, which is the 
 only one that hath not been before spoken of, and there- 
 fore is here to be described ; and this shall be done by 
 giving the reader an abstract of what is said concerning 
 this place in our Philosophical Transactions for the months 
 of November and December, 1695, and from Dr. Halli- 
 fax's Letter to Dr. Edward Bernard, published in the Phi- 
 losophical Transactions for October, 1695. 
 
 The city of Tadmor, whose remains in ruins do with 
 so much evidence demonstrate the once happy condition 
 thereof, seems very well to be proved to be the same city 
 which Solomon, the great King of Israel, is said to have 
 founded under that name in the desert. Josephus (Jewish 
 Antiq. book viii.) tells us, that the Syrians called it in his 
 time Thadamora ; but the Greeks, Palmyra. Hence the 
 writer of the Philosophical Transactions thinks the name 
 Palmyra to be Greek, and to have no relation to the Latin 
 word Palma (signifying a palm-tree, which are said to have 
 abounded in these parts, and are therefore thought by 
 others to have given name to this city, the Hebrew word 
 Thamar having a great affinity to the Hebrew name Tad- 
 mor, and signifying also a palm-tree). However, the 
 forementioned writer thinks the name Palmyra to be 
 rather of a Greek extraction, namely, from Palmyos or 
 Palmys, which Hesychius interprets King Father; or 
 perhaps from Palmy tes, which, according to the same 
 Hesychius, was an Egyptian God. 
 
 History is silent as to the fate and circumstances of this 
 city, during the great revolutions in the East. But it may 
 well be supposed, that so advanced a garrison as this was 
 (i. e. being at so considerable a distance from the Holy 
 Land) continued not long in the possession of the Israelites; 
 especially since innnediately after Solomon they fell into
 
 62 The Geography of' the Old Teslament. 
 
 PART III. civil dissension, and were divided into two distinct king- 
 " doms. So that it is not to be doubted, but this city sub- 
 
 mitted to the Babylonian and Persian monarchies, and af- 
 terwards to the Macedonians under Alexander, and the 
 Seleucidae. But when the Romans got footing in these 
 parts, and the Parthians seemed to put a stop to their 
 farther conquests in the East, then was this city of Pal- 
 myra (by reason of its situation, being a frontier, and in 
 the midst of a vast sandy desert, where armies could not 
 well subsist to reduce it by force) courted and caressed by 
 the contending parties, and permitted to continue a free 
 state, a mart or staple for trade, for the convenience of 
 both empires. 
 
 With these advantages of freedom, neutrality, and 
 trade, for near two centuries, it is not strange, that it ac- 
 quired the state and wealth answerable to the magnificence 
 of its noble structures. But when the Romans under 
 Trajan had made it appear, that there was no comparison 
 between the puissance of the Parthians and them, (Trajan 
 having taken Babylon, and Ctesiphon, the then seat of the 
 Parthian empire,) the Palmyrens were at length deter- 
 mined to declare for the Romans; which they did, by 
 submitting themselves to the Emperor Adrian, about 
 the year of Christ 130. when Adrian made his progress 
 through Syria into Egypt. And that magnificent Em- 
 peror, being highly delighted with the native strength 
 and situation of the place, was pleased to adorn it. Nor 
 is it unlikely, that many of the marble pillars were the 
 gift of that Emperor, and particularly those of the long 
 Porticus ; for that none of the inscriptions are before that 
 date. And it was usual for the Caesars to present cities, 
 that had obliged them, with marble pillars to adorn their 
 public buildings. These here were not far to fetch, the 
 neighbouring mountains affording marble quarries. But 
 the magnitude of the porphyry columns is indeed very re- 
 markable, considering how far those vast stones must have 
 been brought by land-carriage to this place ; it being not 
 known that any other quarries yield it, except those of
 
 Of Tadmor. 6^ 
 
 Egypt, which lie about midway between Cairo and Siena, cHAP. III. 
 between the Nile and the Red Sea. The stone is very " 
 
 valuable for its colour and hardness, and for that it rises in 
 blocks of any magnitude required. 
 
 From the time of Adrian to that of Aurelian, for about 
 an hundred and forty years, this city continued to flourish 
 and increase in wealth and power, to that degree, that 
 when the Emperor Valerian was taken prisoner by Sapores 
 King of Persia, Odenathus, one of the lords of this town, 
 was able to bring a powerful army into the field, and to 
 recover Mesopotamia from the Persians, and to penetrate 
 as far as their capital city Ctesiphon. Whereby he ren- 
 dered so considerable a service to the Roman state, that 
 Gallienus, son to Valerian, thought himself obliged to 
 give him a share in the Empire. But, by a strange re- 
 verse of fortune, this honour and respect to Odenathus oc- 
 casioned the sudden ruin and overthrow of the city. For he 
 and his elder son being murdered by a kinsman, and dying 
 with the title of Augustus, his wife Zenobia, in right of 
 her son Waballathus, then a minor, pretended to take 
 upon her the government of the East, and did administer 
 it to admiration. And when soon after Gallienus was 
 murdered by his soldiers, she grasped the government of 
 Egypt, and held it during the short reign of the Emperor 
 Claudius Gothicus. But Aurelian coming to the imperial 
 dignity, would not suffer the title of Augustus in this fa- 
 mily, though he was contented that they should hold un- 
 der him as Vice-Caesaris. 
 
 But nothing less than a share of the empire contenting 
 Zenobia, and Aurelian persisting not to have it dismem- 
 bered, he marched against her, and having in two battles 
 routed her forces, he shut her up, and besieged her in 
 Palmyra. And the besieged finding that the great re- 
 sistance they made availed not against that resolute Em- 
 peror, they yielded the town ; and Zenobia flying with 
 her son, was pursued and taken. With which Aurelian 
 being contented, spared the city, and leaving a small gar- 
 rison, marched for Rome with his captive lady. But the
 
 64 The Geography of the Old Testament. 
 
 PART III. inhabitants believing he would not return, set up again 
 for themselves, and slew the garrison he had left in the 
 place. Which Aurelian understanding, though by this 
 time he was got into Europe, with his usual fierceness speed- 
 ily returned; and getting together a sufficient army by 
 the way, he again took the city without any great opposi- 
 tion, and put it to the sword, with an uncommon cruelty, 
 (as he himself confesses in a letter extant in Vopiscus,) and 
 delivered them to the pillage of his soldiers. And it is 
 observable, that none of the Greek inscriptions are after 
 the date of this calamity, which befel the city in or about 
 A. D. 272. after it had been nine or ten years the seat of 
 the empire of the East, not without glory. 
 
 Though this city was at that time so treated by Aure- 
 lian, yet it is certain that he did not burn it, or destroy 
 the buildings thereof. The words used by Zosimus on 
 this occasion seem only to relate to his demolishing the 
 walls and defences of the place. And that Emperor's 
 own letter extant in Vopiscus does sufficiently shew, that 
 he spared the city itself; and that he took care to rein- 
 state the beautiful Temple of the Sun that v/as there, 
 which had been plundered by his soldiers. However, the 
 damage then sustained was never retrieved by the inha- 
 bitants ; and I do not find, says the ingenious wTiter, that 
 ever this city made any figure in history after it. Yet a 
 Latin inscription found there seems to intimate, as if Dio- 
 clesian had restored their walls within thirty years after. 
 About A. D. 400. it was the head-quarters of \\\e first 
 legion of the Illyrians ; and though Stephanus gives it no 
 better title than that of a garrison, yet it appears to have 
 been an archbishop's see, under the metropolitan of Da- 
 mascus. 
 
 To say in what age, or from what hand, it received its 
 final overthrow, which reduced it to the miserable con- 
 dition it now appears in, there is no light in any of our 
 historians. But it is probable, it perished long since in the 
 obscure ages of the world, during the wars of the Saracen 
 empire. And being burnt and destroyed, it was never re-
 
 OJTadmor. 65 
 
 built : which occasions the ruins to lie so entire, in the chap, iil 
 manner as they v/ere left, neither being used to other 
 structures on the place, nor worth carrying away, because 
 of the great distance thereof from any other city. 
 
 As to the circumstances of this city in A. D. 1691, I 
 shall here give the reader an abstract of Dr. Hallifax's Let- 
 ter above mentioned. We departed, says that reverend 
 person, from Aleppo on Michaelmas-day, 1691 j and in 
 six easy days travel over a desert country, came to Tad- 
 mor, journeying almost continually to the south, with very 
 little variation to the eastward. 
 
 As we rode into the town, we took notice of a castle 
 about an hour's distance from it, and so situated as to 
 command both the pass into the hills by which we en- 
 tered, and the city too. But we could easily perceive it 
 was no old building, retaining no footsteps of the exquisite 
 workmanship and ingenuity of the ancients. Upon in- 
 quiry we were informed, that it was built by Man-Ogle, 
 a Prince of the Druces, in the reign of Amurath the 
 Third, A. D. 1585. But I know not, says the reverend 
 author, how to give much credit to this story ; because I 
 find not, that either Man-Ogle, or any other Drucian 
 Prince, was ever powerful in these parts j their strength 
 lying on mount Libanus, and along the coast of Sidon, 
 Berytus, &c. It is a work of more labour than art, 
 and the very situation alone is enough to render it almost 
 impregnable ; standing on the top of a very high hill, in- 
 closed with a deep ditch cut out of the very rock, over which 
 there was only one single passage by a drawbridge. This 
 bridge too is now broken down j so that there is no entrance 
 remaining, unless you will be at the pains to clamber up the 
 rock, which is in one place feasible, but withal so difficult 
 and hazardous, that a small slip may endanger one's life. 
 Nor is there any thing within to be seen, sufficient to re- 
 compense the trouble of getting up to it, the building be- 
 ing confused, and the rooms very ill contrived. Upon 
 the top of the hill, there is a well of a prodigious depth, 
 as certainly it must be a great way to come at water from 
 
 VOL. II. F
 
 66 The Geography of' the Old Testament. 
 
 PART III. the top of such a rock, the ditch that surrounds it not 
 having the least appearance of moisture in it. This castle 
 stands on the north side of the town, and from hence you 
 have the best prospect of the country all about. 
 
 You see Tadmor under you inclosed, on three sides, 
 with long ridges of mountains, which open toward the 
 east gradually to the distance of about an hour's riding ; 
 but to the south stretches a vast plain beyond the reach of 
 the eye, of which more by and by. The air is good, but 
 the soil exceeding barren; nothing green to be seen there- 
 in, save some few palm-trf.es in the gardens, and here and 
 there about the town. 
 
 The city itself appears to have been of a large extent, by 
 the space now taken up by the ruins ; but there are no 
 footsteps of any walls remaining, nor is it possible to 
 judge of the ancient figure of the place. The present in- 
 habitants, as they are poor, miserable, dirty people, so 
 they have shut themselves up, to the number of about, 
 thirty or forty families, in little huts made of dirt, within 
 the walls of a spacious court, which inclosed a most mag- 
 nificent Heathen temple. Hereinto also we entered ; and to 
 mention here what the place at first view represents, cer- 
 tainly the whole world cannot afford the like mixture of 
 remains of the greatest state and magnificence, together 
 with the extremity of filth and poverty. 
 
 The whole inclosed space is a square of two hundred 
 and twenty yards, encompassed with an high and stately- 
 wall, built with large square stone, and adorned with 
 pilasters within and without, to the number (as near as 
 we could compute, by what is standing of the wall, 
 which is much the greater part) of sixty-two on a side. 
 And had not the barbarity of the Turks, enemies to every 
 thing that is splendid and noble, out of a vain superstition, 
 purposely beat down those beautiful cornishes, both here, 
 and in other places, we had seen the most curious and 
 exquisite carvings in stone, which perhaps the world 
 could ever boast of; as here and there a small remainder, 
 which has escaped their fury, does abundantly evidence.
 
 OfTadmor. 6j 
 
 The west side, wherein is the entrance, is most of it chap. hi. 
 broken down ; and near the middle of the square, ano- 
 ther higher wall erected out of the ruins ; which shews 
 to have been a castle, strong but rude; the old stones, 
 and many pillars broken or sawn asunder, being rolled 
 into the fabrick, and ill cemented. Within was to be 
 seen the foundation of another wall, which probably 
 might answer this front ; and probable it is, that the 
 Mamalukes, whose workmanship it seems most likely to 
 have been, built the castle here for the security of the 
 place. Before the whole length of this new front, except 
 a narrow passage which is left for an entrance, is cut a 
 deep ditch ; the ascent whereof on the inner side is faced 
 with stone to the very foot of the wall, which must have 
 rendered it very difficult to have assaulted it. The pas- 
 sage too, and the door itself, is very narrow, not wider 
 than to receive a loaded camel, or that two footmen may 
 well walk a-breast. And as soon as you are within the 
 first door, you may make a short turn to the right, and 
 pass on to another of a like bigness, which leads into 
 the court. But all this is but a new building upon an 
 old; and by this outward wall is quite shrouded that 
 magnificent entrance, which belonged to the first fabrick : 
 of the stateliness whereof we were enabled to judge, by the 
 two stones which supported the sides of the great gates; 
 each of which is thirty-five feet in length, and artificially 
 carved with vines and clusters of grapes, exceeding bold, 
 and to the life. They are both standing, and in their 
 places ; and the distance between them gives us the wide- 
 ness of the gate, fifteen feet. But all this is now walled 
 up, to the narrow door before mentioned. Over the little 
 door there is an inscription in Greek, and also another in 
 another language and character, which I never saw, says 
 the reverend author of this account, till in Tadmor, nor 
 understand what to make of it. From that in Greek, we 
 hoped for some information; but it will be evident to any 
 one that reads it, that the stone was brought from another 
 place, and casually put in there.
 
 68 The Geography of ihe Old Testament. 
 
 PART III. As soon as you are entered within the court, you see 
 the remainders of two rows of very noble marble pillars, 
 thirty-seven feet high, with their capitals of most exqui- 
 site carved work; as also must have been the cornishes 
 between them, before they were broken down. Of these 
 pillars there are now no more than eight and fifty remain- 
 ing entire; but there must have been a great many more, 
 for they appear to have gone quite round the court, and 
 to have supported a most spacious double piazza or cloister. 
 Of this piazza, the walks on the west side, which is op- 
 posed to the front of the Temple, seem to have exceeded 
 the other in beauty and spaciousness; and at each end 
 thereof are two niches for statues at their full length, with 
 their pedestals, borders, supporters, and canopies, carved 
 with the greatest art and curiosity. The space within this 
 once beautiful inclosure, which is now filled with nothing 
 but the dirty huts of the inhabitants, I conceive, says my 
 reverend author, to have been an open court, in the midst 
 whereof stands the Temple, encompassed with another row 
 of pillars of a different order, and much higher than the 
 former, being above fifty feet high. Of these remain now 
 but sixteen; but there must have been about double that 
 number: which, whether they inclosed an inner court, or 
 supported the roof of a cloister, there being nothing now 
 of a roof remaining, is uncertain ; only one great stone 
 lies down, which seems to have reached from these pillars 
 to the walls of the Temple. The whole space contained 
 within these pillars we found to be fifty-nine yards in 
 length, and in breadth near twenty-eight. 
 
 In the midst of this space is the Temple, extending in 
 length more than three and thirty yards, and in breadth 
 thirteen or fourteen. It points north and south, having a 
 most magnificent entrance on the west, exactly in the mid- 
 dle of the building ; which, by the small remains yet to 
 be seen, seems to have been one of the most glorious struc- 
 tures in the world. I never saw vines and clusters of 
 grapes cut in stone, so bold, so lively, and so natural, in 
 any place ; and we had doubtless seen things abundantly
 
 Of Tadmor. 69 
 
 more curious, if they had not been maliciously broken to CHAP. ill. 
 pieces. Just over the door we could make a shift to dis- 
 cern part of the wings of a large spread-eagle, extending 
 the whole wideness thereof: the largeness of which led 
 me at first to imagine, it might have been rather a Cherub 
 overshadowing the entrance, there being nothing of the 
 body remaining to guide one's judgment; and some little 
 Angels or Cupids appear still in the corners of the same 
 stone. But afterwards seeing other eagles upon stone 
 that were fallen down, I conclude this nmst have been 
 one likewise, only of a much larger size. Of this Temple 
 there is nothing at present but the outward walls standing; 
 in the which it is observable, that as the windows were not 
 large, so they were made narrower towards the top, than 
 they were below ; but all adorned with excellent carv- 
 ings. Within the walls, the Turks, or more probably the 
 Mamalukes, have built a roof, which is supported by 
 small pillars and arches, but a great deal lower, as well as 
 in all other respects disproportionate and inferior to what 
 the ancient covering must have been. And they have 
 converted the place into a mosque, having added to the 
 south end thereof new ornaments after their manner, with 
 Arabick inscriptions and sentences out of the Alcoran, 
 written in flourishes and wreaths, not without art. But 
 at the north end of the building, which is shut out of the 
 mosque, are relicks of much greater artifice and beauty. 
 Whether they were in the nature of canopies over some 
 altars placed there, or to what other use they served, I am 
 not able, says the reverend author, to conjecture. They 
 are beautified with the most curious fret-work and carv- 
 ings : in the midst of which is a dome or cupola, above 
 six feet diameter, which we found above to be of one 
 piece; whether hewn out of a rock entire, or made of 
 some artificial cement or composition, by time hardened 
 into a stony substance, seems doubtful; though our learned 
 author was rather inclined to believe the latter. It is, in 
 fine, a most exquisite piece of workmanship, and on which,
 
 7© The Geography of the Old Testament. 
 
 PART III. says the reverend and learned Doctor, I could have be- 
 stowed more time to view it, than what was allowed us, 
 hastening to other sights. 
 
 Having taken this survey of the Temple, we went 
 abroad, where our eyes were presently accosted with an 
 amazing sight of a multitude of marble pillars, standing 
 scattered up and down, for the space of near a mile of 
 ground, this way and that, but so disposed as to afford no 
 solid foundation to judge, what sort of structures they for- 
 merly framed. I pass by the ruins of a mosque, which, 
 directing our course northward, was the first thing that 
 occurred to our view, after we came out of the court of 
 the Temple : which, though of a more artificial frame 
 and composure than many I have seen, yet is not worthy 
 to stop us in the way to things, both of greater antiquity, 
 and every way more noble and worthy our consideration. 
 Having therefore passed this, you have the prospect of such 
 magnificent ruins, that if it be lawful to frame a conjecture 
 of the original beauty of the place, by what is still re- 
 maining, I somewhat question, whether any city in the 
 world could have challenged precedence of this in its 
 glory. But it being impossible to reduce these noble ruins 
 to any regular method, I must be forced to give you a 
 rude account of them, as they came in sight ; and which 
 will fall much short of the greatness and stateliness, which 
 they shew to the eye. 
 
 Advancing then toward the north, you have a very tall 
 and stately obelisk or pillar, consisting of seven large 
 stones, besides its capital, and a wreathed work above it ; 
 the carving here, as in all other places, being extraordi- 
 nary fine. The height of it is above fifty feet ; and upon 
 it, I conceive, may have stood a statue, which the Turks, 
 zealous enemies to all imagery, have thrown down and 
 broken in pieces. It is in compass,just above the pedestal, 
 twelve feet and a half. On each hand of this, toward the 
 east and west, you see two other large pillars, each a quarter 
 of a mile distant from you, which seem to have some cor-
 
 OfTadmof. 71 
 
 respondence one to the other. And there is a piece of CHAP. III. 
 •another standing near that on the east, which would in- 
 cline one to think, there was once a continued row of 
 them. The height of this to the east I took, says Dr. 
 HalHfax, with my quadrant, and conclude to be more 
 than two and forty feet high, and the circumference pro- 
 portionable. Upon the body thereof is an inscription. 
 The other pillar to the west, in height and circumference 
 answers this, and has upon the side an inscription also. 
 
 Proceeding forward, directly from the obelisk, about 
 an hundred paces, you come to a magnificent entrance, 
 vastly large and lofty, and, for the exquisiteness of the 
 workmanship, not inferior to any thing before described. 
 Had it not suffered the same fate as the rest, we might 
 have seen a rare piece of the ancient beauty of the place. 
 This entrance leads you into a noble piazza, of more than 
 half a mile in length, nine hundred thirty-eight yards ac- 
 cording to our measuring, and forty feet in breadth, in- 
 closed with two rows of stately marble pillars, six and 
 twenty feet high, and eight or nine feet about. Of these 
 remain standing and entire one hundred and twenty-nine. 
 But, by a moderate calculation, there could not have been 
 less at first than five hundred and sixty. Covering there is 
 none remaining, nor any pavement at the bottom, unless 
 it be buried under the rubbish. But upon almost all the 
 pillars we found inscriptions, both in Greek, and the lan- 
 guage unknown; of which we had time to take but very 
 few, and those not very instructive. Upon several of these 
 pillars are little pedestals, jetting out about the middle of 
 them, sometimes one way only, and sometimes more, 
 which seem to have been the bases or standing places of 
 statues. But none of these are remaining; neither is it to 
 be expected they should, in a place which has been so 
 long in the hands of the Turks. On these pedestals we saw 
 many inscriptions, sometimes when there were none upon 
 the body of the pillar, and sometimes when there were. 
 
 The upper end of this spacious piazza was shut in by a 
 row of pillars, standing somewhat closer than those on 
 
 F4
 
 72 The Geography of the Old Testament. 
 
 PART III. each side; and perhaps there might have been a kind of 
 banquetting-house above; but now no certain footsteps 
 thereof remain. But a Httle farther to the left hand^ and, 
 it may be, continued with the former walk, lie the ruins 
 of a very stately building, which I am apt, says my author, 
 to believe might have been for such an use. It is built of 
 better marble, and has an air of delicacy and exquisiteness 
 in the work, beyond what is discernible in the piazza. 
 The pillars, which supported it, are of one entire stone; 
 and on one of them that is fallen down, but so firm and 
 strong, that it has received no injury thereby, we measured, 
 and found two and twenty feet in length, and in compass 
 eight feet and nine inches. Among these ruins we found 
 the only Latin inscription we saw in the place, and that so 
 imperfect, that there is but little of it intelligible. 
 
 Tn the west side of the great piazza are several openings 
 for gates, leading into the court of the palace: two whereof, 
 one would easily believe, when they were in their perfec- 
 tion, were the most magnificent and glorious in the world, 
 both for the elegancy of the work in general, and parti- 
 cularly for those stately porphyry pillars, with which they 
 were adorned. Each gate had four, not standing in a line 
 with the others of the wall, but placed by couples in the 
 front of the gate, facing the palace, two on one hand, and 
 two on the other. Of these remain but two entire, and 
 but one standing in its place. They are about thirty feet 
 in length, and nine in circumference; of a substance so 
 exceeding hard, that it was with great difficulty we broke 
 off a few shivers, to bring home with us for a pattern of the 
 stone, the art of making which, I think, says my author, 
 is quite lost. We saw several other broken pieces of por- 
 phyry, but neither of so accurate a mixture and composi- 
 tion, nor so large, as the former. The hard fate of one I 
 could not but lament, when I saw it debased to support the 
 corner of a little hut, scarce good enough for a dog-ken- 
 nel, or an hog-sty. The palace itself is so entirely ruined, 
 that no judgment can be made, what it was in its ancient 
 splendour, either for the figure or workmanship thereof.
 
 Of Tadmor. 73 
 
 There Is only here and there a broken piece of a wall re- CHAP. in. 
 maining, beat into pieces by violence, and consumed by 
 tinje to that degree, that, without the help of tradition, 
 we could hardly be well assured, that the royal palace 
 did once fill that space. We may guess however, that it 
 fronted the famous piazza before mentioned, and was sur- 
 rounded with rows of pillars of different orders ; many of 
 which are still standing, some plain, and some wrought 
 and channelled, as those immediately encompassing the 
 Ten)ple. And upon those little pedestals, which stood out 
 of the middle of some of them, I observed several inscrip- 
 tions, but could not conveniently take more than one, 
 which, together with the pillar that supported it, was 
 fallen to the ground. 
 
 I omitted to mention before, that under the long walk 
 runs a current of hot sulphureous waters, and there is a 
 well and other passages down to them. But whatever 
 they may have been of old, they are not now so convenient 
 as another, about half a mile westward from hence; 
 where there is a very good descent into the water, and it 
 is still used by the people to bathe in. Near to which, 
 upon the pedestal of a broken pillar (or perhaps it might 
 be an altar) remains an inscription, importing, that Bo- 
 lanus, son of Zenobius, 8cc. being elected overseer or cu- 
 rator of this fountain, under Jaribolus, built this altar 
 to Jupiter, in the year of Alexander four hundred and 
 seventy-four; that is, of our Lord one hundred and fifty. 
 Hot sulphureous baths are things very frequent in this 
 country ; and thence it obtained the name of Syria Salu- 
 tifera. The scent of the waters here is much like those 
 of Bath in England, but not so strong. On the con- 
 trary, v/hen they have run so far from the fountain, as to 
 become cold, they are very potable, and are the only 
 waters the inhabitants use. But we, during our stay there, 
 sent to a fountain of very excellent water, about an hour 
 distant from the city. 
 
 On the east side likewise of the long piazza stands, if 
 such an expression may be used, a wood of marble pillars,
 
 74 The Geography of the Old Testament. 
 
 PART III. some perfect, and others deprived of their beautiful ca- 
 pitals; but so scattered and confused, that it is not possi- 
 ble to reduce them into any order, so as to conjecture to 
 what they anciently served. In one place are several to- 
 gether in a square after this manner, paved at the bottom 
 with a broad flat stone, but without any 
 roof or covering. And at a little distance 
 from that, stand the ruins of a small 
 temple, which, by the remains, seems to 
 have been for the workmanship very 
 curious. But the roof is wholly gone, 
 and the walls very much defaced, and 
 consumed with time. Before the entrance which looks 
 to the south is a piazza, supported by six pillars, two on 
 one hand of the door, and two on the other, and at each 
 end one. And the pedestals of those in the front have 
 been filled with inscriptions, both in Greek and the other 
 language ; but they are now so worn out, as not to be in- 
 telligible. 
 
 But as great a curiosity as any were their sepulchres, 
 being square towers, four or five stories high, and standing 
 on both sides of an hollow way, towards the north part 
 of the city. They stretch out in length the space of a 
 mile, and perhaps formerly might extend a great way fur- 
 ther. At our first view of them, as we entered the place, 
 we could not conjecture what they were. Some thought 
 them the steeples of ruined churches, and were in hopes 
 to have found some footsteps of Christianity here. Others 
 took them to have been bastions, and part of the old forti- 
 fications, though there is not so much as any foundation 
 of a wall to be seen. But when we came, a day or two 
 after, more curiously" to inquire into them, we quickly 
 found their use. They were all of the same form, but of 
 different splendour and greatness, according to the circum- 
 stances of their founders. The first we viewed was en- 
 tirely marble, but is now wholly in ruins, and nothing 
 but an heap of broken stones. Amongst which we found 
 the pieces of two statues, one of a man, and another of a
 
 Of Tadmor. 75 
 
 woman, cut in a sitting, or rather leaning, posture. The chap. hi. 
 heads and part of the arms of both were broken off, but 
 their bodies remained pretty entire ; so that we had the 
 advantage of seeing their habits; which appeared very- 
 noble, but more approaching the European fashion, than 
 what is now in use in the East; which inclined me to be- 
 lieve they might be Romans. Upon broken pieces of 
 stone tumbled here and there, we found some as broken 
 inscriptions; but not affording any perfect sense, they are 
 not worth the transcribing. 
 
 Many other sepulchres there were, as much gone to 
 decay as this, which therefore we pass by to go to two, 
 that stood almost opposite to one another, and seemed most 
 perfect of any, though not without marks of the Turkish 
 malice. They are two square towers, rather larger than 
 ordinary steeples, and five stories high ; the outside being 
 of common stone, but the partitions and floors within of 
 good marble, and beautified too with very lively carvings 
 and paintings, and figures both of men and women, as far 
 as the breasts and shoulders, but miserably defaced and 
 broken. Under these statues, or by their sides, are, in the 
 unknown character, the names probably of the persons 
 there buried, or by them represented, or else some other 
 memorials of them. We entered one of these by a door 
 on the south side, from which was a walk across the 
 whole building, just in the middle. But the floor was 
 broken up, and so gave us the sight of a vault below, di- 
 vided after the same manner. The spaces on each hand 
 were again subdivided into six partitions by thick walls, 
 each partition being capable of receiving the largest 
 corpse : and piling them one above another, as their way 
 appears to have been, each of those spaces might contain 
 at least six or seven bodies. For the lowest, second, and 
 third stories, those partitions were uniform, and altogether 
 the same ; save from the second floor, which answered the 
 main entrance, one partition was reserved for a stair-case. 
 Higher than this, the building being something narrowed 
 towards the top, would not afford space for continuing the
 
 76 The Geography of the Old Testament. 
 
 PART III, same method. Therefore the two uppermost rooms were 
 not so parted, nor perhaps ever had any bodies laid in 
 them; unless it was that of the founder alone, whose statue, 
 wrapt up in funeral apparel, and in a lying posture, is 
 placed in a niche, or rather window, in the front of the 
 monument, so as to be visible, both within and without. 
 Near to this statue was an inscription. 
 
 The other monument on the other side of the way is 
 very much like this ; only the front and entrance are to- 
 ward the north, and it is not altogether so polite, nor so 
 well painted. But the carvings are as good, and it shews 
 altogether as stately and magnificent as the former. Be- 
 sides, it has the advantage in age of a whole century of 
 years, as appears from the date of an inscription, that is 
 placed above a niche in the front, adorned with handsome 
 borders and cornishes ; the place doubtless of some statue, 
 and probably that of the founder. This inscription is the 
 most ancient I met with, says my reverend author, in Tad- 
 mor, the three hundred and fourteenth year from the 
 death of Alexander the Great, preceding the birth of our 
 Saviour about ten years. The other inscription is also be- 
 tween twenty and thirty years before the reign of Adrian, 
 and consequently before the Romans got footing here. 
 And from these sumptuous structures, and costly mausolcea, 
 we may reasonably conclude, they were a potent and 
 opulent people, before they became subject to the Romans, 
 and were not obliged to them for their greatness. 
 
 And here the reverend and learned Dr. Hallifax ends 
 his account in relation to Tadmor; of which I have given 
 the reader an abstract, omitting little else, but the several 
 inscriptions transcribed by the Doctor, and his remarks 
 thereupon, which I thought not so proper for this place. 
 However, it may not be amiss to take notice here of one 
 general remark made by the Doctor, in reference to the 
 inscriptions that are yet to be seen upon almost all the 
 pillars of the great piazza above mentioned. It is this, 
 that from the said inscriptions may be collected, that as 
 the state, the senate, and people, did sometimes honour
 
 OfTadmor. 77 
 
 those that had been in public trust, with inscriptions on CHAP. III. 
 these pillars 3 so when this was not done by them, private 
 persons had the liberty to do the same for their friends. 
 Whence it appears also, that they esteemed it very ho- 
 nourable, to have their memories preserved after this man- 
 ner. As a further instance hereof may serve, what the 
 Doctor takes notice of in reference to another pillar above 
 mentioned, on which was an inscription with the mention 
 of men's names, but without particularizing what they 
 did to deserve that honour : which is something strange, 
 unless we may suppose, it was a prevailing vanity in these 
 eastern countries, thus to endeavour to eternize their 
 names. An instance whereof we have in Scripture, in 
 Absalom's setting him up a pillar, a Sam. xviii. 18. and 
 perhaps before him in Saul, i Sam. xv. 12. 
 
 It remains now only to add one remark of my own, in 
 relation to the vast plain, which, the Doctor in the begin- 
 ning of his letter tells us, stretches to the south of Tadmor, 
 beyond the reach of the eye. In this plain, adds he, you 
 see a large valley of salt, affording great quantities there- 
 of, and lying near about an hour's distance from the city. 
 And this more probably is the valley of Salt, mentioned 
 2 Sam. viii. 13. where David smote the Syrians, and slew 
 eighteen thousand men, than another which lies but four 
 hours from Aleppo, and has sometimes passed for it. Now 
 though the Doctor's observation is true enough, that this 
 valley by Tadmor is more probably the valley of Salt, men- 
 tioned 2 Sam. viii. 13. than that which lies not far from 
 Aleppo ; yet it appears from what has been above said, 
 chap. ii. sect. 24. that neither the one nor the other is the 
 valley mentioned in the forecited text, but another lying 
 near the Salt sea, and the land of Edom, Aram (or the 
 Syrians) being a corrupt reading in the forecited text, for 
 Edom or the Edomites, as is shewn in the chapter and 
 section above cited. And though reason itself will tell us, 
 that it is but likely, that the parts about the Salt sea 
 should be impregnated with salt; yet, since my penning 
 the section concerning the valley of Salt mentioned in
 
 78 The Geography of the Old Testament. 
 
 PART III. Scripture, I have observed a passage in Mr. Maundrell's 
 Journey from Aleppo to Jerusalem, wherein he tells us, 
 that he was an eye-witness, that the country about the 
 Salt or Dead sea did abound with saline particles. We 
 found, says he, the plain (namely, near Jordan) very bar- 
 ren, as we passed along it, producing nothing but a kind of 
 samphire, and other such marine plants. I observed in 
 many places of the road, where puddles of water had 
 stood, a whiteness upon the surface of the ground ; which, 
 upon trial, I found to be a' crust of salt, caused by the 
 water to rise out of the earth, in the same manner as it 
 does every year in the valley of Salt near Aleppo, after 
 the winter's inundation. These saline efflorescences I 
 found at some leagues distance from the Dead sea, which 
 demonstrates, that the whole valley must be all over plen- 
 tifully impregnated with that mineral. It is true, that 
 what Mr. Maundrell here says, relates to that part of the 
 plain or valley, that lay on the north end of the Salt sea; 
 but it is not to be doubted, but the same holds true as to 
 the more southern parts lying on the same sea, and nearer 
 to the land of Edom. 
 
 But to return to Tadmor; the account whereof I shall 
 conclude with observing, that, as to the nature of its soil, 
 it might be looked upon as seated as it were in an island, 
 or spot of fertile land, surrounded with a sea, or vast tract 
 of barren lands. Such spots, Strabo tells us, were fre- 
 quent in Libya or Africk, and by the Egyptians were 
 called abases ; whence possibly the name of the Abasyne 
 or Abissine nation is derived. As to the geographical 
 situation of (Tadmor or) Palmyra, Ptolemy places it in the 
 latitude of Tripoly on the coast of Syria, and four degrees 
 more easterly ; and he makes it the capital of sixteen ci- 
 ties in Syria Palmyrena, whereof Alalis, and Danaba, and 
 Evaria, were afterwards bishops' sees. Pliny places it two 
 hundred and three miles from the nearest coast of Syria, 
 and three hundred and thirty-seven miles from Seleucia 
 upon Tigris, near Bagdat. Josephus places it one day's 
 journey from Euphrates, and six from Babylon; which
 
 OfTadrnw, 79 
 
 must be understood of an horseman's journey of about chap. ni. 
 sixty miles a day, it being more than so much from this 
 city to Euphrates. Ptolemy also mentions a river running 
 by Palmyra, which did not appear to our travellers, unless 
 that gut or channel, wherein they were overflowed by the 
 rain-waters, was the bed thereof; which may possibly 
 run with a constant stream in the winter, or times of much 
 rain. But this (as the rivers of Aleppo and Damascus at 
 this day) is made by Ptolemy, not to empty itself into the 
 sea or any other river, but to be imbibed by the thirsty 
 earth of the deserts. And so much for the once most 
 noble city of Tadmor or Palmyra, said in Scripture to be 
 built by Solomon. 
 
 In ver. 26. of this ninth chapter, we are informed, that 7- 
 Solomon made a navy of ships in Ezion-geber, which is be- ^f,^^^ ^J^^l 
 side Eloth, on the shore of the Red sea. in the la?id of Edam. E'-oth. 
 In 2 Chron. viii. 17. we are told, that Solomon himself 
 went to Ezion-geber, and to Eloth, at the sea-side in the 
 land of Edom. In Num. xxxiii. 35. we read, that one of 
 the encampments of the Israelites was at Ezion-geber; 
 and Deut. ii. 8. Moses reminds the Israelites, how that, 
 luhen they passed by from the children of Esau, throzigh the 
 way of the plain frojn Elath and Ezion-geber, they turned 
 and passed by the way of the wilderness of Moab. These 
 are the texts, wherein these places are first mentioned in 
 the sacred history. And as from hence it might be in- 
 ferred, that Ezion-geber and Eloth were neighbouring 
 places, and both near to the land of Edom ; so from the 
 text we are speaking of in relation to Solomon, it is evi- 
 dent, that they were not only adjoining cities, but both 
 situated in the land of Edom ; and consequently that the 
 land of Edom did reach quite to the shore of the Red sea. 
 And this affords a great confirmation to the truth of that 
 opinion, that the Red sea was so called as lying on the coast 
 of Edom ; of which I have spoken Vol. L Part II. chap. ii. 
 §.3. of this my Geography of the Old Testament. That 
 Ezion-geber was a sea- port town, is clear from the ac- 
 count we have in Scripture thereof, it being said here.
 
 8o The Geography of the Old Testament. 
 
 PART III. I Kings ix. 26. expressly, that Solomon made a navy of ships 
 m Ezion-geber ; and chap. xxii. ver. 48. that the ships, 
 which Jehoshaphat made, luere broken at Ezion-geber. 
 That Elath, or Eloth, was a sea- port or haven, is not so 
 evident from Scripture; but what is said of Solomon's 
 going to Eloth, as well as to Ezion-geber, 2 Chron. viii. 
 17. seems to favour it. Likewise particular notice being 
 taken, 2 Kings xiv. 22. of Azariah's restoring Elath to 
 Jiidah ; and again, a Kings xvi. 6. of Rezin King of Syria 
 recovering Elath to Syria, and driving out the Jews from 
 Elath, this shews, that Elath was a place of more than 
 ordinary importance; and therefore it was so most pro- 
 bably, on account of its being a good port or haven; 
 since it, as well as Ezion-geber, is expressly said, 2 Chron. 
 viii. 17. to be situated 071 the sea-side. And this is further 
 confirmed by our finding a bay of the Red sea, called in 
 Heathen writers, the Elamitick or Elanitick bay, taking 
 without doubt this name from a port on it, named Elama 
 or Elana; which might be very probably the same de- 
 noted in Scripture by Elath or Eloth ; especially since Eu- 
 sebius and Jerom tell us, that it was in their days called 
 M\a. ; and that from thence they were wont to set sail for 
 the Indies and Egypt; and that there was placed the 
 tenth Roman legion ; which further shews it to be a place 
 of great consequence. As for Ezion-geber, or Ezion- 
 gaber, some will have it to be the same port, that was by 
 the Greeks and Latins called Berenice, from an Egyptian 
 Queen of that name : but Eusebius and Jerom tell us, 
 that in their time it was thought to be the same that was 
 then called Asia, as it is in the Greek of Eusebius ; or 
 Essia, as it is in the Latin of Jerom. As for the land of 
 Ophir, whither the ships of Solomon are said to have gone, 
 and fetched from thence gold, it is spoken of in the first 
 volume. 
 8. In the beginning of chap. x. we have an account of the 
 
 Of Sheba. Q^ggjj Qf Sheba's coming to Solomon. The learned are 
 divided as to the situation of this Sheba, some making it 
 to lie in Africk, others in Arabia. The oldest writer of
 
 Places mentioned in the first Book of Kings. 8r 
 
 the former opinion is, T think, Josephus, the Jewish his- CHAP. III. 
 torian; and Bochart plainly intimates, that others, who ' 
 
 have since embraced the said opinion, have done it solely 
 upon Josephus's authority, without duly considering what 
 is to be said against it. I shall not trouble the reader with 
 all the flaws observed by Bochart, in the account given 
 us of this Queen by Josephus ; it will suffice to take no- 
 tice here of two or three of the most palpable errors. Jo- 
 sephus then makes this Queen of Sheba, that came to 
 Solomon, to reign over both Ethiopia and Egypt ; whereas 
 it is evident from the sacred history, that in the time of 
 Solomon there reigned over Egypt that Pharaoh, whose 
 daughter Solomon married, and Shishak, who, not long 
 after the death of Solomon, made war upon Rehoboam 
 the son of Solomon. Again, Josephus will have this 
 Queen to be called the Queen of Sheba, from her capital 
 city. For, says he, the metropolis of the Ethiopians was 
 called Saba, before that Cambyses named it Meroe, from 
 his sister. Whereas other historians tell us, that Cam- 
 byses luilt Meroe, (so that there was no such place before,) 
 and named it so from his mother. Once more, Herodotus, 
 whom Josephus professes to follow herein, no where says 
 that any such woman reigned in Ethiopia. These obser- 
 vations may suffice to shew^ the weakness of the opinion 
 we are speaking of. I shall now add two or three obser- 
 vations to confirm the truth of the other opinion, that 
 by the Queen of Sheba, is to be understood the Queen of 
 the country so named, and situated, not in Ethiopia in 
 Africk, but in the south part of Arabia Felix. A^nd first, 
 Bochart observes, that the kingdom of Sheba was usually 
 called by the Orientalist, the south country, or kingdom of 
 the south. Whence it follows, that our blessed Saviour 
 spake according to the common mode, when he called 
 the Queen of Sheba by the style of the Queen of the south. 
 adly. The Queen of Sheba in Arabia Felix may be truly 
 said to come from the utmost ports of the earth, forasmuch 
 as these Saba^ans inhabited the utmost parts of Arabia 
 southward : whereas the Ethiopians in Meroe had several 
 
 VOL. II. G
 
 Sz The Geography of the Old Teatament. 
 
 PART 111. nations more south than they in Africk. 3dly, Arabia Fe- 
 lix much more abounded with gold and spices, which were 
 brought by that Queen to Solomon, than Ethiopia is re- 
 ported to do. And lastly, it is related, that women reigned 
 over these Sabseans, as well as over the Ethiopians. This 
 kingdom may be seen in the map of the plantations of the 
 descendants of Ham, vol. i. 
 g, Solomon being dead, presently after Rehoboam's ac- 
 
 of thedivi- cession to the throne, the tribes of Israel were divided into 
 land of Is- two distinct kingdoms, ten of the tribes setting up Jero- 
 
 raei into v,oam, the son of Nebat, for their King; and the other 
 
 two distinct '_ ' _ _ . 
 
 kingdoms, two tribes, Judah and Benjamin, adhering to the house of 
 
 kingdom of ■'^^^^^' ^^ '^^ indeed said, chap. xi. ver. ii. and J2. that 
 Judah and God forctold Solomon, that for his sins he would rend the 
 is'rad^"^ ° kingdom out of the hand of his son ; howbeit, not alt the 
 kingdom, but that he would give one tribe to his son, for 
 David's sake, and for Jerusalem's sake. And accordingly, 
 ver. 32. Ahijah the prophet acquaints Jeroboam, that as 
 God had decreed to give te?i tribes to Imn, so he had de- 
 creed that Solomon's successors should have one tribe for 
 his servant David's sake, and for Jerusalem's sake, the city 
 which he had clioseji out of all the tribes of Israel. Now it 
 being thus said in these two texts, that God would give 
 one tribe to the descendants of Solomon, and it being plain 
 from chap. xii. ver. 21, 23. that the two tribes of Judah 
 and Benjamin did adhere to Rehoboam ; nay, it being 
 expressly said, 2 Chron. xi. 12. that he had Judah and 
 Benjamin on his side ; hence at first view there seems to be 
 some shew of disagreement between these texts, which 
 Commentators have endeavoured to reconcile after various 
 manners. But whosoever considers duly the phrase or 
 manner of speaking made use of in those texts, where one 
 tribe is said to be reserved to the house of David, will find, 
 that thereby is plainly enough denoted, that the house of 
 David should have tivo tribes adhere still to it. For both 
 the said texts, i Kings xi. 12. and 32. rendered according 
 to their full importance, imply thus much, that to the 
 house of David should be reserved one tribe for David's
 
 Places mejitioned in the first Book of Kings. ^^ 
 
 sake, and one tribe for Jerusalem's sake ; and so two tribes, CHAP. in. 
 viz. that of Judah, /or David's sake, who was of that tribe ; 
 and the other of Benjamin /b?- Jerusalem's sake, as being in 
 that tribe, Josh, xviii. 28. And as this exposition is easy, 
 and takes away so much as the appearance of any disagree- 
 ment, so it is confirmed, not only expressly by the Seventy 
 Interpreters in 1 Kings xi. 32. but also by the original 
 text itself, when it says, in both the forecited passages, that 
 only ten tribes were given to Jeroboam ; for thence it 
 plainly follows, that the other two were reserved to the 
 house of David. 
 
 Again, though it be said, that ten tribes were given to 
 Jeroboam, yet this is not to be so strictly understood, as if 
 every city appertaining to the said ten tribes did fall oft' 
 to Jeroboam. For the contrary expressly appears, a Chron. 
 xi. 10. where, among the cities which Rehoboam built for 
 defence, we have mention made of Zorah and Aijalon, 
 which were allotted to the tribe of Dan, as we read Josh, 
 xix. 41, 42. And as to the people, it is expressly said, 
 2 Chron. xi. 13 — 17. that the priests and the Levites that 
 were in all Israel (1. e. in all the other tribes that fell off" to 
 Jeroboam) resorted to him (1. e. Rehoboam) oiit of all their 
 coasts. For the Levites left their suburbs and their possession, 
 and came to Judah and Jerusalem : for Jeroboam and his 
 S071S had cast them of from executing the priest's office unto 
 the Lord. And after them, out of all the tribes of Israel, 
 such as set their hearts to seek the Lord God of Israel, cam,e 
 to Jerusalem to sacrifice unto the Lord God of their fathers. 
 And this gives clear light to the true meaning of i Kings 
 xii. 17. where it is said, but as for the children of Israel 
 which dwelt in the cities of Judah, Rehoboam reigned over 
 them. The true and full meaning of which seems to be 
 this : that Rehoboam reigned, not only over Judah and 
 Benjainm, but also over such of the other ten tribes as, ad- 
 hering to the service of the true God, came and dwelt in 
 the cities of Judah. For upon the division of the kingdom 
 into two, it is sufficiently known, that as the tribes of Ju- 
 dah and Benjamin, and what else appertained to the house 
 
 G 2
 
 84 ' The Geography of the Old Testament. 
 
 PART III. of" Davidj was comprehended under the name of the king- 
 dom ofJudah; and the king thereof was styled the King 
 of Judah ; so the other ten tribes were denoted by the 
 name of the children of Israel, their country by the name 
 of the kingdom of Israel, and their King was styled the 
 King of Israel. 
 10. As to the capital cities of these two kingdoms, Jeru- 
 
 cities'orthe ^^^^"^ all along Continued to be so in respect of the king- 
 kingdom of dom of Judah. But as for the kingdom of Israel, its ca- 
 kin-'dom of pi^^l oi" regal city was at first for some time Shechem. For 
 Israel. ^ve read, i Kings xii. 25. that Jeroboam built Shechem in 
 mount Ephraim, and dwelt there. That he did also some- 
 time reside at Tirzah, is evident from chap. xiv. ver. 17: 
 but whether he made it the place of his constant or chief 
 residence In his latter days, so as that the regal seat may- 
 be said to be by him translated thither from Shechem, is 
 not certain. Certain it is, from chap. xv. ver. 33. that 
 Baasha (who slew Nadab, the son of Jeroboam, and suc- 
 ceeded him) made Tirzah his regal city. And it appears 
 from chap. xvi. 8 — 23. that so it continued to be, during 
 the reigns of these succeeding Kings, viz. Elah, the son of 
 Baasha, andZimri, and Omri; which last reigned six years 
 in Tirzah; and then he bought the hi/l Samaria of Shemer, 
 and built on the hill, and called the name of the city which 
 he built, after the name of Shemer, owner of the hill {She- 
 meron, or) Samaria. And this was the regal or capital 
 city of the kingdom of Israel, not only the remaining 
 years of Omri's reign, but through the several reigns of all 
 his successors, even till an end was put to the kingdom of 
 Israel by the conquest of the King of Assyria. Of which 
 more in its due place. 
 11, In chap. xiv. ver. 25. we read, that in the fifth year of 
 
 OftheLu- Hehoboam, Shishak King of Egypt ccwie up against Jeru- 
 
 bims, the , » i • /-ii •• r i.i • 
 
 Sukkiims, salem. And m 2 Chron. xu. 1 — 4. we are further m- 
 
 and Ethio- formed that this iudffment came upon Rehoboam, because 
 
 he forsook the law of the Lord; and also, that the people 
 
 were without number^ that came with Shishak out of Egypt ; 
 
 the Lubims, the Sukkiims, and the Ethiopians. As for the
 
 Places mentioned in thejirst Book of Kings. 85 
 
 Lubims, it is generally agreed by the learned, that there- CHAP. iii. 
 by are meant the Libyans, adjoining to Egypt. And not 
 only the affinity of the names confirms this opinion, but 
 also the signification of the Hebrew word, it being derived 
 from a root or primitive word, which denotes to thirst, or 
 thirst ; and so a very proper word to denote the inhabitants 
 of Libya or Africa, as being a very thirsty ^ i. e. dry or 
 sandy country. The Hebrew word Sukkiims is derived 
 from a word, which denotes either a tent, (whence the 
 name of Succoth is given to the place where Jacob pitched 
 his tents, when he came out of Mesopotamia, Gen. xxxiii. 
 17.) or else a cave. Hence the learned are not agreed, 
 whether by the Sukkiims here mentioned are to be under- 
 stood the Troglodytae, a people in the parts of Libya or 
 Africk adjoining on to Egypt southwards, and so called 
 by the Greeks as living in caves; or else the Scenitae, a 
 people in Arabia Petraea, or the parts of Arabia adjoining 
 next to Egypt, and so called by the Greeks as living in 
 tents, and otherwise better known to these parts of the 
 world by the name of Saracens. The last people men- 
 tioned in this place, and called by our translation, in con- 
 formity to the Septuagint, Ethiopians, are denoted in the 
 Hebrew text by the name of Cushim, as being descendants 
 of Gush ; and therefore thereby are most probably denoted 
 the inhabitants of Arabia, namely, of the other parts of 
 Arabia, besides that inhabited by the Sukkiims, if thereby 
 were denoted the Scenitee or Saracens. That by the 
 Cushim here mentioned cannot with any probability be 
 understood the Ethiopians living in Africk and beyond 
 Egypt, is confirmed by their being related, chap. xiv. ver. 
 9 — 15. to have invaded Judah in the days of Asa, under 
 Zerah their king or leader. At which time the Lord smote 
 the Cushim ; and Asa, and the people that luere with him, 
 pursued them unto Gerar ; and the Ethiopians were over- 
 thrown, and they (i. e. Asa and his people) smote all the 
 cities round about Gerar, he. — Whence it plainly follows, 
 that the Cushim here mentioned were such as inhabited the 
 
 ^3
 
 86 The Geography of the Old Testament. 
 
 PART 111. parts adjoining to Gerar, and consequently not any part 
 of the African Ethiopia, but Arabia. 
 12. In chap. XV. ver. i6 — 22. of this first Book of Kings we 
 
 Ton ^Abd- ^^^^^ '^^^ Baashu King of Israel went up against Judah, 
 
 beth-maa- and huilt Ramah, that he might not suffer any to go out or 
 ' '^' come in to Asa King of Judah. Whereupon Asa by great 
 presents prevailed upon Benhadad King of Syria, to invade 
 the kingdom of Israel; and the Syrian army smote Ijon, 
 and Dan, and Ahel-leth- maachah, and all Cinneroth, with 
 all the land of Naphthali. Whereupon Baasha left off 
 building of Ramah ; and King Asa made a proclamation 
 throughout all Judah, and they took away the stones of Ra- 
 mah, and the timber thereof and King Asa built with them 
 Geba of Benjamin and Mizpah. The circumstances here 
 mentioned make it almost unquestionable, that the Ramah' 
 here spoken of is to be understood of the Ramah near Je- 
 rusalem, lying in the tribe of Benjamin. By Baasha's 
 buildi?rg it, is probably to be understood his fortifying it, 
 and perhaps, to that end, building a tower or citadel there- 
 in ; the materials whereof were carried away by the men 
 of Judah to build, i. e. to fortify, Geba. and Mizpah, two 
 other cities of Benjamin. The design of Baasha in build- 
 ing or fortifying Ramah, in order that he might not suffer 
 any to go out or come in to Asa King of Judah, probably 
 alludes to what is related 2 Chron. xv. 8, 9. where we 
 ]earn, that Asa had taken some cities that were in mount 
 Ephraim, and that the people came over to him out of 
 Ephraim, and Manasseh, and Simeon, in abundance. The 
 cities Ijon and Abel-beth-maachah, being mentioned with 
 Dan, and the country of Cinneroth, and the land of Naph- 
 thali, it is not to be doubted, but that they lay in those 
 northern parts of the kingdom of Israel, though their 
 situation cannot be more particularly assigned from any 
 thing said in Scripture of them. 
 13^ At ver. 27. of this chap. xv. we read, that when Baasha 
 
 OfGibbc- smote Nadab, the son of Jeroboam, this latter was laying 
 siege to Gibbethon, which belonged to Ike Philistines. This
 
 Places 7ncnlioned in thejirst Buok of Kings. 87 
 
 city is expressly reckoned, Josh. xix. 44. among the cities CHAP. HI. 
 allotted to the tribe of Dan, and also it was assigned as a ' 
 
 Levitical city in that tribe. Wherefore, either the Israel- 
 ites had never hitherto expelled the Philistines out of it, 
 or else the Philistines had again recovered it. It seems to 
 have been a strong place ; forasmuch as the siege seems 
 to have been carried on from before the death of Nadab, 
 all along the reign of Baasha, till the death of his son Klah, 
 by Zimri, and the setting up of Omri for King against 
 Zimri. For the text tells us, that the people were encamped 
 at Gihhethon ; and the people that were encamped heard 
 say, Zimri has conspired and slain the King : wherefore all 
 Israel made Omri, the captain of the host. King over Israel 
 that day in the camp. — Chap. xvi. ver. 15, 16. 
 
 Omri, being made King, goes up from Gibbethon, and 14. 
 besieges Tirzah, and takes it, and reigns there six years, na, the ca- 
 After which he removes his regal seat to Samaria, a city P"^' °^ ^'^^^ 
 
 1 • 1 1 1 •! r 1 1 -11 1 1 kingdom of 
 
 which he new built from the ground, on an hill bought Israel, 
 of one Shemer, from whom he called the city by the name 
 of Samaria, as has been above observed. This city from 
 thenceforth continued to be the regal or capital city of 
 the kingdom of Israel, till a period was put to the said 
 kingdom. And hence the word Samaria is often used by 
 the sacred writers of the Old Testament, to denote the 
 whole kingdom of Israel. It was first besieged by Ben- 
 hadad King of Syria, and reduced to so great extremity, 
 that the head of an ass was sold for eighty shekels of 
 silver, which is computed by some to be about ten pounds 
 sterling : but however, the city was then miraculously de- 
 livered according to the prediction of the prophet Elisha. 
 It was afterwards taken by Salmanassar King of Assyria, 
 after a siege of three years. This prince took away the 
 Israelites or ten tribes captive, and instead of them sent 
 a new colony of diverse nations, who patched up a reli- 
 gion out of the Jewish religion and their own heathenish 
 and superstitious rites. In the time of the Maccabees, 
 this city was taken by one of the Maccabean family, and 
 wholly ruined. Herod the Great, being pleased with the 
 
 G4
 
 88 The Geography of the Old Testament, ■ 
 
 PART III. situation of it, again rebuilt it in a more stately manner than 
 before, beautifying it with fine marble pillars, and other 
 carved stones, which are in great abundance found amongst 
 the rubbish. He inclosed it also with a strong wall, and 
 beautified it with a temple; and, in honour of Augustus 
 Caesar, he named it Sebaste, the Greek word Sebastos 
 being used in that language to answer to the Latin Au- 
 gustus. Herod Agrippa obtained this city of the Roman 
 Emperor Caligula, and siding with the Romans against 
 the Jews under Vespasian, they then avoided the public 
 calamity of that country. But afterwards, taking other 
 measures, they were, together with the rest of the Jews, 
 extirpated out of Palestine by the Emperor Adrian, and 
 the city has since gone to decay. It is conjectured by 
 Brochard, who traced the ruins of it, to have been bigger 
 than Jerusalem. John the Baptist is said to be buried here. 
 It was in the time of the Christian Emperors an arch- 
 bishop's see ; but now there are only a few cottages, and 
 convents inhabited by Greek monks. 
 15. The following part of the first Book of Kings (viz. from 
 
 brook^Che- *^^^P' ^^'* ^^'"' ^8. to chap. xxii. ver. 40.) is taken up with 
 rith. the history of Ahab, son of Omri, and King of Israel, in- 
 
 termingled VI ith the history of the famous prophet Elijah. 
 And the first place that occurs here, and has not yet been 
 spoken of, is the brook Cherith, which is said, chap. xvii. 
 ver. 3. to be before Jordan, From which nothing else can 
 be well inferred, but that this brook ran into Jordan. 
 Whether it lay on the east or west side of Jordan is not 
 agreed on. Eusebius, or at least Jerom, places it beyond 
 Jordan, and so on the east side of it : but others generally 
 agree in placing it rather on the west of Jordan ; because 
 it is said ver. 3. by God to Elijah : Get thee hence, and 
 turn thee eastward, and hide thyself by the brook Cheriih, 
 that is before Jordan. Where the expression turn thee 
 eastward, seems to imply, that Elijah was on the west side 
 of Jordan : for had he been on the east side, then to have 
 gone to a river that ran on that side into Jordan, would 
 have been to have turned westward. The particular situa-
 
 Places mentioned in thejirst Book of Kings. 89 
 
 tlon of this brook is assigned by Adrichomius in the con- CHAP. ill. 
 fines of Ephraim and Benjamin. ' 
 
 As for Zarephath, (chap. xvii. ver. 9.) which belonged 16. 
 to Zidon, it is in the New Testament (Luke iv. 26.) called j^^^^^^^" 
 Sarepta; and under that name I have spoken of it in Part 
 I. chap. iv. sect. 6. of my Geography of the New Testa- 
 ment. And in like manner, mount Carmel, the river 
 Kishon, and all the other places mentioned in the remain- 
 ing part of this first Book of Kings, have been before spo- 
 ken of in my Geography of the Old Testament.
 
 90 The Gcognipluj uj tlie Old Tcslamcnl, 
 
 CHAP. IV. 
 
 Places mentioned in the second Book of Kings, and not 
 spoken of before. 
 
 1- X HE second Book of Kings begins with giving us an ac- 
 SagaTnstCO""tj how Moab, that was before tributary to the King 
 Israel. of Israel, rebelled against Israel; i. e. cast off their subjec- 
 tion to the King of Israel, after the death of Ahah ; and 
 how Ahaziah, the son of Ahab, sent to inquire of Baal- 
 zehul, the God ofEkron, concerning his recovery fronri the 
 disease he then lay under; and what was thereupon done 
 by the prophet Elijah, of whose being taken up into hea- 
 ven we have an account, chap. ii. The places mentioned 
 in both these two first chapters have been all spoken of 
 before. 
 
 2. From chap. ii. to chap. xiil. we have the history of Eli- 
 TheMoab- gi^^j^ {|^g prophet, from the death of Elijah, whom he suc- 
 
 itesaresub- rr ,,. -i-iii- 
 
 dued; the cecded, to his own death, mtermixed with the history or 
 the'^l^rad- ^^^^ Kings of Judah and Israel. In chap. iii. we are in- 
 ites, and formed, how Jehoram, (another son of Ahab, that suc- 
 baafe.^'^^ ° ceeded his brother Ahaziah, for want of issue of his own,) 
 being joined by Jehoshaphat King of Judah, went against 
 Moab in order to reduce it to subjection again. And ver. 
 8, 9. we are particularly informed, that they went the way 
 through the wilderness of Edom, and fetched a compass of 
 seven days journey. Whereby is denoted, that they went 
 not the most direct or nearest \v&.y to invade Moab, which 
 lay over Jordan, and through the tribe of Reuben, or 
 south part of the country beyond Jordan ; hutfetched a 
 compass through the wilderness of Edom, which probably 
 lay on the south-west of the Salt sea, and so invaded Moab 
 on those parts which were most distant from Israel, and 
 on which consequently they least expected to be invaded 
 upon. 
 
 3. In chap. iv. ver. 42. we read of a man that came from 
 Of Kaaisha- Baalshalisha, and brought Elisha twenty loaves of barley.
 
 Places mentioned in the second Book of Kings. 91 
 
 wherewith he fed an hundred men, so that they left CHAP. iv. 
 thereof. This place is in the Septuagint version written 
 Bastharisa, which, Eusebius and Jerom tell us, was a town 
 in the borders of Diospolis, about fifteen miles distant from 
 it to the north, in the country of Thamna, whence it ap- 
 pears to have been situated in mount Ephraim. And this 
 description agrees well enough with what we read of the 
 land of ShaMsha, i Sam. ix. 4. wherein this Baalshalisha 
 probably was situated. For the land of Shalisha probably 
 lay in Ephraim : though Jerom will have Shalisha to be 
 the same with Zoar, otherwise called Belah, whither Lot 
 fled ; and hence some have fancied that Baalshalisha should 
 rather be read Belashalisha, as a name compounded of Bela 
 and Shalisha. The Chaldee Paraphrast and Arabick In- 
 terpreter render it the south country/, which favours the lat- 
 ter opinion, rather than the former; inasmuch as Zoar 
 lay indeed to the south of Gilgal, where Elisha then was, 
 whereas Ephraim lay to the north and north-west. 
 
 In chap. viii. ver. 20, 21. we read, that iji the days of 4. 
 Joram, son of Jehoshaphat, Edom revolted from under //ie^^ ^lair. 
 hand of Judah, and made a King over themselves. Whefe- 
 upon Joravi ivent over to Zair, and smote the Edomites. 
 From the circumstances of the story, this Zair appears to 
 be near or in the land of Edom. It seems by some in- 
 terpreters to be taken for the same as Seir, whereby the 
 land of Edom is frequently denoted in Scripture ; but it 
 is differently written in the Hebrew tongue, and by the 
 Seventy Interpreters it is rendered Sior. 
 
 In the following verse of the same chapter, we read, that 5. 
 then Lihnah revolted at the sa^ne time. This is conjectured Of Libnah. 
 by some to be a different place from the Libnah, lying in 
 the tribe of Judah, and often mentioned in the sacred 
 history; and they will have it to be a city of Edom. But 
 it seems most probable, that it was no other than the city 
 of Judah, and which was one of the cities in that tribe 
 assigned to the sons of Aaron ; and that by the revolting 
 thereof is to be understood, the inhabitants refusing to ad- 
 mit the idolatrous worship he would have set up there.
 
 (^a The Geography of the Old Testament. , 
 
 PART in. as well as in other places of his kingdom ; and that, 
 therefore, upon his death, or some short time after, they 
 opened their gates again. And this seems to be confirmed, 
 not only by its being expressly said, a Chron. xxi. lo. 
 The same time also did Lihnah revolt from under his hand; 
 because he had forsaken the Lord God of his fathers : but 
 also by its being said, both 2 Kings viii. 22. and 2 Chron. 
 xxi. 10. only that Libnah revolted, without adding thereto 
 what is just before said of Edom, that it continued to re- 
 volt unto this day. The omission of which expression 
 seems to imply, that Libnah had ceased so to revolt before 
 the time the sacred Penman wrote. 
 
 6. In chap. ix. ver. 27. we read, that Jehu being anointed 
 and ib?e- King of Israel by the appointment of God, and having 
 ^^- slain Joram, the son of Ahab, he followed after Ahaziah, 
 
 the King of Judah, that aided Joram j and that Jehu's 
 men slew him at the going up to Gur, ivhich is by Ibleam. 
 Now Gur is no where else mentioned in Scripture ; but 
 Ibleam, by which it is said to be, is mentioned in two 
 other places; viz. Josh. xvii. 11. and Judg. i. 27. In the 
 former place we read, that Manasseh had in Issachar and 
 Asher, Bethshean and her towns, and Ibleam and her townSf 
 &c. Where, by the expression, in Issachar and Asher, is 
 probably meant in the confines of those two tribes; where 
 also Megiddo is said to be situated in the same text. 
 Some understand Gur (or, as it is in the vulgar Latin, 
 Gaver) to be the name of an ascent or hill by Ibleam; and 
 the Seventy Interpreters render the Hebrew text thus : In 
 the going up to Gai, ivhich is Ibleam; whereby they plainly 
 understood Gai, or Gur, to be only another name for 
 Ibleam. 
 
 7. In chap. xii. ver. 20. we read, that the servants of 
 9*^^f^'^^'°''Joash King of Judah made a conspiracy, and slew him in 
 
 Bethmillo, or the house ofMillo, which goes down to Silla ; 
 of which we have spoken in the ^ description of the city 
 of Jerusalem. In chap. xiv. ver. 7. we are informed, that 
 
 ' Page 27, chap, ii, sect. 10, 11. of this volume.
 
 Places mentioned in the second Book of Kings. 93 
 
 Amazlah, the son of Joash, slew of Edam in the valley q/'cHAP. IV. 
 
 Salt ten thousand, and took Selah by ivar, and called the ~ 
 
 name of it Johtheel, unto this day. Of the valley of Salt I 
 
 have before spoken. The word Selah does in the Hebrew 
 
 tongue signify a rock, and so exactly answers to the Greek 
 
 word Petra; and therefore it is not without reason agreed 
 
 upon by commentators, that this Selah was the same city 
 
 with that called by the Greeks and Latins, Petra, lying in 
 
 Arabia Petraea, thought to be so named from this its chief 
 
 city : though others rather think, that as this city had its 
 
 name from its situation on ^ a rock, so the adjacent tract 
 
 was called Arabia Petraea, from its being overspread with 
 
 such rocks or rocky hills. 
 
 In ver. 25. of this fourteenth chapter, we are informed, s. 
 
 that Jeroboam, the son of Joash Kins of Israel, restored //je Jeroboam, 
 
 coast of Israel Jrom the entering m of Hamath, unto the 5eo joash, how 
 
 of the plain, according to the word of the Lord, ivhich he^^^'^^°J^' 
 J i^ ^ b J ' store the 
 
 Spake by Jonah the prophet, who was of Gat h- hep her. Of coast of Is- 
 
 the entering in of Hamath I have before spoken ; and that ^^j-^q^^j^" 
 
 by the Sea of the Plain, is meant the Salt sea, (otherwise hepher. 
 
 called by common writers, the Dead sea, and the AsphuU 
 
 tite lake,) is clear from Deut. iii. 17. Why this King is said 
 
 to restore these parts, may be gathered from i Kings xv. 20. 
 
 and 2 Kings x. 33. For in the former place we have an 
 
 account, that Benhadad the King of Syria had smote Ijon, 
 
 and Dan, and Ahel-beth-maachah, and all Cinneroth, with 
 
 all the land of NaphthaU ; and in the latter place we read, 
 
 that Hazael, a succeeding King of Syria, smote all the 
 
 country beyond Jordan. The only place mentioned in 
 
 the text we are speaking of, and not before described, is 
 
 Gath-hepher, the birth-place, or at least dwelling-place, 
 
 of Jonas the prophet. This is expressly said by Kuscbius 
 
 and Jeroirj to be situated in the tribe of Zabulon; and the 
 
 latter tells us in his preface to the prophecy of Jonah, 
 
 that it was two miles distant from Sephorim, or Dioce- 
 
 saraea, in the way thence to Tiberias j that it was no great 
 
 t' Compare 2 Chroii. xxv. 12.
 
 94 The Geographt/ of the Old Testament. 
 
 PART III. place, and that the sepulchre of Jonah was shewn there 
 in his time. He also further observes, that some con- 
 founded this place with Gath near Lydda, or Diospolis, 
 and lying in the country of the Philistines: whereas the 
 sacred history plainly distinguishes this from that, by the 
 addition of Hepher thereto. Whereby son)e suppose is 
 denoted, that it lay in a tract of Zabulon, called the land 
 of Hepher, i Kings iv. lo. and that the King of Hepher, 
 said to be slain by Joshua, Josh. xii. 17. was King of this 
 land of Hepher. But this is only conjecture. Upon the 
 testimony of Eusebius and Jerom, concerning the situation 
 of Gath-hepher in the tribe of Zabulon, it seems very 
 probable, that it was the same with Gittah-hepher, men- 
 tioned as lying in the eastern coast of Zabulon, Josh. xix. 
 
 13- 
 9. In chap. xvi. ver. 9. we read, that Tiglath-pileser, King 
 
 lonRin? to' ^^ Assyria, went up against Damascus, and took it, and 
 t^e i^jng of carried the people oj" it captive to Kir. This place is ren- 
 dered in the vulgar Latin, Cyrene, which cannot be un- 
 derstood of the city or country lying in Africk, and well 
 known, and frequently mentioned by Greek and Latin 
 writers under the name of Cyrene; forasmuch as the 
 King of Assyria (at least in those days) had nothing to do 
 with this Cyrene. Wherefore, by Kir and the Cyrene in 
 the Latin version, must be understood some city or country 
 lying within the dominions of the King of Assyria. And 
 accordingly we find a river Cyrrhus, and cities called 
 Cyropolis, and Cyrena, and Carine, mentioned by writers 
 as lying in these parts; and a part of Media, called Syro- 
 media, from these Syrians, as is probably thought, being 
 carried captive hither. 
 10. In chap. xvii. we have an account of the final captivity 
 
 H^b^^'^c' ^^ ^^^^ Israelites or ten tribes, by Shalmaneser King of 
 zan, &c. Assyria, who is said ver. 6. to carry Israel away into Assyria, 
 ten'tribes ^ ^^^ ^^ place them in Halah and in Hahor ly the river of 
 were car- Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes. In i Chron. v. 26. 
 five. ^^ it is said, that the King of Assyria brought the Reubenltes 
 and Gadites, and half tribe of Manasseh, vnfo Halah, and 
 
 i
 
 Places mentioned in the second Book of Kings. 95 
 
 Hahor, and Hara, and to the river Gozan. That by the cHAP. IV. 
 river Gozan is here denoted the country about that river, ~" 
 
 and which by Ptolemy is called Gauzanitis, is so probable, 
 as to be agreed upon by the generality of writers. The 
 v;ord Halah may be otherwise written agreeably to the 
 Hebrew Chalach ; and therefore is very probably thought 
 to denote the country in the north part of Assyria, called 
 by Ptolemy, Calacine or Calachene. In like manner, 
 Habor may be written, agreeably to the original, Chabor; 
 whence it is probably thought to be the mountain (or 
 the mountainous country) between Media and Assyria, 
 called by Ptolemy, Chaboras. And lastly, Harah, men- 
 tioned in I Chron. v. 26. is thought by some to denote 
 the same with the cities of the Medes, in this 3 Kings xvii. 
 6. which, they say, is confirmed by the observation, that 
 Media is by the Greeks sometimes called Aria, and the 
 Medes Arii, (namely, in Herodot. vii. 62. and Pausan. in 
 Corinth.) It is certain, that in the east or south-east parts 
 adjoining to, or not far from Media, we meet with a coun- 
 try, called Aria or Ariene. 
 
 In ver. 24. chap. xvii. of this second Book of Kings we n. 
 are informed, that the King of Assyria brought inenfrom^^^^^^^^ 
 Balylon, and from Cuthah, and from Ava, and from Ha- 
 math, and from Sepharvaim, and placed them in the cities 
 of Samarittj instead of the children of Israel. I need not 
 speak any thing more of Babylon and Hamath ; and I 
 need but remind the reader, that it has been before ob- 
 served in my account of the Garden of Eden, that Cuthah 
 here mentioned was in all probability the same with Gush, 
 which is said by Moses to be encompassed by the river 
 Gihon, and that accordingly it is much the same with the 
 country called by the Greeks Susiana, (where we read of 
 the Cossei and Cissii, &c.) and to this very day is said to 
 be called Chusestan. As for Ava, what city or country is 
 denoted hereby, is hard to be accounted for. We do in- 
 deed read Deut. ii. 23. of the Avims; but then in the 
 same text we read also, that the Caphtorim (or Philistines)
 
 96 The Geography oj the Old Testament. 
 
 PART III. destroyed them, and dwelt in their stead, long before these 
 times. And therefore Ava here mentioned cannot with 
 any probablHty denote the country of the Avims, men- 
 tioned in the forecited place of Deuteronomy, as some 
 have imagined. Nor does it appear, that the King of 
 Assyria had then under his subjection the parts where 
 these Avims are said to dwell ; nay, the contrary rather 
 appears. The most probable opinion in this matter seems 
 to be that of the learned Grotius, who has observed, that 
 there are by Ptolemy mentioned a people of Bactriana, 
 under the name of Avadiae. It is not to be omitted, that 
 the place here called Ava seems in all probability to be the 
 same that is called Ivah, chap, xviii. ver. 34. and chap. 
 xix. ver. 13. 
 
 12. The Sepharvaim above mentioned is very probably con- 
 vaim. jectured by the learned to be the city called Sipphara by 
 
 Ptolemy, and by Abydenus, the city of the Sippareni. It 
 is called by a plural name in Ptolemy, as well as by a 
 dual in the Hebrew, probably, because the river Euphrates 
 ran through it, and so divided it as it were into two cities. 
 
 13. In chap, xviii. ver. 34. together with the Gods of Ha- 
 Arvacf^ ""^math, and Sepharvaim, and Ivah, we have mention made 
 
 of the Gods of Arpad and Henah. As to Arpad, thereby 
 is probably denoted the country lying above the land of 
 Hamath, and over against which lies the small island, 
 called Aradus by the Greeks and Latins; which name 
 contains in it apparent footsteps of the Hebrew name 
 Arpad or Arvad. 
 
 14. As for Henah, I can neither rneet with in others, nor 
 think myself of any satisfactory account of it. Grotius 
 thinks it might be, perhaps, Ange in Arabia Felix. Others 
 take Henah and Ivah to be the names of two idols : but 
 it seems clear from chap, xix. ver. 13. that they were both 
 cities. The Chaldee Paraphrast renders them as two verbs. 
 The Syriack and Arabick Interpreters render, what is 
 Ivah in our translation^ all along by Avah ; and Henah 
 by Noa.
 
 Places mentimed in the second Book of Kings. 97 
 
 In chap. xix. ver. 12. besides Gozan, and Haran, awe? CHAP. iv. 
 the children of Eden, which were in Thelasar, (which have 77 
 been all spoken of already,) we have mention made ofofRezeph. 
 Rezeph. Now since we find in Ptolemy mention made of 
 Resapha in the country Palmyrene, on the west of the 
 Euphrates, and above spoken of; and also of Rezipha, a 
 city of Mesopotamia, and so on the east of the Euphrates; 
 it is very probable, that one of these two might be the 
 place here called Rezeph ; and most probably the last, as 
 carrying in it the greatest affinity to the letters of the He- 
 brew word. 
 
 In the history of the reign of the good King Josiah, we 16. 
 have mention made of Carchemish by Euphrates, a Chron. ^(^archc- 
 XXXV. 20. This is probably thought to be the same, called 
 by the Greeks and Latins, Circesium. 
 
 In 2 Kings xxiii. 33. we read, that Pharaoh-necob put 17. 
 Jehoahaz, the son of Josiah, in bands at Riblah, in the /ot?^^*^^'^'"''' 
 of Hamath. Where the land of Hamath lay, has already 
 been shewn. And it is hence evident, that Riblah lay in 
 the land of Hamath ; and consequently out of the land of 
 Canaan, contrary to the opinion of some. Hence others 
 more reasonably suppose it to be Antioch, or else Apamea, 
 or some other of the cities situated on the river Orontes; 
 on which stood Epiphania, called Hamath in the days of 
 Jerom, and therefore probably thought by him to be the 
 Hamath mentioned so often in Scripture. 
 
 And thus I have gone through the second book of 18. 
 
 Kings. The places mentioned in the books of the Chroni-P*^*;^'^ , 
 ° , . ... books of 
 
 cles are chiefly the same with those mentioned in the books Chronicles, 
 
 of the sacred history already gone through : some few that ^' 
 are mentioned peculiarly in these books of the Chronicles, 
 and are not mentioned in the other preceding sacred 
 books, I have inserted in their proper places, into the 
 geograp^iy of the books of Kings. As to the following 
 books of the sacred Scripture, the principal places men- 
 tioned in them, and of which, I think, we have any to- 
 lerable knowledge, have also been taken notice of be- 
 
 VOL. II. H
 
 98 The Geography of the Old Testavient. 
 
 PART III. fore; excepting the cities and other places lying in Per- 
 sia or Media, or adjoining to the Persian empire, and men- 
 tioned in the books of Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther, Ezekiel, 
 Daniel, and some other; of these therefore I shall speak 
 something in the following chapter.
 
 Of Persia. 99 
 
 CHAP. V. 
 
 Of Places situaled iuy or ['ordering on, the ancient Persian 
 Empire, and mentioned in the Old Testament, hut not 
 spokeii of already. 
 
 W E meet not with the name of Persia in the sacred his- 1, 
 tory, before the time of Daniel the prophet, who lived ''^/^"' 
 
 ■' , . . whence so 
 
 m the reign of Cyrus, the founder of the Persian empire, called. 
 This great and famous Emperor is said, not only to have 
 taught the inhabitants of Persia properly so called, the art 
 of horsemanship; but also to have published an edict or 
 law, importing, that it should be esteemed mean and 
 scandalous for any man of that country to go on foot, 
 whether the journey he went were long or short; by this 
 means enjoining the inhabitants to become horsemen. 
 Now the word Paras in the Oriental tongues denoting 
 an horseman, hence it is not improbably thought, that 
 upon the said inhabitants thus becoming universally horse- 
 men, the country and people came to be denoted by the 
 name of Paras, first in the days of Cyrus ; whereas, in 
 former days, both country and people were denoted by 
 the name of Elam, one of the sons of Shem, who first set- 
 tled in these parts after the Flood, From the word Paras, 
 the Greeks easily framed the word Persis, and from it the 
 Latins the word Persia. 
 
 Paras, or Persis, in its most proper acceptation, denoted 2. 
 only one province of the Persian empire, which adjoined ^^'^^!^'°'^ 
 
 J I ^ r ' J Persia, pro- 
 
 on to the east side of Susiana, formerly spoken of; andperlytaken, 
 which is said to this day to be called Phars, or Pharsistan, ^^''^^^' 
 names which apparently retain footsteps of the ancient 
 Oriental name Paras. But this name is also used to de- 
 note several other and large provinces, that were subdued 
 by the Persians, properly so called, and lay chiefly to the 
 north and east of the province of Persis. As to the extent 
 of the Persian empire, we find that it was in the days of 
 
 H a
 
 lOO The Geography of the Old Testament. 
 
 PART III. Ahasuerus, /*ro7» India even unto Ethiopia, over an hundred 
 and seven and twenty provinces. Esth. i. i. 
 
 3. The word here rendered Ethiopia is Cush ; which has 
 Of Cush or jgggj^ larffely shewn to denote in Scripture, Arabia, not 
 
 Ethiopia. r • 1 • • I 
 
 Libya or Africa; and therefore, by Ethiopia here men- 
 tioned is probably to be understood only the Asiatick 
 Ethiopians, i. e. some Arabians denoted by this name in 
 Herodotus the historian. 
 
 4. The word rendered India is in the original Hoddu, or 
 Of India. Hondu, as it is now-a-days read. But it is likely that it 
 
 was formerly read Hiddu, or Hindu. Whence the Greeks 
 derived the names India and Indus, the latter given by 
 them to the great river, which has been generally esteemed 
 the eastern boundary of Persia, and the former to the 
 country lying on the east side of the said river, called now- 
 a-days by us most commonly the East-Indies, to dis- 
 tinguish it from the West-Indies, otherwise called Ame- 
 rica, and unknown to the ancients ; who therefore called 
 the East-Indies simply India, as knowing no other than 
 that. 
 
 5. It is evident from Dan. viii. 2. and Esth. i. 2. that the 
 Of Shu- Kings of Persia had a palace in a city called Shushan, 
 
 which we may well suppose to be the same called by the 
 Greeks Susa, and so situated in the province of Susiana, 
 which is the first province of Persia that lies on the east of 
 the Euphrates, or Tigris. This city probably took it^ 
 name from the lilies which abound in these parts, for the 
 lily is called shushan in the Hebrew tongue. As from 
 Shushan, the Greeks called the city itself Susa ; so from 
 their Greek name of the city, they called the province it 
 lay in Susiana. The city Is thought to have been founded 
 by Tithonus, brother to Priamus King of Troy, and father 
 of Memnon: from whom the citadel was called Mem- 
 nonium; the palace and walls, Memnonians ; and Susa it- 
 self, the city of Memnon. But others will for these rea- 
 sons have the city to have been built not by Tithonus 
 the father, but by the son himself, Memnon. The walls 
 of this city are said by Cassiodorus, as Heylin relates, to
 
 Of Persia. loi 
 
 be cemented with gold. It was doubtless a very great, CHAP. v. 
 stately, and rich city. Alexander the Great is said to have 
 found therein fifty thousand talents of uncoined gold, be- 
 sides wedges of silver, and jewels of an inestimable value. 
 It is now said to be nothing but ruins, and perhaps not 
 that. 
 
 In the forecited chap. viii. ver. a. of Daniel, the prophet 6. 
 tells us, that he had a vision by the river of Ulai, which ^'V*'^"^^^ 
 doubtless is the same called by the Greeks, Euleus. That 
 it ran by the city, nay the palace of Shushan, is also clear 
 from the forecited text. It is said to be the greatest river 
 of the province of Susiana, and of so rare a stream, that 
 the Persian Kings would drink of no other water. 
 
 To the north of Persia lay the country called Me- 7. 
 dia, frequently mentioned in the sacred history, and ^* '^^^^'*' 
 that in conjunction with Persia; not only on account of 
 their neighbouring situation one to the other, but of their 
 being for a long time under one and the same prince. It 
 is generally believed, that it took its name from Madai, 
 one of the sons of Japhet. But upon weighing what is 
 offered by the judicious and learned Mr. Mede on this 
 subject, I am inclined to embrace rather his opinion ; that 
 though it is not to be doubted but this country, called in 
 Hebrew Madai, took its name from one Madai, yet pro- 
 bably he was not the same with the son of Japhet, (who 
 rather settled himself in Mysia in Lesser Asia, and in ^ma- 
 thia or Macedonia in Europe,) but was a descendant of 
 Shem. 
 
 In Ezr. vi. 2. we read, that there was found at Achme- 8. 
 thtty in the palace that is in the province of the Medes, a roily [^^ o/g^c*^/ 
 &c. Now the word Achmetha may denote (as is ob- batana. 
 served in the margin of our Bible) a coffer; but it is ra- 
 ther understood by the learned to denote the principal city 
 of Media, called by the Greeks Ecbatana, and often men- 
 tioned in the Apocryphal books of Esdras or Ezra, and of 
 Tobit and Judith. It was built not long after Babylon. 
 For we find, saith Dr. Heylin, that Scmiramis, the wife of 
 Ninus, in a war against the Medes, who had then rebelled, 
 
 "3
 
 1 oa The Geography of the Old Testament, 
 
 1»ART 111. taking an affection to the place, caused water-courses to 
 ""■" be made to it, from the further side of the mountain 
 
 Orontes, digging a passage through the hilJs with great 
 labour and charge. It being destroyed by the injury of 
 time, it was re-edified by Deioces, the sixth King of the 
 Medes, and afterwards much beautified and enlarged by 
 Seleucus Nicanor, one of the successors of Alexander the 
 Great in his Asian conquests. For beauty and magnifi- 
 cence it was little inferior to Babylon or Nineveh. In 
 compass it is said to be one hundred and eighty, or two 
 hundred furlongs, which make about twenty-four of our 
 miles. The walls thereof are affirmed in the book of 
 Judith to be seventy cubits high, fifty cubits broad, and 
 the towers upon the gates an hundred cubits higher; all 
 built of hewn and polished stones, each stone being six 
 cubits in length, and three in breadth. But this is to be 
 understood only of the iimermost wall, there being seven 
 in all about it; each of them higher than the other, and 
 each distinguished by the colour of their several pinnacles, 
 which gave unto the eye a most pleasant prospect. It was 
 the ordinary residence of the Kings of Persia in the heat 
 of summer, as Susa, before mentioned and described, was 
 in the cold of winter. The royal palace was about a 
 mile in compass, and built with all the cost and skill that 
 a stately edifice did require. Some of its beams are said 
 to be of silver, and the rest of cedar, which were strength- 
 ened with plates of gold. Josephus, the Jewish historian, 
 relates, that it was built by the prophet Daniel ; which 
 must be understood no otherwise than that he overlooked 
 the work, or contrived the model, appointed to do so by 
 the order of Darius the Mede, to whom the building of 
 the same is ascribed by others. Neglected at length by 
 the Kings of the Parthian race, it became a ruin.
 
 Jpocryphal Books of the Old Testament. 103 
 
 CHAP. VI. 
 
 Of the more remarkable Places mentioned in the Apocryphal 
 Books, and not spoken of before. 
 
 1 SHALL in this last chapter take notice of the more re- 1. 
 markable places mentioned in the Apocryphal books, and ^^y^'*''^' 
 which have not been spoken of before. I have not ob-Ncphtali. 
 served any place or country mentioned in the two Apo- 
 cryphal books of Esdras, but what has somewhere or 
 other been before taken notice of; and therefore, passing 
 by them, we come to the book of Tobit. In chap. i. 
 ver. 3. we read, that in the time of Enemassar, (vi^ho is sup- 
 posed to be the same called 2 Kings xvii. 3. Shalmaneser,) 
 King of the Assyrians, Tobit was led captive out ofThisbe, 
 which is at the right hand of that city, which is properly 
 called Nephtali in Galilee. Now it is thought with great 
 probability, that the city here said to be properly called 
 Nephtali was the same with that which was otherwise called 
 Kadesh-Nephtali, this being the principal city of Nephtali 
 in the more early times. And as it was called Kadesh- 
 Nephtali, to distinguish it from other cities called by the 
 name of Kadesh ; so it is very likely, that it was also for 
 brevity's sake (omitting the former part of the compound 
 name, namely Kadesh, as common to it with other places) 
 called Nephtali, and the rather, as being the most eminent 
 city in the tribe of Nephtali. For it was not only a Le- 
 vitical city, but also one of the three cities of refuge on 
 the west of Jordan. 
 
 In ver. 14. of this first chapter of Tobit, we have men- 2. 
 tion made of Rages, a city of Media. This is probably Of the city 
 enough thought to be the same with Ragau, mentioned in 
 chap. i. ver. 15. of the book of Judith. Nor is it a con- 
 jecture without any foundation, that it was built by Reu 
 the son of Peleg. For not only the descendants of 
 Arphaxad (of whom came Peleg, the father of Reu) set- 
 tled in these and the adjacent parts ; but Reu is called by 
 
 H 4
 
 104 The Geography of the 
 
 PART III. the Seventy Interpreters Ragau. And as to the posterity 
 of Arphaxad settHng here, it is remarkable, that in the 
 very beginning of the book of Judith, we have n)ention 
 made of Arphaxad, who reigned over the Medes in Ecba- 
 tane; this name being probably given to the said King in 
 memory and honour of their forefather Arphaxad, the 
 son of Shem, and grandson of Noah ; who probably upon 
 the dispersion of mankind settled himself in these parts of 
 Asia; whence we find here a whole country retaining 
 plain footsteps of his name, it being called Arrapachitis in 
 Ptolemy, probably for Arphaxaditis. 
 
 3. Proceed we to the book of Judith ; and the most re- 
 Of Bcthu- iTTiarkable place in this history is the city or town of 
 
 Bethulia, wherein Judith lived when it was besieged by 
 Ilolofernes, the general of the Assyrian army. That this 
 place was situated not far from Dothaim, is evident, as 
 from other texts, so especially from chap. vii. ver. 3. where 
 it is said, that the army under Holofernes encamped in the 
 valley near unto Bethulia, by the fountain, and they spread 
 theynselves in breadth over Dothaim even to Belmaim, and 
 in length from Bethulia unto Cyamon (or the Bean-field) 
 over against Esdraelon. Now Dothaim being probably 
 the same with Dothan, and Esdraelon the same with 
 Jezreel, we may from hence make a pretty good guess at 
 the situation of Bethulia, that it was such as is assigned it 
 in the map hereunto belonging. Brochard tells us, that 
 from the place taken for Bethulia, when he travelled the 
 Holy Land, to Tiberias on the sea of Galilee, was one 
 league, and that the latter lay to the south-east of the 
 former. As for the other places mentioned in the book of 
 Judith, they are either such as are of very uncertain situa- 
 tion, or else of no great note, or lastly such as have been 
 already described. And the same may be said of the 
 places that are mentioned in the several following Apo- 
 cryphal books, till we come to the two books of the Mac- 
 cabees, which are the last of the Apocryphal books. 
 
 4. In these two books, as being chiefly historical, we have 
 ^^*'"' mention made of many places, among which, excepting
 
 ylpocnjphaL Books of the Old Testament. 105 
 
 those already spoken of, the chief or most remarkable are chap. vi. 
 these that follow : Modin I mention first, on account of 
 its being the dwelling-place of Mattathias, of whom was 
 descended Judas surnamed Maccabeus. The situation of 
 this place is not well agreed on, some placing it not very 
 far from Jerusalem. For Mr. Maundrell tells us, that in 
 his return from Bethlehem to Jerusalem, he made a visit 
 to (what is now-a-days called) the wilderness and convent 
 of St. John the Baptist; and that being come within 
 about a league of the convent, he had in sight Modon, a 
 village on the top of an high hill, the burying-place of 
 those heroical defenders of their country, the Maccabees. 
 And so likewise Le Bruyn tells us, that at a little distance 
 from the convent of the Holy Cross (which is about an 
 hour's journey from Jerusalem) he saw upon a very high 
 hill, the place where the Maccabees lie buried, and the 
 ruins of their house. And a little after he tells us, that 
 being gone further on in his way to Bethlehem, he turned 
 towards Modin ; and he not only gives us a draught of it, 
 but also tells us, that of the burying-places of the Macca- 
 bees there are still seven arches remaining, under which 
 the bodies were laid. From which it may be inferred, 
 that our author was either at or very near the place; and 
 consequently, that it lies not very far from Jerusalem and 
 Bethlehem. But others will have Modin to lie much 
 farther westward, namely, on the coast, or not far from 
 the coast, of the Mediterranean sea. And this opinion is 
 founded on 1 Maccab. xiii. 25, 26. where it is said thus : 
 The7i sent Simon, and took the bones of Jonathan his brother, 
 and buried them in Modin, the city of his fathers. — Simon 
 also built a monument upon the sepulchre of his father and 
 his brethren, and raised it aloft to the sight, with hewn stone 
 befimd a?id before. Moreover, he set up seven pyramids one 
 against another, for his father and his mother, and his four 
 brethreji. And i7i these he made cunning devices; about 
 the which he set great pillars. And upon the pillars he 
 made all their armour for a perpetual ynemory ; and by the 
 armour, ships carved, that they might be seen of all that sail
 
 io6 The Geography of the 
 
 PART III. 0^ the sea. Now from the last clause of this passage it 
 
 *■ seems evident, that Modin was at no great distance from 
 
 the Mediterranean sea. Whence it will follow, that 
 the forementioned place, taken notice of by Mr. Maun- 
 drell and Mr. Le Bruyn, is not rightly reputed to be the 
 burying-place of the Maccabees ; but that their opinion 
 is better founded, who place Modin much nearer to the 
 coast of the Mediterranean sea. Agreeably hereunto 
 Eusebius and Jerom tell us, that Modin was situated near 
 to Diospolis, or Lydda. And Bonfrerius observes^, that 
 some moderns place the situation of Modin at four miles 
 distance from Lydda, and one long mile from Joppa. 
 .<5. The next place I shall speak of is Persepolis, mentioned 
 
 Of Perse- 2 Macc. ix. 2. It was the chief city, not only of that pro- 
 vince of the Persian empire which is properly called Persis, 
 but of the whole empire ; whence it is styled by the his- 
 torian Quintus Curtius, the Queen of the East. It was 
 situated near the banks of a river called Araxes, otherwise 
 said to be called Rhogomanes, and now-a-days Bendemir. 
 It was built for the most part of cypress-wood, the walls 
 of the houses being of marble, digged out of an adjoining 
 mountain. Diodorus Siculus, who at large describes this 
 city, affirms it to be the richest and finest city in all the 
 world. And we may well believe him as to the richness 
 of it, Alexander the Great finding here one hundred and 
 twenty thousand talents in ready money for his own share, 
 after the soldiers had made what spoil they listed of plate, 
 bullion, images of gold and silver, and jewels of unspeak- 
 able value. But the chief beauty of it was the royal pa- 
 lace, built on an hill, surrounded with a treble wall ; the 
 first of sixteen cubits height, the second of thirty, and the 
 third of sixty : all of them of black polished marble, with 
 stately battlements, and in the circuit of the whole palace 
 an hundred turrets, which afforded a most admirable pro- 
 spect. Nor was the inside of less beauty, than the outside 
 of majesty ; the roof thereof shining with ivory, silver, 
 
 ^ Annot. in tab. Terrae promissse .
 
 Apocryphal Books of the Old Testament. 107 
 
 gold, and amber; and the King's throne being wholly chap. VI. 
 
 composed of gold and the richest pearls. But although it 
 
 was thus rich and stately, and one of the greatest orna- 
 ments of the eastern world ; yet it was by Alexander, in a 
 drunken fit, consumed with fire, at the instigation of Lais, 
 that infamous strumpet, by way of revenge for the many 
 cities of the Greeks, which the Persians had formerly 
 burnt in the Grecian wars. And though Alexander, when 
 sober again, repented of what he had done, and gave order 
 that it should be rebuilt, yet it never arose to its former 
 glory ; the conqueror dying shortly after, and that pur- 
 pose with him. It was so ruined in the time of Quintus 
 Curtius, (who lived, as our author Dr. Heylin observes, in 
 the time of Claudius Caesar,) that he professes no footsteps 
 of it could then have been found, if not shewn and pointed 
 out by the river Araxes, on whose bank it stood. But 
 notwithstanding this, it is the opinion of several ingenious 
 persons and travellers, and among them of M. Thevenot, 
 that the place now-a-days called Tschehel-minar is part 
 of the ancient Persepolis, not only because of the river, 
 which Diodorus Siculus and others mention to be there 
 under the name of the little Araxes, now called Bendemir, 
 but also of many other marks that cannot be called into 
 question, says Thevenot j who proceeds to give a large 
 account of the ruins yet to be seen. The sum whereof is 
 this : that they consist chiefly of three ranges of buildings, 
 behind one another, from west to east; that they extend 
 severally in length from north to south ; that each of the 
 two first ranges contains four buildings and two courts; 
 the last hath five buildings, whereof the third is the big- 
 gest of all. 
 
 Another famous city, mentioned in the history of the 6. 
 Maccabees, is Sparta, otherwise called Lacedaemon, cele- P"'*' 
 brated in the Greek historians, as being one of the two 
 most considerable and potent cities of Greece, the other 
 whereof was Athens. It lay in the southern or south- 
 west province of the Peloponnese, called Laconia. 
 
 To return to Palestine, or the Holy Land : in the 7. 
 
 Of Jamnia,
 
 io8 The Geograplnj of I he 
 
 PART HI. southern part of the western coast hereof lay Janinia, 
 which Strabo says was distant from Azotus two hundred 
 furlongs, that is, five and twenty miles, and so near to 
 Joppa. And this situation agrees very well with the his- 
 tory of the Maccabees. For as Judas Maccabeus burnt 
 one part of the Syrian fleet at Joppa, so he burnt the rest 
 at Jamnia, the flame being seen to Jerusalem itself, though 
 reckoned two hundred and forty furlongs off", that is, 
 thirty miles. This town was an episcopal see in the times 
 of Christianity. 
 
 8. Not far from Jamnia is Casphin supposed to lie, de- 
 
 P^'"' scribed to be a strong city, fenced about ivith walls, and 
 inhalited hy people of divers countries; 2 Mace. xii. 13. 
 which Judas Maccabeus took, making there an unspeak- 
 able slaughter, as we are informed ver. 16. 
 
 9- On the same coast with Jamnia and Joppa, but nmch 
 
 J "P° 's- Pjjgl^gj. j-Q j.|-,g north, lies the city Tripolis above Sidon, 
 and so above the northern boundary of the Holy Land ; 
 but yet in the province called by the Greeks Phoenicia. 
 The name denotes three cities, and it is said to be so called, 
 because built by the joint purses of the three cities. Tyre, 
 Sidon, and Aradus. It seems to have been of no great 
 note in the time of the Romans, till made one of the epi- 
 scopal sees, belonging to the archbishop of Tyre in the 
 primitive times. But thriving by degrees, it came to be 
 of principal account, by the time that the western Chris- 
 tians warred in the Holy Land. For when conquered 
 by them, it was made, as Heylin observes, one of the 
 tetrarchies, or capital cities for the four quarters of their 
 dominions 5 which were, Jerusalem for Palestine, Edessa 
 for Comagena or Mesopotamia, Antioch for Syria, and 
 this for Phoenicia. A city, which, I know not (says my 
 author) by what good hap, has sped better than any 
 of those parts, retaining still as much in strength and 
 beauty, as ever it had ; if not grown greater by the ruin 
 of all the rest. Our countryman Mr. Maundrell gives 
 us this account of it. Tripoli is seated about half an hour 
 from the sea. The greater part of the city lies between
 
 j4pocrypfial Books of lite Old Testament. 109 
 
 two hills; one on the east, on which is a castle com- CHAP. VI. 
 manding the place; another on the west, between the 
 city and the sea. This latter is said to have been at first 
 raised, and to be still increased by the daily accession of 
 sand, blown to it from the shore. Upon which occasion 
 there goes a prophecy, that the whole city shall in time 
 be buried with this sandy hill. But the Turks seem not 
 very apprehensive of this prediction. For instead of pre- 
 venting the growth of this hill, they suffer it to take its 
 course, and make it a place of pleasure; which they 
 would have little inclination to do, did they apprehend 
 it was some time to be their grave. The marine is about 
 half an hour distant from the city. The port is an open 
 sea, rather than an inclosed harbour; however, it is in 
 part defended from the force of the waves by two small 
 islands, about two leagues from the shore; one of which 
 is called the Bird, the other the Coney island, being so 
 named from the creatures, which they severally produce. 
 For its security from pirates, it has several castles, or 
 rather square towers, built all along upon the shore at 
 convenient distances. They are, says my author, I think, 
 six in number, but at present void of all manner of force, 
 both of men and ammunition. In the fields near the 
 shore appeared many heaps of ruins and pillars of gra- 
 nite, and several other indications, that here must have 
 been anciently some considerable building this way. 
 Which agrees very well with what Casaubon in his notes 
 upon Strabo quotes out of Diodorus, viz. that Tripolis 
 was anciently a cluster of three cities standing at a fur- 
 long's distance from each other; of which the first was 
 a seat of the Aradians, the second of the Sidonians, and 
 the third of the Tyrians. And from hence it is proba- 
 ble, that Tripolis was a name given at first to three dis- 
 tinct but adjacent places, and not to one city, built, as 
 is usually said, by the mingled interest of Tyre, Sidon, 
 and Aradus. Thus much Mr. Maundrell : to which I 
 shall add what Mr. Thevenot says of it. Tripoli, says he, 
 is a very pretty town, with a neat castle, at the foot of
 
 no The Geogrxtphy of tJte 
 
 PART 111. which a little river runs. Several gardens, full of orange- 
 trees and white mulberries, encompass the town, which 
 is a mile from the sea, where there are several towers to 
 defend the coast. Here it was that S. Marina, being ac- 
 cused of incontinence, did penance in man's apparel. 
 I shall conclude with what Le Bruyn observes : The city, 
 says he, in itself is not very considerable, though the 
 houses are built with free-stone, and most of them pretty 
 large and stately. The principal quarters of the city 
 are very populous. The bazar, or street of merchants, is 
 in pretty good plight. The French and Italians have 
 generally their vice-consul residing there. (It appears from 
 Mr. Maundrell, that we also have had a consul there.) 
 The Arabians bring thither a great deal of ashes, with 
 which they make soap and glass. Besides this account of 
 Tripoli, Mr. Le Bruyn has obliged us with a draught, 
 both of the city and also of the marine. 
 
 10. Another place mentioned in the history of the Mac- 
 Of Aradus. ^j^^^ggg, is Aradus, a small isle lying on the same coast to 
 
 the north of Tripolis. The isle is said to be rocky, and 
 not above a mile in compass, and about twenty furlongs, 
 i. e. two miles and an half, from the continent. It is 
 not improbably thought to be so named from one of 
 the sons of Canaan, since we find reckoned among the 
 descendants of Canaan, the Arvadite. And hence it is 
 probably thought to be the same called in the book of 
 Kings, and of Isaiah, Arpad, or Arphad, or Arvad; whence 
 the Greeks framed the name Aradus. It seemed to the 
 eye, says Mr. Maundrell, to be not above two or three 
 furlongs long, and was wholly filled up with tall buildings 
 like castles. The ancient inhabitants of this isle were 
 famous for navigation, and had command on the con- 
 tinent as far as Gabala. 
 
 11. In the history of the Maccabees we have also men- 
 Of the river tjon made of the river Eleutherus; concerning which I 
 
 * need only take notice of Mr. Maundrell's remark. Hav- 
 ing quitted, says he, ourselves of these antiquities, (namely, 
 lying within one hour of Tortosa, (formerly called Or-
 
 Apocryphal Books of the Old Testament. iii 
 
 thosia, from whence the modern name is made,) and acHAP. VI. 
 little southward of Aradus, and about a quarter of a mile 
 off the sea,) we] entered into a spacious plain, extending 
 to a vast breadth between the sea and the mountains, and 
 in length reaching almost as far as Tripoli. The people 
 of the country call it Junia, i. e. the plait?, which name 
 they give it by way of eminency, upon account of its vast 
 extent. We were full seven hours, says my author, in pass- 
 ing it; and found it all along exceeding fruitful, by reason 
 of the many rivers, and the great plenty of waters, which 
 it enjoys. Of these rivers the first is about six hours be- 
 fore you come to Tripoli. It has a stone bridge over it, of 
 three large arches, and is the biggest stream in the whole 
 plain. For which reason it goes by the name of Nahor 
 il Kibber, or the Great River. About half an hour far- 
 ther, you come to another river, called Nahor Abrosh, 
 or the Lepers River. In three quarters of an hour more, 
 you pass a third river, called Nahor Achar, having an 
 handsome stone bridge, of one very large arch, laid over 
 it. Two good hours more bring you to a fourth river, 
 called — — or the cold Waters, with a bridge of three 
 arches over it. From hence you have two good hours 
 more to Tripoli. I took, says Mr. Maundrell, the more 
 exact account of all these streams, to the intent that I 
 might give some light for the better deciding that dif- 
 ference, which is found in geographers, about the place 
 of the river Eleutherus. The moderns, all with one con- 
 sent, give that name to a river between Tyre and Sidon, 
 called by the Turks Casimeer. But this contradicts the 
 universal testimony of the ancients, who place Eleu- 
 therus more northward. Strabo will have it somewhere 
 between Orthosia and Tripolis, as a boundary dividing 
 Syria from Phoenicia. Pliny places it near Orthosia, 
 emptying itself into the sea over against Aradus. The 
 writer of the Maccabees lays it in the land of Hamath ; 
 which country, wherever it were, was certainly without 
 the borders of Israel, as appears from the same author. 
 To this Josephus agrees, placing Eleutherus to the north
 
 112 The Geography of the 
 
 PART III. of Sidon, as maybe collected from him, Jewish Antlq, 
 b. xiv. chap. vii. viii. where speaking of Mark Anthony's 
 donation to Cleopatra, he reports, how that extravagant 
 gallant gave her all the cities between Eleutherus and 
 Egypt, except Tyre and Sidon. Ptolemy, as cited by 
 Terranius, places it j'et more northerly, between Orthosia 
 and Balanea. From all which it is evident, that this 
 cannot be the true ancient Eleutherus, which the moderns 
 assign for it. But that name is rather to be ascribed to 
 one of these rivers, crossing the plain of Junia; or else, 
 if Pliny's authority may be relied upon, to that river 
 now dry, which I mentioned a little on this side of Tor- 
 tosa, and which has its mouth almost opposite to Aradus. 
 Thus Mr. Maundrell ; and as to the mention he refers 
 to of a river on this side Tortosa now dry, it occurs some 
 pages before, where he writes thus : In about a quarter 
 of an hour we came (from Tortosa) to a river, or rather 
 channel of a river, for it was now almost dry ; though 
 questionless here must have been anciently no incon- 
 siderable stream; as we might infer both from the large- 
 ness of the channel, and the fragments of a stone bridge, 
 formerly laid over it. 
 12. Still more north was situated Daphne, lying by An- 
 
 Pll^j'j^y"^' tiochia, (as the writer of the Maccabees describes it, 
 Antiochia. 2 Macc. iv. 33.) which Antiochia, or Antioch, is men- 
 tioned in the history of the Acts, and is from hence styled 
 by some writers Antioch Epidaphne, i. e. Antioch by 
 Daphne. It is said that this Daphne stood at first about 
 five miles from Antioch; but afterwards, by the con- 
 tinual enlargements of Antioch, it came to be so near to 
 it, as to be accounted as a suburb to it. It was so named 
 of Daphne, one of the mistresses of Apollo, who was here 
 worshipped by the name of Apollo Daphnaeus, and had 
 here his oracles and groves, which last are said to have 
 been about ten miles in circuit. It was a place devised for 
 pleasure, but abused to lust. The temple here is said to 
 have been built by Seleucus, and was renowned for the 
 oracle there given, by which Adrian is said to be fore-
 
 Apocryphal Books of the Old Tcstomcnl. 113 
 
 told of his being Emperor ; and therefore it was resorted CHAP. vi. 
 to also by Julian the Apostate for the same purpose. But 
 the body of Babylas, Bishop of Antioch, and a martyr, 
 being removed thither, the Devil and his oracles were 
 both frighted away, as the Devil himself confessed to 
 Julian : who being desirous to learn here the success of 
 his intended expedition into Persia, received this answer, 
 that no oracle could be given so long as those divine 
 bones were so near the shrine. Nor was it long after, 
 before the idol and temple were consumed by a fire from 
 heaven ; as was avowed by those who observed the fall 
 of it: though Julian did impute it to the innocent Chris- 
 tians, and in revenge caused many of their churches to be 
 burnt to ashes. 
 
 Other places mentioned in the books of Maccabees ^3. 
 are Adasa, Adida, Arbattis, Arbela, and Raphon. OfAdda.Ar- 
 vi'hich Adasa is said by Jerom to be seated in the tribe J^^"'^' '^^- 
 
 . 1 • ^ •• 1 bela, and 
 
 of Ephraim. Adida is expressly said, i Mace. xii. 3b. to Raphon. 
 be in Sephela. And Eusebius and Jerom tell us, that 
 all the open plain country about Elcutheropolis to the 
 north and west was in their days called Sephela. Ar- 
 battis was plainly a place near Galilee; and Arbela here 
 mentioned was doubtless in Galilee, as Josephus tells us; 
 being distant nine miles from the city Legeoii, and lying 
 in the great plain adjoining to the said city, as Eusebius 
 and Jerom inform us. Raphon, the last place above men- 
 tioned, was a town of Gilead, as Josephus tells us, Antiq. 
 book xii. chap. xii. and thought to lie near the brook 
 Jabbok. 
 
 In 1 JNiacc. xi. 34. we have not only mention made of 14. 
 Aphaerema, but also the reason of the name plainly inti- ^^ w'hat. 
 mated; namely, because the said tract or government ivas 
 added unto Judea, being tgkenj'rom the country of Sama- 
 ria: for the word Aphasrema does in the Greek language 
 signify a thing taken from another. 
 
 It is also to be observed, that the books of the Mac- 15. 
 cabees beina; in the Greek tongue, hence several names, '^"."^*"- 
 
 o CI ' ' vation as to 
 
 though somewhat varied according to the Greek form, the difTer- 
 
 cnce of 
 VOL. II. I
 
 114 
 
 The Geography of the 
 
 PART III. yet denote the same places with the Hebrew names, 
 from whence they are thus varied. Thus Accaron is 
 the same with Ekron, Amathis with Hamath, Gazara 
 with Gezer, Bethsura with Bethshur, Bosora with Bo- 
 sor, &c. which last place, together with them mentioned 
 with it, I Mace. v. 26. seem plainly to be situated be- 
 yond Jordan, in the country of Galaad or Gilead largely 
 taken. And, among these, Carnaim is doubtless the 
 same called in the books of Moses, Ashtaroth-carnaim. 
 Some names are also in probability corrupted in tract 
 of time by translators. Thus Zabadeans, which is said, 
 I Mace. xii. 31. to be the name of some of the Arabians, 
 is probably a con upt reading for Nabatheans ; and so of 
 other names, taken notice of in the margin of our greater 
 Bibles. 
 \Q, The Nabathean Arabians were so called from Ne- 
 
 OftheNa- baioth, one of the sons of Ishmael, as has been ^ before 
 Arabs. obscrvcd. We read also in this history of the Arabians 
 called Nomades, namely, from their manner of living, 
 it being their way not to live in towns or settled habi- 
 tations, but to rove or remove from place to place with 
 their cattle, according as they found conveniency of pas- 
 turage. Hence this name was given by the ancients, not 
 only to these Arabians, but also to some inhabitants in 
 Africk, and Sarmatia or Scythia, who followed the like 
 roving manner of life. 
 .A, Lastly, by the Galatians mentioned in i Mace. viii. 2. 
 
 Of the Ga- are to be understood, not the same Galatians, to whom 
 
 latians, and g p^^j vvrotc onc of his Epistlcs, and who lived in 
 
 Spain. ' ' 
 
 the Lesser Asia, but the European Galatae, or Galatians, 
 called by the Latins Galli; and the greatest part of 
 whose country is now-a-days inhabited by the French : 
 the rest being inhabited by those in the Netherlands, and 
 Germany on the south and west of the Rhine, as also by 
 those of Lorrain, Switzerland, and Savoy. For the boun- 
 daries of Galatia, or old Gaul, were, besides the sea, the 
 
 ^ Vol. I. Part I. chap. x. sect. 2.
 
 Apocryphal Books of the Old Testament. 1 15 
 
 river Rhine, and the Varus, and the Pyrenean mountains ; CHAP, vi. 
 which last separated it from Spain, mentioned here by the 
 writer of this history, as conquered by the Romans, as 
 well as the country of the Galatians. 
 
 And thus I have gone through the history of the Mac- 
 cabees, and so through all the historical books, making up, 
 or appertaining to, the Old Testament. 
 
 1 3
 
 A 
 
 CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE, 
 
 APPERTAINING TO PART III. 
 
 OP 
 
 THE HISTORICAL GEOGRAPHY 
 
 OLD TESTAMENT. 
 
 ^3
 
 CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE 
 
 OF THE 
 
 KINGS OF JUDAH AND ISRAEL, 
 
 And such other more remarkable Particulars^ as occurred 
 within the Reigns of the said Kings, and are mentioned 
 in the Books, of Samuel, of Kings, and the other follow- 
 ing Books of the Old Testament. 
 
 In the Chronological Account, belonging to the first 
 Volume of this Historical Geography of the Old Testa- 
 ment, (Part II. Tab. I.) it has been observed, that in fixing 
 the chronology of such particulars, as are mentioned in 
 the sacred history between the Exodus (or the Israelites 
 going out of Egypt) and Solomon's beginning to build 
 the Temple, we must be guided by i Kings vi. i. where 
 we are expressly told, that from the Exodus to the begin- 
 ning to build Solomon's Temple, were foiir hundred and 
 fourscore years. Agreeably hereunto it has been also 
 there observed, that reckoning backwards from the be- 
 ginning to build Solomon's Temple, and deducting from 
 four hundred and eighty (which, the forecited sacred text 
 tells us, fell in with the fourth year of Solomon's reign) 
 the three foregoing years of Solomon's reign, and the 
 forty years of David's reign, and likewise the forty years 
 of Saul's reign ; it will follow, that the last year of the 
 
 I 4
 
 I20 A Chronological Table. 
 
 Judges, or the year before the first of Saul's reign, must 
 fall in with the three hundred and ninety-sixth year after 
 the Exodus. And because it is also highly probable (as 
 has been before observed, last page but one of Vol. I.) 
 that the battle recorded i Sam. vii. put an end to the 
 forty years of servitude mentioned Judg. xiii. i. and that 
 the said battle was fought in the three hundred and se- 
 venty-seventh year after the Exodus ; it will follow, that 
 the time from the said battle to Saul's being made King, 
 were nineteen years, wherein Samuel judged Israel. When, 
 or how long before the forementioned battle, Samuel be- 
 gan to judge Israel, cannot be determined from the sacred 
 history ; and therefore I shall begin the following Chro- 
 nological Table with the first year of Saul's reign, which, 
 according to what is before observed, must fall in with the 
 three hundred and ninety-seventh year after the Exodus, 
 and so (according to the calculation in the first volume) 
 fall in with the iioist year before Christ, and the 2849th 
 year of the world.
 
 CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE. 
 
 Years of the 
 World. 
 
 Years before 
 the com- 
 mon Year 
 of Christ's 
 Nativity, 
 
 Years 
 from the 
 Exodus. 
 
 REMARKABLE PARTICULARS. 
 
 2849 
 
 1101 
 
 397 
 
 Saul begins to reign. 
 
 2888 
 
 1062 
 
 436 
 
 Saul is slain, having reigned forty 
 years, as we learn. Acts xiii. 2 1 . 
 
 2928 
 
 1022 
 
 476 
 
 David dies, having reigned forty 
 years, viz. seven years he reigned in 
 Hebron, and thirty and three years 
 he reigned in Jerusalem, 1 Kings 
 ii. 11. 
 
 2932 
 
 1018 
 
 480 
 
 Solomon begins to build the Tem- 
 ple, in the four hundred and eight- 
 ieth i/ear, after the children of Israel 
 were come out of the land of Egypt, 
 in the fourth year of Solomon's reign 
 over Israel, 1 Kings vi. 1. So 
 that here we shall end the com- 
 putation from the Exodus.
 
 i2a 
 
 J Chronological Table. 
 
 Years of the 
 World. 
 
 Years before 
 the com- 
 mon Year 
 of Christ's 
 Nativity. 
 
 REMARKABLE PARTICULARS. 
 
 2968 
 
 982 
 
 Solomon dies, having reigned over all (the 
 twelve tribes of) Israel fortyyears, 1 Kings 
 xi. 42. 
 
 2969 
 
 981 
 
 The division of the kingdom of all (the 
 twelve tribes of) Israel into two king- 
 doms, one called the kingdom of Judah, 
 and including the two tribes of Judah 
 and Benjamin ; the other called the king- 
 dom of Israel, and including the other ten 
 tribes. The first king of the distinct 
 kingdom of Judah was Rehoboam, the 
 son of Solomon, from whom the other 
 ten tribes revolted, setting up Jeroboam 
 for their first King. 1 Kings xii.
 
 A Chronological Table. 
 
 123 
 
 Years of the 
 World. 
 
 Years before 
 the com- 
 mon Year 
 of Christ's 
 Nativity. 
 
 REMARKABLE PARTICULARS. 
 
 Kings of Judah. 
 
 Kings of Israel. 
 
 2985 
 
 965 
 
 Rehoboam dies, hav- 
 ing reigned seven-] 
 teen years, 1 Kings' 
 xiv. 21. 1 
 
 2986 
 
 964 
 
 Abijam succeeds his 
 father Rehoboam in 
 the eighteenth year of 
 Jeroboam, 1 Kings 
 XV. 1. and conse- 
 quently the eigh- 
 teenth year after 
 the division of the 
 kingdom. 
 
 In the eighteenth year 
 of Jeroboam began 
 Abijam to reign 0- 
 ver Judah, I Kings 
 XV. 1. And conse- 
 quently Jeroboam 
 began his reign in 
 the first year of Re- 
 hoboam. 
 
 2988 
 
 962 
 
 Abijam dies after a 
 reign of three years, 
 1 Kings XV. 2. And 
 Asa his son succeeds 
 hiin, I Kings xv. 8. 
 
 In the twentieth year 
 of Jeroboam began 
 Asa to reign over 
 Judah, 1 Kings xv. 
 9. See note *. 
 
 2990 
 
 960 
 
 In the second year of 
 Asa began Nadab 
 to reign over Israel, 
 1 Kings XV. 25. See 
 the note *. 
 
 Jeroboam dies, after 
 a reign of two and 
 twenty years ,• and 
 is succeeded by his 
 son Nadab, 1 Kings 
 xiv. 20. See note *. 
 
 2991 
 
 959 
 
 In the third year of 
 Asa did Baasha slay 
 Nadab, and began 
 to reign in his stead, 
 I Kings XV. 28. 33. 
 See note *. 
 
 Nadab is slain by 
 Baasha, after he had 
 reigned two years, 
 1 Kings XV. 25. 28. 
 See note *. 
 
 * It being evident from l Kings xv. l. and other texts, that Jeroboam 
 began his reign in the 981st year before Christ; and it being said, 
 1 Kings xiv. 20. that Jeroboam reigned 02 years ; it follows, that he died 
 in the year (981 — 21, i. e.) 960 before Christ. Wherefore this year 
 falling in with the second year of Asa's reign, (l Kings xv. 25.) and 
 Nadab being slain in the third year of Asa, (l Kings xv. 28.) it follows, 
 that when it is said, 1 Kings xv. 25. that Nadab reigned two years, thereby 
 is meant, that he reigned part of two years, viz. he began his reign in 
 
 1
 
 124 
 
 y/ Chrnnolosical Table, 
 
 Years of the 
 World. 
 
 Years before 
 the com- 
 mon Year 
 of Christ's 
 Nativity. 
 
 REMARKABLE PARTICULARS. 
 
 Kings of Judah. 
 
 Kings of Israel. 
 
 3014 
 
 936 
 
 In the twenty-sixth 
 year of Asa began 
 Elah to reign over 
 Israel, 1 Kings xvi. 
 
 8. 
 
 Baasha dies, after a 
 reign of twenty and 
 four years, 1 Kings 
 XV. 33. and is suc- 
 ceeded by his son 
 Elah, 1 Kings xvi, 
 6. 
 
 3015 
 
 935 
 
 In the twenty and se- 
 venth year of Asa 
 did Zimri kill E- 
 lah, 1 Kings xvi. 
 15. 
 
 Elah having reigned 
 two years, 1 Kings 
 xvi, 8. is slain by 
 Zimri, who having 
 reigned but seven 
 days, set fire to the 
 royal palace at Tir- 
 zah, and burnt it 
 over his own head, 
 that he might not 
 fall into the hands 
 of Omri, 1 Kings 
 xvi. 18, &c. 
 
 3019 
 
 931 
 
 In the thirty and first 
 year of Asa began 
 Omri to reign over 
 Israel, 1 Kings xvi. 
 23, Seethe notef. 
 
 Then (i. e. after the 
 death of Zimri) were 
 the people of Israel 
 divided into two 
 parts : half the peo- 
 ple followed Tibni to 
 make him King; and 
 half followed Omri. 
 But the people that 
 followed Omri pre- 
 
 960 before Christ, or the second year of Asa, after his father's decease 
 that same year, and was slain in 961 before Christ, or the third year of 
 Asa. And in like manner it is observable, that whereas it is said, 1 Kings 
 XV. 9. that Asa began his reign in the twentieth jrear of Jeroboam, or 962 
 before Christ ; and that Jeroboam, having reigned i-wo ami ttventy years, 
 1 Kings xiv. 20. was succeeded by Nadab in the second year of Asa; it 
 follows, that Asa began his reign in the other part of the twentieth year 
 of Jeroboam, or 962 before Christ, and so Asa's first year fell in partly 
 with the twenty-first of Jeroboam's reign, or 961 before Christ : and con- 
 sequently the second year of Asa fell in partly with the twenty-second of 
 Jeroboam, or 960 before Christ.
 
 A Chronological Table. 
 
 '^5 
 
 Years of the 
 World. 
 
 Years before 
 the com- 
 mon Year 
 of Christ's 
 Nativity. 
 
 REMARKABLE PARTICULARS. 
 
 Kings of Judah. Kings of Israel 
 
 3019 
 
 931 
 
 vailed. So Tibni 
 
 died, and Omri 
 reigned, 1 Kings xvi. 
 21—23. See the 
 note f . 
 
 3020 
 
 930 
 
 Six years reigned 
 Omri in Tirzah ; 
 and then having 
 built the city of 
 Samaria, translated 
 the royal seat thi- 
 ther, I Kings xvi. 
 23—28. See the 
 note f. 
 
 3026 
 
 924 
 
 In the thirty and eighth 
 year of Asa began 
 Ahab to reign over 
 Israel, 1 Kings xvi 
 29. See note f. 
 
 Omri reigned over 
 Israel twelve years, 
 1 Kings xvi. 23. six 
 years he reigned in 
 Tirzah, ibid, and 
 consequently the o- 
 ther six in Samaria, 
 where he died, and 
 was buried, his son 
 Ahab succeeding 
 him, 1 Kings xvi. 
 28,29. See note t. 
 
 f It being said, l Kings xvi. 23. that in the thlrty-Jirst ytar of Asa 
 began Omri to reign over Israel t-wehe years ; and it being said, ver. 29. 
 that in the thirty-eighth year of Asa began Ahab the son of Omri to reign ; 
 it may be asked, how Omri reigned t-wehe years, since from the thirty- 
 first of Asa to the thirty-eighth of Asa there are but nine years, including 
 both the thirty-first and thirty-eighth. It is then to be observed, that 
 what is said of Omri's beginning to reign in the thirty-first of Asa, is to be 
 understood of his then beginning to reign -without any rival, and so peace- 
 ably. And whereas it is said, that he reigned t-wehe years, it is to be ob- 
 served, that, according to this computation, all the years from the murder 
 of Elah are reckoned to the reign of Omri ; namely, from 935 before 
 Christ, or the twenty-seventh of Asa, wherein Elah was killed by Zimri, 
 to 924 before Christ, or the thirty-eighth of Asa, wherein Omri died, are 
 twelve years inclusively. Further, it is to be observed, that the Hebrew 
 word, which is rendered in our translation here and elsewhere, began to 
 reign, does literally import no more than reigned.
 
 126 
 
 A Chronological Table. 
 
 Years of the 
 World. 
 
 Years before 
 the com- 
 mon Year 
 of Christ's 
 Nativity. 
 
 REMARKABLE PARTICULARS. 
 
 Kings of Judah. Kings of Israel. 
 
 3026 
 
 924 
 
 As Ahab began his reign at this time, so 
 we are told, 1 Kings xvi. 34. that in his 
 days did Hiel the Bethelite build Jericho; 
 and that he laid the foundation thereof in 
 Abiram his first-born, and set up the gates 
 thereof in his youngest son Segub, according 
 to the word of the Lord, which he spake by 
 Joshua, the son of Nun. 
 
 Also Trom 1 Kings xvii. and following 
 chapters we learn, that the famous and 
 great Prophet Elijah flourished in the 
 reign of Ahab ; being taken up into 
 heaven in the reign of Jehoram, Ahab's 
 second son, as we learn from 2 Kings ii. 
 compared with chap. i. and iii.
 
 A Chronological Table. 
 
 127 
 
 Years of the 
 World. 
 
 Years before 
 the com- 
 mon Year 
 
 of Christ's 
 Nativity. 
 
 REMARKABLE PARTICULARS. 
 
 Kings of Judah. 
 
 Kings of Israel. 
 
 3029 
 
 921 
 
 Asa dies, having 
 reigned forty and 
 one years, 1 Kings 
 XV. 10. and is suc- 
 ceeded by Jeho- 
 shaphat his son, J 
 Kings xxii. 41. 
 
 In the fourth year of 
 Ahab began Jeho- 
 shaphat to reign 
 over Judah, 1 Kings 
 xxii. 41. 
 
 3046 
 
 904 
 
 In the seventeenth 
 year of Jehoshaphat 
 began Ahaziah to 
 reign over Israel, 1 
 Kings xxii. 5 1 . 
 
 Ahaziah begins to 
 reign this year, be- 
 ing, as it seems, 
 taken into a part- 
 nership of the king- 
 dom by his father 
 Ahab, probably up- 
 on his intended ex- 
 pedition against the 
 Syrians. 
 
 3047 
 
 903 
 
 In the eighteenth 
 year of Jehoshaphat 
 began Jehoram the 
 son of Ahab to reign 
 over Israel, 2 Kings 
 iii. 1. 
 
 Ahab dies of a wound 
 received in the bat- 
 tle with the Syrians. 
 And his son Aha- 
 ziah likewise dies 
 this year, having 
 reigned (at least part 
 of) two years, 1 
 Kings xxii. 51. and 
 is succeeded by his 
 brother Jehoram, 
 because he had no 
 sons of his own, 2 
 Kings i. 17. 
 
 Elisha succeeds Eli- 
 jah, 2 Kings ii. 
 
 3051 
 
 899 
 
 Jehoram the son of 
 Jehoshaphat began 
 to reign, (Jehosha- 
 phat being then King, 
 i. e.) in consort with 
 his father, 2 Kings 
 viii, 16. 
 
 In the fifth year of 
 Joram the son of 
 Ahab began Jeho- 
 ram the son of Jeho- 
 shaphat to reign, 2 
 Kings viii. 16.
 
 138 
 
 A Chronological Table. 
 
 Years of the 
 World. 
 
 Years before 
 the com- 
 mon Year 
 of Christ's 
 Nativity. 
 
 REMARKABLE PARTICULARS. 
 
 Kings of Judah. 
 
 Kings of Israel. 
 
 3053 
 
 897 
 
 Jehoshaphat dies, 
 having reigned five 
 and twenty years, 
 1 Kings xxii. 42. 
 
 
 3057 
 
 893 
 
 Jehoram King of Ju- 
 dah takes his son 
 Ahaziah into a part- 
 nership of the king- 
 dom with him, 2 
 Kings ix. 29. 
 
 In the X eleventh year 
 of Jorara the son of 
 Ahab began Aha- 
 ziah to reign over 
 Judah, (viz. in con- 
 sort with his father) 
 2 Kings ix. 29. 
 
 3058 
 
 892 
 
 Jehoram King of Ju- 
 dah dies, having 
 reigned eight years, 
 and then Ahaziah 
 begins to reign, 
 (viz. alone) who is 
 slain by Jehu's or- 
 der, having reign- 
 ed one year, (viz. 
 alone) 2 Kings viii. 
 17.24.26. and also 
 chap. ix. 27. 29. 
 
 In the X twelfth year 
 of Joram King of 
 Israel did Ahaziah 
 King of Judah be- 
 gin to reign, (viz. 
 alone) 2 Kings viii. 
 25. In this twelfth 
 year of his reign is 
 Joram King of Is- 
 rael slain by Jehu, 
 2 Kings ix.24. For 
 he reigned but 12 
 years, 2 Kings iii. 1 . 
 
 3059 
 
 891 
 
 Ahaziah being dead, 
 his mother Athaliah 
 usurps the throne 
 of Judah, 2 Kings, 
 xi. 1. 
 
 Jehu begins to reign 
 over Israel, 2 Kings 
 ix. 
 
 3065 
 
 885 
 
 Joashtheson of Aha- 
 ziah is made Kingj 
 and Athaliah is 
 slain, having reign- 
 ed six years, 2 Kings 
 xi.3,4. 16. 
 
 In the seventh year 
 of Jehu, Joash be- 
 gan to reign over 
 Judah, 2 Kings xii. 
 1. 
 
 jThese seeming repugnances are easily reconciled, as is here shewn.
 
 A Chronological Table. 
 
 129 
 
 Years of the 
 World. 
 
 Years before 
 the com- 
 mon Year 
 of Christ's 
 Nativity. 
 
 REMARKABLE PARTICULARS. 
 
 Kings of Judah. 
 
 Kings of Israel. 
 
 3086 
 
 864 
 
 
 Jehu dies, having 
 reigned 28 years, 
 2 Kings X. 30. 
 
 3087 
 
 863 
 
 In the twenty-third 
 year of Joash began 
 Jehoahaz to reign 
 over Israel, 2 Kings 
 xiii. 1. 
 
 Jehoahaz succeeds his 
 father Jehu in thq 
 kingdom of Israel, 
 2 Kings xiii. 1. 
 
 3101 
 
 849 
 
 In the thirty-seventh 
 year of Joash King 
 of Judah began Je- 
 boash son of Jehoa- 
 haz to reign, (viz. 
 in consort with his 
 father) 2 Kings xiii. 
 10. 
 
 Jehoahaz takes his 
 son Jeboash into a 
 partnership of the 
 kingdom with him, 
 2 Kings xiii. 10. 
 compared with ver. 
 1. 
 
 3103 
 
 847 
 
 
 Jehoahaz dies after 
 a reign of seventeen 
 years, and then his 
 son Jeboash begins 
 toreign, (viz. alone) 
 2 Kings xiii. 9. 
 
 3104 
 
 846 
 
 Jeboash or Joash 
 King of Judah dies, 
 after a reign of forty 
 years, 2 Kings xii. 
 1. and is succeeded 
 by his son Ania- 
 ziah, 2 Kings xiv. 
 ver. 1. 
 
 In the second year of 
 Joash King of Is- 
 rael, (viz. of his 
 reigning alone) 
 reigned Amaziah 
 King of Judah, 2 
 Kings xiv. 1. 
 
 3106 
 
 844 
 
 
 Jeroboam begins to 
 reign over Israel in 
 consort with his fa- 
 ther Joash, 2 Kings 
 xiii. 10. compared 
 with chap. xiv. 23. 
 
 VOL, II.
 
 J 30 
 
 A Chronological Table. 
 
 Years of the 
 World. 
 
 Years before 
 the com- 
 mon Year 
 of Christ's 
 Nativity. 
 
 REMARKABLE PARTICULARS. 
 
 Kings of Judah. Kings of Israel 
 
 3118 
 
 832 
 
 In the fifteenth year 
 of Amaziah King 
 of Judah, Jerobo 
 atn, the son of Joash 
 King of Israel, be- 
 gan to veign, (viz 
 alone) 2 Kings xiv 
 23. 
 
 Joash King of Israel 
 dies, after a reign of 
 sixteen years^ and 
 then his son Jero- 
 boam begins to 
 reign, (viz. alone) 2 
 Kings xiii. 10. and 
 chap. xiv. 23. This 
 King restored the 
 coast of Israel, ac- 
 cording to the word 
 of the Lord by Jo- 
 nah the Prophet, 
 chap. xiv. ver. 25. 
 whence it is evi- 
 dent, that the said 
 Prophet lived in or 
 before this reisrn. 
 
 3132 
 
 Amaziah is slain, af- 
 ter a reign of 20 
 years, 2 Kings xiv 
 2. and 15 years af 
 ter the death of Je- 
 hoash King of Is- 
 rael, 2 Kings xiv 
 17. and is succeed- 
 ed by his son Aza- 
 riah, ver. 2 1 . 
 
 In the twenty-seventh 
 year of Jeroboam 
 King of Israel, (viz. 
 of his partnership in 
 the kingdom with 
 his father) began 
 Azariah King of 
 Judah to reign, 2 
 Kings XV. I.
 
 A Chronological Table. 
 
 131 
 
 Years of the 
 World. 
 
 Years before 
 the com- 
 mon Year 
 of Christ's 
 Nativity. 
 
 REMARKABLE PARTICULARS. 
 
 Kings of Jiidah. Kings of Israel. 
 
 3132 
 
 818 
 
 It is to be observed, that this Azariah King 
 of Judah is otherwise called Uzziah, as 
 2 Kings XV, 13. And we learn from Isa. 
 i. 1. that in the days of this King it was, 
 that Isaiah the Prophet began his pro- 
 phecies recorded in the said books, and 
 prophesied during the reign of the three 
 succeeding Kings of Judah, viz. Jothani, 
 Ahaz, and Hezekiah. 
 
 Likewise we read, Hos. i. I . that the word 
 of the Lord came unto Hosea, in the days 
 of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, 
 Kings of Judah, and in the days of Jero- 
 boam the son of Joash King of Israel. 
 
 Likewise Amos prophesied in the days of 
 Uzziah, and Jeroboam the son of Joash, 
 Amos i. 1, 
 
 Joel is also esteemed to have prophesied in 
 the days of Uzziah and Jeroboam. 
 
 k2
 
 132 
 
 A Chronological Table. 
 
 Years of the 
 World. 
 
 Years before 
 the com- 
 mon Year 
 of Christ's 
 Nativity. 
 
 REMARKABLE PARTICULARS. 
 
 Kings of Ju«lah. 
 
 Kings of Israel. 
 
 3158 
 
 792 
 
 
 Jeroboam dies, after 
 a reign of forty- 
 one years, (alone) 
 2 Kings xiv. 23. 
 
 3169 
 
 781 
 
 In the thirty-eighth 
 year o( Azariah 
 King of Jiidah, be- 
 gan Zachaiiah to 
 reign over Israel, 
 2 Kings XV. 8. 
 
 Zachariah succeeds 
 his father Jerobo- 
 am, but, as it seems, 
 not immediately, 
 but after an inter- 
 regnum of ten or 
 eleven years : he 
 reigns six months, 
 2 Kings XV. 8. 
 
 3] 70 
 
 780 
 
 in the thirty-ninth 
 year of Azariah be- 
 gan Shallum to 
 reign over Israel, 2 
 Kings XV. 13. 
 
 In the thirty-ninth 
 year of Azariah be- 
 gan Menaheni to 
 reign over Israel, 
 2 Kings XV. 17. 
 
 Shallum conspired a- 
 gainst Zachariah, 
 and slew him, and 
 reigned in his stead. 
 He reigned a full 
 month, 2 Kings xv. 
 10. 13. For Me- 
 nahem smote him, 
 and reigned in his 
 stead. Ibid. 14. 
 
 3181 
 
 7()9 
 
 In the fiftieth year 
 of Azariah began 
 Pekahiah to reign 
 over Israel, 2 Kings 
 XV. 23. 
 
 Meuahera dies, after 
 a reign of ten years, 
 and is succeeded by 
 his son Pekahiah, 2 
 Kings XV. 17.22. 
 
 3183 
 
 767 
 
 In the fifty-second 
 year of Azariah be- 
 gan I'ekah to reign 
 over Israel, 2 Kings 
 XV. 27. This year 
 also Azariah dies, 
 after a reign of fifty- 
 two years, 2 Kings 
 XV. 2. 
 
 Pekah, a captain, 
 conspired against 
 Pekahiah, and smote 
 him, and reigned in 
 his room, 2 Kings 
 XV. 25.
 
 A Chronological Table. 
 
 '33 
 
 Years of the 
 World. 
 
 Vears before 
 the com- 
 mon Vear 
 of Christ's 
 Nativity. 
 
 REiWARKABLE PARTICULARS. 
 
 Kings of Jiidah. 
 
 Kings of Israel. 
 
 3184 • 
 
 7G6 
 
 Azariab being dead, 
 his son Jotliam suc- 
 ceeds him in the 
 kingdom of Judah, 
 2 Kings XV. 7. 
 
 Micab prophesied in 
 the days of Jotham, 
 Ahaz, and Heze- 
 kiah, Mic. i. 1. 
 
 In the second year of 
 Pekah began Jo- 
 tham to reign over 
 Jiidah, 2 Kings xv. 
 32. 
 
 3200 
 
 7.'iO 
 
 Jolham dies, after a 
 reign of sixteen 
 years, and Ahaz his 
 son reigns in his 
 stead, 2 Kings xv. 
 33. 38. 
 
 In the seventeenth 
 year of PekaU be- 
 gan Ahaz King of 
 Judah to reign, 2 
 Kings xvi. 1. 
 
 3203 
 
 747 
 
 In the twentieth year 
 of Jotham (i. e. in 
 the twentieth year 
 after Jotham had 
 begun to reign, or 
 in the third year ot 
 Ahaz) did Hosbca 
 slay Pekah, 2 Kings 
 XV. 30. See the 
 note*. 
 
 Hoshea made a con- 
 spiracy against Pe- 
 kah, and slew him, 
 after a reign of 
 twenty years, 2 
 Kings XV. 27. and 
 reigned in his stead, 
 2 Kings XV. 30. 
 
 3212 
 
 738 
 
 In the twelfth year 
 of Ahaz began Ho- 
 shea to reign over 
 Israel, 2 Kings xvii. 
 ver. 1. 
 
 Hoshea, after an in- 
 terregnum of nine 
 years, began to 
 reign over Israel, 
 2 Kings xvii. 1. 
 
 * It being said, 2 Rings xv. 33. that Jotham reigned sixteen years; and 
 it being said, ver. 30. of the same chapter, that Hoshea slew Pekah in the 
 ttvenllelh year of Jotham ; it follows, either, that by the i-wcnt'ieth year of 
 Jotham must be understood the twentieth year fronj tlte beginning of 
 Jotham's reign, as it is above observed, or else, that when it is said, tiiat 
 Jotham reigned sixteen years, thereby is to i)e understood, that he reigned 
 sixteen years alone, and then took his son Ahaz into a partnership of the 
 kingdom with him; and consequently the following years may be as- 
 cribed either to him or his son Ahaz ; and so the twentieth of Jotham :s 
 the same with the third of Ahaz. 
 
 K3
 
 134 
 
 A Chronological Talk. 
 
 Years of the 
 World. 
 
 Years before 
 the com- 
 mon Year 
 of Christ's 
 Nativity. 
 
 REMARKABLE PARTICULARS. 
 
 Kings of Judah. 
 
 Kings of Israel. 
 
 3216 
 
 734 
 
 Ahaz dies, after a 
 reign of 16 years, 
 2 Kings xvi. 2. and 
 is succeeded by his 
 son Hezekiah, 2 
 Kings xviii. 1. 
 
 In the third year of| 
 Hoshea began He- 
 zekiah King of Ju- 
 dah to reign, 2 
 Kings xviii. 1. 
 
 3221 
 
 729 
 
 
 In the ninth year of 
 Hoshea, the King of 
 Assyria took Sama- 
 ria, and carried Is- 
 rael away into As- 
 syria; and so put an 
 end to the kingdom of 
 Israel, 2 Kings xvii. 
 6.
 
 A Chronological Table, 
 
 135 
 
 \ 
 
 Years of the 
 World. 
 
 Years before 
 the com- 
 mon Year 
 
 of Christ's 
 Nativity. 
 
 REMARKABLE PARTICULARS. 
 
 3244 
 
 706 
 
 Hezekiah dies, after a reign of twenty-ixine 
 years, (2 Kings xviii. 2.) and is succeeded 
 by his son Manasseh in the kingdom of 
 Judah, 2 Kings xx. 21. 
 
 3299 
 
 651 
 
 Manasseh dies, after a reign of fifty-five 
 years, (2 Kings xxi. 1.) and Amon his 
 son reigns in his stead. Ibid. ver. 18. 
 
 3301 
 
 649 
 
 Amon having reigned two years, is slain 
 by his servants, and Josiah his son reigns 
 in his stead, 2 Kings xxi. 1 9, 26. In the 
 days of Josiah prophesied Zephaniah 
 (Zeph. i. 1.) and Jeremiah J which last 
 prophesied also in the days of the follow- 
 ing Kings, Jehoiakim and Zedekiah, 
 even imto the captivity of Judah, Je- 
 rem. i. 2, 3. 
 
 3332 
 
 618 
 
 Josiah, after a j^ign of thirty- one years, 
 (2 Kings xxii. 1.) is killed, and is suc- 
 ceeded by his son Jehoahazj who hav- 
 ing reigned three months, is deposed by 
 Pharaoh-nechoh, and his brother Eliakira 
 is made King, his name being turned to 
 Jehoiakim, 2 Kings xxiii. 29 — 34. 
 
 In his days was Daniel the prophet carried 
 to Babylon, Dan. i. 1 — 6. 
 
 3343 
 
 607 
 
 Jehoiakim having reigned eleven years, 
 (2 Kings xxiii. 36.) dies, and is suc- 
 ceeded by his son Jehoiachin : %vho hav- 
 ing reigned three months, is deposed by 
 Nebuchadnezzar, in the eighth year of 
 Nebuchadnezzar's reign, and his uncle 
 Mattaniah is made King in his place, 
 his name being changed to Zedekiah, 
 2 Kings xxiv. 6 — 17. 
 
 3347 
 
 603 
 
 In the fifth year of King Jehoiachin's cap- 
 tivity, began Ezekiel to prophesy, Ezck. 
 i. 2. 
 
 K4
 
 136 
 
 A Chronological Table. 
 
 Years of the 
 World. 
 
 Years before 
 the com- 
 mon Year 
 of Christ's 
 Nativity. 
 
 REMARKABLE PARTICULARS. 
 
 3354 
 
 596 
 
 Jerusalem taken by Nebuchadnezzar, and 
 the Temple destroyed, and Zedekiah, &c. 
 carried captive unto Babylon, and so an 
 end put to the kingdom ofJudah. And 
 here we shall put an end to this Chrono- 
 logical Table. 
 
 

 
 I 
 
 NOTES.
 
 NOTES 
 
 'IRST PART OF THE HISTORICAL GEOGRAPHV 
 
 OLD TESTAMENT. 
 
 Chap. III. Sect. ii. §. 12. 
 
 'NCE more, the prophet Jeremiali, foretelling the taking 
 "^ Buhylon by Cyrus the Great, has this expression, ch. H. 
 ^er. 27. Call together against her the kingdoms of Ararat 
 And Minni, &c.] I cannot omit observing, that it is not alto- 
 gether improbable, that the name Armenia might be 
 raade up of Ararat and Minni, or Menni, as it is written 
 by some. And it is plain, that the Syriac interpreter of 
 Jeremy did take Menni to denote Armenia; as also did 
 the Chaldee paraphrast Jonathan. 
 
 Chap. III. Sect. ii. §. 46. 
 
 I must now speak something of the colonies of Magog.] I 
 look upon this to be a proper place to take notice, that al- 
 though the Swedish historians may with some probability 
 esteem themselves to be colonies of Magog, yet it seems 
 very absurd for them to go about to shew the world, that 
 the kingdom of Sweden is the most ancient kingdom in Eu- 
 
 ^'3
 
 325 Notes on the Historical Geography 
 
 rope, and that this country was after the deluge soonel 
 stored with inhalitants than the other parts of Europe 
 Forasmuch as it is not likely, that the first planters of Eu- 
 rope should settle themselves in the more northern and 
 unfruitful parts of it, before they had stored or filled the 
 more southern and fruitful countries of it. 
 
 Chap. III. Sect. iv. §. 24. 
 
 That the Caphtorim were situated near to the Casluhim, 
 &c.] I am not ignorant that some learned men, particu- 
 larly Bochart, contend, that the Caphtorim were seated 
 in Cappadocia, and prove this by several instances out of 
 Oriental writers, by whom the Cappadocians are denoted 
 by the word Caphtorims. But then this does not prove 
 that Cappadocia was first planted after the flood by the 
 Caphtorims, which is what we are speaking of here. All 
 that is proved by the citations out of the said Oriental 
 books, is only thus much, viz. that a colony of the Caph- 
 torim did in process of time possess themselves of Cappa^ 
 docia, having subdued the descendants of Japhet; just as 
 another colony of the Caphtorims did possess themselves 
 of that tract of Canaan, which is called in Scripture by 
 the name of the land of the Philistines, having subdue^ 
 the first planters of that tract, the descendants of Ca-r 
 naan. 
 
 Chap. V. §.3. 
 
 Beifig thus occasionally trained up to the art of war, 
 &c.] I cannot forbear observing here, that, agreeably to 
 what is here supposed, concerning the manner how Nim- 
 rod came to be a good warrior, the great philosopher and, 
 general Xenophon does particularly advise, that young me'u, 
 should not slight htmting, because hereby they might be- 
 come fitter for the soldiery. See his KuvjjyeVjx. or Tract 0/ 
 Hunting, chap. ii. sect. i. Oxford edition, 8vo.
 
 of I he Old Tesfrn)ie?/f. 327 
 
 Chap. VIII. §. 4. 
 
 ylnd it seems very probable, that there icas a remarkable 
 uak in or 7iear this plain of Moreh.] Indeed, upon further 
 consideration, I think it most probable to suppose, with 
 the learned Mr. Mede, that the Hebrew word, which we 
 translate here an oak, does rather denote a grove or plan- 
 tation of oaks. For, as the said learned person observes, 
 here God appeared first unto Abraham upon his coming 
 into the land of Canaan, and made him a promise of giv- 
 ing the said land unto his seed : whereupon Abraham built 
 an altar there unto the Lord. On which account, this 
 place was held in great esteem ever after by the descend- 
 ants of Abraham ; insomuch that Joshua judged this the 
 most proper place to assemble the Israelites together, in 
 order to renew their covenant with God a little before his 
 death, as we read, Josh. xxiv. and also we are informed 
 Iver. 26. of the same chapter, that, after the solemn renevv- 
 ling of the covenant, Joshua took a great stone, aiid set it up 
 uhere [under an oak, rather) in or by the oak-grove, that 
 \ivas by the sanctuary of the Lord. From which last clause 
 
 [r. Mede very judiciously infers, that, since this was nc- 
 /er the settled place of the ark, it therefore follows, that 
 "here was a proseucha, or oratory, i. e. a place of prayer, in 
 those early times ; it being made choice of for such reli- 
 gious worship on account of God's appearing here first to 
 Abraham in the land of Canaan, and of Abraham's here 
 building the first altar to God, after his coming into Ca- 
 naan. That here was a grove of oaks, not only a single 
 oak, is further probable, from what we read. Gen. xxi. 33. 
 And Abraham planted a grove in Beersheba, and called 
 there on the name of the Lord. Where we learn that 
 Abraham did plant a grove about the place he had set 
 apart for a proscucha ; and that probably in resemblance 
 of the grove near Sichem, where God first appeared to 
 him after his coming itito Canaan. Sec note on §. 42. 
 
 V 4
 
 328 
 
 Notes on the Historical GeograpJii/ 
 
 Chap. VIII. §.31. 
 
 Where by Gilgal is not to be U7iderslood the place near 
 the river Jordan, &c.] This is said in conformity to the 
 opinion more generally received, which 1 intended to 
 have enlarged upon, when I came to the geography of the 
 book of Joshua. But being come to the describing such 
 places as are mentioned in the said book of Joshua, upon 
 more mature consideration, I perceived reason not to de- 
 fend the generally received opinon, forasmuch as by Gil- 
 gal might be well understood the place commonly so, 
 called in Scripture, for the reason alleged, Part II. cha,p. 
 iv. §. 47. 
 
 Chap. VIII. §.42. 
 
 It is remarkable in holy Scripture for Abraham's enter A 
 taining there three angels under an oak.'] It is very proba- 
 ble, from what has been before observed on §. 4. of thisi 
 chapter, concerning the oak in the plain of Moreh near] 
 Sichem, that this oak in the plain of Mamre near Hebror 
 was also a grove 0/ oaksy rather than a single oak. As for] 
 the single oak, which is here observed to be had in great 
 veneration in the time of Constantine the Great, it ia 
 scarcely to be imagined, that it was one of the oaks that 
 was growing there in the days of Abraham, but of 
 nmch later growth. 
 
 Chap. VIII. §. 47. 
 
 Andjirst, to begin with the two bounds here assigned, (vil 
 of the extent of dominion promised to the seed of AbraJ 
 ham,) Jrotn the river of Egypt unto the great river, the rivet 
 Enphrates.] This promise was actually fulfilled in the' 
 days of David and Solomon j concerning which latter we 
 are expressly told, i Kings iv. 21. that he reigned over all 
 kingdoms, from the river nnto the land of the Philistines,
 
 of the Old Testament. 
 
 329 
 
 id unto the border of Egypt; and ver. 24. that he had 
 wiinion over all on this side the river, from Tiphsah even 
 unlo Azzah. By comparing which texts with God's pro- 
 mise herein, Gen. xv. 18. it is evident, that by the river, or 
 great river, is meant the Euphrates ; and by the river of 
 Egypt, a river separating the land of Egypt from the land 
 of Canaan, or of the Philistines, and running near unto 
 Azzah or Gaza.
 
 NOTES 
 
 SECOND PART OF THE HISTORICAL GEOGRAPHY 
 
 OLD TESTAMENT. 
 
 Chap. I. §. 5. 
 
 1 HE mhahitants (viz. of Egypt) were looked upon by the 
 Heathen world, as the first iiiventors of geometry, arith- 
 metic, astronomy, ^cJ] Among several other authors that 
 might be cited, I shall content myself to allege here those 
 verses of the geographer Dionysius Afer, who, speaking of 
 the Egyptians, thus expresses hiniself, ver. 233, &c. 
 
 Cfi -uypMTOi ^lOTOto iisg-YjaavTO xrAs-Jdags. 
 YIpooTOi 8' l[ji;p6iVTo; eTTStpr}(TCiVTO aporpn, 
 Ka» (TTTopov (SuTaTJjj VTTip avKciKO^ airXuxTUVTO. 
 TIpwTOi de ypiXjj.iJ,ri<7i croXov ZtB[j.BTpriCravTO, 
 Qvfxca <ppa(r(rixiJ.svoi Ao^ov dpoiJi,ov yjsXloiO. 
 
 Chap. I. §. 45. 
 
 Where by the expression, (viz. of the prophet Ezekiel, 
 chap. xxix. ver. 10.) From the tower of Syene even unto the 
 harder of Cush, is denoted the whole length of Egypt, froyn 
 the south end of it, where stood Syene, to the north end or 
 north-east end, where it bordered upon Cush or Arabia.'] 
 And this, by the way, is a very good argument, that by 
 Cush in the Old Testament is not denoted Ethiopia in
 
 332 Notes on the Historical Geography, 6^c. 
 
 Afric; forasmuch as the African Ethiopia lies south 
 Egypt, and indeed joins on that side to the part of Egyp 
 
 
 1 
 
 where Syene was situated ; so that if Cush denoted t 
 African Ethiopia, the expression, Froin the tower of SyeHB 
 even unto the border of Cush, would have denoted only a 
 small part of Egypt ; and the word even (whereby is de^ 
 noted the great extent from the tower of Syene to the 
 border of Cush) would be very improper 
 
 Chap. I. §. 54- § 
 
 The geographer Dionysius Periegetes expressly tells us, 
 that the Nile was otherwise called Siris by the Ethiopians^ 
 See ver. 223. of the said author. And in the following 
 verses is taken notice of, what is observed in the following j 
 paragraphs, concerning the land of Egypt being enrich^^ 
 by the overflowing of the Nile. 
 
 Chap. VI. §. II. 
 
 The Hebrew words differ but in one letter.'] Namely, the 
 letters of the word Gilboa are a gimel, lamed, beth, and 
 ain ; and the letters of the word Gilead are the sarhe, ex- 
 cepting that instead of a beth it hath a daleth ; so that 
 transcribers might easily mistake one word for the other. 
 I take the more notice of this difference here, because not 
 only in the place of the book here referred to, but also in 
 the errata, the printer has made the same mistake ' by 
 putting an Hebrew tzade, instead of an aiji, in both 
 words. 
 
 Chap. VI. §. 16. 
 
 It is not certain, ivhether the house of Millo denotes a 
 place, or not.] Of the importance of the word Millo, see 
 more Part III. of the Geography of the Old Testament, 
 chap. ii. §. 10. 
 
 •* The edition of 171 '2 is here referred to.
 
 NOTES 
 
 THIRD PART OF THE HISTORICAL GEOGRAPHY 
 
 OLD TESTAMENT. 
 
 Chap. I. Sect. ii. §. 12. 
 
 u:lhOUT one hour and a quarter's distance Jrom Bethlehem 
 south uard, are shewn those famous fountains, pools, and 
 gaide/is, ivhich are said to have been the contrivance and 
 delight of king Solomo7i.'] What are here called pools by 
 Mr. Maundrell, are by Le Bruyn, or at least by his Eng- 
 translator, called water-houses. 
 
 ^ Chap. I. Sect. ii. §. 22. 
 
 , { / 
 
 Whilst David staid here, — he went up, and invaded the 
 
 Geshurites, and the Gezrites or Gerzites, and ylmaleki/es.] 
 The reason, why I speak only of the Gezrites or Gerzites 
 in this paragraph, was, because as the Amalekites are be- 
 fore, spoken of, so, when I wrote this, I esteemed the Ge- 
 shui;ites to be the same with the inhabitants of the city 
 an4 kingdom of Geshur, elsewhere spoken of. But I have 
 since observed, that these Geshurites here mentioned are 
 not the same with, but distinct from the inhabitants of the 
 city- and kingdom of Geshur, lying to the north or north- 
 east of the land of Israel, and spoken of afterwards, chap, 
 ii, §. 31. Namely, these Geshurites are the same as those
 
 334 Notes on the Historical Geography 
 
 taken notice of, Josh. xiii. a, 3. where it is said, This is l\ 
 land that yet remains : (viz. unconquered) all the harden 
 the Philistines y and all Geshuri,from Sihor, ivhich is hej 
 Egypt, even unto the borders of Ekron northward. Whei 
 it is evident, that the Geshuri here mentioned was a 
 or people, situated on the south-west of Canaan, am 
 joining to the Philistines. Which situation is exal 
 agreeable to the circumstances of the narrative concernii 
 David's expedition, mentioned in this place of the booki 
 Samuel. 
 
 Chap. II. §. 2. 
 
 I take this to be a proper place to speak of the a/icii-h 
 state of Jerusalem f &c.] To what is already said, in th 
 place here referred to, concerning the ancient state of Je- 
 rusalem, it may be useful to add here the following par- 
 ticulars; viz. that whereas some make the palace of king 
 David to have stood in the very middle of the city of David, 
 this seems not to have been a situation so proper for it, 
 as to suppose it rather to have stood on one side of the said 
 city, and that either on the west or south side, or rather 
 much about the south-west angle of the said city. Foras- 
 much as by such a situation the palace would not only be 
 freer from the noise of the city, but would also be more 
 pleasant, having a free prospect into the country, or fields, 
 on the south and west side. And further, by such a situa- 
 tion is rendered more intelligible that expression of David's 
 building round about from Millo {and inward, or rathfer) 
 even to his own house. Namely, thereby seems to be meant, 
 that all the south part of the city of David, which lay be- 
 tween the palace and the house of Millo, was built by 
 David, at his own charge, and for his own use, and several 
 offices. Whereas the other part, lying on the north side 
 between the palace and the house of Millo, was built by 
 such persons as had a mind to build thereon ; and con- 
 sequently was built and inhabited by tradesmen and such 
 like persons: this part of the new city being fittest for 
 
 i
 
 of the Old Testament. 
 
 3^5 
 
 trade, as lying between the old city and the other part of 
 the new, where the court was, and the houses of the great 
 persons belonging to the court. And according to this 
 situation of the house of Millo, It was also very proper, 
 either for a house to hold public assemblies in, as lying 
 much about the middle of the whole city of Jerusalem, or 
 else for a house of armoury, or kind of citadel, as com- 
 manding both the old and new city, and also the temple 
 itself. Howsoever, all that is here offered being only con- 
 jecture, the reader is entirely left to himself, to embrace 
 what is here said, or any other opinion, which seems more 
 probable to him. 
 
 Chap. II. §. 42. 
 
 The city ofAroer,'] As we have this city called in Scrip- 
 ture, the city in the midst of the river, so we find cities, 
 both among the Greeks and Latins, bearing names of the 
 like importance. For such I take the Greek name Am- 
 phipolis to be, and the Latin Interamnium,
 
 %
 
 :,,,.. :.^.^mm--- ^■^W^m'