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PALESTINE EXPLORED. 
 
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tiie shepherd’s club and staff. 
 
 See por/e 255. 
 
PALESTINE EXPLORED 
 
 WITH A VIEW TO ITS PRESENT 
 NATURAL FEATURES, AND TO THE PREVAILING 
 MANNERS, CUSTOMS, RITES, AND COLLOQUIAL EXPRESSIONS 
 OF ITS PEOPLE, WHICH THROW LIGHT ON THE 
 FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE OF THE BIBLE . 
 
 BY THE 
 
 REV. JAMES k NEIL, 
 
 M.A. 
 
 FORMERLY INCUMBENT OF CHRIST CHURCH, JERUSALEM, 
 AUTHOR OF “ PALESTINE REPEOPLED,” ETC. 
 
 NEW YORK: 
 
 A. D. F. RANDOLPH & CO. 
 
 900 BROADWAY. 
 
 1882. 
 
PEEFACE. 
 
 The following pages deal with the author’s dis¬ 
 coveries in the Holy Land, and those recently 
 made there by others, which throw new light upon 
 the Bible. His chief qualification for the work lies 
 in his having enjoyed an official residence at Jeru¬ 
 salem for three years, from May 1871 to May 
 1874. During that time he was called upon to 
 traverse Palestine in many directions. The manage¬ 
 ment of landed property in various parts of the 
 country afforded him very special facilities for form¬ 
 ing a close acquaintance with its natural features 
 and modem life. Intimate relations with its vari¬ 
 ous races, and more particularly with native Jews, 
 amongst whom Hebrew is still a spoken language, 
 gave further help. Hor must the advantage derived 
 from the invaluable aid of the Palestine Exploration 
 Fund be overlooked. The greater part of the Ord¬ 
 nance Survey of Western Palestine, which, to the 
 Biblical student, is by far the most important 
 scientific work of this scientific age, was accom¬ 
 plished during the period of the author’s residence 
 
Till PREFACE. 
 
 at Jerusalem, and lie lias watched its progress 
 throughout. 
 
 O 
 
 It was not until his return to England that the 
 force and bearing of many observations were fully 
 realised. A second visit to the East was made in 
 February 1875. Three months were then occupied 
 by a journey up the Nile throughout the length of 
 Egypt, and in once more traversing the Land of 
 Israel. This opportunity served to test carefully 
 many conclusions, and to widen a former experience. 
 
 The various excellent volumes which have hitherto 
 appeared on this subject deal with Scripture allu¬ 
 sions in general. As far as the author is aware, 
 this is the first attempt to treat in an original 
 manner of Palestine life as it bears upon those 
 allusions only which occur by way of figurative 
 language. 
 
 o O 
 
 Frequent glances at Hebrew philology, or the 
 study of the precise meaning of Hebrew words, 
 could not be avoided. Its claims, in our day, no 
 student of the Word, however humble, can afford 
 to forget. It is not less true that no intelligent 
 layman, albeit unacquainted with a single letter of 
 the ancient language of Canaan, need doubt for a 
 moment his full capacity to enter with intense in¬ 
 terest and no little profit into many simple branches 
 of this important study. 
 
 The reader will find that all passages which occur 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 IX 
 
 as poetry in the Hebrew Scriptures are uniformly 
 given in this work in the form of poetical extracts. 
 He will also find that all the numerous quotations 
 from both the Old and New Testaments are care¬ 
 fully retranslated, wherever the adoption of a more 
 authentic reading of the text, the employment of a 
 more accurate rendering of it, or the excision of the 
 obsolete words or grammatical constructions which 
 occur in our version have called for an improve¬ 
 ment. This has sprung from a twofold purpose— 
 first, to give in each case, as truthfully as possible, 
 the very language of inspiration ; and secondly, to 
 prepare the minds of all for the new revised version 
 of the Bible now appearing, which, right and neces¬ 
 sary as it is, can scarcely fail to prove a shock to 
 some pious people who have not read the Word of 
 God in the original. 
 
 The attention of those who are charged with the 
 deeply responsible duty of making the revision of 
 the Old Testament is respectfully but earnestly 
 invited to some important renderings suggested in 
 this work. Some of these are drawn from the 
 terms for common objects which the writer found 
 in constant use in all parts of the country. Where 
 the modern colloquial Arabic spoken in Palestine, 
 by a people who are now held to be a remnant 
 of the original Canaanitish nations, retains, as it so 
 often does, the very same word which we find in 
 
X 
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 the Hebrew Scriptures employed in a similar con¬ 
 nection, with a precise technical meaning—a mean¬ 
 ing which can be consistently and naturally applied 
 to all, or almost all, the passages where it occurs, 
 and which, when so applied, gives a new appro¬ 
 priateness and beauty to each—can we doubt that 
 this is the true and accurate meaning which the 
 Spirit of God intended to convey ? 
 
 The indulgent reception given to the author’s 
 former work on the present of Palestine in relation 
 to its future, which has now almost run through its 
 seventh edition, has encouraged him to put forth this 
 view of its present in relation to its past. May He 
 who bade us “search the Scriptures” be revealed to 
 all who peruse these pages. They have been written 
 throughout to the praise of His name. 
 
 Olicana House, Ilkley, Yorkshire, 
 
 September 18S1. 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 PREFACE . 
 
 CHAPTER 
 
 I. THE BIBLE IN PALESTINE .... 
 
 II. MISCELLANEOUS ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 III. MISCELLANEOUS ILLUSTRATIONS—(CONTINUED) 
 IY. SHIVERING THE POTTER’S VESSEL . 
 
 V. THE NIGHT-MIST. 
 
 VI. THE ANCESTRAL STAFF. 
 
 VII. THE ORANGE. 
 
 VIII. THE KEEPER. 
 
 IX. CRUSHED STRAW. 
 
 X. SIFTING . .. 
 
 XI. THE SHEPHERD’S CLUB AND STAFF . 
 
 XII. MOUNT ZION . . . 
 
 INDEX OF HEBREW WORDS EXPLAINED IN THIS WORK 
 INDEX OF SCRIPTURE REFERENCES .... 
 INDEX OF SUBJECTS. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 vii 
 
 i 
 
 22 
 
 65 
 
 I 12 
 129 
 152 
 l8l 
 
 209 
 
 222 
 
 244 
 
 255 
 
 279 
 
 299 
 
 301 
 
 3°9 
 
ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 The Shepherd’s Club and Staff 
 Fellahs Shivering Pottery 
 An Arab Sheikh'leaning on his Staff 
 A Bethlehem Woman Sifting Wheat 
 
 Frontispiece 
 page 121 
 
 • 155 
 
 • 247 
 
 Forms of the Shepherd’s “ Shaivet ” or Oak Club 257 
 
 A Derweesh’s Iron Mace. 
 
 Sketch Map of Jerusalem and its Environs . 
 
 269 
 
 289 
 
PALESTINE EXPLORED. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 THE BIBLE IN PALESTINE. 
 
 “Why do they on the Sabbath-day that which is 
 not lawful ? ” 1 said the Pharisees to Christ with 
 reference to an act of His disciples. To the mind 
 of the author in childhood the case afforded a still 
 graver difficulty. “ Why do they that which is not 
 lawful upon any day ? ” was the anxious inquiry that 
 haunted him, though he did not dare to express it 
 openly. The Master with His humble followers had 
 been passing through fields of ripening corn. These' 
 poor hungry men, seeing the golden ears gleaming 
 amid their beards of black awns, had plucked them off, 
 and rubbing out the grain between their palms, had 
 satisfied with this simple fare the cravings of appe¬ 
 tite. In fact, it seems that the whole company had 
 made there and then a full repast. How, in every 
 
 1 Mark ii. 24. 
 
 A 
 
2 
 
 PALESTINE EXPLOEED. 
 
 part of our country a much less offence than this, 
 even the plucking of a single ear, would he a mis¬ 
 demeanour to he punished hy the magistrate, and 
 that sometimes very severely. The act of our 
 Saviour’s followers, measured hy the only standard 
 of which he knew, amounted to wilful theft. Great 
 was the perplexity caused hy a consideration of the 
 whole narrative, and great was his gladness in after 
 years to he permitted to enjoy repeated opportuni¬ 
 ties of realising the strict regularity of the whole 
 proceeding during his residence in the Holy Land. 
 
 There the right of a traveller to pluck and eat 
 his fill of wheat, or even to allow his horse to browse 
 in passing on the standing crop of barley, is a part 
 of the time-honoured common law of those truly 
 hospitable regions. The tillage, lying for miles in 
 one unbroken stretch with no walls, hedges, or 
 ditches, renders this privilege both easy and natural, 
 without involving any trespass. Wheat and barley 
 in Syria present few of the difficulties experienced 
 in their culture in more northern lands. Palestine, 
 next to Egypt, is the very home of these grains. 
 Every rocky patch on the hill slopes, which with us 
 would only be accounted a goat pasture, is there 
 sown broadcast, and in favourable seasons makes an 
 astonishingly bountiful return. Hence the unpro¬ 
 tected position of arable ground rendering prohibi¬ 
 tion difficult, if not impossible, together with the 
 
THE BIBLE IN PALESTINE. 
 
 3 
 
 proverbial abundance of the crops, have jointly 
 contributed to establish this charitable custom from 
 the earliest times. 
 
 It is, of course, perfectly true that a close 
 acquaintance with .Scripture would have entirely 
 reconciled the author’s youthful difficulty, short of 
 his Syrian experience, for this charter of the stranger 
 and the poor was incorporated in the law of Moses. 
 In that statute-book of Palestine we read, “ When 
 thou comest into the standing corn of thy neighbour, 
 then thou mayest pluck the ears with thine hand; 
 but thou shalt not move a sickle unto thy neigh¬ 
 bour’s standing corn.” 1 But it is placed here as 
 one of very many serious difficulties which all have 
 felt some time or other in reading the Bible, as a 
 natural consequence of its Oriental and exotic fea¬ 
 tures. These difficulties are none the less great 
 because, as in this instance, through a false sense of 
 reverence, they sometimes remain unspoken, and 
 often, contrary to the case in question, could not 
 possibly be explained by any mere comparison with 
 other inspired passages. 
 
 The Bible is as much an Eastern book as the 
 “ Arabian Nights’ Entertainment.” It is usual to 
 
 1 Deuteronomy xxiii. 25. In the previous verse permission is 
 given to eat “ thy fill of grapes at thine own pleasure ” when pass¬ 
 ing through a neighbouring vineyard, so long as none are put into 
 a vessel to be carried away. This, too, is still a recognised custom 
 in Palestine. 
 
4 
 
 PALESTINE EXPLORED. 
 
 speak of the Scriptures as the simplest and plainest 
 of works. In one sense this is beautifully true. 
 Man’s ruin, redemption, renewal to holiness, and 
 resurrection glory with Christ Jesus, are reiterated 
 again and again, so clearly that-the inquiring soul, 
 taught by the Spirit, cannot err as to these essential 
 doctrines. Yet they are frequently illustrated and 
 enforced by figurative language embodying facts, 
 ideas, and phrases wholly foreign to our daily expe¬ 
 rience. Thus the honest and thoughtful reader finds 
 himself constantly coming upon passages that appear 
 unintelligible. In a word, the very thoughts and 
 expressions employed by the inspired writers to 
 render the subject more lucid are themselves found 
 to present new and formidable difficulties ! And 
 the reason for this is plain. The traveller who, for 
 the first time, visits the East—the land and home 
 of the Bible—finds himself in a new world. It is 
 not too much to say that almost everything which 
 surrounds us in England differs from the present life 
 of Palestine, a life which bears on its simple features 
 the stamp of a hoary antiquity. This is the full and 
 simple explanation. 
 
 It is not that Moses, or David, or Isaiah, or the 
 Lord Christ made reference to any abstruse or 
 unusual matters. Quite the reverse. They drew 
 their countless allusions from everyday familiar 
 objects of the very simplest kind, far simpler, as I 
 
THE BIBLE IN PALESTINE. 
 
 5 
 
 hope to show in the following pages, than many 
 have supposed. They wrote for the masses. It was 
 the purpose of the Eternal Spirit to make revelation 
 exceedingly plain. But we are apt to overlook the 
 significant fact that the Bible was written by East¬ 
 erns, in the East, and for Easterns. Indeed, a great 
 part of it was written exclusively for the use of 
 Easterns for many ages. The very matters, there¬ 
 fore, which made the sacred volume clear to those 
 to whom it was first addressed, make it in just the 
 same proportion obscure to us. 
 
 The references to Oriental affairs which we meet 
 with in narrative passages are often, by the help of 
 the context, rendered comparatively plain. The 
 largest number of allusions to be met with in Scrip¬ 
 ture, however, occur as figures of speech, and as 
 such are necessarily far less easy to be understood. 
 
 Next to a sublime simplicity, which is without 
 a rival in any writing, and an emphatic repetition 
 of ideas and phrases, which has been far too little 
 admired and imitated, nothing perhaps is more cha¬ 
 racteristic of Holy Scripture, viewed as a literary 
 work, than its boundless exuberance of highly figu¬ 
 rative language. The Spirit of God, who ever works 
 with men from their own natural standpoint, speak¬ 
 ing through the children of the East as the chosen 
 instruments of revelation, has breathed upon the 
 rich imagination of the Orient, and consecrated all 
 
6 
 
 PALESTINE EXPLORED. 
 
 its inimitable imagery to the service of Jehovah. 
 It is on this account that I have confined my re¬ 
 searches to those manners, customs, natural features, 
 and expressions which are referred to in figurative 
 language. 
 
 We live in sadly sceptical times. Yet let it be 
 remembered that, in too many instances, the abstract 
 and unreal .treatment of sacred subjects has paved 
 the way to the present popular worship of doubt 
 and uncertainty. An excellent method of dealing 
 with the epidemic of modern unbelief is to make 
 much of the realistic elements of the Bible. This 
 healthy study meets Materialism upon its own 
 ground. The living identity and reality of the 
 various subjects alluded to in the Bible should now 
 be set before intelligent men. They should be in¬ 
 vited to consider the simple fact that the most 
 ancient book the world can show, and the ruined 
 land concerning which most of it speaks, answer to 
 one another like the two parts of, an indenture. 
 They should be shown that the very difficulties 
 and anomalies which that book at first sight pre¬ 
 sents are only so many convincing incidental proofs 
 of its being, at least from a literary standpoint, just 
 what it claims to be; nay more, that if these, grave 
 surface difficulties were absent, the booh could not 
 possibly be genuine ! 
 
 To take an example of the singular force of this 
 
THE BIBLE IN PALESTINE. 
 
 7 
 
 argument, let us consider for a moment the highly 
 damaging objection sometimes urged against Holy 
 Scripture on the ground of the coarseness of the 
 expressions it contains, and the handling of subjects 
 the very mention of which we should account im¬ 
 pure. I know that this has been an honest difficulty 
 to many earnest and sensitive minds. Yet a com¬ 
 paratively short residence in Palestine serves to 
 remove it altogether; and indeed no Eastern could 
 possibly see any objection whatever on this score. 
 They still, as in ancient times, use the greatest 
 plainness of speech throughout the Holy Land. At 
 first a Western sense of delicacy is greatly shocked. 
 Things, the very mention of which decency forbids 
 amongst us, are there spoken of freely before women 
 and children by people of the highest class, and of 
 the greatest respectability and refinement. As soon 
 as one acquires a knowledge of Arabic, which is 
 virtually but a softer and more copious form of 
 Hebrew, the ear is assailed by a plain-speaking on 
 these subjects which is extremely embarrassing until 
 such time as one becomes accustomed to it. This 
 explains, however, at once the perfect naturalness 
 and innocency of the use of expressions and the 
 mention of matters which our translators have soft¬ 
 ened down in some instances, and public readers 
 have tacitly agreed to omit in others. Nay more, 
 I will go further and boldly say, that seeing the 
 
8 
 
 PALESTINE EXPLORED. 
 
 Bible purports to be an Eastern book, written in tbe 
 East, and first—and for long ages only—addressed 
 to Easterns, it could not possibly be genuine if 
 these very matters, which have given rise to such 
 blasphemous cavils, were absent from its pages ! 
 
 Again, let us glance at an Old Testament narrative, 
 which has caused as much of anxiety and perplexity 
 to sincere believers as of encouragement and triumph 
 to the enemies of the truth. We read that Sisera, 
 after his sudden defeat on the east of the plain of 
 Esdraelon, fled away to the tent of Jael, the wife 
 of Heber the Kenite. As he made towards the now 
 deserted encampment, where she appears to have 
 been left alone, she came out and invited him to 
 enter, and then presented him with “ a lordly dish ” 
 of milk, that is, the ordinary wooden bowl of the 
 country, almost as large as a hand-basin, containing 
 leben , or goat’s sour buttermilk, the only milk an 
 Arab drinks. As soon, however, as he had sunk 
 into a deep sleep, she took a “ nail of, the tent,” one 
 of the sharp tent-pegs, made of exceedingly hard 
 wood, and a “hammer,” or huge wooden mallet, 
 employed to drive these pegs into the ground, both 
 of which are still in use, and slew Sisera by driving 
 the tent-peg through his temples . 1 
 
 1 Judges iv. 17-21. The Hebrew word for “nail” is yathaid, 
 or as it may be yataid, and the precisely similar word in Arabic, 
 allowing for the rules of transliteration, icataid, is the modern 
 
THE BIBLE IN PALESTINE. 
 
 9 
 
 "Now, even sound evangelical commentators have 
 not hesitated to denounce this act as one of cruel 
 treachery and deliberate murder. Viewed in the 
 light of Bible lands, the crime would be tenfold 
 more heinous and unnatural. Amongst the nomad 
 tribes of Palestine and the surrounding deserts the 
 rites of hospitality are peculiarly sacred and inviol¬ 
 able. Base beyond description would that wretch 
 be accounted who, having first entertained a stranger, 
 not to say an ally, in “ a house of hair ,” 1 afterwards 
 took his life when he laid down to rest. Yet in the 
 very next chapter the prophetess Deborah, in a grand 
 inspired song, prefaces a recital of this incident with 
 words of the highest commendation— 
 
 “ Blessed among women be Jael, 
 
 The wife of Heber the Kenite, 
 
 Blessed let her be among women in the tent /’ 2 
 
 How can the difficulty be reconciled—a difficulty 
 which has caused the most painful disquietude to 
 countless tender consciences ? The answer is quite 
 plain, for in Palestine a perfectly natural and satis¬ 
 factory explanation at once appears. Jael, left alone 
 by herself, separated from her husband and his ser¬ 
 vants, who appear to have been at a distance with 
 
 technical term for the wooden tent-pegs about a foot and a half long, 
 used for driving into the ground to form attachments for the cords 
 by which the goat’s-hair tents are stretched and held in position. 
 
 1 The Arab name for a tent. 2 Judges v. 24. 
 

 I O PALESTINE EXPLORED. 
 
 the flocks, sees the general of Jabin’s forces running 
 towards her tent, determined to force an entrance. 
 What could she do to resist an armed and desperate 
 man ? No other course was possible save to do as 
 we read she did, namely, put a good face on the 
 matter, and ask him in. But the point on which the 
 narrative turns is this. Sisera had no right to enter 
 her tent at all. The women’s apartment of an Arab 
 tent, the only place in it where any privacy exists, 
 must never, under any circumstances, be entered by 
 a man. Instances are recorded amongst the Arabs 
 of a defeated warrior having hidden himself in the 
 apartments of women; but such a heinous breach 
 of Eastern etiquette has in each case been followed 
 by the sentence of death. The insult and wrong 
 done to Jael from the point of view of a Bedctween 
 woman was such that, in order to avenge her honour, 
 her husband or her brother would have been bound 
 by the unwritten but inflexible code of Eastern law 
 to take Sisera’s life. She simply became the execu¬ 
 tioner of a sentence which some other person would, 
 under ordinary circumstances, have carried out. This 
 alters the whole case; and Jael, instead of being a 
 cruel, lawless, treacherous creature, becomes, from 
 the only standard by which we have any right to 
 judge her, a true heroine. It is most interesting to 
 observe that in Deborah’s inspired commendation 
 of the conduct of Heber’s wife, particular stress is 
 
THE BIBLE IN PALESTINE. 
 
 II 
 
 laid upon the fact of her being a Bedaween woman, 
 and acting nobly and righteously from a Bedaween s 
 point of view—• 
 
 “Blessed let her he among women in the tent.” 
 
 This could not possibly have been said if it were a case 
 of treachery or murder in connection with a guest. 
 
 There is another fact connected with camp life 
 in Palestine that came under my own personal 
 observation, which strengthens the presumption 
 that, in asking Sisera to enter the tent, Jael, thrown 
 suddenly into a position of great peril, was only 
 acting throughout under the pressure of fear and 
 necessity, and was from the first solely intent upon 
 defending herself and her reputation by tactics 
 which any Arab woman would consider lawful. 
 We are specially told that she went out of her 
 way to offer him leben, or curdled milk. This act 
 receives strong emphasis in the poetical version of 
 the story: and not without reason. Leben is that 
 delightful preparation of goat’s-milk largely drunk 
 in Palestine amongst the pastoral tribes. It is 
 goat’s-milk with the butter left in it made sour, 
 or curdled, by an artificial process. Ho more ex¬ 
 cellent, wholesome, or medicinal drink is to be 
 found in a hot country. It possesses in particular 
 one peculiar and invaluable property. It has a 
 remarkably soothing anti-feverish effect on the 
 
PALESTINE EXPLORED. 
 
 12 
 
 nervous system when disordered by fatigue, and 
 acts as a strong soporific. I have myself expe¬ 
 rienced the pleasant sleep-inducing effects of this 
 beverage. On one occasion, when suffering from 
 much sleeplessness and nervous excitement brought 
 on by great fatigue, I partook of it very freely at a 
 Bedaween camp on the north of the plain of Sharon. 
 So strong was its action that, after resting for half 
 an hour, I could only with the greatest difficulty 
 continue my journey, in consequence of the drowsi¬ 
 ness that came over me. Indeed, my first impres¬ 
 sion was that the draught must have been drugged, 
 so sudden and powerful were its narcotic effects. 
 There can be little doubt that Jael’s purpose in 
 supplying leben so liberally to Sisera was to send 
 him into a sound and deep sleep. If so, then her 
 conduct throughout appears to have been perfectly 
 consistent as an attempt to punish in a summary 
 but lawful way, what in her eyes, and the eyes of 
 her people, was an unpardonable crime, committed 
 by a well-known and unscrupulous tyrant who seems 
 to have trusted for impunity to his high rank . 1 
 
 Once more, the great and to us unnatural fre¬ 
 quency with which references to weapons of war 
 occur in the Hebrew prophets must have struck all 
 careful readers of the Bible. I was on one occasion 
 
 1 I am indebted for the idea of the above explanation to Lieu¬ 
 tenant Conder’s Tent Work in Palestine, vol. i. p. 133. 
 
THE BIBLE IN PALESTINE. 
 
 13 
 
 at considerable pains to draw up a complete view of 
 the different sources from which the various images 
 employed in the Psalms are derived. I found, upon 
 classifying every figure of speech which occurs in 
 this book under its own proper subject heading 
 that out of the fourteen subjects into which all the 
 illustrations could be naturally divided, weapons of 
 war came third in order of frequency. Such a fact 
 supplies in itself a forcible undesigned coincidence 
 which may be viewed as a strong proof of the 
 genuineness of this grand Prayer-book and Hymn- 
 book of the Universal Church. To the present day 
 in Palestine almost every man, however quiet his 
 occupation or disposition, goes about armed, and 
 while travelling is often armed to the teeth. The 
 bow and arrows of Bible times, and with them the 
 shield, have now given place to a very old-fashioned 
 gun, with the use of which all the male population 
 are perfectly familiar; and indeed most Syrian 
 peasants, if allowed an artificial rest for their long, 
 clumsy fire-arms, command a very deadly aim. The 
 stout heavy-headed wooden club, the dagger, or 
 knife, and the sling are everywhere to be seen at 
 the present day, and so, though less frequently, are 
 the “ club of iron,” or formidable spiked iron mace, 
 and the spear, or javelin, these latter mostly car¬ 
 ried by Derweeshes. The sword, too, is now a common 
 weapon amongst all classes of civilians, and one they 
 
14 
 
 PALESTINE EXPLORED. 
 
 know well liow to wield. Endless family fends, 
 border warfare, Bedaween raids, and desperate 
 attacks by robbers, still as of old call these weapons 
 constantly into use; and so also do the ravages of 
 the wild beasts which infest most of the highways. 
 The universal practice in this matter amongst the 
 people at large adds a very special force, and 
 one that we should naturally overlook, to the 
 wretched state of bondage under which Israel must 
 have lain in the days of Saul, when they were so 
 thoroughly disarmed by the Philistines that “ there 
 was neither sword nor spear found in the hand of 
 any of the people .’’ 1 
 
 Upon first landing in Palestine, I determined 
 that I would not carry weapons, regarding them as 
 inconsistent with my peaceful calling. I had not, 
 however, resided there many months, during which 
 long journeys had to be made alone by night, before 
 I discovered that it was, humanly speaking, abso¬ 
 lutely necessary to bear fire-arms, as all around me 
 were doing, if only as a protection against the wild 
 animals that roam about after dark. Upon reflect¬ 
 ing on the course of action I was thus most un- 
 willingly led to adopt, I perceived a practical and 
 perfectly satisfactory explanation of our Lord’s 
 words, which have proved a source of such trouble 
 to sensitive souls, and of such serious censure on 
 
 1 I Samuel xiii. 19-22. 
 
THE BIBLE IN PALESTINE. 
 
 15 
 
 the part of objectors. In one of His last discourses 
 the Saviour announced to His disciples that, after 
 His death, they would no longer be sent out as 
 formerly, but that, in taking their missionary jour¬ 
 neys, they were henceforth to make the ordinary, 
 lawful, and necessary provisions for travelling. He 
 said, “‘ When I sent you forth without purse, and 
 leathern bag, and shoes, lacked ye anything ? ’ and 
 they said, 4 Nothing.’ Then He said unto them : c But 
 now, he that hath a purse, let him take it, and like¬ 
 wise a leathern bag, and he that hath none, let him sell 
 his cloak, and buy a sword. . . . And they said: ‘ Lord, 
 behold, here are two swords’ And He said unto them, 
 1 It is enough ’ ” 1 I learnt by the experience ‘of 
 everyday life that these words, in their fullest 
 meaning, implied no more than saying, “ Take now 
 the usual precautions which all prudent and expe¬ 
 rienced people employ when setting out upon long 
 and dangerous journeys.” No Syrian could fail for 
 a moment to understand the Master’s meaning, or 
 the absolute necessity for such an injunction, unless 
 Christians were to be preserved by a perpetual 
 miracle. Many similar examples might be adduced 
 to show how a great number of the cavils of un¬ 
 believers arise really from ignorance, and cannot live 
 for a moment in the light of a thorough knowledge 
 of Palestine life. 
 
 1 Luke xxii. 35 , 36 , 38 . 
 
1 6 
 
 PALESTINE EXPLORED. 
 
 There is a consideration, to which we are strangers 
 in these highly civilised lands of the West, that 
 lends a great and peculiar importance to researches 
 in the Land of Israel. I allude to the marvellous 
 uniformity and antiquity of the present manners 
 and customs and artificial productions throughout 
 this and the surrounding countries. The origin of 
 most of their customs is so ancient as to be lost in 
 remote ages. All that members of the oldest families 
 can say, when asked to account for the present 
 habits of the people, is “ Our fathers did thus; ” “ It 
 is from ancient times ; ” “ It always was done so.” 
 Notwithstanding the numerous races and religions 
 which have for centuries swept in turn across these 
 ruined regions, there remains a stereotyped agree¬ 
 ment in almost all the common affairs of life. If 
 we speak of a plough, then from the south of Egypt 
 to the far north of Syria, on every farm this imple¬ 
 ment is of precisely the same make. In every house 
 you visit the little handleless cup out of which you 
 sip your coffee is of the same size and pattern, and 
 so are the basin and ewer with which the servant 
 of your host, when he has girded himself and taken 
 a towel, washes your hands. In each class of life 
 both men and women respectively dress alike, and 
 strange as it sounds to us, the material, colour, and 
 style of apparel in the rural districts are wholly 
 unaffected by any new modes, but in the memory 
 
THE BIBLE IN PALESTINE. 
 
 17 
 
 of man have continued in all respects precisely tlie 
 same! No changing fashions, no progress in arts 
 or science varies, or ever appears to have varied, 
 the simple appliances of Palestine. The state of 
 the countrv, viewed in this light, is a standing 
 
 v 7 O y O 
 
 miracle. 
 
 The language, too, which is now in use retains 
 in all respects the very phrases of Scripture. Still 
 the only names by which the days of the week are 
 known are the same as of old. The Lord’s-day is 
 “ the first day of the week,” Monday is “ the second 
 day,” and so on with the rest . 1 Still the day is 
 said to begin at sunset, and is reckoned, as in the 
 very first chapter of Genesis, from the evening to 
 the morning . 2 Still the hours of the day are the 
 same; the first of the night being an hour after 
 sunset, and the eleventh hour of the night an hour 
 before sunrise; the first hour of the day being the 
 first after sunrise, and the eleventh hour of the day 
 an hour before sunset . 3 Still all distances are com¬ 
 puted not by miles, but by the hours or days which 
 
 1 Genesis i. 5, 8, 13, 19, 23, 31 ; ii. 2, &c. 
 
 2 Genesis i. 5, &c. ; Exodus xxvii. 21 ; Psalm lv. 17, &c. 
 
 3 Mark xv. 25 ; Matthew xxvii. 46 ; John iv. 52 ; Acts xxiii. 23. 
 At the equinoxes the first hour of the day is six o’clock A.M., and 
 the first hour of the night six o’clock P.M. The third hour then 
 answers to our nine o’clock A.M. Though there is a difference in 
 the length of the days in summer and winter, it is not in the latitude 
 of Palestine nearly so great as with us. It does not much exceed 
 four hours between the longest and shortest days. The day is 
 
 B 
 
1 8 
 
 PALESTINE EXPLORED. 
 
 it takes to accomplish them . 1 The very names 
 of most of the villages and ruins, and we have 
 now ten thousand names on the Survey Map of 
 Western Palestine, have a meaning in Hebrew . 2 Do 
 you desire, like Abraham, to make a purchase, the 
 seller still says, in the words of Ephron the Hittite, 
 “ My Lord, ... I give it thee.” 3 One not related 
 by blood, but whom it is desired to honour, and 
 sometimes a complete stranger, is addressed like 
 Elisha as “my father ,” 4 or like Jonathan as “my 
 brother .” 5 The common salutation, like that of 
 Joseph’s steward, is “peace be unto thee;” 6 and the 
 honoured guest is bid to enter as of yore with the 
 words that greeted Abraham’s servant, “ Come in, 
 thou blessed of the Lord.” 7 Still, if a man con¬ 
 firms a matter with an oath, he cries, “As God 
 liveth,” or “ As the Lord liveth.” 8 Does he seek 
 to reassure you, or to protest his uprightness, he 
 says with Joseph, “ I fear God.” 9 A farmer coming 
 
 always considered as divided into twelve hours (John xi. 9), and 
 these hours are shorter in winter and longer in summer. Noon is 
 a fixed period, much used by Easterns in reckoning time (Genesis 
 xliii. 16 ; Judges xix. 8 ; 2 Samuel iv. 5 ; I Kings xviii. 26, &c.), 
 though not a fixed hour ; but sunset is always twelve o’clock. 
 
 1 Genesis xxx. 36, xxxi. 23 ; 1 Kings xix. 4. 
 
 2 Tent Life in Palestine. By Lieut. C. K. Conder, B.E., vol. 
 i- P- 375 - 
 
 3 Genesis xxiii. 11. 4 2 Kings ii. 12, vi. 21. 5 2 Samuel i. 26. 
 
 6 Genesis xliii. 23 ; Judges vi. 23, &c. 7 Genesis xxiv. 31. 
 
 8 2 Samuel ii. 27 ; Jeremiah iv. 2. 9 Genesis xlii. 18. 
 
THE BIBLE IN PALESTINE. 
 
 19 
 
 into his fields to this day will greet his labourers 
 in the very words of Boaz, “ The Lord he with you,” 
 and will receive for answer, “ The Lord bless thee.” 1 
 Indeed, there is scarcely a devout expression to he 
 found in the pages of Holy Writ that does not now 
 flow, alas ! hut too insincerely, from the tongue of 
 modern dwellers in Palestine. Does a sheikh, or 
 chief, desire in an emergency to assemble his allies 
 for war, he does so with the cry of Jehu, “Who is 
 on my side ? Who ? ” 2 Evening is still called as 
 it was four thousand years ago, “ the time that women 
 go out to draw water.” 3 If you meet them by the 
 well, and request them to give you a draught, like 
 Bebekah of old, they will let down their pitcher 
 upon their hand, and say, “ Drink, my Lord.” 4 If 
 you ask them where any principal resident of their 
 village is to he found, should he be at home, you 
 will still receive the same answer as Saul and his 
 servant, “Behold, he is before you .” 5 The poor, 
 ignorant, oppressed peasant, to whom the writings 
 of Jeremiah and Ezekiel are all unknown, neverthe¬ 
 less, in the very language of inspiration, wearily 
 asks the English traveller when his nation are 
 coming “ to build up the land again.” 6 In a word, 
 to this day, in things sacred and secular, the speech 
 of all Syria is unchanged, and listening to it one 
 
 1 Ruth ii. 4. 2 2 Kings ix. 32. 3 Genesis xxiv. 11. 4 Genesis xxiv. 18 
 5 1 Samuel ix. 12. 6 Jeremiah xviii. 9 ; Ezekiel xxxvi. 10. 
 
20 
 
 PALESTINE EXPLORED. 
 
 catches everywhere distinct and startling echoes of 
 Scripture story. 
 
 Well has it been said, “ Immutability is the most 
 striking law of Eastern life. 5 ’ This unchangeable¬ 
 ness gives immense weight to all researches into 
 the present condition of Palestine. We have had 
 of late much very important work done by the 
 Palestine Exploration Eund. The land has been 
 surveyed throughout by able men with most valu¬ 
 able and interesting results. But far more interest- 
 ing and valuable discoveries are to be made in an 
 exploration of its life. Not only are many ques¬ 
 tions of topography of comparatively minor value 
 to the Biblical student, even when perfectly clear, 
 but such is the state of emptiness, ignorance, wasting, 
 and generally decay into which the country has 
 fallen for upwards of a thousand years that a perfect 
 identification of most Scriptural sites is scarcely 
 possible. But in the case of the manners, customs, 
 productions, great natural features, and a large part 
 of the language of the people, these through ages 
 of convulsion have survived unaltered, and may be 
 seen and heard to-day in Emmanuel’s Land the 
 same in all essentials as they were seen and heard by 
 David three thousand years ago. Buin has been able 
 to make but little havoc in these living, divinely- 
 preserved commentaries on the Written Word. And 
 more than this, the simple, everyday features of 
 
THE BIBLE IN PALESTINE. 
 
 21 
 
 Palestine life, when once recognised, throw, in very 
 many instances, a broad flood of light across the 
 pages of the Bible. The identification of the site of 
 a city may serve to explain one or two important 
 narratives, bnt the discovery of an ancient custom, 
 a regular atmospherical phenomenon, or a technical 
 expression still on the lips of the people, may give 
 a new force—ay, perhaps a new meaning—to a 
 hundred passages. That this is really the case I 
 trust to show in many parts of the following 
 pages. 
 
( 22 ) 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 MISCELLANE 0 US ILL US TEA TIONS. 
 
 “I use similitudes by the ministry of the prophets.” 
 
 —Hosea xii. io. 
 
 A VERY familiar feature of Eastern life meets the 
 traveller as he enters Palestine. Upon his first 
 stepping ashore at Jaffa, the ancient Joppa, he 
 sees around the landing stage a shouting, struggling 
 crowd of porters. These men, whose occupation is 
 known in Arabic as that of the ’ atal , or hammed , 
 contend frantically for his belongings, which one 
 of their number finally carries away upon his 
 back to the traveller’s hotel. Such ’odals find 
 regular employment in all the towns, for the 
 absence of carts renders their services constantly 
 necessary. They are generally clad in a coarse, 
 almost indestructible tunic of camers-hair cloth. 
 Their sole stock-in-trade is a stout rope about five 
 yards long. 
 
 The weights that these men will lift, and under 
 which they will stagger along for a considerable 
 distance, are truly amazing. Immense packing- 
 
MISCELLANEOUS ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 23 
 
 cases, full of heavy articles, sacks of wheat and 
 other produce, or large pieces of furniture, as the 
 case may he, are first piled up together. The ’atal, 
 or porter, then crouches down with his hack against 
 the heaped-up articles which are to form his load, 
 and having skilfully arranged his rope without any 
 knots so as to catch and sustain them all, and taking 
 one end of it in each hand, with a sudden spring 
 rises to his feet, and brings the whole weight to 
 hear upon his shoulders and the upper part of his 
 hack. In this effort to rise, they have a liahit of 
 emptying their lungs hy the expiration of hreath in 
 a loud kind of grunt. Men amongst ourselves 
 engaged in very heavy lifting labour make just the 
 same noise when in the act of putting their system 
 to an unusually violent strain. But for the relief 
 afforded hy this sudden expiration they would he in 
 imminent danger of rupturing a blood-vessel. I 
 have often gazed at these poor fellows with mingled 
 wonder and pity, as I have seen them staggering 
 past me along the broken and slippery stone paths 
 of the streets in Jerusalem, bowed down under 
 burdens so huge in bulk and heavy in weight as to 
 seem altogether beyond human strength. Certainly 
 no class of men in any country earn a harder liveli¬ 
 hood, or are exposed to a severer strain. Were not 
 the physical powers of these Syrian peasants, where 
 patient endurance is in question, developed in a 
 
24 
 
 PALESTINE EXPLORED. 
 
 very remarkable degree, they could not engage all 
 day long in such work. 
 
 It would seem that the reference to grievous 
 distresses under the figure of “burdens/’ so fre¬ 
 quently occurring in the poetical portions of Scrip¬ 
 ture, receives much force from a consideration of 
 the above facts. Moses complains to God, “ Thou 
 layest the burden of all this people upon me,” 
 in allusion to the crushing weight of responsibility 
 involved in conducting the helpless and thankless 
 crowds of Israel through the desert of Sinai, before 
 his labours were - lightened by the appointment of 
 seventy elders . 1 
 
 David says in his anguish of soul— 
 
 “ Mine iniquities are gone over my head, 
 
 As a heavy burden, they are too heavy for me.” 2 
 
 Constantly have I seen the porter’s huge load reach¬ 
 ing far over and above his head, which he has had 
 to hold down on this account in a bowed and painful 
 position. It was probably from this text that the 
 “glorious dreamer” took the idea which he has 
 embodied in the first scenes of his Pilgrims Pro¬ 
 gress. All the illustrations that I have noticed of 
 this subject set forth Christian at the beginning of 
 his way as bearing on his back a good-sized bundle, 
 such as^ might be carried by a strong man with 
 
 1 Numbers xi. II, 25. 2 Psalm xxxviii. 4. 
 
MISCELLANEOUS ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 25 
 
 comparative ease. Yery different was the familiar 
 picture that rose before David when he thought of 
 a wearied soul burdened beyond measure by a deep 
 conviction of sin, a picture no doubt such as I have 
 attempted to describe, and which was daily to he 
 witnessed from his palace windows. I would com¬ 
 mend it to the notice of any who may in future 
 illustrate Bunyan’s allegory. And here let me say, 
 in passing, that the highly conventional and unreal 
 character of most of the pictures to he met with in 
 hooks of Scriptural scenes and Scriptural subjects 
 is much to be deplored. A well and truthfully 
 illustrated Bible is a great want of the age. Dore, 
 whose work in this respect has been so much 
 admired, is full of inaccuracies. For instance, in 
 the meeting of Isaac and Bebekah, he represents 
 the bride in the act of stepping off her camel while 
 it remains standing, in entire ignorance of the fact 
 that at mounting or descending this tall quadruped 
 is always made to kneel down ! 
 
 In the prophets the “ burden ” is used as a most 
 expressive metaphor to set forth the denunciation of 
 heavy judgments . 1 Our Blessed Lord, too, has a 
 plain reference to the toil of the ’atal when, speaking 
 of the cruelly oppressive ceremonial traditions forced 
 
 1 Isaiah xiii. 1; xv. I; xvii. 1; xix. 1; xxiii. 1; xxx. 6 ; Jeremiah 
 xxiii. 33, 34, 36, 38; Lamentations ii. 14; Ezekiel xii. 10; Hosea 
 viii. 10 ; Nahum i. 1 ; Habakkuk i. 1, &c. 
 
2 6 
 
 PALESTINE EXPLORED. 
 
 upon the people by the hypocritical Scribes and 
 Pharisees, He tells ns that these spiritual task¬ 
 masters “ bind heavy burdens and grievous to 
 be borne, and lay them on men’s shoulders; but 
 they themselves will not move them with their 
 finger.” 1 In beautiful contrast to such wearisome 
 ritualistic and ceremonial observances, that only 
 tend to bondage and oppression, Jesus emphatically 
 declares, “ My burden is light.” 2 
 
 A picturesque and evidently ancient custom 
 is still lingering in the chief cities of Egypt, 
 and forms one of the many strange contrasts 
 of ancient and modern civilisation to be wit¬ 
 nessed in the land of the Pharaohs. When people 
 of wealth or position drive abroad in the European 
 carriages which have taken the place of the cum¬ 
 brous chariots of former days, they are preceded by 
 an attendant, who is called a sctis, or groom, and 
 whose duty it is to run on foot at some distance in 
 advance of the carriage. As almost every office or 
 service throughout the East is distinguished by its 
 own peculiar costume, these men are all habited 
 alike. Their dress is peculiarly light and pic¬ 
 turesque. The feet and lower part of the legs are 
 bare. Their spotlessly white tunic has large, flow¬ 
 ing, fanshaped sleeves, which as they begin to run, 
 1 Matthew xxiii. 4. 2 Matthew xi. 30. 
 
MISCELLANEOUS ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 2 7 
 
 holding their arms stretched out, appear like wings. 
 This tunic is gathered in by a scarf round the waist, 
 and above it they wear a short, sleeveless, velvet 
 jacket profusely embroidered with gold or silver 
 lace; and in their hands they carry a long light 
 wand. 
 
 Their office is to clear the way before their mas¬ 
 ter’s equipage, to open gates, to announce his coming, 
 and to wait upon him when the carriage halts. 
 They use their wands freely on all who occupy the 
 road and do not at once withdraw, often breaking 
 them over the shoulders of those who pay no heed 
 to their warning cry. Their speed, strength, and 
 powers of endurance are remarkable. People drive 
 at a very rapid rate in Cairo. Those who have 
 walked through its narrow streets have experienced 
 the great risk of injury to which foot-passengers 
 are exposed on this account. Yet an Egyptian 
 sccis will run, without stopping, before his master’s 
 carriage driven thus swiftly for a distance of twelve 
 miles ! The Viceroy only allows a subject, however 
 great his rank, to be attended by one sais, and the 
 equipages of the royal family are always known by 
 the accompaniment of two such grooms or out¬ 
 runners. These attendants also go with their em¬ 
 ployers when they ride on horseback. A similar 
 custom exists, as travellers tell us, in the chief cities 
 of Persia. That it should have almost died out in 
 
23 
 
 PALESTINE EXPLORED. 
 
 Palestine itself and most of the surrounding districts 
 is fully accounted for by the want of settled govern¬ 
 ment, the general poverty which prevails in these 
 parts, and the ruined state of the roads, which entirely 
 precludes the use of any wheeled vehicle. 
 
 The modern sais of Egypt appears to perform the 
 part of the “ runner,” or “ footman,” frequently re¬ 
 ferred to in the Bible as attached to the household 
 of kings and nobles. When Samuel warned the 
 people of “ the manner of the king ” that they so 
 eagerly desired to reign over them, amongst other 
 hard services that the monarch would exact, he 
 enumerated this, and put it at the head of a long 
 list, as one of the most laborious and oppressive. 
 “ Your sons he will take and appoint for himself, 
 for his chariots and his horsemen; and they shall 
 run before his chariots .” 1 We read that when 
 Absalom began to conspire against his father and 
 to assume royal honours, he “ prepared for himself 
 chariots and horses, and fifty men to run before 
 him .” 2 When some eight years afterwards Adonijah, 
 the son of Haggith, “ exalted himself, saying, ‘ I will 
 be king/ ” he did precisely the same thing . 3 These 
 facts lend great force to the act of Elijah, who in 
 an ecstasy of joy and zeal at the triumph of Jehovah, 
 and desirous to “ honour the king ” who for a brief 
 moment had honoured God, when the hand of the 
 1 Samuel viii. 11. 2 2 Samuel xv. 1. 3 1 Kings i. 5. 
 
MISCELLANEOUS ILLUSTRATIONS. 29 
 
 Lord came upon him, “ girded up his loins, and ran 
 before Ahab to the entrance of Jezreel,” 1 —that is, 
 for a distance of some twenty miles or more across 
 the great plain of Esdraelon the man of God acted as 
 the sais or runner of the king, clearing a way for his 
 chariot and announcing his arrival! Possibly, from 
 the haste with which the king started on his un- 
 foreseen journey, urged by Elijah, none of the royal 
 outrunners were at hand or in readiness to attend 
 upon their master; and viewed in this light the act 
 of the prophet, though not the less miraculous, ap¬ 
 pears the more natural, loyal, and chivalrous. 
 
 Would not this office of the outrunner appear 
 to furnish the graphic and forcible allusion of the 
 Apostle Paul in the conclusion of the passage where 
 he speaks of that hope in Christ which is the sheet- 
 anchor of the soul ? Describing this hope as an 
 anchor thrown on high “ which entereth into the 
 part within the veil,” that is, the spot typified by 
 the Holy of Holies, heaven itself, he adds, with that 
 sudden change of figure which is so characteristic of 
 his terse and vigorous style, “whither Jesus entered 
 for us as a forerunner.” 2 What a depth of mean¬ 
 ing is here! He who came “ not to be minis¬ 
 tered unto, but to minister,” and who condescended 
 to be among His people on earth “ as one who 
 serveth,” seems to Paul like the “ runner,” who just 
 1 1 Kings xviii. 44-46. 2 Hebrews vi. 20. 
 
30 
 
 PALESTINE EXPLORED. 
 
 precedes by a little the chariot of the prince to pre¬ 
 pare bis way, and to enter into the gates of the 
 palace and take possession in his name. His people, 
 whom He has Himself declared are to be “ kings ” 
 unto God, and. of whom He has said that, even when 
 He is in heaven, verily “ He will gird Himself, and 
 make them to sit down to meat, and will come forth 
 and serve them/’ are represented, for “ their strong 
 consolation,” as themselves already taking possession 
 in Jesus of the Father’s House. He as their out¬ 
 runner is pictured by the Apostle as having entered 
 in only a brief moment earlier to appear in heaven 
 for them, to announce their arrival, and to be pre¬ 
 pared to receive and wait upon them there ! Thus 
 is it ever with Him, our merciful Saviour, who, be¬ 
 cause He is God, lives to serve and succour those 
 of His faithful creatures who are the work of His 
 hands, the redeemed of His blood, and the joy of 
 His heart, and Who has repeatedly condescended to 
 set forth the nature of that service He so tenderly 
 affords them under figures of the lowliest offices. 
 
 One of the characteristic sights of Palestine, 
 shortly after the harvest has been gathered in, is 
 the measuring out of wheat and barley, which some¬ 
 times takes place in the corn-market, but more 
 frequently in the courtyard of the purchaser’s house. 
 All families at this time, that is during July and 
 
MISCELLANEOUS ILLUSTRATIONS. 3 I 
 
 August, lay up in store the wheat which will be 
 required to provide bread for the use of the house¬ 
 hold throughout the ensuing year, and also barley 
 sufficient for their horses, mules, and asses during 
 the same period. Samples are procured either from 
 the farmer or merchant, and when approved the 
 wdiole quantity ordered is delivered to the purchaser 
 bound up in sacks. A professional measurer is 
 always present on these occasions, and in the pre¬ 
 sence of the seller and buyer, or their represen¬ 
 tatives, duly proceeds to ascertain the contents of 
 each sack. This is done by meting out the grain in 
 a circular wooden measure in the shape of our own 
 bushel measure, but less deep, called in Arabic a 
 timneh. The measurer seats himself cross-legged 
 on the ground, and proceeds to shovel the wheat or 
 barley, as the case may be, into the timneh with 
 both his hands until it is partly full. Next he 
 seizes the measure, and shakes it strongly from side 
 to side, by means of two or three rapid half turns 
 without raising it from the ground, in order that the 
 grain may settle into a smaller space. This quick 
 shaking together of the corn is a striking part of the 
 process, and is very effective in forcing it to occupy 
 less room. He then fills it further, and repeats the 
 shaking from side to side, going over the same thing 
 again and again until it is full up to the brim. As 
 soon as this is the case, he gently but firmly presses 
 
32 
 
 PALESTINE EXPLORED. 
 
 upon it with his hands, so as to drive it into a yet 
 smaller space. Finally, having first made a slight 
 hollow on the top, he takes some more handfuls of 
 grain, and very skilfully constructs a cone of corn 
 upon the flat surface of the timneh, which he has 
 now filled. He continues carefully to build up this 
 cone until no more grain can possibly be held, and 
 that which he adds begins to flow over and run 
 down. Upon this the measure is considered to be 
 of full weight, and is emptied into the purchaser’s 
 sack. This is the universal method by which grain 
 is now meted out, and the price is always quoted at 
 so much per timneh. 
 
 These professional measurers are often dishonest, 
 taking bribes from seller or buyer, and in this case 
 are very skilful in cheating either party as it suits 
 their purpose. If it is to their interest to do so, 
 while apparently going through the ordinary process, 
 they can so contrive as to bring the contents of the 
 measure to half a rottle, or three pounds, less than 
 the proper quantity, involving a loss to the purchaser 
 of over six per cent. On the other hand, their dis¬ 
 honesty more commonly favours the merchants and 
 townspeople, who buy from the poor fellahheen , the 
 peasants. The cunning of the measurers in this 
 wmy is said to be brought to the highest degree at 
 Nablous , the ancient Shechem. If one of them in 
 that town is bribed by the buyer of wheat, not only 
 
MISCELLANEOUS ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 33 
 
 does he bring his measure to take np the largest 
 possible quantity, but in raising it up after it is 
 flowing over, he secretly lifts up with the hand sup¬ 
 porting the bottom of the measure a considerable 
 quantity of grain, which is so swiftly and adroitly 
 done as to escape the observation of the fellahh 
 who is selling it. 
 
 I have taken means carefully to ascertain the 
 capacity of the Palestine timneh} It is true, diffe¬ 
 rent kinds of wheat differ in weight. The following 
 measures give the contents in the case of the best 
 quality. A timneh filled up to the brim, without 
 being shaken or pressed, weighs six rottles and one- 
 sixth, or just thirty-seven pounds. The same timneh, 
 not only filled to the top but running over, that is, 
 piled up above in the shape of a cone, also without 
 being pressed and shaken, weighs seven rottles and 
 one-third, or forty-four pounds. When, however, 
 the measure in question is not only filled till it 
 flows over, but is, at the same time, shaken together 
 and pressed down, it holds just eight rottles, or forty- 
 eight pounds. 
 
 No doubt it is to this simple and familiar custom 
 that our Blessed Lord alludes, when He speaks 
 
 1 In the villages another measure, about half the size of the 
 timneh, is in use, called a sciah, which is evidently the same as the 
 HND, seah, of Scripture (Genesis xviii. 6 ; i Samuel xxv. 18; 2 Kings 
 
 vii. i). The modern sciah varies slightly in size in different villages. 
 
 C 
 
34 
 
 PALESTINE EXPLORED. 
 
 under an allegory of tlie recompense of those liberal 
 souls who shall assuredly themselves be made 
 fat. “ Give, and it shall be given unto you; good 
 measure, pressed down, shaken together, running 
 over, shall they give into your bosom [that is, 
 into the capacious natural pocket formed by that 
 part of the loose Eastern shirt which is above 
 the girdle]. Eor with what measure ye mete 
 it shall be measured to you again.” 1 The above 
 facts lend far more power and definiteness to our 
 Saviour’s graphic illustration than we should at first 
 sight have supposed it to contain. There is no less 
 than eleven pounds’ difference in weight between a 
 “ measure ” filled to the brim as we should fill it 
 here, and one such as I have described filled accord- 
 ing to the bountiful method of Bible lands, when 
 it is “ pressed down, shaken together, running over.” 
 In this latter case no less than about 30 per cent, 
 is added to its worth! Thus largely shall they be 
 rewarded who have learned to imitate the example of 
 their God and Saviour in the divine art of generous 
 giving! 
 
 A practice to be constantly noticed throughout 
 Syria is that of hiding any blood, which may happen 
 to be spilled on the ground, by covering it over with 
 the surrounding soil or dust. If while you are on 
 
 I Luke vi. 38. See also Matthew vii. 2, and Mark iv. 24. 
 
MISCELLANEOUS ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 35 
 
 a journey a Bedaween of your escort only so much 
 as cuts his hand, or suffers from bleeding at the 
 nose, he is very careful to let the blood fall upon 
 the earth, without leaving any stain upon his cloth- 
 ing or person, and he then and there buries it out 
 of sight by scraping over it the sand or dust of the 
 desert before he proceeds on his way. The reason 
 which they give for this observance I have not been 
 able to discover. Most probably it comes from the 
 thought in Numbers that blood pollutes the land if 
 left to lie upon it, 1 and from the plain direction in 
 the case of the huntsman who caught any beast or 
 fowl, to “ pour out the blood thereof, and cover it 
 with dust.” 2 It is reasonable to suppose that this 
 direction, like many other matters contained in the 
 law, embodied and sanctioned an already well-known 
 and universal practice. Very likely it arose from 
 anxiety lest any blood appearing upon the ground 
 might by any possibility be construed to represent 
 some act of violence, and thus, in the language of 
 Scripture, “ cause fury to come up to take ven¬ 
 geance.” This, in a land where the law of blood- 
 revenge causing endless sanguinary family feuds is 
 so stringent, may well be no imaginary fear. In 
 any case, it is deeply interesting to mark its obser¬ 
 vance at the present day. It would seem to be 
 referred to in the strong figurative language of 
 
 1 Numbers xxxv. 33. 2 Leviticus xvii. 13. 
 
36 
 
 PALESTINE EXPLORED. 
 
 several passages, notably that where Job in the 
 bitterness of his soul cries, 
 
 “ Earth, cover not thou my blood.” 1 
 
 A very striking Scripture in connection with this 
 Eastern usage is that in Ezekiel, where God foretells 
 the judgments coming upon Jerusalem at the hands 
 of the Chaldeans. These judgments are declared 
 to be a retribution for the reckless violence and 
 cruelty that had openly stalked through her streets. 
 “Eor her blood is in the midst of her; she set it 
 upon the bare rock; she hath not poured it upon the 
 ground , to cover it with dust. That it may cause 
 fury to come up to take vengeance, I have set her 
 blood upon the bare rock, that it should not be 
 covered.” 2 There is here a force of meaning that 
 might at first sight be overlooked. Jerusalem, as I 
 shall have occasion elsewhere to explain at length, 
 is essentially a rock city. The rock crops up to 
 the surface in every part of it. In ancient times, 
 before the rugged slopes and precipices of limestone 
 and indurated chalk were choked up and covered 
 over, as they are now, by mountains of debris, it 
 appeared, as at the fortress of Jebus, with its walls 
 resting on rock scarps in some places fifty feet high. 
 Hence one of its proud titles was “ the Tableland 
 rock,” a name given to it in another passage where 
 
 2 Ezekiel xxiv. 7, 8. 
 
 1 Job xvi. 18. 
 
MISCELLANEOUS ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 37 
 
 its judgment is denounced. 1 But this natural 
 stronghold of Zion, alas ! was constantly the scene of 
 internal robbery and oppression, of bigotry, cruelty, 
 and persecution. This history of violence was 
 summed up by our Blessed Lord in the solemn 
 words, “ It cannot be that a prophet perish out of 
 Jerusalem/’ 2 that is, in any other place but that 
 guilty city ! Thus in the passage I have cited from 
 Ezekiel, God says, as it were, “ I have not allowed 
 these cruel persecutions to take place in the pro¬ 
 vinces, but in Jerusalem, of which you boast as ‘ the 
 tableland rock/ that there on this stony strong¬ 
 hold you might not be able to find soil enough 
 to cover up and hide from my sight the blood of 
 the martyred saints and the innocent poor who 
 have suffered at your hands, but that it might 
 remain exposed, as a witness against you, and 
 ‘ cause fury to come up/ by crying to me for 
 vengeance!” 
 
 The lighting of camp-fires is a constant and very 
 noticeable feature of journeys in the Holy Land. 
 Fuel for this purpose is afforded by the low, woody, 
 herbaceous growth, partaking largely of a thorny 
 nature, which abounds in the deserts, and is to be 
 met with by the wayside in most parts of the 
 
 1 Jeremiah xxi. 13. 
 
 2 Luke xiii. 33. 
 
33 
 
 PALESTINE EXPLORED. 
 
 country. The “ fire of thorns ” is often alluded to 
 in the Old Testament, and every resident in Pales¬ 
 tine has reason to know what a familiar sight it is. 1 
 Easterns, who have a great dread of darkness and a 
 passionate fondness for light, seem to rejoice to seize 
 every opportunity of making these bonfires, and con¬ 
 tinuing them far into the night. They particularly 
 delight in the crackling and the bright flames which 
 thorn bushes specially throw out. They kindle 
 these fires, however, as much for protection as for 
 pleasure. The - lurid light thus given serves to 
 scare away the wild beasts which come out at night 
 in many lonely places, and also to show to those 
 on the watch the approach of thieves and robbers. 
 When travelling under the escort of Bcclawcen Arabs 
 in certain dangerous parts of the desert, travellers 
 have observed that their wild escort keep up watch- 
 fires round the camp all night, while the “ keepers,” 
 or guards, shout out at intervals to render the pro¬ 
 tection more complete. On one occasion, while 
 travelling through the waterless desert leading to 
 
 o O O 
 
 Palmyra, when within a short distance of its ruins, 
 
 1 Psalm cxviii. 12; Isaiah xxxiii. 12. Sometimes the mention 
 of fire in connection with thorns refers to large conflagrations 
 kindled in autumn. These extensive fires are lighted to clear 
 the stubble lands of their wild growth, amongst which thorny 
 plants of many kinds are very numerous (Exodus xxii. 6 ; 2 Samuel 
 xxiii. 6, 7 ; Nahum i. 10). The context generally shows which kind 
 of fire is meant. 
 
MISCELLANEOUS ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 39 
 
 I had to pass a large camp of the ’Anazeh tribe of 
 Bedaween. I was travelling all night, accompanied 
 by a friend and a government escort of soldiers. 
 For an hour before we drew near to them, we saw 
 large bright fires encircling the encampment, and 
 we had to ride far out of our way in order to avoid 
 them. The flames of these fires were kept up till 
 daybreak. 
 
 There would seem to be a plain allusion to this 
 practice in the promise of Jehovah’s safeguard over 
 Jerusalem in millennial times. “Jerusalem shall 
 abide as the country parts, for the multitude of men 
 and cattle therein. And I, saitli Jehovah, will 
 be unto her a wall of fire round about.” 1 All 
 Eastern cities to this day are surrounded with high 
 massive walls and stout iron-plated and iron-barred 
 gates. The security, wealth, and safety of Israel’s 
 metropolis during the fulness of Messiah’s kingdom 
 is shown in this representation by its walls being 
 thrown down, its boundaries immensely enlarged, 
 and its being inhabited like a vast camp over which 
 the Lord Himself continually watches. 
 
 Still clearer is the reference to these camp-fires 
 kindled for protection, in a passage in Isaiah. The 
 prophet, after administering comfort to the faithful 
 in Israel, proceeds to warn the faithless and self- 
 righteous of the utter futility of their carnal efforts 
 
 1 Zechariah ii. 4, 5 * 
 
40 PALESTINE EXPLORED. 
 
 to seek salvation. To all who fear Jehovah he 
 says— 
 
 “ Let him that walketh in darkness, 
 and hath no light, 
 
 Trust in the name of Jehovah, 
 
 And stay himself upon his God.” 1 
 
 But to the unbelievers he cries, in the next verse, 
 
 “ Behold, all ye that kindle a fire, 
 
 That gird you about with flames ! 
 
 Walk in the light of your fire, 
 
 And in the flames ye have lighted ; 
 
 This shall ye have from my hand ; 
 
 Ye shall die down in sorrow.” 
 
 Here the girding about with flames, evidently as a 
 means of protection in the darkness, is connected 
 with laying down to sleep. Yet their rest shall 
 be broken by trouble and sorrow, notwithstanding 
 all the flames of the watch-fires with which they 
 are surrounded. 
 
 Speaking of the great services that the Jews 
 are to receive from those Gentile nations which 
 have persecuted them in the past at the time when 
 they are to be restored to their own land, the Lord 
 declares by the prophet Isaiah— 
 
 “ I will lift up my band to the nations, 
 
 • ••••• 
 
 And thy daughters shall be carried upon 
 their shoulders.” 2 
 
 1 Isaiah 1 . io. 
 
 2 Isaiah xlix. 22. 
 
MISCELLANEOUS ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 41 
 
 Here is a most significant picture, and yet one 
 the meaning and power of which is entirely hidden 
 from the Western reader. 
 
 Children in the East, though sometimes folded to 
 the bosom, by being placed within the wide natural 
 pocket of the robe, or slung in a scarf across the 
 back, or borne astride upon the hip, are not 
 carried upon the arm in that laborious fashion 
 common with us. Instead of this, as soon as the 
 swaddling-clothes are removed—those long cotton 
 
 O O 
 
 bandages which, during its earliest infancy, bind the 
 body of the helpless child into a small mummy¬ 
 like bundle 1 —the nurse begins to accustom her 
 charge to sit astride upon her shoulder. She teaches 
 it at first to support itself by clinging with its baby 
 fingers to the top of her head, while she herself 
 simply places one hand against the lower part of 
 the child’s back. This method is generally adopted 
 when mothers or nurses carry their children, and 
 Egyptian sculptures show that it was just the same 
 four thousand years ago. It serves two important 
 ends. Eirst of all, it lightens labour, helps to 
 
 1 Luke ii. 7, 12. See also Ezekiel xvi. 4; and observe the 
 very bold figure in Job xxxviii. 9. It will explain the allusion 
 in Ezekiel xvi. 4, “ Thou wast not salted at all, nor swaddled 
 at all,” to bear in mind, that, to this day in Palestine, salt is 
 nibbed into the body of a new-born infant, before it is wrapped 
 round with swaddling clothes, that is, plain bands of calico some 
 six inches wide by three yards in length. 
 
42 
 
 PALESTINE EXPLORED. 
 
 improve rather than to injure the figure of the 
 nurse by expanding instead of contracting her 
 chest, strengthening her spine, and making her more 
 upright, and, when the child has learned, as it soon 
 does, to support itself alone, possesses the great 
 advantage of leaving both her arms and hands free. 
 But more than this, it teaches every child from its 
 earliest years to ride on horseback. It exercises 
 from infancy those muscles of the knees by which 
 the proper riding grip should be taken, giving in 
 after years that fearless and immovable seat for 
 which Eastern equestrians are justly famous, and 
 which it is so necessary to possess in a country 
 where all journeys have to be performed in the 
 saddle, and where women sit astride a horse like 
 men. An Emeer, or prince of the Lebanon, will 
 place a sovereign between his knee and the saddle, 
 and after a day’s coursing or hawking will produce 
 it again. I mention this in passing, but it will be 
 seen at once that “ to be carried on the shoulder ” 
 means to receive the tender and respectful care 
 which the nurse or slave-girl of Palestine invari¬ 
 ably shows to her young charge. This graphic 
 and picturesque figure tells how Israel will find 
 in their former proud persecutors humble and 
 loyal servants. The new-born children of God 
 will be carried home by the awe-stricken and 
 penitent nations as by eager and willing slaves ! 
 
MISCELLANEOUS ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 43 
 
 This meaning is confirmed by the following 
 verses:— 
 
 “ And kings shall be thy nursing fathers, 
 
 And their princesses thy nursing mothers. 
 
 They shall bow down to thee with their 
 face toward the earth, 
 
 And shall lick up the dust of thy feet.” 1 
 
 It must be also carefully observed that girls 
 throughout the East do not at all receive the same 
 attention as boys. Neither parents nor nurses treat 
 them with anything like the consideration that they 
 show towards “a man-child.” While they delight 
 to lift up the latter to ride upon their shoulders, 
 the girls are left for the most part to run about by 
 themselves. In a word, the order which Christianity 
 has introduced amongst us is entirely reversed. It 
 is the natural result of that inferior estimate of 
 woman, which is the outcome of the polygamy that 
 has prevailed in these lands from time immemorial. 
 There is, therefore, a touch of intense meaning given 
 to the picture of the honour which God has in store 
 for His ancient people, when He declares, 
 
 “ Thy daughters shall be carried upon their shoulders.” 
 
 Amongst countless examples of metaphor—for this 
 is the figure most frequently used in Scripture— 
 occurs the highly poetical language of David— 
 
 1 Isaiah xlix. 23. 
 
44 
 
 PALESTINE EXPLORED. 
 
 “ If I take the wings of the morning, 
 
 And dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, 
 Even there shall thy hand lead me, 
 
 And thy right hand shall hold me.’ 51 
 
 The bold metaphorical use of the leading by the 
 right hand will be dealt with by itself in another 
 place. But the former figure, “wings of the morn¬ 
 ing,” to a Western is not a little obscure. For my 
 part, I cannot doubt that we are to understand 
 certain beautiful light clouds as thus poetically 
 described. I have observed invariably that in the 
 late spring-time, in summer, and yet more especially 
 in the autumn, white clouds are to be seen in 
 Palestine. They only occur at the earliest hours 
 of morning, just previous to and at the time of 
 sunrise. It is the total absence of clouds at all 
 other parts of the day, except during the short 
 period of the winter rains, that lends such striking 
 solemnity and force to those descriptions of the 
 Second Advent where our Lord is represented as 
 coming in the clouds. 2 This feature of His majesty 
 loses all its meaning in lands like ours, in which 
 clouds are of such common occurrence that they are 
 
 1 Psalm cxxxix. g, io. 
 
 2 Daniel vii. 13 ; Matthew xxiv. 30; xxvi. 64; Mark xiii. 26; 
 xiv. 62 ; Luke xxi. 27 ; Revelations i. 7 ; xiv. 14. Hence, too, the 
 very special significance attaching to a cloud sheltering Israel 
 during the hot and absolutely cloudless months of summer in their 
 desert wanderings through the burning valleys of Sinai (Exodus 
 xiii. 21 ; Numbers x. 34; Psalm cv. 39)—to a cloud descending 
 
MISCELLANEOUS ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 45 
 
 rarely absent from the sky. The morning clouds of 
 summer and autumn are always of a brilliant silvery 
 white, save at such times as they are dyed with the 
 delicate opal tints of dawn. They hang low upon 
 the mountains of Judah, and produce effects of 
 indescribable beauty, as they float far down in the 
 valleys, or rise to wrap themselves around the 
 summit of the hills. In almost every instance, by 
 about seven o’clock the heat has dissipated these 
 fleecy clouds, and to the vivid Eastern imagination 
 morn has folded her outstretched wings. 
 
 Hosea alludes especially to this fugitive pheno¬ 
 menon of the hot season, when he cries of Israel, 
 
 “Your goodness is like the morning cloud.” 1 
 
 Moreover, clouds are intimately connected in Pales¬ 
 tine w T ith “the sea,” that is the Mediterranean, “the 
 Great Sea westward.” When Elijah was earnestly 
 pleading with God for rain, He sent His servant 
 up to the heights of Carmel to gather the first 
 intimation of an answer to his prayer. “ Go up, 
 I pray,” he said, “and look towards the sea.” At 
 
 on Sinai, some time in June (Exodus xix. 1 6; xxiv. 15)—to a cloud 
 overshadowing the Mount of Transfiguration, apparently in summer 
 (Matthew xvii. 5)—to a cloud receiving the ascending Saviour to¬ 
 wards the end of May or the beginning of June (Acts i. 9)—and 
 to clouds mentioned in other passages. 
 
 1 Hosea vi. 4. In our version it is “as a morning cloud,” but 
 the above rendering, which is the true translation of the Hebrew, 
 brings out the special allusion very distinctly. 
 
46 
 
 PALESTINE EXPLORED. 
 
 his seventh ascent he was able to report, “ Behold, 
 there ariseth a little cloud out of the sea.” 1 This 
 is still the direction from which all the clouds in 
 Palestine invariably come. The Arabs call the 
 west wind “the father of rain,” in allusion to its 
 bringing up the clouds from their home on “the 
 Great Sea westward.” The “morning cloud,” or 
 mass of dense white mist, consists of the moisture 
 brought up from the Mediterranean by the prevalent 
 westerly winds of summer and autumn, which be¬ 
 comes condensed on passing over the colder night air 
 of the land. I shall have occasion to speak at length 
 of the formation and inestimable value of these 
 remarkable clouds when describing the “ dew,” 
 for they constitute a most peculiar and important 
 feature of the climate of Palestine. A considera¬ 
 tion, however, of the foregoing facts will at once 
 display the appropriateness of the bold and beautiful 
 metaphor— 
 
 “ If I take the wings of the morning, 
 
 O O" 
 
 And dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea.” 
 
 Next to their remarkably fine erect figures, per¬ 
 haps nothing strikes one more in the appearance 
 of the lightly-clad peasant women of Palestine than 
 their long, pendant breasts. This feature may, I 
 think, be partly accounted for by the great length 
 
 1 I Kings xviii. 42-45. 
 
MISCELLANEOUS ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 47 
 
 of time during which they suckle their children. 
 Infants are seldom, if ever, weaned amongst the 
 fellahheen , or villagers, under two years of age. It 
 is, however, no extraordinary thing for a mother to 
 continue to give a “ man-child ” the breast till the 
 end of his fourth or fifth year. Indeed, our Beth¬ 
 lehem nurse assured us that she had known the 
 case of a favourite child whose mother had not 
 weaned it until it was seven years of age! Girls 
 would never be treated in this way, meeting as 
 they do on all occasions with marked neglect. The 
 native women believe that the longer a child is 
 allowed to remain at the breast the stronger he 
 grows. When, therefore, a boy appears one of great 
 promise, or is a first-born, or seems likely to be the 
 only child, the mother, if it is possible, nurses him 
 until he is four years of age. 
 
 These facts are really important as rendering 
 intelligible the early history of little Samuel. Her 
 child was granted to Hannah at a time when she 
 was hopelessly barren, in answer to special prayer, 
 and she had dedicated him before his birth to the 
 Lord by a solemn vow, in which she declared she 
 would “give him unto Jehovah all the days of his 
 life.” When he was born Hannah determined that 
 it would be lawful for her to keep him until he 
 was weaned, and doubtless, like all the women of 
 Palestine at the present day, believed that the longer 
 
48 
 
 PALESTINE EXPLORED. 
 
 she could nurse him the stronger and better he 
 would become. She, therefore, proposed to stay at 
 home, and not accompany her husband on his yearly 
 pilgrimage to Shiloh until the child was taken from 
 the breast, and “then,” she said, “I will bring him, 
 that he may appear before Jehovah, and abide there 
 for ever.” This decision thoroughly approved itself 
 to her affectionate husband. Elkanah said to her: 
 “ Do what seemeth thee good; tarry until thou 
 have weaned him; only Jehovah establish His 
 word. So the'woman abode, and gave her son 
 suck until she weaned him.” 1 How many yearly 
 festivals passed by before that event we are not 
 told; but, from what has been said above, we cannot 
 doubt that according to every usage and feeling of 
 the East at the present day, little Samuel was not 
 weaned until he was from three to five years of age, 
 and therefore quite old enough to be left by himself 
 with the aged high priest, and to enter at once 
 upon some childish service in the sanctuary. Doubt¬ 
 less when the infant Moses was so providentially 
 restored to his mother, she kept him at the breast 
 much as Hannah kept Samuel, if only that she 
 might have her child under her own care as long 
 as possible. 
 
 Everything, too, in the account in Genesis of the 
 circumstances of Isaac’s weaning would seem to 
 
 1 i Samuel i. 21-23, 
 
MISCELLANEOUS ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 49 
 
 point to this remarkable child of promise as also 
 having been nursed by his mother for several years. 1 
 I have noticed with intense interest when reading 
 that admirable work, The Approaching End of the 
 Age , that the author calls attention to the fact that 
 the four hundred years of affliction and bondage 
 foretold as coming upon Abraham’s seed starts from 
 the time when Isaac was five years old. He adds: 
 “ To this day it is a matter of conjecture what the 
 event was which marked that year, though there is 
 little doubt that it was the casting out of the bond- 
 woman and her son on the occasion of the mocking 
 of the heir of promise by the natural seed. This 
 mocking, or 'persecuting’ (Gal. iv. 29), is the first 
 affliction of Abraham’s seed of which we have any 
 record, and its result demonstrated that it was in 
 Isaac the seed was to be called.” 2 These state¬ 
 ments are no doubt correct, but they contain what 
 at first sight appears to the Western reader a grave 
 difficulty. The mocking of the promised seed took 
 place at the feast when Isaac was weaned. That 
 he should have been five years old on the day 
 that he was weaned seems unaccountable to us, 
 but constitutes no difficulty whatever in Palestine. 
 It is in perfect keeping with the practice of the 
 
 1 Genesis xxi. 8-xo. 
 
 2 The Approaching End of the Age, by Mr. H. Grattan Guinness, 
 2nd edition, p. 478. 
 
5o 
 
 PALESTINE EXFLOEED. 
 
 East at the present day. Under the circumstances 
 of his being a remarkable, long waited for, and only 
 child, it is rather to have been expected than other¬ 
 wise, that Sarah’s son should have reached his fourth 
 or fifth year before he was entirely taken from the 
 breast. 
 
 A similar explanation is necessary if we are to 
 attach any distinct or literal meaning to the words 
 of Isaiah— 
 
 “ Whom doth he teach knowledge ? 
 
 And whom doth he make to understand instruction 1 
 Those weaned from the milk, 
 
 Those withdrawn from the breasts. 3 ’ 1 
 
 Children as soon as they are weaned amongst us 
 could not “ understand instruction,” but in Palestine 
 weaning takes place at an age when they can begin 
 to be taught knowledge. Almost all Eastern boys 
 can both speak and understand what is spoken to 
 them when first “ withdrawn from the breasts.” It is 
 indeed a tender age at which to begin, but one that 
 no wise parent will allow to pass by unimproved. 
 
 Again, our Blessed Lord’s quotation, 
 
 “ Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings thou 
 hast perfected praise,” 2 
 
 viewed thus, becomes capable of a literal sense. 
 
 If we consider a comparison used by the Psalmist 
 
 1 Isaiah xxviii. 9. 
 
 2 ^latthew xxi. 16, quoted from Psalm viii. 2, Septuagint version. 
 
MISCELLANEOUS ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 51 
 
 in this light, we shall see in it a new pcover and 
 beauty. The words to which I allude, attributed 
 in the heading of the Psalm to David, are those in 
 which he declares— 
 
 “ I have calmed and quieted my soul, 
 
 Like a child that is weaned by his mother, 
 
 My soul within me is even as a weaned child.” 1 
 
 The man after God’s own heart is speaking of his 
 conscious humility. He has but just before declared 
 that his heart is not haughty, neither has he exer¬ 
 cised himself in great matters. In contrast to such 
 proud bearing, his spirit, he tells us, is meek and 
 gentle, like that of a young child of three years of 
 age. To us the idea of a weaned child conveys only 
 the thought of helpless and unintelligent infancy, 
 and would, therefore, have no force in this connec¬ 
 tion. But, viewed in the above light, David’s words 
 are not only full of significant meaning, but are no 
 less than an expression of the same truth taught 
 afterwards by David’s Lord, when He “ called to 
 Him a little child, and set him in the midst of 
 them, and said, ‘ Verily I say unto you, Except 
 ye turn, and become as little children, ye shall 
 in no wise enter into the kingdom of heaven. 
 Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this 
 little child, the same is the greatest in the kingdom 
 of heaven.’ ” 2 
 
 1 Psalm cxxxi. 2. 
 
 2 Matthew xviii. 2-4. 
 
52 
 
 PALESTINE EXPLORED. 
 
 Throughout Palestine, gardens, orchards, and vine¬ 
 yards, unlike other cultivated spots, are always 
 enclosed, and the fence employed in almost every 
 instance is the common enclosure wall of the country, 
 called a jedar. This rude and primitive construction 
 is formed of rough, shapeless, unhewn stones, of all 
 sizes. Long practice has made the people very 
 skilful in making the jedars , and the hard marble¬ 
 like mizzey rock, which crops up to the surface in 
 every part of the country, affords them abundant 
 and excellent material for this purpose. The ground 
 is first smoothed, and the stones are then piled up, 
 about three feet in width at the bottom, and gradu¬ 
 ally narrowing towards the top. No mortar of any 
 kind is employed, the stones merely being laid so as 
 to fit closely together. The height varies in ordinary 
 cases from four to six feet. Sometimes they are 
 carried up as high as twelve feet. The whole con¬ 
 struction is of course comparatively fragile; but in 
 some ways this is an advantage, for a thief, whether 
 man or beast, cannot easily climb over it without 
 displacing and throwing down the loose stones, and 
 so giving notice of his approach. Indeed it is dan¬ 
 gerous to attempt to surmount it in the dark, for 
 the climber runs a great risk of being thrown down 
 and crushed by the fall of some huge fragment of 
 its rocky contents. These walls are sometimes 
 armed with dried thorn bushes placed upon the top. 
 
MISCELLANEOUS ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 53 
 
 The heavy rain-storms of winter constantly bring 
 down portions of the jedars, by undermining the soft 
 foundation of earth upon which they are laid, hut 
 they are readily repaired at a slight expense, without 
 the use of any fresh materials. 
 
 Now it is deeply interesting to notice that these 
 very walls are frequently mentioned in the Old 
 Testament. The Hebrew word gadair , l which is 
 twice written geder , 2 and has a feminine form, 
 gedaimh , 3 is evidently the equivalent of the Arabic 
 jedar. The softening of the hard g into j in 
 the Arabic transliteration of all Hebrew words is 
 a well-recognised fact. In this way the Hebrew 
 gamed, a camel, becomes jemel in Arabic, and the 
 town of Gannim, or En-Gannim, on the south of the 
 plain of Esdraelon, is now Jenin. The feminine 
 form gedairah is generally used of “folds” for sheep, 
 and is the expression employed by the two and a 
 half tribes when, seeking their inheritance in Moab, 
 Gilead, and Baslian, they said, “We will build sheep 
 folds here for our cattle.” 4 The common sheepfolds 
 of Palestine are to this day large enclosures formed 
 of the jedars which I have described, and hence the 
 name gedairah, or, as in modern Arabic, jedarah. 
 When Israel’s final restoration in millennial times 
 
 1 Tia 2 vm. 3 nm 
 
 •* T V *•' • 
 
 4 Numbers xxxii. 16. The same word is translated “folds” in 
 verses 24, 36. See also 1 Samuel xxiv. 3, and Zephaniah ii. 6. 
 
54 
 
 PALESTINE EXPLORED. 
 
 is pictured under the gathering together of a strayed 
 flock, the prophet cries— 
 
 “ A day [cometh] for building thy jedarsd 1 
 
 When the angel of the Lord went out to with¬ 
 stand Balaam, “ he stood in a path of the vineyards, 
 a jedar being on this side and a jedar on that.” 2 
 Nothing could be more natural than this description. 
 Vividly it recalls to my mind places where I have 
 had to pass through similar narrow passages, only 
 a few feet across, separating the massive vineyard 
 hedges of such rough unhewn stone. These loose 
 unmortared walls afford endless hot dusty crevices 
 in which the serpent tribe delight. They can, more¬ 
 over, be easily and swiftly thrown down by any 
 mischievously-disposed person. There is, therefore, 
 far more force, than appears in our version, in that 
 proverb which tells how deeds of violence and wrong 
 recoil on the doer—“ Whoso breaketh down a jedar, 
 a serpent bitetli him.” 3 
 
 The Psalmist, comparing Israel to a vineyard of 
 the Lord’s planting, cries of its ruinous state in his 
 day— 
 
 “ Why hast thou broken down its jedar.?, 
 
 So that all who pass by the way do pluck it ? 
 
 The boar out of the tangled thicket doth waste it.” 4 
 
 1 Micali vii. n. 
 
 2 Numbers xxii. 24. 
 4 Psalm lxxx. 12. 
 
 3 Ecclesiastes x. 8. 
 
MISCELLANEOUS ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 55 
 
 In autumn the wild boars, who are very fond of 
 grapes, still come up by night around the Hebron 
 vineyards, to plunder and waste them if they can 
 only find a breach in the jedars. The peasants at 
 this season lie in wait outside these stone enclo¬ 
 sures after dark in order to shoot them. 
 
 A jedar naturally came to be used as a figure of 
 general defence and protection. Hence Ezra, in his 
 humble prayer of confession, recounting the mercies 
 of God, says: He “ hath extended mercy to us, . . . 
 to give us a jedar in Judah.” 1 
 
 To “ make up or repair the jedar” that familiar 
 operation to be witnessed each winter in Palestine, 
 when the pieces of stone which have fallen down 
 are piled up again, came in the same way to mean 
 metaphorically the setting right of that which was 
 wrong amongst the people of God, and so restoring 
 the Divine protection . 2 When the foundation has 
 given way, and a wall of this kind once begins to 
 crumble and topple down, nothing could better 
 image a condition of helpless weakness. In a 
 passage, which requires a different rendering from 
 that given in our version, David so employs it. 
 He has just been rejoicing in the strength of God, 
 his Eock, abiding in whom he knows that he will 
 remain unmoved. At the same time he confesses 
 his own utter weakness and helplessness under 
 
 1 Ezra ix. 9. 2 Ezekiel xiii. 5, xxii. 30. 
 
56 
 
 PALESTINE EXPLORED. 
 
 the onslaught of his fierce foes, with whom he 
 thus remonstrates: 
 
 <c How long will ye rush upon a man, 
 
 Will ye break him down, all of you, 
 
 As a bowing wall, or a tottering jedar ? 55 1 
 
 At noon, in Syria, the heat during summer is very 
 great, and though it is tempered by the rare dry¬ 
 ness of a climate naturally most healthy, all who 
 can possibly do so desist at that hour from work, 
 and seek a place of shelter and rest. Even labouring 
 people endeavour at this time to get away from the 
 sun, and to spend an hour in sleep, while in the 
 towns and villages the busy hum of life almost 
 entirely ceases. Jeremiah, who draws such dark 
 pictures of lamentation and woe, on several occasions 
 heightens the terrors of threatened judgments by 
 describing them as coming at noon, an hour when 
 both besieger and besieged would, under all ordinary 
 circumstances, alike take rest. Speaking of the 
 Chaldean descent on Jerusalem, he says— 
 
 a Prepare ye war against her. 
 
 Arise, and let us go up at noon! ” 2 
 
 And again he declares of guilty Zion— 
 
 “ I bring upon them, against the mother of the strong 
 young man, 
 
 1 Psalm lxii. 3. 
 
 2 Jeremiah vi. 4. 
 
MISCELLANEOUS ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 57 
 
 A spoiler at noon-day ! 
 
 I cause to fall upon her suddenly anguish and terrors .” 1 
 
 The shepherd in the arid and glaring deserts is 
 especially exposed to the heat, and at twelve o’clock 
 on a snmmer-day, when the rays of the sun strike 
 almost perpendicularly down, is sorely tried to find 
 shelter for his flock. Yet the good shepherd, I 
 have observed, constantly manages to do so. There 
 are in most of the wilderness pastures of the 
 Holy Land high cliffs or ledges of rock, which 
 almost overhang their base, and are arranged at 
 such an angle to the zenith that even when the sun 
 is at its height they still afford a thin but precious 
 strip of shade. Here the shepherd resorts with his 
 sheep, and you may often see the flock extending in 
 a long line so as to avail themselves of the narrow 
 shelter. Even when this is not sufficient in length 
 to afford standing room for all, the sheep may be 
 seen stretching beyond, and taking refuge, as it were, 
 one behind another. Indeed this finding a sheltered 
 resting-place for his charge at the midday hour 
 forms a part of the daily routine of the shepherd’s 
 life. 
 
 There is a beautiful allusion to this, and one 
 which has, I think, been hitherto overlooked, in the 
 pastoral imagery of the Song of Songs. The bride, 
 seeking the king, cries— 
 
 1 Jeremiah xv. 8. See also xx. 16. 
 
53 
 
 PALESTINE EXPLORED. 
 
 “ Tell me, thou whom my soul loveth, 
 
 Where thou shepherdest [thy flock], 
 
 Where thou restest [them] at noon 1 
 
 The soul has its seasons of labour and rest, but in 
 both, if it is to be at peace, it must be with Christ. 
 In the burning noontide of life, when scorched by 
 temptation and sin, or amidst the fiery beat of 
 persecution, we may be sure of finding safety and 
 refreshment in Jesus, if we flee unto Him to bide 
 us. Our Good Shepherd is in Himself such a place 
 of refuge, “ the .shadow of a great rock in a weary 
 land,” that is, “ a land of exhausting heat.” 2 
 
 Aqueducts are, and always must have been, very 
 common and familiar objects in the Holy Land. 
 They still are, too, and must ever have been, of 
 vital importance in a country where good springs 
 are in many parts comparatively few. Two things, 
 therefore, are highly improbable. First, that the 
 inspired writers, who drew their simple hut striking 
 figures especially from horticultural subjects, should 
 have failed in a single instance to allude to these 
 precious water channels. Secondly, that the exceed¬ 
 ingly primitive, rich, and precise Hebrew tongue 
 should lack a special technical term by which to 
 describe them. For my own part, since my resi¬ 
 dence in Palestine led me to realise the prominent 
 
 1 Song of Solomon i. 7. 2 Isaiah xxxii. 2. 
 
MISCELLANEOUS ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 59 
 
 place that aqueducts have always occupied in that 
 land, I have felt that they must have been spoken 
 of by name in the Bible. 
 
 This mention appeared to me plain when after¬ 
 wards seeking a meaning for the word a^heeJc , 1 
 which occurs eighteen times in the Old Testament, 
 besides forming the names of towns such as Aphaik, 
 near Bethhoron, and Aphaikah, near Hebron . 2 3 That 
 our translators could make hut little of this term is 
 evident. They have rendered it by no less than 
 seven different words, and the one they have 
 adopted most frequently, “river,” cannot possibly 
 be its true meaning! The word is derived from 
 aphaJe? which, in all the places where it occurs in 
 the Old Testament, bears the sense of “ restraining ” 
 or “ forcing.” 4 How the leading idea of an aqueduct 
 is that which forces or constrains a stream of water 
 to flow in a given direction. The strength of one of 
 the high pressure aqueducts, that formerly brought 
 the water of a distant spring to the Holy City, in a 
 direct line up and down the slopes of the mountains, 
 was very great. Each pipe consisted of a large 
 
 1 P'SK 
 
 2 i Samuel iv. I ; Joshua xv. 53. Spelt in our version Aphek 
 and Aphekah. 
 
 3 pBK 
 
 4 “Joseph could not restrain himself ” (Genesis xlv. 1); “ I forced 
 myself ” (1 Samuel xiii. 12); “ Haman restrained himself ” (Esther v. 
 10), &c. 
 
6o 
 
 PALESTINE EXPLORED. 
 
 block of stone bored through the centre. Several 
 of these were recently discovered in position. The 
 aqueducts were generally made of earthenware pipes, 
 laid in thick beds of a cement largely formed of 
 hhomrah, or crushed pottery, which in the course 
 of time became as hard as stone. Sometimes they 
 were cut as grooves in the limestone of the hill¬ 
 sides. At others, but more rarely, they were narrow 
 open ditches, by which the waters of a river were 
 carried to another part of the plain. In one or 
 two instances they consisted of a deep underground 
 channel, connecting a number of little pools, or pits, 
 such as those now in ruins at Ain Fusail, and the 
 Yale of Siddim in the Jordan valley. In each case 
 the chief idea of the aqueduct was the constraint 
 put upon the water of spring, stream, or pool, by 
 which it was forced to run in a prepared channel. 
 The word apheek, besides its strict technical mean¬ 
 ing, appears to have had other senses. It would 
 seem to have signified the natural subterranean 
 channels which supply springs, and also to have 
 been the special name for the narrow, rocky, aque¬ 
 duct-like beds of some mountain streams. 
 
 If we take a few of the passages where it 
 occurs, the appropriateness and beauty of the ren¬ 
 dering I now suggest will at once appear. A 
 striking instance of the use of this word is 
 found in the highly poetic description of the 
 
MISCELLANEOUS ILLUSTRATIONS. 6 I 
 
 strength of the hippopotamus given by Jehovah 
 Himself— 
 
 “ His bones are aqueducts of brass.” 1 
 
 The figure rendered thus becomes one of magni¬ 
 ficent boldness, whereas the translation in our 
 version, “strong pieces of brass,” is without any 
 warrant, and possesses no special significance. The 
 word occurs again in describing the rugged ridges of 
 thick tubular skin, seventeen in number, which, like 
 shields, protect the invulnerable crocodile. 2 
 
 This explanation adds new meaning and beauty 
 to the opening words of the 42 d Psalm. These are 
 literally— 
 
 “ As the hind panteth over the aqueducts, 
 
 So panteth my soul after thee, 0 God.” 3 
 
 In our Bible it reads “ panteth after the water 
 brooks.” But the picture of the Psalmist is far 
 
 1 Job xl. 18. 2 Job xli. 15. 
 
 3 Psalm xlii. 1. The Hebrew of the first line of this verse reads : 
 
 Mayyal ta’aroag ’al apheekaiy-mayim. 
 
 ’Al is in almost every instance to be rendered “upon,” “over,” or 
 “ above,” and this makes it impossible to translate apheeTcaiy-mayim , 
 “water brooks,” for a deer would not “pant,” or “bray,” for water 
 if it were standing over an open stream. The whole force of the 
 simile is lost in our version, for the thought in the mind of David is 
 the sense of the inaccessibility of those spiritual privileges which 
 he had once enjoyed in attending the services of the sanctuary. 
 The Psalm bears marks of having been written at the season when 
 he was compelled to fly from Jerusalem by Absalom’s rebellion. 
 
6 2 
 
 PALESTINE EXPLORED. 
 
 stronger than this. He is lamenting his banish¬ 
 ment from Zion and all its spiritual privileges in 
 the manifested presence of Jehovah. He thirsts 
 after God, and longs to taste again the joy of 
 His house, like the parched and weary hind who 
 comes to a covered channel, conveying the living 
 waters of some far-off spring across the intervening 
 desert. She scents the precious current in its bed of 
 adamantine cement, or hears its rippling flow close 
 beneath her feet, or perchance sees it deep down 
 through one of the narrow air-holes, and, as she 
 agonises for the inaccessible draught, she “panteth 
 over the aqueducts! ” Yet again the Psalmist 
 cries— 
 
 “ Turn our captivity, 0 Jehovah, 
 
 As aqueducts in the Negeb.” 1 
 
 This Negeb, or South Country, the region stretch¬ 
 ing below Hebron, being comparatively dry and 
 waterless, was doubtless irrigated by a system of 
 small artificial channels. The words of the Psalmist 
 imply that it is as easy for God to turn Israel back 
 from Babylonian bondage to their own land, as for 
 the horticulturist to direct the waters of the spring 
 to any part of the land he chooses along the channels 
 of the aqueducts. These aqueducts are spoken of 
 in connection with the irrigation of the Nile valley, 2 
 and the fertility of the mountain districts of Pales- 
 
 1 Psalm cxxvi. 4. 2 Ezekiel xxxii. 6. 
 
MISCELLANEOUS ILLUSTRATIONS. 63 
 
 tine, more especially Judah. 1 Speaking of millennial 
 times, the prophet declares— 
 
 “ Tlie mountains shall drop down new wine, 
 
 And the hills shall flow with milk, 
 
 And all the aqueducts of Judah shall flow with waters.” 2 
 
 If this be, as I believe, the true meaning of 
 apheek, then those places in Palestine which answer 
 to the sites of Aphaik and Apliaikah, and those, of 
 which there are several, bearing the modern name 
 of Feelt, will probably appear by the memoirs of the 
 Palestine Survey, or from the Survey itself, to stand 
 in connection with some ancient aqueducts, or rocky 
 aqueduct-like ravines. 
 
 When a friend of mine, who is an able and 
 observant expositor of Scripture, was travelling 
 in Egypt, during a visit to Alexandria, he noticed 
 quite casually the following incident, which I will 
 give in his own words:—“ An aged beggar, whose 
 appearance and garb attracted attention, was slowly 
 pacing the street. A young man, bent on a practical 
 joke, stepped up cautiously behind him, and either 
 pulled or pushed him. The moment he had done 
 so, with great adroitness he stepped back, stooped 
 down in a squatting posture after the fashion of the 
 
 1 Ezekiel xxxi. 12. The meaning of apheelc in Ezekiel vi. 3 ; 
 xxxiv. 13 ; xxxv. 8 ; xxxvi. 4, 6, I take to be “ravine,” or narrow, 
 rocky, aqueduct-like bed of mountain torrents. It is possible that 
 the word in Joel iii. 18 should be rendered in the same way. 
 
 2 Joel iii. 18. 
 
6 4 
 
 PALESTINE EXPLORED. 
 
 Easterns, and, assuming an air of innocence and 
 unconcern, commenced scribbling with bis finger on 
 the ground. His manner was, in fact, that of a 
 wholly abstracted person, who paid no attention to 
 anything going on around. He behaved as though 
 he saw not the surprise, nor heard the exclamation 
 of the old man.” 
 
 Perhaps few of the simple actions of our Lord 
 have given rise to more conjecture than that which 
 occurred in the case of the accusation by the Scribes 
 and Pharisees .of the woman taken in the act of 
 adultery. 1 Here, however, the precisely similar con¬ 
 duct of an Eastern gives the right explanation, while 
 thoroughly justifying the gloss which our translators 
 have put on the passage by the words they have 
 added in italics. Our Saviour, indignant at the 
 hardened hypocrisy of the accusers, desired to give 
 them an impressive rebuke by treating them with 
 silent contempt, and, by studied and well-understood 
 manner, affecting to be entirely indifferent to their 
 insincere charge. Jesus, we read, “ stooped down, 
 and with his finger wrote on the ground, \as though 
 he heard them not].” 
 
 1 John viii. 6. I am aware that the best critics reject the whole 
 narrative in which these words appear. But as long as it holds its 
 place in our version, and there is any probability that the circum¬ 
 stance actually occurred, the above explanation ought to be generally 
 known. While this work is going through the press, the Revised 
 Version of the New Testament has appeared, in which the passage 
 is retained, but placed within brackets, and the words in italics are 
 left out. 
 
( 65 ) 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 MISCELLANEOUS ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 (Continued.) 
 
 “Every scribe who has been made a disciple in respect to the 
 kingdom of heaven is like unto a man that is a householder, who 
 bringeth forth out of his treasury things new and old.”— Matthew 
 xiii. 52. 
 
 The power of lungs possessed by both men and 
 women in the East is very remarkable. In giving 
 an account of sifting, I shall have occasion to de¬ 
 scribe the way in which the sifter aids the simple 
 but searching process by blowing with much strength 
 across the surface of the sieve instead of using a 
 fan. It is not, however, the only trying use to 
 which the people of Palestine, who seem to utterly 
 despise all labour-saving apparatus, are in the habit 
 of putting their singularly strong chests. On all 
 ordinary occasions, when making or reviving a fire, 
 they employ their mouths, where we should employ 
 a pair of bellows. Placing their lips close to the 
 wood or charcoal, with great and continuously sus- 
 
 E 
 
66 
 
 PALESTINE EXPLORED. 
 
 tained force they blow upon the embers until they 
 give out a warm and steady blaze. I have repeatedly 
 watched my servants kindling a flame in this labo¬ 
 rious manner. The practice is universal, and indeed 
 they call this blowing “ making the fire.” There 
 are, I believe, pointed references to it in the Bible. 
 Speaking of the judgments to come upon Jerusalem, 
 God says, “ I will blow against thee the fire of my 
 wrath, .... Thou shalt be for fuel to the fire.” 1 
 Of the hypocrite’s end it is said by Zophar the 
 Eaamathite—' 
 
 “ A fire not blown shall consume him, 5 ’ 2 
 
 that is, “a supernatural fire;” for this was probably 
 a cruel allusion to “ the fire of God,” the lightning 
 that fell from heaven, and destroyed Job’s flocks 
 and shepherds. 3 
 
 One of the great inconveniences of life in the 
 tents of the Bedaween Arabs, and in the houses of the 
 fellahlieen, which are built without chimneys, is the 
 kindling of wood fires in the midst of an apartment, 
 from whence the smoke, having no regular place 
 of egress, spreads into every corner. In the houses 
 of the rich braziers of charcoal are employed, and as 
 their contents are carefully burnt in the open air to 
 a white heat before they are brought into the midst 
 
 1 Ezekiel xxi. 31, 32. 2 Job xx. 26. 3 Job i. 16. 
 
MISCELLANEOUS ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 67 
 
 of a room, they give out no fumes of any kind, while 
 diffusing a genial warmth. It was on such a “ fire 
 of coals,” that is, small pieces of charcoal—the only 
 coal known in Bible lands—that the angel of the 
 Lord baked a cake for Elijah, and that Christ, when 
 appearing to His disciples at the Sea of Galilee, pre¬ 
 pared fish and bread.* It was around such a brazier 
 of charcoal that Peter sat with the servants and the 
 officers in the High Priest’s palace when he denied 
 the Lord. 2 But in the homes of the people at 
 large, and even in the tents of Arab sheikhs and 
 the houses of some head-men in the poorer villages, 
 wood fires are, for several purposes, the only ones 
 employed. 
 
 I was entertained for three days in the spring 
 of 1872 by the Arab sheikh who presides in the 
 village of Tudmoor , the ancient Tadmor in the wil¬ 
 derness built by Solomon, 3 which is now contained, 
 with much ground besides to spare, within the still¬ 
 standing curtain walls of the vast temple of the sun. 
 His home presented one of those wonderful contrasts 
 of ancient grandeur and still more ancient simplicity 
 which lend the height of picturesqueness to modern 
 Syria. The guest chamber on this occasion was 
 
 1 1 Kings xix. 5, 6 ; John xxi. 9. 2 John xviii. 18. 
 
 3 2 Chronicles viii. 4. This remote spot, the Ultima Thule of 
 Syrian travel, is better known by its later Greek name of Pal¬ 
 myra, which, like its Hebrew name, Tadmor, is indicative of an 
 oasis of palm-trees, some of which remain to the present day. 
 
68 
 
 PALESTINE EXPLORED. 
 
 unfortunately full, and I and my companion had to 
 share it with some eight native friends who were 
 also visiting the sheikh at this time. The room was 
 far from large, and, as it had to serve as usual for 
 our bedroom by night as well as our dining and 
 sitting-room by day, we suffered considerable incon¬ 
 venience. But next to the plague of vermin, intro¬ 
 duced by the Arab guests, nothing tried me more 
 than the smoke, which rose from the large wood 
 fire, kindled from time to time on the stone floor in 
 the midst of the room. Before daybreak the servant 
 came in, and stepping over the bodies of the sleep¬ 
 ing guests as we lay on our simple mattresses on 
 the floor, lighted a pile of wood, much of which was 
 in a green condition, and proceeded to prepare our 
 morning cups of coffee. However difficult it had 
 been to sleep amid the attacks of countless small 
 tormentors during the night, this was even worse, 
 and I now found myself forced to get up. The 
 wreaths of smoke got into my throat and made me 
 cough, while also causing the most painful irritation 
 to my eyes and nostrils. Our host proceeded to 
 invite us as usual to gather round the fire and drink 
 coffee with him. This was the most trying part of 
 the day. At such time there was no escaping from 
 the fumes, and my eyes were constantly filled with 
 water, and became painfully inflamed. Had not the 
 stringent rules of Eastern etiquette, rendering it 
 
MISCELLANEOUS ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 6 9 
 
 imperatively necessary that I should drink my host’s 
 coffee, and the cold of the grey dawn without equally 
 constrained me, I should have fled from the house 
 to escape the torturing smoke. 
 
 In some large dwellings chimney-places exist of 
 a rude kind, with a hearth enclosed by slabs of 
 stone, sometimes with an andiron. But the houses 
 generally are built without chimneys, and the fire 
 is lighted in the centre of the room, and the smoke 
 allowed to escape where it can. Doubtless it was 
 this primitive and universal practice which gave 
 rise to the expressive proverb— 
 
 “ As smoke to the eyes, 
 
 So is the sluggard to them that send him.” 1 
 
 The irritation and annoyance caused by an idle and 
 worthless servant is thus forcefully and graphically 
 described under a most familiar figure. Fortunately 
 these fires, save in the coldest weather, are not con¬ 
 tinually burning, but are only lighted at such time 
 as guests drop in and coffee has to be prepared. In 
 the severest parts of winter, however, when the 
 family can afford the fuel, they are kept up all day. 
 The constant smoke arising from green wood must 
 in such cases prove a most painful nuisance to those 
 who have to stay in the house. It would seem 
 that this is the allusion of the Most High when, of 
 
 1 Proverbs x. 26. 
 
7 o 
 
 PALESTINE EXPLORED. 
 
 His rebellious, idolatrous, self-righteous people, He 
 declares— 
 
 “ These are a smoke in my nose, 
 
 A fire that burneth all the day.” 1 
 
 David, when exiled in the barren wilderness of 
 Judea, amid terrible sufferings and privation, and 
 almost in despair at the long loss of spiritual privi¬ 
 leges, cries— 
 
 “ My tears have been my food day and night.” 2 
 
 To an English 'ear such a figure of speech sounds 
 strained and unnatural. Tears, it would seem to us, 
 might indeed have been called by David his drink, 
 but that they should be said to be his “ food,” or 
 meat, appears at first sight very inappropriate. 
 
 Yet in the East nothing could be more proper 
 than this bold but perfectly consistent representa¬ 
 tion. Solid meat is, and always must have been, 
 comparatively rare in Syria. Beef is seldom or 
 never eaten, mutton in summer is very scarce, and 
 lean goat’s-flesh is in many parts all that can be 
 
 1 Isaiah lxv. 5, 
 
 2 Psalm xlii. 3. The word “ food ” here, ED*? Ichliem, in most 
 
 V V 5 
 
 instances translated “ bread ” in our version, is edible provision of 
 any kind. It is used of manna (Exodus xvi. 4, 8, 12), of mallows 
 (Job xxx. 4), of fruit (Jeremiah xi. 19), of the whole of the rich 
 provision at Joseph’s feast (Genesis xliii. 25, 31), and of the flesh of 
 animal'sacrifices (Numbers xxviii. 2). It frequently occurs in the 
 technical sense of “ bread ” made of wheat, barley, millet, or some 
 other grain. 
 
MISCELLANEOUS ILLUSTRATIONS. 7 I 
 
 obtained for several months in the year. The im¬ 
 possibility, owing to the warmth of the weather, of 
 hanging the meat, even when it can be procured, 
 renders it tough, and makes it necessary for culinary 
 purposes to broil or stew it to excess. The invari¬ 
 able method of preparing animal food throughout 
 the East is that indicated in the injunction to Peter 
 in the heavenly vision, namely, “ kill and eat.” 1 
 When thus cooked immediately after it is slaugh¬ 
 tered, and while the carcass is still warm, the meat 
 is far more tender and good than when it has been 
 hung for a day, but not quite so tender or well 
 flavoured as when eaten in that state of incipient 
 corruption in which we partake of it in the West. 
 All the Bedaween Arab sheikhs, who very rarely 
 take meat at any other time, on the arrival of a guest 
 whom they desire greatly to honour, like Abraham 
 in entertaining his angel visitants, kill a sheep, lamb, 
 or kid of the goats, for the wealthiest now would 
 seldom venture on so valuable an offering as the fat 
 young calf prepared by Israel’s hospitable and gene¬ 
 rous ancestor. The entire animal is cooking hard 
 by in the great iron pot before you have been an 
 hour in your host’s tent. But in this case, when 
 the joints appear whole, they are ready to fall to 
 pieces from excessive stewing, so that each guest 
 easily carves for himself with his own fingers. 
 
 1 Acts x. 13. 
 
72 
 
 PALESTINE EXPLORED. 
 
 Thus it has naturally come about that food in 
 Palestine consists very largely of broths and pot¬ 
 tages, answering somewhat to our plain soups, in 
 which the meat is served up in shreds. The poor 
 particularly relish these soups, and in making them 
 they use not only garden vegetables, but a great 
 variety of wild plants. This is the chief dish at 
 their principal or evening meal. The main nourish¬ 
 ment is in most cases in the broth itself, which 
 always forms the most substantial and palatable 
 part of prepared food at a truly Oriental board. 
 Jacob’s mess of pottage, probably, from its being 
 called “ that red,” the delicious Eastern preparation 
 of red lentil soup, represented to the hungry and 
 reckless Esau as substantial a dish as our roast 
 beef! 1 The wretched weakness and folly of Esau 
 in being tempted by such a repast as we should 
 understand by “ a mess of pottage,” has appeared no 
 doubt to many utterly unaccountable. But what 
 has been said above will show that this reckless, 
 worldly-minded, famishing man had a stronger in¬ 
 ducement to indulge his appetite than is generally 
 supposed. 
 
 The liquid character of prepared food is particu¬ 
 larly noticeable amongst the nomad population of 
 Palestine. The usual fare of the Bedaween Arabs, 
 called ayesh , is flour made into a paste, and boiled 
 
 1 Genesis xxv. 29-34. In verse 34 it is called “ lentile pottage.” 
 
MISCELLANEOUS ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 73 
 
 with sour camers-milk. The latter is sometimes 
 exchanged for leben, or goat’s sour butter-milk, in 
 which float on special occasions the meagre pieces 
 of overdone meat. It is exceedingly interesting 
 to observe that the forty-second Psalm bears every 
 mark of being written by David during a time of 
 exile, when he was compelled to hide in the wilder¬ 
 ness of Judea, and live like the desert tribes. Hence 
 the royal Psalmist could not, under the circumstances, 
 have used a more striking and appropriate metaphor. 
 
 Throughout Egypt and Syria a special kind of 
 jewellery is made, fashioned from gold or silver 
 mixed with the least possible alloy. In Egypt 
 women wear plain bracelets of two thick solid 
 twists of such gold, with scarcely any workmanship, 
 but worth from twenty to thirty pounds, their value 
 consisting alone of the weight of precious metal 
 which they contain. Though these ornaments are 
 solid, and of considerable thickness, they require no 
 clasp. So malleable is the gold, owing to its freedom 
 from admixture with any other metal, that the 
 ends of these stout coils easily admit of being 
 unbent by a lady’s fingers so as to be placed round 
 the wrist, and when in that position can with the 
 simple pressure of the hand be restored to their 
 circular form. Gold and silver ornaments of such 
 
74 
 
 PALESTINE EXPLORED. 
 
 kind do not, it is true, exhibit any highly-wrought 
 work, being in too soft a state to admit of this. 
 But, since in Bible lands massive worth seems 
 always in trinkets to have been more highly prized 
 than fineness of graving, this is of little consequence. 
 There is a regular standard or assay of gold and 
 silver jewellery of this sort, and in both cases these 
 metals are mixed with so little alloy that they are 
 always said to be “pure.” Thus, when buying any 
 article in the metal-worker’s bazaar at Cairo, the 
 modern capital of Egypt, the purchaser before doing 
 so carries it to a certain officer, who is stationed on 
 the spot, and who applies tests, and, if it be genuine, 
 gives a written certificate stating it to be of “ pure 
 gold,” or “pure silver,” as the case may be. Orna¬ 
 ments of this kind are much prized, and are only 
 possessed by the wealthy; whereas jewellery of the 
 ordinary description, especially silver jewellery, is 
 worn in great abundance by all classes. 
 
 Repeated mention is made in Scripture of this 
 “pure gold.” We are told that the furniture of the 
 Tabernacle, and afterwards of the Temple, together 
 with the porch of the latter, was overlaid with it. 1 
 Solomon’s royal throne was also overlaid w T ith the 
 same, and whereas the ordinary drinking vessels of 
 this magnificent monarch are said to have been of 
 
 1 Exodus xxv. ii, 17, 29, 31, 38 ; 1 Kings vii. 49, 50 ; 2 Chronicles 
 iii. 4. 
 
MISCELLANEOUS ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 75 
 
 “gold,” those of his most splendid palace, “ the 
 house of the forest of Lebanon,” so called from the 
 vast quantity of cedar employed in its construction, 
 are specially said to have been of “ pure gold.” 1 
 This form of the precious metal is used in several 
 passages as a figure of great excellence and value. 
 Thus Job in his final speech declares of Divine 
 wisdom— 
 
 “ The price of wisdom is above pearls ; 
 
 • • • • 
 
 Nor shall it be weighed with pure gold.” 2 
 
 Speaking of the glories of God’s anointed, the 
 Psalmist says— 
 
 “ Thou hast set a crown of pure gold on his head.” 3 
 In that glowing figurative picture of the Holy City, 
 Hew Jerusalem, coming down from God out of 
 heaven—the last and brightest of prophetic visions 
 —we read of that abode of the blest, “ the city was 
 pure gold,” and even its broad street shone with 
 a like splendour. 4 
 
 It has been observed that the various species of 
 ants which are found in Europe lie dormant during 
 winter. They therefore neither require nor lay up 
 food for that season, notwithstanding the explicit 
 statements of Scripture to the contrary, some still 
 
 1 2 Chronicles ix. 17, 20. 2 Job xxviii. 18, 19. 
 
 3 Psalm xxi. 3. 4 Revelation xxi. 18, 21. 
 
76 
 
 PALESTINE EXPLORED. 
 
 say it is tlie same in the East. On one occasion, 
 while encamped, about the middle of March, near 
 Tiberias, on the western shore of the Lake of Gali¬ 
 lee, I witnessed a sight that has left no doubt in 
 my own mind on this subject. I was walking in 
 the immediate neighbourhood of our tents, when I 
 noticed a line of those large black ants, some three- 
 eighths of an inch in length, with which I had 
 become familiar in other parts of the country. 
 These insects were marching towards their nest, 
 which was hidden at a distance amongst the rich 
 wild growth. Another party were passing them 
 empty handed on their return. Those who were 
 making for their nest were each laden with a grain 
 of barley, longer and larger than themselves. They 
 managed to drag the gram with singular rapidity, 
 and had every appearance of having been thus 
 engaged for a length of time. The work was pro¬ 
 ceeding in the most orderly and methodical manner, 
 every one of the immense host being loaded in 
 a similar way. It looked like a moving multitude 
 of barley corns. 
 
 Curious to find whence they drew their supplies, 
 I traced the line of ants back till I found it reaching 
 to a spot where the corn that was to form the 
 provender for our horses had been carelessly tossed 
 about, and lay scattered on the ground. Possibly 
 the mooharies , or mule-drivers, had spilled it from 
 
MISCELLANEOUS ILLUSTRATIONS. 77 
 
 their sacks, or perhaps the tethered animals, in 
 their eagerness to devour, had jerked it out of the 
 nose-hags with which they are fed. What was 
 going on under my eyes was not the mere sup¬ 
 ply of the daily needs of the insect community, 
 but the harvesting of food that was to be laid 
 up in store against the winter. ISTo one who had 
 witnessed it could doubt this any more than if he 
 had seen fieldmice in our country laying up a store 
 of beechnuts at a time when their food is most 
 abundant. An explanation of the matter may be 
 found in the warmth of regions like Tiberias and 
 the Jordan valley generally. It is highly pro¬ 
 bable that the ants there do not experience the 
 state of torpor in which they lie throughout the 
 long and severe season of cold in our northern 
 latitude, and consequently have need of food during 
 the winter months. 
 
 Hence the accuracy and beauty of that striking 
 figure of thrift and industry given by the inspired 
 naturalist— 
 
 “ Go to the ant, thou sluggard ! 
 
 Observe her ways, and be wise ; 
 
 Which having no governor, 
 
 Overseer, or ruler, 
 
 Provideth her bread in the summer, 
 
 And gathereth her food in the harvest.” 1 
 
 1 Proverbs vi. 6-8. 
 
73 
 
 PALESTINE EXPLORED. 
 
 Again, in his enumeration of four things which are 
 “ exceeding wise,” giving the same insect as one, 
 he dwells with admiration upon this feature of its 
 provident character— 
 
 11 The ants are a people not strong, 
 
 Yet they prepare their food in the summer.” 1 
 
 Summer, kayitz, 2 is the time of summer fruits, that 
 is, the time when most fruits ripen—from the middle 
 of June to the middle of August. We might expect 
 to find that they “ prepare their food in the summer ” 
 for the coming winter, the Scripture season of 
 hhoar&ph, 3 commencing in November, when all the 
 earth becomes bare from the last of its produce 
 being plucked off and taken away. But that they 
 should “ gather their food in the harvest, katzeer ” 4 
 the time of cutting the crop, that is, the main 
 winter crop of wheat or barley, which takes place 
 towards the latter end of April and during May, 
 almost in the first hours of settled fine weather, 
 
 1 Proverbs xxx. 25. 2 f'P 
 
 3 from the root m JtJiarapJi , “to pluck off.” Plence it 
 comes metaphorically to mean “to strip of honour or value,” “to 
 reproach,” “to blaspheme.” 
 
 4 from Jcatzar, “to cut or crop off.” This order of the 
 seasons, so strange to us, occurs again in the pathetic lament in Jere¬ 
 miah viii. 20— 
 
 “ The harvest is past, the summer is ended; 
 
 And we are not saved.” 
 
 It is, however, perfectly natural and strictly correct as regards 
 Palestine, where harvest precedes summer. 
 
MISCELLANEOUS ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 79 
 
 when a bountiful supply to continue for six months 
 might well tempt to idle and careless indulgence, 
 forms a never-to-be-forgotten example of moderation, 
 prudence, energy, and forethought—truly germs of 
 a character “exceeding wise.” 
 
 The flies of Palestine are at times terribly trouble¬ 
 some in the warm season. There are in particular 
 seven different kinds, which cause great annoyance. 
 First of these may be enumerated the Dubban 
 balady, or common fly of the country, resembling 
 our common house-fly, which appears on the plains 
 at the beginning of April, and on the mountains 
 about the end of that month. They come in vast 
 quantities, and their bite in hot weather causes con¬ 
 siderable irritation. Secondly, there is the Dubban 
 shurmn, or the “Donkey-fly,” which specially attacks 
 this animal, and causes it much distress. Thirdly, 
 there is the Dubban Jihail , or common “ horse-fly,” 
 a large, flat, brown insect, said by the country people 
 to be the Donkey-fly when it has attained its full 
 size. It is a great torment to horses and mules, 
 settling upon them chiefly when they are heated 
 and fatigued in very large numbers. 
 
 A fourth species is the Dubban azrack , or the 
 “ blue-fly,” which also attacks horses and other 
 animals, and has a very venomous sting. When 
 bitten by it they bleed from the wound, and become 
 
8o 
 
 PALESTINE EXPLORED. 
 
 wildly infuriated. After a long journey their bellies 
 and fetlocks may be seen red with blood. These 
 flies are mostly to be met with on the hot plains, 
 such as the country near Jenin , the En-Gannim of 
 Scripture, on the south of the plain of Esdraelon, 
 called in Scripture the plain of Jezreel, and the 
 plains of Acre and Sharon. To guard their valuable 
 horses from the fierce attacks of these insects, the 
 Arabs use gaudy-coloured woollen trappings, con¬ 
 sisting of an apron over the belly, with long fringes 
 and four huge tassels at the corners, that, swinging 
 below, afford some protection to the legs. On the 
 Philistine plains, from time immemorial the chief 
 haunt of this pest, during the latter part of summer 
 and the season spoken of in Scripture as “ heat,” 1 
 that is, from the middle of August to the latter end 
 of October, travelling, especially in connection with 
 transport of goods, is only attempted at night 
 time. 
 
 The fifth kind is the Namous , the well-known 
 mosquito. This torment of all hot countries abounds 
 in the well-cultivated and well-watered districts of 
 Palestine. The hissing sound they emit gives warn¬ 
 ing of their approach during the day, and the natives 
 by long practice are able to strike them the moment 
 they settle upon their hands or face before they 
 have time to inflict their painful sting. During the 
 night nets can be used to keep them at a distance, 
 
 1 Genesis viii. 22. 
 
MISCELLANEOUS ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 81 
 
 but practically it is a very difficult thing to escape 
 them altogether, even in this way. They are very 
 numerous in the lowland districts, and reach even 
 the highest parts of the central mountains of Israel 
 and Judah. 
 
 A sixth and still more formidable species are 
 called Heshes. These are sand-flies, and are par¬ 
 ticularly active at night-time. Not only are they 
 very numerous, and their bite extremely irritating, 
 but they are so small that no nets can keep them 
 away from the sleeper, and they do not, like the 
 mosquito, give due warning of their approach. They 
 chiefly make their appearance in the early summer, 
 and very formidable they are at such time. 
 
 The seventh and last kind that infest the Holy 
 
 Land are the much-dreaded JBargJiash, another species 
 
 of sand-fly, with glistening white wings, to be met 
 
 with in the hottest districts, such as Gaza, Eamleh, 
 
 the neighbourhood of Tiberias, and the Jordan 
 
 valley. They are specially active and irritable at 
 
 mid-day in May, June, and July. They swarm 
 
 on seme occasions so largely that they fill the air, 
 
 and one cannot eat or drink without being obliged 
 
 to swallow them. At these times they reign supreme, 
 
 and are a positive plague. Even the natives of 
 
 Syria are tormented by them. This I cannot help 
 
 thinking must have been the insect which Yinisauf 
 
 describes as causing such terrible distress to the 
 
 F 
 
82 
 
 PALESTINE EXPLORED. 
 
 crusading army under our Richard the First, when 
 they were marching on the maritime plains not very 
 far from Hebron. He says : “ The army, stopping a 
 while there, rejoicing in the hope of speedily setting 
 out for Jerusalem, were assailed by a most minute 
 kind of fly, flying about like sparks, which they 
 called Gincinellce. With these the whole neighbour¬ 
 ing region round about was filled. These most 
 wretchedly infested the pilgrims, piercing with great 
 smartness the hands, necks, throats, foreheads, and 
 faces, and every part that was uncovered, a most 
 violent burning tumour following the punctures 
 made by them, so that all that they stung looked 
 like lepers.” He adds, “ That they could hardly 
 guard themselves from the most troublesome vexa¬ 
 tion by covering their heads and necks with veils .” 1 
 The white glistening wings of the insect I have 
 described, which comes out in such crowds in the 
 bright sun, would well account for its being com¬ 
 pared to a “ spark.” It was at Ekron, in this same 
 Philistine country, not far from where the crusaders 
 met these tiny but formidable foes, that Baal-zebub, 
 “ the Lord of flies,” was formally worshipped, and 
 was supposed to possess the power of predicting life 
 or death . 2 This form of idolatry may well have 
 arisen from the dread these insects inspired. The 
 third and fourth plagues sent upon the land of 
 
 1 Harmer’s Observations , vol. iii. p. 310. 2 2 Kings i. 2. 
 
MISCELLANEOUS ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 33 
 
 Egypt have been supposed to consist, the former 
 of mosquitoes, and the latter of innumerable swarms 
 of sand-flies . 1 
 
 The fly is employed as a figure by the prophet 
 Isaiah, who cries— 
 
 “ Jehovah will hiss for the fly 
 
 That is in the uttermost part of the streams of Egypt .” 2 
 
 A bold metaphor, under which a distressing inva¬ 
 sion of the country by vast hordes of Egyptians is 
 graphically pictured. The terror of such a judg¬ 
 ment may well appear from what has been said of 
 the nature of the flies of Palestine. The connection, 
 too, of gnats and sand-flies with the numerous 
 “ streams,” or artificial canals, of Egypt, which 
 irrigate that verdant and garden-like land, is pecu¬ 
 liarly appropriate, for such green water-courses 
 form the special breeding-grounds of these insects. 
 
 Jeremiah addressing the Philistines, against whom 
 he is pronouncing coming woe, exclaims— 
 
 “ How long wilt tliou cut thyself ? ” 3 
 
 To this day may be witnessed throughout the Holy 
 Land the hideous sight which gave, rise to the allu¬ 
 sion. The Derweeshes, or Muslim devotees, make a 
 practice of cutting themselves with sharp iron darts, 
 pointed iron maces, and swords. This sight may be 
 
 1 Exodus viii. 16-24. 
 
 2 Isaiah vii. 18. 3 Jeremiah xlvii. 5. 
 
3 4 
 
 PALESTINE EXPLORED. 
 
 seen in public on certain great occasions when some 
 so-called holy sheikh, or some celebrated pilgrim 
 on his journey to Mecca, makes his entry into a 
 city. The most devout, or rather I should say the 
 most fanatical, Derweeshes who may be present at 
 such time, appear stripped naked to their waist, and 
 transfix their cheeks, arms, and breasts with the 
 various weapons they carry, but more especially 
 with their short slender iron darts, and spiked iron 
 maces with dagger-like appendages at either end. 
 The holes in their flesh into which these instruments 
 are darted, and from which they may afterwards be 
 seen hanging down, have in most instances been 
 pierced before, and have healed over, like those 
 which are made for ear-rings. Sometimes these 
 holes in the cheeks are skilfully concealed beneath 
 their beards. But on other occasions, when their 
 feelings are wrought up to a greater pitch of frenzy, 
 they will seize their swords, and, first carefully 
 covering themselves with long sheets, will gash 
 their foreheads till the blood spurts out upon them! 
 All these exercises are professedly the effects of 
 anguish arising from a sense of sin, an anguish 
 which, in some instances, we cannot doubt to be 
 genuine. 
 
 These men, who abound in Palestine, are the 
 modern representatives of those priests of Baal, 
 who, during the sacrifice at Carmel, in deep distress 
 
MISCELLANEOUS ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 85 
 
 of mind when no fire fell in answer to their prayers, 
 “ cut themselves after their manner with swords and 
 spears till the blood gushed out upon them .” 1 In our 
 Bibles it is said they cut themselves “with knives 
 and lancets.” The Hebrew words are hherev , 2 and 
 roamahh . 3 Hherev , rendered in our version “ knife,” 
 is in almost every instance (and it occurs three 
 hundred and ninety times) rendered “sword.” The 
 word roamahh is in all the other fourteen passages 
 where it occurs plainly “spear” or “javelin.” The 
 reader will observe that the correct rendering, which 
 no doubt appeared too hold for our translators to 
 adopt, brings out a lifelike resemblance to the 
 practices of the modern Derweesh ! 
 
 The eighty men, who, when coming up to 
 Gedaliah, the governor of the cities of Judah, were 
 so cruelly and treacherously slain by the conspirator 
 Ishmael, were in deep mourning. In describing 
 their appearance, we are told that, in addition to 
 having their beards shaved and their clothes rent, 
 they had “ cut themselves.” 4 Again, in drawing 
 the picture of severe and general lamentation, the 
 same prophet says— 
 
 “ Upon all hands are gashes .” 5 
 
 1 i Kings xviii. 28. 2 3 “in 3 rid 
 
 o 
 
 4 Jeremiah xli. 5* 
 
 5 Jeremiah xlviii. 37 ; see also Jeremiah xvi. 6. 
 
86 
 
 PALESTINE EXPLORED. 
 
 The figurative inquiry, therefore, 
 
 “ How long wilt thou cut thvself ? ” 
 
 means, “ how long wilt thou he in grievous lamen¬ 
 tation and distress ? ” It is not a little striking 
 and appropriate that the four allusions to this 
 cutting, so intimately connected with mourning, 
 all occur in Jeremiah, the prophet of lamentation 
 and woe. 
 
 The almost. tropical violence with which the 
 winter rains sometimes descend in Syria renders 
 travelling in certain parts during such occasions both 
 difficult and dangerous. At times, too, though these 
 occurrences are comparatively rare, there are severe 
 snowstorms, after which the snow melts with great 
 suddenness. As much as half an inch of rain has 
 been known to fall within the space of half an hour 
 upon lands which were already so steeped with 
 water that no more could sink into the soil. Let 
 this quantity be calculated over the wide area of 
 the bare hillsides, and the sudden and alarming 
 nature of the floods which then visit a land, suffer¬ 
 ing at other seasons rather from a lack of water, 
 may well be understood. Lieutenant Conder, E.E., 
 speaking of Bedaween life, says: “ In more than 
 one instance, a sudden thunderstorm in the hills 
 has brought a flood down the great valleys, in the 
 
MISCELLANEOUS ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 3 ; 
 
 bottom of which the smaller groups of tents are 
 often found, and the water has carried away and 
 drowned the whole settlement, together with its 
 flocks .” 1 Just such a scene must have been present 
 to our Saviour’s imagination when He pictured the 
 fall of the house built on the sand during a violent 
 winter tempest . 2 
 
 Nor are these terribly sudden freshets the only 
 peril of floods. Travellers in Syria, who pass through 
 the country on ordinary occasions, can form no idea 
 of the fury possessed during storms by streams 
 which at other times are comparatively small. 
 There are only about half-a-dozen bridges in the 
 whole of Palestine, in addition to a few ferries on 
 the Jordan. All rivers have, therefore, to be 
 forded, either on foot or on horseback. Some, like 
 “ that ancient river, the river Kishon,” are specially 
 dangerous owing to their muddy and treacherous 
 bottoms. Along the whole of the western coast it 
 is usual to cross the streams at their mouths, close 
 to the sea, where the sand which they accumulate 
 makes them shallower. This, however, in the case 
 of heavy storms, when a strong surf is on the beach, 
 adds a new peril to the passage. 
 
 I well remember on one occasion, on a journey 
 from Beyrout, after riding all night along the sea- 
 
 1 Tent Life in Palestine, vol. ii. p. 274. 
 
 2 Matthew vii. 26, 27. 
 
88 
 
 PALESTINE EXPLORED. 
 
 t 
 
 board, arriving alone with two guides, who knew 
 hut little of that part of the country, on the hanks 
 of the river Aujah, four miles north of Jaffa. It 
 was about three o’clock on a cold morning, and 
 
 the river was greatly swollen. My guides did not 
 know where to make the passage. The first time 
 I endeavoured to cross at the spot they indicated, 
 my horse, struggling vainly against the torrent, 
 turned back. I forced him in again a second time, 
 but had a narrow escape for my life. A huge wave 
 rolling in caught us up, and in its return well-nigh 
 drew us out to sea. I owed it to the strength and 
 courage of my horse that I managed to escape, and 
 wet and shivering, still found myself standing by 
 the bank of the river from which I had started. 
 Here I was compelled to wait until a party of 
 peasants, passing that way, guided me to a spot 
 higher up, where, with the water almost over the 
 saddle, I managed to cross in their footsteps. These 
 men, as is usual in such cases, undressed them¬ 
 selves, and put their clothes in a bundle on their 
 heads, and so walked over with the stream breast 
 high. 
 
 O 
 
 On that, and on other occasions, when forced 
 during winter to ford deep, swollen, rapid rivers, 
 I was able to realise in all its intensity the 
 Psalmist’s picture of the persecution and sorrow 
 under which Israel had well-nigh sunk— 
 
MISCELLANEOUS ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 3 9 
 
 “ Then the waters had overwhelmed ns, 
 
 The stream had gone over our soul; 
 
 Then the proud waters 
 Had gone over our soul.” 1 
 
 Such experiences light up with a vivid fulness 
 of meaning the Saviour’s supplication founded on 
 such a scene— 
 
 “ Save me, 0 God, 
 
 For the waters are come in unto my soul. 
 
 I sink in deep mire, where there is no standing ; 
 
 I am come into depths of water, and the flood 
 overfloweth me. 
 
 • • • • • 
 
 Deliver me out of the mire, and let me not sink ; 
 
 May I be delivered from them that hate me, 
 
 And out of the depths of waters. 
 
 Let not the flood of waters overflow me, 
 
 Neither let the deep swallow me up.” 2 
 
 % 
 
 Better, too, they enable us to enter into the rich 
 comfort and beauty of that tender promise— 
 u And now thus saith Jehovah, Who created thee, Jacob, 
 
 1 Psalm cxxiv. 4, 5. 
 
 2 Psalm lxix. 1, 2, 14, 15. That these are the words of the Lord 
 Christ appears plain from verse 9, quoted in John ii. 17— 
 
 “ Zeal for thy house consumed me,” 
 
 and verse 21, quoted in Matthew xxvii. 34— 
 
 “ They gave me gall for my food, 
 
 And for my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink,” 
 
 which are evidently spoken by the same person. They are a vivid 
 expression of that “ travail of his soul,” that anguish which He bore 
 for our sake in the day when, as our sinless substitute— 
 
 “Jehovah laid on him the iniquity of us all.” 
 
90 
 
 PALESTINE EXPLORED. 
 
 And who formed thee, Israel; 
 
 Fear not, for I have redeemed thee, 
 
 I have called thee by thy name, thou art mine. 
 
 When thou passest through the waters, I will be with 
 thee, 
 
 And through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee.” 1 
 
 The people of Palestine and the surrounding 
 countries are, as I have already had occasion to 
 remark, passionately fond of light. That is a 
 thoroughly Eastern proverb which says, “ Truly the 
 light is sweet,” and an equally characteristic Oriental 
 metaphor that puts “light” for joy and gladness . 2 
 Even poor people keep a tiny oil lamp burning all 
 night. This practice is universal, and they are 
 greatly surprised at the darkness which reigns in 
 our houses at night-time after the family has retired 
 to rest. When, therefore, the Psalmist, recounting 
 God’s mercies towards Israel, says, that at the 
 Exodus He led them— 
 
 “ All the night with the light of fire,” 3 
 
 he not only describes a miraculous means of guid¬ 
 ance, but one which to an Eastern nation was full 
 of peculiar comfort. Hence in the East the posses¬ 
 sion of a light came to signify the continuance of 
 life, for as long as a man was living he kept a 
 
 1 Isaiah xliii. I, 2. 2 Ecclesiastes xi. 7 ; Esther viii. 16. 
 
 3 Psalm lxxviii. 14. 
 
MISCELLANEOUS ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 91 
 
 lamp burning. So Job declares of tlie hypocrite’s 
 destruction— 
 
 a Yea, the light of the wicked shall be put out, 
 
 • • • • 
 
 The light shall become dark in his tent, 
 
 And his lamp over him shall go out.” 1 
 
 And again— 
 
 “ How often is the lamp of the wicked put out ? 
 
 And their destruction cometh upon them ? ” 2 
 
 The wise man, speaking of retributive justice, 
 says— 
 
 “ The light of the righteous shall rejoice ; 
 
 But the lamp of the wicked shall be put out.” 3 
 
 If in the East a lamp is out at night, it must be 
 because the house is empty and the occupant gone. 
 In the threatened destruction of Judah and all the 
 nations round about at the hands of the king of 
 Babylon, the final touch to the picture of ruin is 
 this, “ I will cause to perish from them . . . the light 
 of the lamp.” 4 And in the j udgment which is yet 
 to come upon the mystical Babylon, described so 
 graphically in the Bevelation, it is declared, “the 
 light of a lamp shall shine no more at all in 
 thee .” 5 
 
 To give any one a lamp in a place came in the 
 same way to mean to establish his house and line 
 
 1 Job xviii. 5, 6. 2 Job xxi. 17. 3 Proverbs xiii. 9. 
 
 4 Jeremiah xxv. 10. 0 Bevelation xviii. 23. 
 
92 
 
 PALESTINE EXPLORED. 
 
 in that place. In the days of Jehoram, who did 
 evil in the sight of the Lord, as the natural conse¬ 
 quence of having the daughter of Aliab for his wife, 
 we read, “Yet Jehovah would not destroy Judah, 
 for David his servant’s sake, as he promised him 
 to give to him a lamp for his sons always .” 1 And 
 again of wicked Abijam, who “walked in all the 
 sins of his father,” it is said, “ Nevertheless for 
 David’s sake Jehovah his God gave him a lamp in 
 Jerusalem , to set up his son after him, and to 
 establish Jerusalem .” 2 When Ahijah the Shilonite 
 announced to Jeroboam that God intended to wrest 
 ten tribes from the hand of Solomon, and give them 
 to his rule, he added in the name of the Lord, 
 “And to his (Solomon’s) son will I give one tribe, 
 (that is, the tribe of Benjamin, which remained 
 steadfast to the kingdom of Judah), that David my 
 servant may have a light always before me in Jeru¬ 
 salem, the city which I have chosen for myself to 
 put my name there.” 3 It must he borne in mind 
 that the city of Jerusalem, and all its northern 
 suburbs, stood in the territory of Benjamin. Had 
 this tribe joined the ten in their revolt against the 
 throne of Solomon, the royal city could not have 
 remained, as God had promised it should, the 
 dwelling-place of the kings of David’s line; that 
 is, in the highly figurative language of Bible lands, 
 
 1 2 Kings viii. 19. 2 1 Kings xv. 4. 3 1 Kings xi. 36. 
 
MISCELLANEOUS ILLUSTRATIONS. 9 3 
 
 their lamp in the Holy City would have been put 
 out. 
 
 A striking winter feature of Bethany, the modern 
 El ’Amriyeh , is a number of almond trees, which 
 cluster round the poor ruined village, leafless as 
 yet, hut beginning to put forth, early in February, 
 an abundance of whitish blossoms largely tinged 
 with pink. I have often admired this little grove, 
 and whilst doing so have felt that in the solemn 
 and affecting description of the closing scene of 
 life—the seventh age of man—given 11s in the 
 last chapter of Ecclesiastes, this tree cannot have 
 been introduced to picture the whiteness of an old 
 head. This light cheerful rose-colour displays far 
 more the bloom of youth than the snows of age. 
 It is difficult to understand why our translators 
 here render na-atz 1 by the word “ flourish,” seeing 
 that this Hebrew term means in every other place 
 “ to provoke,” “ abhor,” or “ despise.” It is here in 
 the hijphel mood, the mood which implies “ causing,” 
 and the right rendering would naturally seem to be 
 “ the almond ” (that is its nut, which is throughout 
 the Holy Land a very favourite and constant article 
 of food) “ causes loathing, and the locust ” (which 
 others can eat) “ is a burden ” to the aged, tooth¬ 
 less old man . 2 The previous verses, it is true, 
 
 1 END 2 Ecclesiastes xii. 5. 
 
94 
 
 PALESTINE EXPLORED. 
 
 contain a series of figures; but at this fifth verse 
 there is a change, and what is there stated is a sad 
 literal account of nature’s decay. 
 
 Well may the poetic Eastern fancy have viewed 
 this early active tree as nature’s vigilant “ watcher.” 
 Shakaid 1 is its Hebrew name, from the root 
 shakad , 2 “ to wake ” or “ watch.” While the other 
 trees are still lifeless and bare, the almond has long 
 woke up from the sleep of winter, and looked 
 round, as it were, for the yet dormant growth of 
 the new year. The fact of this tree’s still lingering 
 in a neighbourhood where so little wood is now 
 left seems to show that it was once very plentiful 
 there. The prophet, who lived at Anathoth, the 
 modern Anata , only some four miles north of 
 Bethany, was therefore in all probability familiar 
 enough with the symbol employed, when he heard 
 the words, “ Jeremiah, what seest thou ? ” and 
 replied, “ I see a branch of an almond (or watcher) 
 tree.” He would well understand the significant 
 words which immediately followed, when the Lord 
 said, “ Thou hast w^ell seen: for I will watch over 
 my word to perform it .” 3 The rendering in our 
 version is, “ I will hasten my word to perform it.” 
 There appears, however, no idea of haste intended 
 at all, but rather the thought of a vigilance which 
 points to waiting. And this, it will be seen, pre- 
 
 1 2 PpE?i 3 Jeremiah i. II, 12. 
 
 '•* T T 7 
 
MISCELLANEOUS ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 95 
 
 serves the striking play upon the words “watcher- 
 tree ” and “ watch/’ which are respectively the sub¬ 
 stantive and verbal form of the same root. 
 
 How wonderful is the patience of God ! Many 
 willingly ignorant mistake the Lord’s long-suffering 
 for slackness. But He who is Divine Patience and 
 Divine Truth ceaselessly watches over His word to 
 perform it in due season. Therefore it is that not 
 “ one jot or one tittle,” that is, one yod'} the smallest 
 Hebrew character, or even so much as one of the 
 still smaller fine upturned strokes, “tittles,” or rather 
 “ little horns,” which distinguish some of the Hebrew 
 consonants , 1 2 shall pass away till all has been literally 
 fulfilled . 3 The golden candlestick of the Tabernacle, 
 like Aaron’s rod, exhibited in each of its branches 
 flower, fruit, and stem of the almond . 4 Type as 
 this sacred vessel was of the Church of the first¬ 
 born, may not these ornaments have prefigured 
 God’s watchful care over the Written Word, the 
 oracles of grace, committed to the keeping of the 
 Church, which, notwithstanding that Church’s un- 
 
 1 the Hebrew letter yod, or i, pronounced e. 
 
 2 The Kepaia, Tceraia , “tittle,” or rather “little horn,” may be 
 seen in the tiny turn on the left-hand top corner of the 1* daleth, or 
 Hebrew letter d, by the height of which it is distinguished from 
 the “1, resh, or Hebrew letter r. Three of these “ little horns ” 
 occur on &, or sh, called shin, and they are found on many other 
 Hebrew letters. 
 
 3 Matthew v. 18. 
 
 4 Exodus xxv. 31-35. 
 
g6 
 
 PALESTINE EXPLORED. 
 
 faithfulness, He has so marvellously preserved, and 
 so unfailingly accomplished ? 
 
 There is a common belief amongst the towns¬ 
 people and villagers of Palestine, and the Bcdaween 
 of the surrounding deserts, that hidden treasures 
 exist underground in numerous places, and many 
 spend much of their time in seeking to discover 
 them. Sometimes incantations are used for this 
 purpose. So rooted is this belief amongst all classes 
 of people, that whenever they see Europeans engaged 
 in the exploration of the country or its ruins, they 
 conclude at once that the explorers are seeking for 
 buried wealth, and nothing will persuade them to 
 the contrary. This is one of the great hindrances 
 to scientific researches in Syria, rendering them 
 always difficult, and often dangerous. It greatly 
 impeded the recent Ordnance Survey. 
 
 Ho doubt the universal traditions which exist as 
 to hidden treasures rest on a good foundation. In 
 all parts of Syria the produce of the land is stored 
 up in a kind of underground cistern, called a silloh, 
 generally in -the form of a huge jar. Such secret 
 places are scattered here and there in the “field,” 
 or open cultivated plain, and are carefully concealed 
 from strangers. Ten out of the eighty men whom 
 Ishmael the conspirator sought to slay, escaped by 
 
MISCELLANEOUS ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 97 
 
 promising to reveal the spots where they possessed 
 such buried treasure. “ Do not kill us,” they cried, 
 “for we have hidden stores in the field, of wheat, 
 and of barley, and of oil, and of honey.” 1 Had 
 death or foreign captivity overtaken them suddenly, 
 here might have been ten sources of hidden treasure 
 in the region of Shechem, Shiloh, and Samaria, to 
 he found some day by others. It was certainly a 
 common practice to deposit large sums of money at 
 the conclusion of their funeral rites in the tombs of 
 kings and nobles, which accounts for the careful 
 sealing of such sepulchres by means of huge rolling- 
 stones and other ingenious apparatus. 
 
 It seems, too, that on many occasions besides 
 funerals, and in many places besides tombs, it was 
 usual to bury considerable wealth. Eepeatedly of 
 late hidden treasures of this kind have been brought 
 to light. A large number of gold Alexanders were 
 recently discovered at Tyre. A quantity of genuine 
 silver shekels were found in the neighbourhood of 
 Jericho during the winter of 1873. At Haifa 
 many Byzantine coins were found under the sill of 
 a doorway in the gardens. During the exploration 
 of the ruin in Jerusalem known as the Mauristan, 
 which now belongs to the Emperor of Germany, a 
 pot of gold coins was discovered. It will be seen 
 from this how natural was the conduct of the 
 
 1 Jeremiah xli. 8. 
 
 G 
 
98 PALESTINE EXPLORED. 
 
 wicked and slothful servant in the Parable of the 
 Talents, who, in order to put the sum he had 
 received in a safe place, “ went and digged in the 
 earth, and hid his lord’s money.” 1 Thus, too, we 
 find that Aclian only adopted the usual hiding-place 
 when stowing away “ the goodly robe of Shinar ” 
 and the silver and gold, which he had coveted and 
 stolen from the doomed spoil of Jericho. In his con¬ 
 fession he said, “ Behold, they are hidden in the earth 
 in the midst of my tent, and the silver under it.” 2 
 It would appear also from recent finds that such 
 sums of money were constantly buried in common 
 earthenware jars, the better to aid in their conceal¬ 
 ment. May there not be an allusion to this custom 
 when the Apostle Paul, speaking of the grace of 
 God in the believer, says, “We have this treasure 
 in earthen vessels ” ? 3 May it not be also that when 
 he speaks of Christ as He “ in whom are hidden 
 all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge,” the 
 Apostle is contrasting, under the same bold and 
 familiar figure, the weak human body which He 
 took upon Him at His incarnation, with the mighty 
 wisdom and power of the secret indwelling fulness 
 of the Godhead ? 4 To the eye of the natural man 
 that “ body of humiliation,” like an earthen jar, 
 entirely concealed the hidden treasure of Deity 
 
 1 Matthew xxv. 18. 2 Joshua vii. 21, 22. 
 
 3 2 Corinthians iv. 7. 4 Colossians ii. 3. 
 
MISCELLANEOUS ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 99 
 
 so tliat to such an one He appeared only as “ the 
 son of Joseph,” “the carpenter” of Nazareth, or 
 at best as Joliu the Baptist, Elijah, or one of the 
 prophets. 
 
 Possibly it is with reference to the universal 
 importance attached to the subject of buried treasure 
 that the promise to Cyrus of wealth and prosperity 
 runs— 
 
 “ I will give thee the treasures of darkness, 
 
 And hidden riches of secret places.” 1 
 
 It is certain that such is the bold figure used by 
 
 Job when he speaks of the miserable and bitter in 
 
 soul as those— 
 
 “ Who long for death, but it cometh not; 
 
 And dig for it more than for hidden treasures.” 2 
 
 Solomon, too, uses the same comparison when speak¬ 
 ing of that sincere and eager pursuit of heavenly 
 wisdom which never fails of its reward— 
 
 “ If thou seekest her like silver, 
 
 And searcliest for her as for hidden treasures : 
 
 Then shalt thou understand the fear of Jehovah, 
 
 And find the knowledge of God.” 3 
 
 There is scarcely one good road throughout the 
 length and breadth of Palestine. Travellers, as 
 they manage to pass their horses with difficulty 
 'along the wretched highways, or choose some 
 
 1 Isaiah xlv. 2 Job iii. 21. 3 Proverbs ii. 4, 5. 
 
100 
 
 PALESTINE EXPLORED. 
 
 adjacent path over the open plain as far preferable 
 to the road itself, often wonder whence come the 
 huge rough stones, which so constantly obstruct 
 the way. I was at a great loss to account for the 
 presence of these, until my attention was called, by 
 Mr. Schick, our able architect at Jerusalem, to the 
 manner in which many of them are brought there. 
 The camel, horse, and mule drivers, when they find 
 the burdens they have arranged on the backs of 
 their sumpter animals are not equally poised, instead 
 of rearranging them, have a cruel and senseless 
 custom of seizing any large stone which comes to 
 hand, and placing it on that side where the weight 
 is deficient. This stone in time jolts off, and is 
 replaced by another, and often by a third and a 
 fourth, and in any case at the journey’s end, or 
 when the animals are unloaded, is left where it 
 falls in the midst of the way. Besides this, in 
 clearing the vineyards, gardens, and arable lands, 
 stones are constantly thrown out on to the nearest 
 road. 
 
 None of the highways, moreover, are at any time 
 properly metalled, and in winter they suffer very 
 severely from the tropical torrents of rain. Neither 
 is there any adequate provision for keeping them 
 in permanent order even if they were efficiently 
 made. This condition of the highways causes very 
 serious inconvenience in a land where every journey 
 
MISCELLANEOUS ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 10 I 
 
 lias to be made on horseback, or on foot. Matters 
 were not so bad in the time of those master road- 
 makers, the Bomans, but it is very doubtful whether 
 the highways were ever in much better order under 
 purely Jewish rulers. The whole character and in¬ 
 stitutions of the despotic East make against the 
 proper preservation of works of this kind which 
 benefit the community at large. 
 
 An intensely interesting papyrus has been found 
 in Egypt, dating, it is supposed, about the fourteenth 
 century before Christ, that is, as far back as the 
 time of Israel under the Judges, probably the period 
 of their oppression by Jabin, king of Canaan. It 
 gives an account of the adventures of the first 
 traveller in Palestine of whose complete tour we 
 have any record. This gentleman was an Egyptian 
 officer, • called a Makar, a man evidently of some 
 importance, and he is represented as travelling in 
 an iron chariot. His journey begins at Aleppo, 
 and he visits a town near the shores of the Sea of 
 Galilee, where a meeting has been arranged with 
 other Mohars. Thence by the Jordan valley he 
 travels to Betlishan and to Megiddo, which has been 
 identified during the work of the survey of Western 
 Palestine with the important ruin of Mujedda, and 
 goes up its Weak, or deep cleft between the hills. 
 Next he goes to En-Gannim, Jenin, through the 
 aimele, or broad plain, of Jezreel, and passing Dothan 
 
102 PALESTINE EXPLORED. 
 
 * 
 
 by the road along which the Midianites bore Joseph 
 into Egypt, lie crosses the pass, now called Wady 
 Mussin, and descends into the plain of Sharon. After 
 an enforced stay at Joppa, he returns by an inland road 
 at the foot of the Judean hills to his own country. 
 A reference to the graphic account of this ancient 
 traveller will show how remarkably similar were 
 the incidents of a journey in Palestine two thousand 
 five hundred years ago to those of the present day. 
 As long as the Mohar kept to the plains, which he 
 appears to have done during the greater part of the 
 way, he seems to have managed to proceed tolerably 
 well; but no sooner do we find him on a mountain 
 road, at the pass of Wady Mussin, even though that 
 road appears to have been the long-established 
 caravan route into Egypt, than he tells us he 
 finds the way full of “rocks and rolling-stones/’ 
 “ obstructed by hollies, prickly pear, aloes, and 
 bushes called jackal-shoes.” His horses take fright, 
 the pole of his carriage becomes broken, and in a 
 pitiable plight he manages with difficulty to reach 
 Jaffa some twenty-five miles away on the plain. 1 
 
 Even in the palmy days of Solomon, Josephus 
 tells us as an instance of his extraordinary magni¬ 
 ficence, that he “ did not neglect the care of the 
 ways, but he laid a causeway of black stone [most 
 probably the hard, black basalt stone of the country] 
 
 1 Records of the Past, vol. ii. pp. 107-116. 
 
MISCELLANEOUS ILLUSTRATIONS. I O 3 
 
 along tlie roads that led to Jerusalem, which was 
 the royal city, both to render them easy for 
 travellers, and to manifest the grandeur of his 
 riches and government.” 1 From the mention of 
 these roads in the immediate vicinity of the capital 
 as a very remarkable affair, we may gather that 
 the other roads were not in a very different state 
 from that in which we find them now. 
 
 Yet, notwithstanding the almost impassable con¬ 
 dition of the highways at ordinary times, I have 
 repeatedly observed that on a few occasions for 
 brief intervals they were carefully mended. These 
 few occasions were those of the arrivals of some 
 royal personages. As soon as it was known at 
 Jerusalem that a king or prince of the blood was 
 about to come through any of the adjacent parts of 
 Palestine which lie within that pashalic, orders 
 were forthwith issued to the people of the various 
 towns and villages to put all the roads in order 
 over which it was arranged he should pass. This 
 was done as usual by means of enforced labour, 
 as was probably the case in former times. I re¬ 
 member once having to ride, with I)r. Chaplin, from 
 Jerusalem to Shechem ( Nablous ), a distance of forty 
 miles, just before one of the Eussian Grand-dukes 
 was expected to come that way, and finding, to my 
 great surprise and comfort, that the road, generally 
 
 1 Antiquities of the Jews, book viii. chap. vii. sec. 4. ' 
 
104 
 
 PALESTINE EXPLORED. 
 
 in such a state as to make any bye-path preferable, 
 was now perfectly smooth and in order throughout. 
 The stones had been gathered out, the broken- 
 down embankments had been cast up, and the 
 shelving and slippery ledges of rock on the brinks 
 of precipices had been covered with a thin coat of 
 earth. 
 
 Hence the proclamation in Isaiah— 
 
 u Pass ye, pass ye through the gates, 
 
 Prepare ye the way of the people ; 
 
 Cast up, cast up the highway, clear away the stones, 
 Lift up a standard for the peoples. 
 
 Behold Jehovah hath proclaimed unto the end of 
 the world : 
 
 Say ye to the daughter of Zion, 
 
 Behold, thy salvation cometh ! 
 
 Behold, his reward is with him, 
 
 And his recompense is before him.” 1 
 
 Here the coming of Christ is foretold, and the pre¬ 
 paration for the Advent of Israel’s Divine King 
 commanded, under the striking figure of the usual 
 orders issued to make ready the highway for a 
 royal procession. The Gentile nations are directed 
 to pass out of the gates of their cities in order to 
 remove all obstacles from His way, and to prepare 
 the road of the Lord and make His paths straight, 
 by repentance and faith,—a repentance and faith 
 specially evidenced by kindness towards His ancient 
 
 1 Isaiah lxii. io, n. 
 
MISCELLANEOUS ILLUSTRATIONS. I O 5 
 
 people Israel. Residents in Jerusalem of late years 
 liave had several excellent opportunities of observ¬ 
 ing the prophet’s allusion, and have learned to look 
 forward eagerly to the coming of some royal visitor, 
 if for no other reason, on account of the great 
 improvements immediately made in the roads upon 
 which he is about to travel. 
 
 Amongst the many ancient and interesting 
 customs that still linger in the villages of the 
 land of Israel, is one that may he witnessed in 
 those years when the harvest is bountiful, and 
 the tax-farmer not too rapacious. It consists of a 
 feast called in Arabic a kctwad, that is, “ a gathering 
 held at a holy place.” This feast, which is regarded 
 as a thank-offering for a good harvest, occurs at the 
 time when the grain produced by the winter crop 
 of wheat and barley has all been gathered in and 
 stored away. It is given by the chief farmers of 
 the village, who join together for this purpose, and 
 invite all the inhabitants of the place, rich and 
 poor, and any stranger that may chance to be 
 amongst them. The Imccm, or Mohammedan village 
 priest, whose position answers somewhat to that of 
 the Levite amongst the Israelites, occupies a chief 
 seat on such occasions, and the feast is held at a 
 Mukam, or “ sacred place,” on some liill-top, either 
 at the tomb @f a JVely, or Mohammedan saint, 
 
10 6 
 
 PALESTINE EXPLOITED. 
 
 or under a sacred tree. A considerable number 
 of sheep, and sometimes even one or two oxen, are 
 roasted and eaten. This feast is accompanied by 
 singing, and native dances conducted entirely by 
 men, and part of the festivities consist in the giving 
 away of wheat and other grains to the poor. It is 
 a time of very great and general rejoicing. Mr. 
 Samuel Bergheim, who has had seven years’ experi¬ 
 ence of farming at Abou Shousheh , the ancient 
 Gezer, has recently given an interesting account of 
 this annual feast, and observes that it is “ falling 
 into disuse on account of the poverty of the 
 peasant.” 1 It would seem that to scenes such as 
 these the prophet Isaiah refers when speaking of 
 the gladness brought by the Advent of Christ, in 
 the first instance to Galilee of the nations, and 
 afterwards to all the land of Israel. He cries— 
 
 “ Tliou multipliest the nation, ^ 
 
 Thou dost increase the joy tor it: 
 
 They joy before thee, according to the 
 joy in harvest.” 2 
 
 When life has been taken in any of the frequent 
 encounters amongst the Palestine fcllahheen, a blood- 
 
 1 Agriculture in Palestine, pp. 664 and 724, Sunday at Home 
 for 1879. 
 
 2 Isaiah ix. 3. The translation given above adopts a reading of 
 the Hebrew text to be fonnd in the margin of our Bibles, and one 
 which the whole context of the passage seems to require. 
 
MISCELLANEOUS ILLUSTRATIONS. 107 
 
 feud arises, in which the nearest relative, as 
 “ avenger of blood,” is bound by the customary law 
 of the land to take the slayer’s life. In some cases 
 a blood fine, Deeyeh , is taken in lieu of life, which 
 amounts to 4000 piastres, or about £35, for a 
 man, and half that amount for a woman. When 
 this is not paid, and even in many cases when it 
 is, their sense of honour requires the taking of a 
 life for a life. The Thar , or “ blood-revenge,” is 
 binding upon the relatives of the murdered person 
 to the fifth degree of consanguinity. Hence 
 fugitives are constantly to be found who are 
 seeking to escape from avengers of blood, and in 
 need of a refuge. This is only to be had now, 
 in the absence of cities of refuge, by claiming 
 the privilege of “ sanctuary.” It may be done in 
 three ways. First, by flying to a mosque, or to a 
 Muham. Secondly, by escaping to the house of 
 some neutral person, who rarely is known to 
 refuse the protection and shelter of his roof in 
 such a case, and who would be for ever disgraced 
 if he did. The open door of such a house once 
 passed is invariably respected, and many lives are 
 saved in this way, the fugitive remaining as the 
 guest of the host he has thus taken by storm until 
 such time as matters have been sufficiently settled 
 to enable him to leave without risk. 
 
 There is, however, a third method of taking 
 
108 PALESTINE EXPLORED. 
 
 sanctuary, which in all probability existed like the 
 others in ancient times. A man when run down 
 may save himself at the very last by calling out, 
 “ I am the DaJiheel of (that is, one who has entered 
 the dwelling of) such an one,” mentioning the name 
 of some person of power or rank. According to 
 their custom, the protection of the person invoked 
 is gained by thus merely calling upon his name. 
 It is held to be as though the fugitive had succeeded 
 in entering the tents or dwelling of the person he 
 mentions. In such a case, if the avengers of blood 
 refuse to listen to the appeal, and take the man- 
 slayer’s life, the person on whose name he has 
 called is bound, by their code of honour, to take 
 swift and summary vengeance. When they are in 
 the act of killing him, the fugitive turns to some 
 one who is present, and cries, “ Ana dahlieel fulan, 
 el cimaneli andah ,”—“ I am the Dahheel of such an 
 one—the trust is with thee.” By these words the 
 dying man commits to the one he addresses the 
 sacred duty of informing the protector who was 
 invoked of what has taken place, and of relating 
 how the victim was slain in despite of the respect 
 due to his name. One so addressed is bound by 
 every principle of religion and honour, however 
 much he may dislike doing so, to accept and carry 
 out this trust. To neglect to carry out an amdnek, 
 or “trust,” is in their estimation not only a deep 
 
MISCELLANEOUS ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 109 
 
 disgrace, but an unpardonable sin. To call a man 
 Khayin el amaneh, “ the breaker of a trust,” is to 
 give him the vilest character that can be borne. 
 
 When tidings have been brought to the person 
 whose name was invoked by the victim of the 
 avengers of blood, he has the right of gathering 
 together all his friends and allies to assist him in 
 punishing the outrage, and establishing the honour 
 of his name. With the customary cry, “ Who is 
 on my side ? Who ” ? 1 he calls upon them to join 
 their armed followers with his own men. He 
 then marches to the place where his Dahheel was 
 slain, and has a right to take vengeance upon all 
 who were concerned in killing him during three 
 and one-third days, by putting to death all the 
 men, and seizing all the property. For this act 
 of summary vengeance no blood-revenge or blood- 
 money can ever be claimed. When the three and 
 one-third days are over a white flag is hoisted on a 
 pole or spear by the relatives of the Dalihcel who 
 was put to death, in honour of his protector. Any 
 of the offenders who have escaped with their lives 
 may now return in safety, and resume possession of 
 whatever is left of their property. 2 
 
 1 2 Kings ix. 32. 
 
 2 I am indebted for the above facts to a very able and interesting 
 article by Mrs. Finn, entitled The Fellahheen of Palestine, which 
 appeared in the Quarterly Statement of the Palestine Exploration 
 Fund, January 1879. 
 
I 10 
 
 PALESTINE EXPLORED. 
 
 There would appear to be several allusions to 
 this mode of taking sanctuary in the Scriptures of 
 the Old Testament. Let Psalm xx. be read in this 
 light. It is a prayer of the people for their king 
 when he is in danger of his life. The Psalmist 
 cries— 
 
 “ The name of the God of Jacob defend thee. 
 
 • • • • 
 
 Some trust in chariots, and some in horses, 
 
 But we will make mention of the name of Jehovah 
 our God.” 1 
 
 And rejoicing by anticipation in the salvation that 
 this Name will bring, he cries, in apparent allu¬ 
 sion to the flag that is set up to the protector’s 
 honour— 
 
 £< We will rejoice in thy salvation, 
 
 And in the name of our God will we set up 
 a banner.” 2 
 
 Again, in another Psalm of David, whose adven¬ 
 turous life of border warfare had doubtless led him 
 to become very familiar with matters of sanctuary, 
 there seems a further reference to the same 
 custom— 
 
 “ Save me, 0 God, by thy name, 
 
 And by thy might vindicate me. 
 
 • • • • 
 
 For strangers are risen up against me, 
 
 And oppressors seek after my life.” 3 
 
 1 Psalm xx. i, 7. 2 Psalm xx. 5. 3 Psalm liv. 1, 3. 
 
MISCELLANEOUS ILLUSTRATIONS. I I I 
 
 Exulting in tlie power of Jehovah’s exalted name, 
 and the certainty of His vindicating those who 
 appeal to it, lie adds— 
 
 “ Behold, God is my helper, 
 
 • • • • 
 
 He will return the evil unto mine enemies; 
 
 In thy truth cut them off.” 1 
 
 But still plainer is the allusion of the wise man, 
 when, speaking of the Divine protection, he says— 
 
 “The name of Jehovah is a strong tower, 
 
 The righteous runneth into it, and is safe,” 2 
 
 Here the believer who honours God by publicly 
 calling upon His name, and by confessing his trust 
 in the Most High as his defender, is represented as 
 if he had fled into a strong place of refuge, where 
 he finds safety from his foes. When Satan, like 
 the avenger of blood, seeks our destruction, let us 
 call upon the name of our great and compassionate 
 Champion. The believing soul that in simple trust 
 turns to the Lord Jesus and makes mention of 
 His righteousness only; the soul that thus appeals to 
 Christ by confessing its own helplessness and danger, 
 and by placing itself unreservedly under His pro¬ 
 tection, shall assuredly find the help of One who is 
 mighty to save, and who never fails to vindicate 
 the honour of His great name. 
 
 1 Psalm liv. 4, 5* 
 
 2 Proverbs xviii. 10. 
 
I I 2 ) 
 
 ( 
 
 CHAPTER IY. 
 
 SHIVERING THE POTTERS VESSEL. 
 
 “ And its shivering shall be like the shivering of the potter’s 
 vessel, 
 
 That is broken in pieces unsparingly.” 
 
 —Isaiah xxx. 14 . 
 
 That glorious Messianic hymn, the second Psalm, 
 thus describes the final doom of those who oppose 
 the kingdom of God’s dear Son— 
 
 “ Thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel.” 1 
 
 The connection in which the words occur prepares 
 us to expect that they would contain a very pointed 
 and powerful figure. Something more would seem 
 to be implied in the climax of this grand denun¬ 
 ciation, than the ordinary breaking of an earthen 
 vessel. The allusion contained in the first member 
 of the verse, 
 
 “ Thou shalt shepherd them with a rod of iron,” 
 
 which I have explained in a subsequent chapter, 
 leads us to look for another striking and familiar 
 image in the second. That something of a special 
 
 1 Psalm ii. 9. 
 
SHIVERING TIIE POTTER’S VESSEL. 
 
 I 13 
 
 character is liere referred to appears still more 
 frilly in the similar threatening in Isaiah. The 
 passage is literally— 
 
 “ And its shivering shall be like the shivering 
 of the potter’s vessel, 
 
 That is broken in pieces unsparingly ; 
 
 So that in its breaking in pieces there shall 
 not be found a sherd 
 To snatch fire from the burning, 
 
 Or to take water out of a pit.” 1 
 
 Bearing in mind the size and strength of many 
 potter’s vessels in Palestine, it is plain that a mere 
 dashing out of the hand upon the ground would 
 fail to effect a “ shivering ” anything like this. To 
 what then do the prophets refer ? 
 
 The matter, I believe, admits of a very clear and. 
 deeply-interesting explanation. One of the most 
 constant features of the land is the well or beer , 2 
 which, as no rain falls for six months together, 
 and springs and streams are in many parts com¬ 
 paratively rare, becomes an essential adjunct to 
 every house. In these large underground structures 
 rain-water is collected from surface drainage, and 
 stored for use during the year. The “ Moabite 
 stone” records an act, passed by Meslia, king of 
 
 1 Isaiah xxx. 14. The word I have translated “ shivering,” 
 shever, is identical in meaning with our verb, “ to shiver,” 
 of which it is plainly the origin. 
 
 a beair , now pronounced in Arabic beer. 
 
 II 
 
PALESTINE EXPLORED. 
 
 I 14 
 
 Moab, so far back as the days of Jehoshaphat, king 
 of Judah, directing every man to make a leer, or 
 rain-cistern, in his dwelling. The king tells us 
 “ there were no wells (beeroth) in the interior of 
 the city in Qarha; and I said to all the people, 
 ‘ Make you every man a well (beer) in his house.’ ” 1 
 But such testimony would not be needed to establish 
 the great age of these huge artificial cisterns. 
 They abound everywhere, and many of them, in 
 fine preservation, mark the sites of very ancient 
 cities, where no other structure remains. There 
 are no less than thirty to be found within the 
 precincts of the Temple area at Jerusalem. Some 
 of these are of vast size, built on piers, and arched 
 like the crypt of a church. They are specially 
 numerous in the fine olive grove to the north of 
 the present city. This spot, as I shall have occa¬ 
 sion to show in another chapter, must once have 
 been enclosed within the walls. Here they are in 
 
 1 Our Work in Palestine , 1875, p. 255. The word beer is, in its 
 technical meaning, an underground rain-water cistern, and must be 
 so understood in most of the passages where it occurs in the Bible. 
 A “ w r ell (beer) of springing or living water ” is sometimes men¬ 
 tioned (Genesis xxvi. 19, Canticle iv. 15). Such wells occur fre¬ 
 quently in the sands of the maritime plains, but are very rare in 
 any part of the mountain districts. Several “ beers ” exist in Jeru¬ 
 salem, which receive rain-water like the rest, but are also periodi¬ 
 cally replenished from below. About five or six buckets full of 
 water come in between sunrise and sunset. This is supplied by the 
 infiltration from the limestone in which they are hewn out. 
 
SHIVERING THE POTTER’S VESSEL. I I 5 
 
 such a ruinous condition, apparently from extreme 
 age, that they now form a series of dangerous 
 pitfalls. 
 
 In addition to these wells there are many immense 
 artificial pools, or rain-water reservoirs, which are 
 often referred to in the Bible, and of which no 
 less than nine may now be traced in and around 
 Jerusalem itself. One of these, the Birhet 1 (or 
 Pool of) Mamillct , at the head of the valley of the 
 son of Hinnom on the south-west of the Holy Cit}g 
 is 291 feet long by 192 feet wide. Another, the 
 Birhet es Sultan, just below the scarped fortress of 
 Jehus, at the south-west angle of the ancient wall, 
 is 510 feet long by 210 feet wide. The Birhet 
 Yisrael, supposed by some to be the Pool of 
 Betliesda, lying in a deep cutting along the north 
 of the Temple area, has a length of 360 feet, by a 
 breadth of 1 3 o feet, and a depth of 5 o feet. The 
 Birhet Hammdm, or Pool of the Bath, which is 
 situated at a little distance within the wall on the 
 
 1 The Arabic birhet would appear the same as the Hebrew 
 jTSlS, beraihah, translated “ pool; ” and this word is probably 
 derived from bar ah, to kneel,—the place where the camels are 
 
 made to kneel down. Special pools, or beraihoth , are mentioned at 
 Gibeon (2 Samuel ii. 13), Hebron (2 Samuel iv. 12), and Samaria 
 (r Kings xxii. 38), At Jerusalem the following pools are men¬ 
 tioned : The Upper Pool (2 Kings xviii. 17), the Lower Pool (Isaiah 
 xxii. 9), the King’s Pool (Nehemiah ii. 14), the Pool of Siloah, or 
 Siloam (Nehemiah iii. 15, John ix. 7), the Old Pool (Isaiali xxii 
 11), and the Pool of Bethesda (John v. 2). 
 
PALESTINE EXPLORED. 
 
 I I 6 
 
 west side of the city, and which is supplied by 
 an aqueduct from the Mamilla Pool, is 250 feet 
 long by 15 o feet broad. In connection with pools 
 such as these, and also with many copious and 
 important springs, there is throughout the country 
 an extensive system of irrigation by means of 
 aqueducts, such as I have already described, some 
 of which are still in use, while many more lie in 
 ruins. Josephus mentions an aqueduct twenty-five 
 miles long, made by Pontius Pilate, the governor of 
 Judea, in order to supply Jerusalem with water. 1 
 
 To all these cisterns, reservoirs, and aqueducts, 
 whether cut in the rock, or built of rough masonry, 
 one thing is common. To render them perfectly 
 watertight, a peculiar cement has to be used. It 
 is composed partly of lime and partly of a large 
 admixture of what is called in Arabic lihommh. 
 This hhomrdh is nothing else than broken pottery 
 of every description, ground down generally into 
 very small pieces, and sometimes into powder. The 
 cement thus made answers excellently the purpose 
 for which it is employed. Every year it grows 
 harder, until, in the case of those wells and pools 
 where it is presumably many hundred years old, it 
 is as firm as the rock to which it adheres. 
 
 Hhomrali is consequently an article of daily 
 commerce throughout the country. Its preparation 
 
 1 Antiquities of the Jews, book xviii. chap. iii. sec. 2. 
 
SHIVERING THE POTTER’S VESSEL. I I 7 
 
 by the peasants still remains the same simple and 
 striking sight that must always have been familiar 
 to the dwellers in every Judean town, but especially 
 to those who lived within the waterless precincts of 
 Zion—waterless, that is, as to natural supply from 
 springs or river. Zion’s very name records a situa¬ 
 tion of drought. But on the other hand, by means 
 of its cisterns and reservoirs, Jerusalem was amply 
 provided with water, chiefly drawn from the winter 
 rains collected in the beers by surface drainage 
 from the flat roofs and terraces of the houses, and 
 brought there also from distant fountains, the streams 
 of which were conducted to the city, as we have 
 lately ascertained, by no less than five large aque¬ 
 ducts. This accounts for the fact that in its various 
 sieges, while the foe without suffered from want of 
 water, those within the walls always had enough. 
 Beautiful figure of the Church, dry and barren as 
 to any natural advantages, but receiving abundantly 
 from secret and directly heaven-drawn supplies! 
 
 The manufacture of hhomrah may be seen now 
 every autumn in “ the valley of the son of Hinnom.” 
 This valley commences near the modern Jaffa, or 
 Hhulil Gate, skirts the present fortress on Zion, 
 and then bending to the east, and rapidly growing 
 deeper, at the distance of a few hundred feet 
 suddenly narrows. Here advantage has been taken 
 of the natural formation to construct an ancient 
 
I I 8 PALESTINE EXPLORED. 
 
 pool, that fills up the whole width of the rocky 
 bed. It is called on the maps “ the lower pool of 
 Gihon.” The Arabic name is Birket es Sultan , “ the 
 Sultan’s Pool.” It consists of two or three diffe¬ 
 rent levels formed by terraces of rock. Upon the 
 upper terrace, on the side adjoining the city, 
 fellahheen are sitting on the ground in front of 
 small brown and parti-coloured heaps. They have 
 under their hands a huge stone, or rather rough 
 piece of rock slightly rounded, about a foot to a 
 foot and a half in diameter, which they push back¬ 
 wards and forwards over the materials of the small 
 mounds placed before them. These mounds consist 
 of broken pottery, which they have purchased in 
 the city, or picked up from the debris outside. Here 
 we may see the whole of this simple but very 
 effective process of shivering or crushing the 
 “ potter’s vessel.” The pieces heaped upon the 
 rocky floor form a motley mass. The greater part are 
 fragments of a dull reddish-brown colour, the mark 
 of vessels of plebeian ware, while mingling with 
 these are rich glazed sherds of brightest hues 
 and intricate design, gay vessels of the upper 
 classes — a little world of pottery. There are 
 handles, mouths, lips, spouts, and other parts of 
 work, that the potter has “ wrought on the wheels ; ” 
 broken “ earthen bottles ” of every size from the 
 jarar (jar), three feet high, by four in circumference, 
 
SHIVERING THE POTTER’S VESSEL. I I 9 
 
 down to the common water-bottle of the country. 
 The work is done in the following manner. The 
 labourer first “ girds himself,” that is, fastens his 
 red leather belt firmly round his waist, and thrusts 
 the end of his only garment, a kamise, or long- 
 cotton shirt, under the belt so as to be out of 
 the way. Then he sits down with his naked 
 legs wide apart. In the space enclosed between 
 them he scatters some of the earthenware from 
 an adjacent heap, and seizing the rough rounded 
 stone or crusher, he rolls it backwards and forwards 
 over the thin layer of pottery until every piece is 
 pounded and broken up. In a short time the whole 
 heap is reduced to tiny fragments of the required 
 size— 
 
 u The shivering of the potter’s vessel, 
 
 That is broken in pieces unsparingly,” 
 
 is accomplished— 
 
 “ So that in its breaking in pieces there shall 
 not be found a sherd 
 To snatch fire from the burning, 
 
 Or to take water out of a pit.” 1 
 
 There is yet another remarkable passage of Scrip¬ 
 ture which gathers peculiar meaning from these 
 facts. In the nineteenth chapter of Jeremiah, the 
 Lord bids the prophet “ Go and get a potter’s nar¬ 
 row-necked bottle, and take of the elders of the 
 
 1 Isaiah xxx. 14. 
 
I 20 
 
 PALESTINE EXPLORED. 
 
 people, and of the elders of the priests; and go 
 forth into the valley of the son of Hinnom, which 
 is by the entry of the Pottery Gate.” 1 In our 
 version it is the “East Gate,” but it should be 
 rendered the “ Potter’s ” or “ Pottery Gate,” accord¬ 
 ing to Jerome and others, and as given by Gesenius 
 in his Hebrew Lexicon . 2 Ro “ East ” or “ Sun Gate ” 
 would lead into this valley, which lies to the south; 
 but “Pottery Gate” in every way agrees with the 
 context. The recent deeply interesting explorations 
 of Mr. Maudslay, C.E., have now laid bare the mag¬ 
 nificent scarped foundations of the original wall of 
 Zion, at the south-west corner of the city, where it 
 rises abruptly from the very foot of the Birket cs 
 Sultan . 3 In following this a little farther to the 
 east, Lieutenant Conder, RE., says, “ A broad trench 
 here exists, and forms in all probability an ap¬ 
 proach to a gate.” That such is the case is ren¬ 
 dered the more certain by the fact of a branch 
 
 1 Jeremiah xix. I, 2. p- 13 j 53 bakbook, which I have translated 
 
 ‘narrow-necked bottle,” is one of those words of frequent occurrence 
 
 in Hebrew, where the thing signified is indicated by the sound it 
 makes. The ordinary small narrow-necked vessel, of one invari¬ 
 able pattern, now used for drinking purposes by the peasantry 
 in every part of Palestine, makes just this gurgling sound {bale- 
 book) when it is being emptied. It is invariably a pottery vessel, 
 of the common , coarse, dull-recl earthenware. 
 
 2 The word translated “East,” D-ID'Hl hharsooth, Gesenius de¬ 
 rives from £JHn hlieres , a potsherd, and hence “the pottery” gate. 
 
 3 See the sketch map of Jerusalem, p. 289. 
 


SHIVERING THE POTTER’S VESSEL. I 2 3 
 
 of the ancient road leading to Bethlehem turning: 
 off across the valley just opposite to the supposed 
 site of the gate, which would he otherwise quite 
 unaccountable. This entrance to the city would 
 be close to the spot I have pointed out as that 
 where earthen vessels are crushed, and it is re¬ 
 markable that the heaps of rubbish in the valley 
 immediately below seem to consist in greater part 
 of broken and very ancient pottery. From these 
 heaps much of the material used for hhomrali is 
 now gathered. It seems highly probable that future 
 explorations will disclose somewhere here, along the 
 face of the lately-discovered scarped foundation of 
 the southern wall, the place of a gate. If this 
 conjecture proves right, it will he emphatically 
 the “ Pottery Gate,” leading to the “ potter’s field,” 
 still called Aceldama, immediately opposite, which 
 continued until recently to be the burialplace of 
 strangers, and which is one of the few spots in 
 the neighbourhood where the soil is of clay. 
 
 At this Pottery Gate the man of God is com¬ 
 manded to make a proclamation of the terrible 
 judgments that should he sent upon the idolatrous 
 city. “ Then,” he is told, in verses 1 o and 11, 
 “ shalt thou shiver the narrow-necked bottle in 
 the sight of the men that go with thee; and thou 
 shalt say unto them, Thus saith Jehovali of hosts: 
 f Even so will I shiver this people, and this city, 
 
124 
 
 PALESTINE EXPLORED. 
 
 as one shivereth a potter s vessel, that cannot be 
 made whole again’ ” To this day, in and around 
 Jerusalem, there is but one spot where the work 
 of preparing hhomrah, or crushed pottery, is com¬ 
 monly carried on, and that is where I have de¬ 
 scribed it on the northern ledge or margin of the 
 pool in this same “ valley of the son of Hinnomf hard 
 by the site of the supposed Pottery Gate ! To find the 
 industry again in the neighbourhood of the city it 
 is necessary to cross the ncthhal, or torrent valley, of 
 Kidron, and visit the threshing-floor at the summit 
 of Olivet, where it is also sometimes to be seen. In 
 the East, every trade and manufacture has its own 
 peculiar street or locality, to which it is principally 
 confined. These localities are, like everything else 
 Oriental, stereotyped by a spirit which abhors any 
 kind of change. On the face of it, therefore, there 
 is every probability thatwhere the manufacture of 
 hhomrah, the shivering of pottery, took place in the 
 days of Jeremiah, it would he found to-day. 
 
 What a striking scene then is here presented! 
 The prophet, surrounded by some of the principal 
 men of the city, passes down to the spot where 
 the peasants are sitting at their humble employ. 
 In his hand he bears the common water-bottle of 
 the country. Arrived at the valley of Hinnom, 
 before the wondering crowd that has followed, the 
 man of God dashes the small earthen pitcher upon 
 
SHIVERING THE POTTER’S VESSEL. I 2 5 
 
 the rocky floor, and now, girding himself like the 
 other workmen, and seating himself upon the 
 ground, rolls over it repeatedly a huge stone, “as 
 one shivereth a potter’s vessel that cannot be made 
 whole again,” that is, grinding it with ease in a 
 few moments into minute fragments. Then came 
 the solemn words, “ Thus saith Jehovah of hosts: 
 c Even so will I shiver this people, and this city.’ ” 
 Significant, never-to-be-forgotten picture of the ter¬ 
 rible judgment of God ! 
 
 When Nebuchadnezzar saw in a vision a glimpse 
 of the history of Gentile nations until the final 
 consummation of Messiah’s kingdom, he beheld the 
 destruction of these world-powers represented ap¬ 
 parently under the very figure we have been con¬ 
 sidering ; for he saw “ till that a stone vms cut 
 out , without hands,” that is, a natural rough stone, 
 “ which smote the image upon its feet of iron and 
 clay (that is, baked clay, or earthenware), and broke 
 them to pieces; ” even grinding them to powder, 
 till they “ became like chaff from the summer 
 threshing-floors; and the wind carried them away.” 1 
 There are, it should be noted, two kinds of hhom- 
 rah, or crushed pottery, which are usually prepared. 
 The one called “ thick hhomrah ” consists of little 
 pieces about a quarter of an inch square. The 
 other called “ thin hhomrah ,” used principally 
 
 1 Daniel ii. 34, 35. 
 
PALESTINE EXPLORED. 
 
 I 2 6 
 
 for making the roofs and walls of houses water- 
 tight, is ground into a fine dust. The striking allu¬ 
 sion in Daniel is plainly to the preparation of the 
 latter. 
 
 It would seem that our Blessed Saviour has 
 referred to the same subject. When commenting 
 apparently upon the words of the 2d Psalm— 
 
 “ Thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel,” 
 
 He speaks of Himself first as the chosen corner¬ 
 stone, which unbelievers, by rejecting, may be said 
 to stumble over; and then, by a quick but natural 
 transition to a different but kindred figure, He tells 
 us of another aspect of His work. With respect to 
 those who at any time oppose His kingdom, He 
 says, “Every one that falls upon that stone shall 
 be broken; ” and with regard to the finally im¬ 
 penitent, who are to be “dashed in pieces like a 
 potter’s vessel,” He declares, with awful signifi¬ 
 cance, in view of our subject, “ But on whomsoever 
 it shall fall, it will scatter him as the dust,” that 
 is, “ grind him to powder.” 1 
 
 We do well to ponder this view of the Saviour’s 
 Advent. “ Knowing therefore the fear of the 
 Lord,” says the Apostle Paul, “ we persuade men.” 2 
 The coming of Christ has two aspects. One, 
 infinitely happy, is the relief, comfort, and glory 
 
 1 Luke xx. 18. 2 2 Corinthians v. n. 
 
SHIVERING THE POTTER’S VESSEL. 
 
 I 27 
 
 of His people. They, at the first stage of His 
 second coming, both the living and the dead, will 
 be “ caught up to meet him ” when He comes into 
 “ the air,” thenceforth to be for ever with Him. 1 
 The other, unspeakably terrible, is the destruction 
 of an ungodly world. This will assuredly take 
 place at His “ manifestation,” or “ revelation,” the 
 second stage of His second coming, when, accom¬ 
 panied by all His risen and translated saints, He 
 will again descend to earth. Then He will come 
 “ with the clouds (that is, with startling majesty); 
 and every eye shall see him, and they that pierced 
 him (the Jews—Zeclrariali xii. 10): and all the tribes 
 of the earth shall wail because of him. Even so, 
 Amen.” 2 Then shall be “ the revelation of the 
 
 1 1 Thessalonians iv. 13-18 ; Revelation xx. 4, 5, 6. Three times 
 in His deep discourse, given in the sixth chapter of John’s Gospel, 
 Christ promises resurrection to the believer, saying with significant 
 iteration, “ I will raise him up at the last day ” (John vi. 40, 44, 54 ; 
 see also verse 3<p. Now, seeing that all men are to rise again with 
 their bodies, unless it was some special privilege, in a word, “ the 
 first resurrection,” this special promise would have no meaning. 
 The Apostle Paul, like all the early Christians, fully understood 
 “the blessed hope” (Titus ii. 13) contained in these words of the 
 Saviour, and regarded it as the chief prize of the Christian calling, 
 for he tells us it was the expectation of this that nerved him for all 
 his sufferings and labours : “Yea verily, and I count all things to 
 be loss ... if by any means I may attain unto the resurrection from 
 the dead ” (Philippians iii. 8-11). 
 
 2 Revelation i 7. The Revised Version of the New Testament 
 has “shall wail over him.” This seems an unsatisfactory rendering 
 of Kbfovrou 'or' avrov , Tcopsontai cp auton. People in the East only 
 
128 
 
 PALESTINE EXPLORED. 
 
 Lord Jesus from heaven with his powerful angels in 
 flaming fire, rendering vengeance to them that know 
 not God, and to them that obey not the gospel 
 of our Lord Jesus : who shall suffer punishment, 
 [even] eternal destruction from the presence of the 
 Lord and from his mighty glory.” 1 The com¬ 
 passionate warnings of the Bible are full of the 
 latter aspect of the Second Advent. In the Hebrew 
 Scriptures there are no less than forty words which 
 signify “to destroy.” It were to he wished that 
 the preaching of our day, especially that addressed 
 to the careless, had caught more of the tones of 
 Scripture on this solemn subject. With a laudable 
 desire to set forth the love of God in all its rich 
 fulness, there is a tendency to overlook His holi¬ 
 ness. Much is made of mercy, hut justice and 
 judgment are often lightly passed over. Hot so 
 with the preachers of the Bible. Erom Enoch, the 
 seventh from Adam, to John, the last of the pro¬ 
 phets, they unite with one voice in loud and solemn 
 warnings to the unconverted, and choose the most 
 powerful figures to picture the ruin of those who 
 continue to resist the grace of God. 
 
 “ wail over ” a dead bod} 7 . The preposition ctI, epi, means often 
 “because of,” sometimes “before ” or “in the presence of,” and at 
 others “in respect to,” “concerning,” or on “account of,” any of 
 which would be more correct here than “ over.” When the verb 
 kotttoj, Icopto , means to “wail over,” the particle eirl, epi, is not used 
 (Luke viii. 52 ; xxiii. 27). 
 
 1 2 Thessalonians i. 7-9. 
 
( 129 ) 
 
 CHAPTEE V. 
 
 THE NIGHT-MIST. 
 
 “I will be as the night-mist unto Israel.” 
 
 —Hosea xiv. 5. 
 
 The wise man, speaking of the inestimable blessing 
 of moisture in a hot land, and tracing it to its two 
 principal sources, namely, the storehouses of deep 
 subterranean caverns from which springs and rivers 
 flow, and the storehouses above of dense, vapoury 
 clouds, says of Jehovah, as it is in our version— 
 
 “ By his knowledge the depths are broken up, 
 
 And the clouds drop down the dew.” 1 
 
 1 Proverbs iii. 20. The word “ clouds ” here, D'jpn^, sheh- 
 liakeem , some would render “sky,” but in most passages where it 
 occurs in the plural, if not in all, it undoubtedly means “ clouds.” 
 Where the rendering “ sky ” is absolutely required, as distinguished 
 from clouds, which is only twice, it occurs in each instance in the 
 singular. Both the passages are in Psalm lxxxix. The first is in 
 the question of verse 6— 
 
 “ Who in the sky shahhak) shall be compared unto Jehovah?” 
 
 The second is found in verse 37, where it is said of the throne of 
 David— 
 
 “ It shall be established for ever as the moon, 
 
 And as the faithful witness in the sky (shahhak).” 
 
 I 
 
130 
 
 PALESTINE EXPLORED. 
 
 Here there seems plainly a mistake; arid not 
 only captions objectors, but even earnest critics, 
 have found an insuperable difficulty. That “the 
 clouds ” should “ drop down the dew ” is contrary 
 to all experience in this land, or in the neighbour¬ 
 ing regions of Europe. On a cloudy night no dew 
 ever falls. The diamond drops are only deposited 
 during clear and absolutely unclouded weather. 
 The reason of this is well ascertained. Dew is 
 the moisture held during day by the air whilst 
 it is warm. If- the air is rendered cooler, it is 
 compelled to drop some of this moisture. When 
 the upper part of the air is cooled, the water falls 
 in rain; when the lower part of the air is cooled, 
 
 In Job xxxvii. 21, sliehhalceem must mean clouds, and not the clear 
 expanse of sky. 
 
 “And now men see not the light which is shining in the clouds ( shehhaJceem ), 
 But the wind passeth and cleareth them.” 
 
 Here the idea is that of the sun’s shining in, that is, amongst and 
 behind, the clouds, unseen by men till the wind comes, and, by 
 driving away the cloudy veil, reveals its light. The same render¬ 
 ing is required by the question in Job xxxviii. 37— 
 
 “ Who numbereth the clouds (shehhaJceem) by wisdom?” 
 
 Out of the eighteen times that this word occurs in the plural, it is 
 used no less than fifteen times together with s hamayeem. 
 
 But shamayeem is undoubtedly the Hebrew technical expression for 
 the sky, or firmamental heavens, and hence shehhaJceem must have 
 a different meaning. The derivation of the word shahhalc is plainly 
 from the root shahhalc, “to pulverise,” “to grind to powder,” 
 
 “to make into dust ” (2 Samuel xxii. 43 ; Psalm xviii. 42), and the 
 connection between dust and light clouds is obvious. The word 
 shahhalc in the singular is used in Arabic for “thin cloud.” 
 
THE NIGHT-MIST. 
 
 1 3 1 
 
 the water gently forms as dew. At night, if the 
 air is clear and cloudless, and only in that case, 
 the earth cools quickly. When, in consequence 
 of this, the surface of the ground becomes colder 
 than the air, the latter parts with its moisture, 
 which distils on flower, leaf, and land in sparkling 
 drops of dew. If a cloth is laid over a bush, 
 which keeps it warmer by preventing the escape 
 of its heat, though all around is bright with 
 moisture, none will be found on the covered bush. 
 Just in the same way, when clouds are spread 
 over the earth, they hinder its heat from escaping, 
 the air is not cooled, and dew is not formed. These 
 are in the West such well-known facts, that even 
 reverent men of science have felt at a loss to find 
 any explanation whatever for the inspired state¬ 
 ment— 
 
 “ The clouds drop down the 1 dew . 5 55 
 
 And yet Solomon is literally and absolutely 
 right in the positive statement which he really 
 makes. That the word rendered “ dew ” in our 
 Bible stands for something far more refreshing and 
 valuable than the richest dew, may be gathered 
 from a glance at its figurative use in the Bible. 
 Speaking of the boundless power of an absolute 
 Eastern monarch to help his friends, we read— 
 
 “ His favour is as ‘ dew ’ upon the grass . 5 ’ 1 
 
 1 Proverbs xix. 12. In this and the following eight quotations, I 
 
PALESTINE EXPLOEED. 
 
 TOO 
 1 0 ^ 
 
 God Himself, the King of kings, speaking of the 
 final and consummate blessedness of His ancient 
 people, holds out this as the promise which in¬ 
 cludes it all— 
 
 “I will be as the 1 dew 5 unto Israel . 551 
 
 Dying Jacob desired this blessing for his best- 
 beloved son. 
 
 “ God give thee from the ‘ dew 5 of heaven 55 2 
 
 stands first, as the sum and chief of temporal good. 
 David, in anguish of soul at the loss of Jonathan, 
 could utter no more terrible curse upon that fatal 
 spot where his friend fell than this— 
 
 “Ye mountains in Gilboa ! 
 
 No ‘ dew , 5 and no rain be upon you, 
 
 Nor fields of offerings ! 55 3 
 
 It is said of saved Israel’s mighty influence for 
 good during the millennium— 
 
 “ And the remnant of Jacob shall be, 
 
 In the midst of many peoples, 
 
 As ‘ dew 5 from Jehovah . 55 4 
 
 Many other such passages occur, and all seem 
 
 retain the word “ dew,” putting it in inverted commas, not because 
 it is correct, but in order that the reader may the better recall the 
 familiar passages. 
 
 1 Hosea xiv. 5. 2 Genesis xxvii. 28. 
 
 2 2 Samuel i. 21. 4 Micah v. 7. 
 
THE NIGHT-MIST. 
 
 to indicate an excellence, which, useful and refresh¬ 
 ing as the dew is, it certainly does not possess 
 here, even in the driest seasons. I will now show 
 in what this remarkable excellence consists, namely, 
 in the very fact which seems so incredible to us, 
 that in Palestine 
 
 11 The clouds drop down the c dew/ 55 
 
 First let me say that in the winter, during fine 
 weather, dew is deposited, as in other countries, by 
 the cooling of the surface of the ground on cloudless 
 nights. But, inasmuch as winter is the one period 
 of the year when much rain falls in tropical torrents, 
 ordinary dew, which chiefly forms at such time, is, 
 comparatively speaking, entirely valueless. This, 
 therefore, cannot be that peculiar and inestimable 
 blessing so often referred to by the inspired penmen. 
 The principal season when a provision of the nature 
 of dew is needed in the Holy Land, and when it is so 
 abundantly given, is in summer and autumn. Then 
 six consecutive months of drought occur regularly, 
 even under the most favourable circumstances. From 
 about the first week in May to the middle of 
 October, in the usual course, no drop of rain 
 falls, and throughout the twelve hours of each 
 day the sun shines with great strength, unveiled 
 by a single cloud. In autumn the thermometer 
 has been known to register 118° Fahrenheit in 
 
134 
 
 PALESTINE EXPLORED. 
 
 the shade on the hot plains. Although the tem¬ 
 perature is seldom as high as this, yet, during 
 the whole period from May to October, the power 
 of the sun, so often alluded to in the Bible, is very 
 great, and but for the extremely dry, salubrious, 
 and exhilarating air, would prove very exhausting. 
 As it is, no Eastern cares to encounter its rays 
 at noon. The heat and drought are also greatly 
 intensified at intervals during the months of May 
 and October by the shirocco, the burning East 
 wind, so often alluded to in Scripture . 1 
 
 In consequence of the continuous rainless heat, 
 vegetation becomes much parched, and would be 
 altogether scorched from the face of the earth but 
 for the following beautiful provision. At such time, 
 and more especially towards its close, in the latter 
 part of August and during September and October, 
 the prevalent westerly winds bring an immense 
 quantity of moisture from the Mediterranean Sea. 
 The watery element, with which they are charged, 
 becomes condensed when it meets the cold night 
 air upon the land; for it is a great peculiarity 
 of Syria that the nights are often as cold as the 
 days are hot, a fact which I have painfully ex¬ 
 perienced during many a long journey, and which 
 Jacob lamented three thousand six hundred years 
 
 1 Genesis xlvi. 6 ; Jeremiah xviii. 17 ; Ezekiel xvii. 10; xix. 12 ; 
 Hosea xiii. 15. 
 
THE NIGHT-MIST. 
 
 135 
 
 ago . 1 This condensation, or cloud-forming, happens 
 more especially when the damp winds reach the 
 hills, over the surface of which their liberated 
 moisture rolls in masses of dense mist, which 
 leave everywhere in their progress an immense 
 amount of that which answers to the “ dew ” of the 
 Bible. In the strict scientific sense of the word, 
 this is rain, and not dew at all in our meaning of 
 the word, since the vapour becomes condensed in 
 the air before touching the ground. It answers 
 somewhat to the lightest form of Scotch mist, but 
 then it must be remembered that this mist in 
 Palestine never occurs in the daytime, but only 
 forms during the night, when by radiation the 
 earth has thrown off its heat, and the cool air 
 above it condenses the moisture borne by the 
 breezes from the sea. Prom its coming only 
 during the hours of night, from its not falling like 
 other rain from the upper air, but forming not far 
 above the surface of the ground, from its separation 
 into very fine particles and not appearing to fall in 
 drops, from the general appearance it leaves behind, 
 and from its effects ceasing to be seen when the 
 sun grows hot, it was rightly held to differ so much 
 from the nature of ordinary rain as to require to be 
 distinguished by a special technical term, tal, which, 
 
 1 “ Thus I was ; in the day the drought consumed me, and the 
 cold by night ” (Genesis xxxi. 40). 
 
PALESTINE EXPLORED. 
 
 136 
 
 fortunately for the English reader, our translators 
 have uniformly rendered in each instance by the 
 word “ dew.” 1 
 
 Let it be borne in mind that whenever we read 
 of “ dew ” in our Bible, we must not understand 
 such dew as we have here at all, but a copious mist 
 shedding small invisible rain, that comes in rich 
 abundance every night about twelve o’clock p.m. in 
 the hot weather when west or north-west winds 
 blow, and which brings intense refreshment to all 
 
 1 This Hebrew word tal, which occurs thirty-five times in the 
 Old Testament, is undoubtedly derived from talal, “ to cover 
 
 over [as a roof]” (Nehemiah iii. 15), of which there is a Chaldee 
 form, telal, “ to shadow ” (Daniel iv. 9). The meaning of 
 
 these is confirmed by the Arabic talla, “to cover,” “to shade,” “to 
 be a shady day.” All three roots convey the same idea, which is 
 incompatible with that of dew in the scientific sense of the term, 
 distilling as it does invisibly, but is exactly in keeping with those 
 covering, shady clouds which drop down in their passage the “ dew” 
 of Scripture. It is very interesting to observe that the Greek 
 bporxos, clrosos, and the Latin ros, both of which have been hitherto 
 rendered “ dew,” in their ordinary and poetical use would seem to 
 have precisely the same signification as the Hebrew tal , seeing that 
 the climates of Greece and Southern Italy are similar to that of 
 Palestine, and that they have each the Mediterranean Sea on the 
 west. There are two adjectives formed from the Greek word 
 dpoaos — dpoffoeipxov, drosoeimon, and opoaepos, droseros — meaning 
 respectively “ dew-clad ” and “ dewy,” both of which are used of 
 clouds, vecpekcu , neplielai (Aristophanes, Nub. 338 ; Orphica, H. 
 20, 6). This word nephelai, from which comes through the Latin 
 our word nebulous, means “ cloud masses,” and occurs in the sense 
 of “ light fleecy clouds,” the very “ dew ” clouds I have described. 
 We meet in the Ilippolytus Coronifer of Euripides with the ex- 
 
THE NIGHT-MIST. 
 
 137 
 
 organised life. Thus the mention of “ dew ” in any 
 narrative passage, such as that of the miracle 
 granted to Gideon , 1 will always enable us to identify 
 the time of year as that of the hot season, more 
 especially towards its close. 
 
 Often, when on autumn mornings I have risen 
 before sunrise from my tent on the heights to the 
 west of Jerusalem, and ridden into the Holy City 
 to conduct our early Hebrew morning service on 
 Mount Zion, I have reined up my horse to gaze on 
 
 pressions opocros Kprjvcua, drosos krenaia, “dew from a fountain,” 
 and irorapua opocrw, potamia droso, “ with dew from a river,” where 
 evidently no scientific dew can be meant, but a mist, rising in the 
 one case from a spring, and in the other from a stream. But the 
 words dpocros OaXaacria, drosos thalassia, “ dew from the sea,” which 
 also occurs in the same play, are a still more unmistakable example 
 of this use, and seem to describe the very Mediterranean clouds of 
 night-mist such as form the “ dew ” of Palestine. The fact that 
 Aristotle in his Meteorologia (lib. i. cap. x.), and in his De Mundo 
 (cap. iii.) speaks of dew in its strict scientific sense, in no way 
 affects the question of the ordinary popular and poetic use of the 
 term. There is less reason to examine the meaning of the Latin 
 ros, as it is evidently the same as the Greek dpoaos. The name of 
 rosemary, however, a herb which flourishes upon the mountains 
 around the sea-board of the Mediterranean, ros marinus, “ the sea- 
 dew,” given because this fragrant plant requires much moisture, is 
 a remarkable proof, if words mean anything, that the Latin ros was 
 applied to the night-mist borne by the breezes from the Great Sea 
 westward. Rosemary, like many of the other familiar members of 
 the sweet and wholesome labiatce family, such as mint, peppermint, 
 lavender, majoram, sage, and thyme, flourishes luxuriantly upon 
 the mountains of Western Palestine, where it enjoys so richly those 
 copious “ dews ” from the sea, which gave its Latin name. 
 
 1 Judges vi. 36-40. 
 
133 
 
 PALESTINE EXPLORED. 
 
 a sight of wondrous beauty. Very vividly it stands 
 before me now. Billowy masses of silvery white 
 or opaline clouds roll below in fantastic, ever- 
 changing forms, from which the summits of the 
 mountains now stand out like rocky islands on a 
 wide chain of picturesque lakes, and now seem like 
 the low foot - hills of mighty snow - clad ranges 
 towering behind them to the sky. The scene shifts 
 rapidly, as the dense masses of vapour, glistening 
 with all the exquisite brightness of Syrian light, 
 wave hither and thither, or are sucked up by the 
 rising sun, leaving behind them on the ground for 
 a few hours a delightful moisture . 1 I did not then 
 realise, as I do now, that I was gazing upon 
 what Isaiah calls “ a cloud of ‘ dew,’ ” as it is 
 literally— 
 
 <£ A thick ‘ clew ’-cloud in the heat of harvest .” 2 
 
 -A* 
 
 The peculiar features- of this rich provision of 
 nature, by which it differs from and greatly excels 
 
 1 It was to these fugitive clouds that Hosea compared Israel’s 
 brief and transient seasons of repentance— 
 
 “ Your goodness is like the morning cloud. 
 
 And like the ‘ dew ’ which early goeth away.” 
 
 (Ilosea vi. 4). 
 
 2 Isaiah xviii. 4. This deiv ’’-cloud is evidently distinguished from 
 a ram-cloud, which latter is never known “ in the heat of harvest.” 
 The word used here for cloud ay, av, is eight times rightly ren¬ 
 dered “ thick clouds ” in our version. 
 
THE NIGHT-MIST. 
 
 139 
 
 any kind of dew, and comes to be of such very 
 great value, are threefold. First, its falling only 
 in the hottest and driest season, when no other 
 moisture is to be had. Secondly, its coming every 
 night during such season when west winds blow, 
 which they do with great regularity at this time 
 of the year. Thirdly, its falling so copiously as 
 to supply all the moisture needed for vegetation 
 generally. The water these low clouds deposit is 
 perfectly sufficient to ripen the summer crops, to 
 keep life in the pastures of the desert, to nourish 
 the fig, fatten the berry of the olive, and give to 
 the grape its fulness of luscious juice—in a word, to 
 revive and sustain all hardy forms of vegetable life. 
 
 The abundance of moisture deposited by this 
 “ dew,” far exceeding that which could possibly 
 come from any dew properly so-called, makes the 
 sign given to Gideon, though not a whit the less 
 miraculous, still far more natural than if dew 
 such as we experience was intended. That Jerub- 
 baal should be able to wring “ the ‘ dew ’ out of 
 the fleece, a bowl full of water,” is perfectly in 
 accordance with the plentiful way in which this 
 “ dew ” of the Bible still falls . 1 What intensity of 
 pathos, too, is thus added to the Saviour’s words 
 of tender reproach, when He graciously represents 
 Himself as waiting through the night of sin and 
 
 1 Judges vi. 38. 
 
140 
 
 PALESTINE EXPLORED. 
 
 backsliding without the portals of His faithless 
 Church, saying— 
 
 “ Open to me, 
 
 • • • • • • 
 
 For my lieacl is filled with ( dew/ 
 
 And my locks with the drops of the night! ” 1 
 
 The exposure to these dense chilly clouds of mist 
 is a far more painful ordeal than to be kept out of 
 doors on a dewy night when the weather is invari¬ 
 ably dry and still. 
 
 Bearing in mind this meaning of “ dew ” will 
 account for its being constantly associated in Scrip¬ 
 ture with rain; for it is indeed a fine shower, or 
 rather night-mist, beginning to fall generally about 
 midnight, and supplying the place of our summer 
 rain, but without any of the inconvenience at¬ 
 tending the latter. Although so much moisture is 
 deposited as sometimes to soak through the thick 
 canvas of a tent, and to leave the appearance on 
 the ground of a gentle shower, yet, on the other 
 hand, it is not enough to injure the gathered grain 
 crops which lie on the open-air threshing-floors 
 during the season of “ dew.” In further quotations 
 I will call it by its true description, “ the night- 
 mist.” In the grand prophetic Song of Moses, 
 we meet amongst its opening strains with the fol¬ 
 lowing liighly-poetic passage, the force and beauty 
 of which can be but little known to the ordinary 
 
 1 Canticles v. 2. 
 
THE NIGHT-MIST. 
 
 14 I 
 
 English reader as he finds the translation in our 
 version— 
 
 u My doctrine shall gush out as the rain-shower, 
 
 My speech shall flow as the night-mist (tal), 
 
 As the soft fall upon the fresh-springing grass, 
 
 As the heavy, copious showers upon the herbage .” 1 
 
 1 Deuteronomy xxxii. 2. In our version it reads— 
 
 “ My doctrine shall drop as the rain, 
 
 My speech shall distil as the dew. 
 
 As the small rain upon the tender herb, 
 
 And as the showers upon the grass.” 
 
 The Hebrew word rendered “ distil ” in the second line, to. nazal , 
 
 "* T? 7 
 
 in every other passage requires the meaning of “to flow,” “to pour 
 out,” and that in a moderate and gentle manner. Hence it is 
 applied to the flowing out of spice odours (Canticles iv. 16); the 
 pouring out of tears (Jeremiah ix. 18); and the flowing out of 
 waters from melted snow and ice when warm winds begin to blow 
 (Psalm cxlvii. 18). In the parallelism of this verse, the third line 
 evidently repeats the idea of the second, and the fourth that of the 
 first. The word “ small rain,” which I have rendered “ soft fall,” 
 Dnw ? se'eereem, only occurs once, and comes from a word 
 -iw ? sa’eer, which has the signification of “hairy,” as of a goat, 
 hence “silken,” “fleecy,” or “soft.” This is a very apt expression 
 for the flow of the soft tiny rain-drops deposited by the fleecy 
 clouds of night-mist. In the first line the word for rain is 
 matar, which is the present Arabic colloqxiial term for the ordinary 
 semi-tropical winter showers. The verb I have translated “gush 
 out ” in this same line evidently means a heavy or gushing down¬ 
 pour. It is derived from the root ’ araph , used in every in¬ 
 
 stance but one with the technical sense of “to cut the throat,” 
 and hence has the idea of the gush of blood from the severed 
 artery, a fine illustration of the strange and highly-figurative 
 origin of many Hebrew words. The term “showers,” 
 r&veeveem, in the fourth line, is plainly derived from the root Dl 1 ! 
 
142 
 
 PALESTINE EXPLORED. 
 
 In his sad lament for Saul and Jonathan, David 
 cries-— 
 
 “Ye mountains in Gilboa ! 
 
 No night-mist and no rain be upon you .” 1 
 
 Job asks— 
 
 “ Hath the rain a father % 
 
 Or who begetteth the drops of night-mist % ” 2 
 
 Again, when Elijah the Tishbite made his sudden 
 appearance in Israel, denouncing judgment, he swore 
 by Jehovah, “ there shall not be night-mist or rain 
 these years but according to my word .” 3 In these 
 four last passages “night-mist and rain” possess a 
 more intimate and natural connection than “dew 
 
 ravav, “to be many or numerous,” and 2^ rav, “great or large,” 
 and should be rendered “heavy copious showers,” referring most 
 appropriately to the matar, or ordinary deluging rain of winter, 
 in the first line. It is interesting to observe that, as Moses’ 
 first words of promise in this beautiful prophetic song speak of a 
 gushing downpour of rain (Deuteronomy xxxii. 2), exceedingly pre¬ 
 cious in the East, so almost his last words, in the “blessing” which 
 follows (Deuteronomy xxxiii. 28), speak of the scarcely less esti¬ 
 mable benefit afforded by abundant falls of night-mist during the 
 hot season— 
 
 “Also the heavens shall gush out night-mist.” 
 
 Here the word I have translated “ gush out,” ’ araph , is that same 
 exceedingly expressive and graphic term used for the violent down¬ 
 pour of winter rains, explained above. It is in this instance evi¬ 
 dently applied to the tal, or “night-mist,” b} T the figure of hyper¬ 
 bole, or exaggeration, to indicate extraordinarily copious autumn 
 clouds of moisture. 
 
 1 2 Samuel i. 21. 2 Job xxxviii. 28. 3 1 Kings xvii. 1. 
 
THE NIGHT-MIST. 
 
 143 
 
 and rain/’ seeing that they are really two different 
 kinds of showers. The matar, or “rain,” falls at 
 all hours during winter, while the tal , or “ night- 
 mist,” falls during the hours of darkness in summer 
 and autumn. 
 
 Viewed in this light, what a depth of meaning, 
 what a wealth of promise, there is in those sublime 
 words, part of the grand charta of the endless 
 national life of the Hebrew race— 
 
 u I will be as the night-mist unto Israel .” 1 
 
 Withered by the world’s contempt, scorched by 
 eighteen centuries of fiery persecution, and, far 
 worse than suffering, by eighteen centuries of sin 
 and hardened unbelief, God has still mercy in store 
 for His ancient people. This barren soil shall yet 
 bear again, for the copious clouds of Divine grace 
 shall come, and Israel 
 
 “ Shall grow as the crimson anemone, 
 
 And cast forth his roots as Lebanon. 
 
 His branches shall spread, 
 
 And his beauty shall be as the olive, 
 
 And his fragrance as Lebanon. 
 
 They that dwell under his shadow shall 
 return; 
 
 They shall revive as the corn, 
 
 And grow as the vine : 
 
 The renown thereof shall be as the wine 
 of Lebanon .” 2 
 
 1 Hosea xiv. 5. 
 
 2 Hosea xiv. 5-7. 
 
144 
 
 PALESTINE EXPLORED. 
 
 It is very striking in this connection to notice 
 that the “ night-mist ” of the hot season falls, 
 as I have shown, chiefly in the autumn, more 
 largely, perhaps, in September than in any other 
 month. It was on the i oth of the “ seventh 
 month” of the Jewish ecclesiastical year, which 
 answers to September, that the solemn clay of atone¬ 
 ment fell. This day was to be kept as a fast 
 and season of repentance by the whole nation, a 
 day on which publicly “ to afflict their souls,” fol¬ 
 lowed five days afterwards by the great annual 
 week of rejoicing known as the feast of Taber¬ 
 nacles . 1 How, there is a very general agreement 
 as to the figurative and typical meaning of the 
 three great Jewish festivals. The feast of Passover 
 prefigured the death of Christ, and our redemption 
 through His blood. The second great feast, that of 
 Pentecost, has found its prophetic fulfilment in the 
 first outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon the Church 
 by the Lord Jesus, and the gathering in and offer¬ 
 ing to God of the first-fruits of the great harvest 
 of souls, of which it was the earnest. But the 
 third and last great feast, this same feast of Taber¬ 
 nacles, has not yet been fulfilled in its deep pro¬ 
 phetic sense. It is called also “ the feast of In¬ 
 gathering,” and evidently signifies the glorious 
 completion of the kingdom of heaven in Christ’s 
 
 1 Leviticus xxiii. 27-43. 
 
THE NIGHT-MIST. 
 
 145 
 
 millennial reign on earth. It must, as we learn 
 from many Scriptures, be immediately preceded 
 by Israel’s repentance as a nation, and their true 
 turning to God in Christ. Of that day it is 
 said, “ I will pour upon the house of David, and 
 upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of 
 grace and of supplications; and they shall look 
 upon me whom they pierced: and they shall mourn 
 for him as one mourneth for an only [son], and shall 
 be in bitterness for him as one that is in bitterness 
 for his firstborn.” 1 
 
 It may quicken our zeal in endeavouring to 
 bring the Jews to a knowledge of Jesus of 
 Nazareth, that it is for their repentance and ac¬ 
 knowledgment of the Saviour, that the Apostle 
 Peter tells us the second coming of Christ, and 
 the millennial day, the “ seasons of refreshing,” 
 that is, of joy and rest which Messiah was to bring 
 when He came in glory, “the times of the restora¬ 
 tion of all things,” now tarries. When preaching 
 to Israel in the Temple, in Solomon’s Porch, he 
 appeals to them to accept Jesus as a nation, be¬ 
 cause on this acceptance their own future and that 
 of the world depends. “Ptepent ye therefore,” he 
 cries with prophetic voice, “and turn again, for 
 the blotting out of your sins, in order that 
 seasons of refreshing may come from the presence 
 
 1 Zecliariah xii. io. 
 
146 
 
 PALESTINE EXPLORED. 
 
 of the Lord; and [in order that ] he may send forth 
 the Christ, who was before appointed (that is, fore¬ 
 ordained) for yon, even Jesus; whom the heaven 
 must receive until the times of the restoration of 
 all things, of which God spoke by the mouth of all 
 his holy prophets since the world began.” 1 
 
 If words have any meaning, we must gather from 
 this passage, in accordance with the teaching of the 
 whole of the Old Testament prophets, that the mani¬ 
 festation of Christ at His second coming, and the 
 true, long-foreshadowed keeping of the great feast 
 of Tabernacles, or Ingathering—that is, the glorious 
 consummation of Messiah’s kingdom on earth— 
 awaits the national repentance and conversion of 
 the Jews. 
 
 These “seasons of refreshing,” or, as the word 
 literally means, “ coolness after heat,” are well set 
 forth under the cool, refreshing influences of the 
 rich life-giving clouds of moisture, which come most 
 abundantly at that very season of the year when 
 the typical feast of Tabernacles was appointed to 
 be held! With a beautiful depth and appropriate- 
 
 1 Acts iii. 19-21. In our version this important meaning is 
 entirely obscured by the misrendering of the words oirws av, 
 opus an, “when,” instead of “in oi'der that.” oirus never occurs 
 in the sense of “when” in all the New Testament, “nor indeed,” 
 to use the words of Dean Alford, “ with an indicative at all; and, 
 if it did, the addition of and the use of a subjunctive, would 
 preclude it here. It can have but one sense—‘ in order that.’ ” 
 
THE NIGHT-MIST. 
 
 147 
 
 ness of meaning, Jehovah has declared of that glad 
 time, which this feast was intended to foreshadow, 
 the time of the gathering in of all the seed of 
 Abraham— 
 
 “ I will be as tlie night-mist unto Israel.” 
 
 And here we are naturally led to glance at a 
 passage which has much exercised the minds of 
 critics, and of which many fanciful and varying 
 interpretations have been suggested. Speaking of 
 the day when Christ is to be enthroned in Zion, it 
 is said of Israel— 
 
 “ Thy people are free-will offerings in the day 
 of thy power, 
 
 In holy beauties; 
 
 From the womb of the dawn 
 
 Thou hast the night-mist of thy youth .” 1 
 
 This 11 oth Psalm speaks plainly of Messiah as He 
 Himself has told us . 2 It gives a view of the 
 accomplishment of His manifested kingdom on 
 earth, when He shall rule in the midst of His 
 enemies, and the seat of His power will be in Zion. 
 
 1 Psalm cx. 3. The word here that I have translated youth 
 TVnb' yaldooth, comes from the root “1^ ycdcul, “to beget.” It 
 may possibly mean “birth,” but seems more likely to be “child¬ 
 hood” or “youth.” 
 
 2 Matthew xxii. 41-45- 
 
148 
 
 PALESTINE EXPLORED. 
 
 This is the time when “ a nation (the nation of 
 Israel) shall be born at once,” and converted, saved, 
 and restored to their own land, shall begin a new, 
 fruitful, and everlasting career of peace and glory . 1 
 This doubtless is the “ youth ” spoken of here, the 
 commencement of Israel’s new life, for this third 
 verse of the 11 oth Psalm applies not to the King, 
 but to His people. The rich night-mists of Divine 
 reviving influences will be shed forth at the close of 
 this dispensation, and bring about this glorious and 
 long-foretold new birth. The “womb of the dawn” 
 seems evidently a highly poetical and thoroughly 
 Eastern expression for the fleecy enfolding clouds 
 from out of which an autumn morning in Palestine 
 appears to emerge. But the mist-clad autumn 
 morning is, as we have seen, the time typical of the 
 millennium shadowed forth by the glad autumn feast 
 of Ingathering. It is therefore as much as to say, 
 the freshness of thy new birth dates and is derived 
 
 1 Isaiah lxvi. 7-11. It is interesting to observe that this time of 
 Israel’s yet future salvation, so plainly foretold throughout this 
 chapter, is elsewhere represented as one of universal newness of life. 
 It is the time of the “first resuirection,” that of the “blessed 
 dead,” “the church of the first-born,” which is to precede the 
 millennium (Revelation xx. 4-6). It is the time of the making of 
 “new heavens and a new earth” (Isaiah lxvi. 22 ; lxv. 17 ; Reve¬ 
 lation xxi. 1). It is also the time of new life for the Gentile world, 
 “ for if,” says the Apostle Paul, “ the casting away of them (the 
 Jews) is the reconciling of the world, what will the receiving [of 
 them be] but life from the dead? ” (Romans xi. 15). 
 
THE NIGHT-MIST. 
 
 149 
 
 from the dawn of “ the day of the Lord,” “ the day 
 of Jesus Christ,” earth’s seventh millennial day of 
 Sahhatli rest, after six millennial working-days of 
 toil and sorrow. Then, and not till then, will the 
 people of Israel as a nation he all presented as 
 free-will offerings before the Lord, and “in holy 
 beauties ,” 1 that is, in the glorious ceremonial services 
 
 1 The expression “ holy beauties,” in the Old Testament, when 
 connected with the literal Zion, does not bear that abstract appli¬ 
 cation which is generally supposed, but naturally applies to the 
 magnificent ritual worship, such as that established by the law 
 of Moses, and perfected in the days of Solomon when he had 
 built the Temple of Jehovah at Jerusalem, and that which will 
 be set up again amongst Israel at Messiah’s second coming. A 
 careful reading of the last nine chapters of Ezekiel, and a con¬ 
 sideration of their orderly connection with those that immediately 
 precede, which tell of the restoration of Israel to their own land, 
 and their deliverance from Gentile foes, can leave no doubt that 
 the Temple there described is to be a literal structure. That 
 the Temple and its ritual of sacrifice are unmistakably referred 
 to in the prophets as existing during the millennium, appears 
 from Isaiah lx. 7, and also from Isaiah ii. 2, and Micah iv. 
 1, 2, in both of which latter passages “the mountain of the 
 House,” the technical Jew’ish term for the Temple, is repre¬ 
 sented as being established on Mount Zion “ in the end of the 
 days,” that is, “the last days.” Nor is it possible to confound the 
 earthly Jerusalem of Ezekiel with the heavenly Jerusalem of John. 
 In the earthly Jerusalem there is to be a grand temple (Ezekiel 
 xl.-xlvi). In the heavenly Jerusalem we read, “I saw no temple 
 therein” (Revelation xxi. 22). Again, the city of Ezekiel is to be 
 four thousand five hundred measures square (Ezekiel xlviii. 30-35), 
 while the figurative Zion is said to be of the enormous size of a 
 cube of twelve thousand furlongs, or fifteen hundred miles (Revela¬ 
 tion xxi. 16). The area of Ezekiel’s Temple is to be a square of 
 
PALESTINE EXPLORED. 
 
 150 
 
 of Ezekiel’s Temple, appear every one of them in 
 Zion as true worshippers of the Triune Jehovah. 
 But from the very earliest breaking of that day 
 
 five hundred reeds, equal to some two thousand yards, a space of 
 more than a square mile (Ezekiel xlii. 16-20). In connection with 
 its worship there will be memorial sacrifices, pointing back to the 
 atoning work of Messiah, just as formerly there were sacrifices 
 pointing forward to it. These sacrifices, it is important to observe, 
 differ in many respects from those of the Mosaic law (compare 
 Ezekiel xlv. 21-25 with Numbers xxviii. 16-24, and Numbers xxix. 
 13-40). The feasts of the Sabbath, New Moon, Passover, and 
 Tabernacles, are to be kept, and also the year of Jubilee (Ezekiel 
 xlv. 17-25 ; xlvi. 16, 17). There will be no ark in this future 
 Temple (Jeremiah iii. 16). There will be no court of Israel as 
 distinct from that of the Gentiles. All the nations of the world are 
 to come up formally once every year to Jerusalem, at the feast of 
 Tabernacles, “to worship the King, Jehovah of Hosts” (Zechariah 
 xiv. 16-19), while pilgrims from the end of the earth will be con¬ 
 stantly present at all the solemn Temple services (Isaiah lxvi. 23). 
 The nations, it would appear, will come up to Jerusalem each year 
 in the persons of their chosen representatives. What “ holy 
 beauties” will then be seen in the visible worship of Jehovah, as 
 each year, at the feast of Tabernacles, the service led by Israel 
 will be responded to by countless multitudes of every kindred and 
 tongue ! The area of this Temple enclosure, vast as it is, will be 
 none too great to accommodate so mighty a congregation. I11 
 Zephaniah we read that at this time the confusion of Babel will be 
 removed, and mankind will again speak with one tongue, and that 
 with a view to the need of this for the purpose of united Divine 
 worship— 
 
 “ Then will I turn to the peoples a pure language (literally 
 ‘ a pure lip'), 
 
 That they may all call upon the name of Jehovah, 
 
 To serve him with one consent (literally * with one 
 shoulder’).” (Zephaniah iii. 9. 
 
THE NIGHT-MIST. 
 
 151 
 
 shall commence their new life. “From the womb 
 of dawn,”—from its very first hours,—the Spirit’s 
 influences, like a life-giving night-mist sweeping 
 over a parched and barren soil, shall renew their 
 youth! 
 
( '52 ) 
 
 CHAPTEE VI. 
 
 THE ANCESTRAL STAFF. 
 
 “ Jehovah will send thy strong staff ont of Zion : 
 
 Rule thou in the midst of thine enemies.” 
 
 —Psalm cx. 2. 
 
 A very short residence in Syria serves to show that 
 the walking-stick, or staff, occupies a much more 
 marked and important place in that land than is 
 commonly the case with us. It is uniformly 
 fashioned after the same patterns, and carried con¬ 
 stantly by the same classes as a mark of distinc¬ 
 tion. You rarely meet a Jewish rabbi in the 
 streets of Jerusalem without a long, stout stick, 
 with an ornamental handle, which is considered a 
 badge of his calling when he appears in public. 
 Again, Derweeshes, or Fakeers , amongst the Moham¬ 
 medans, are divided into four orders. The first three 
 orders are known respectively by bearing, when 
 abroad, a sword, a javelin, and a spontoon. The 
 fourth, or el Kclanee order, is distinguished by the 
 carrying of a small stick called the “ mohjanet .” It is 
 about three feet long, with a straight, natural handle, 
 
THE ANCESTRAL STAFF. 
 
 153 
 
 never at a right angle with the stick, hut slanting 
 more or less obliquely across it, and made invari¬ 
 ably of wood of the almond tree. It is the sacred 
 stick so often seen in the Egyptian sculptures, and 
 is regarded to the present day with much super¬ 
 stitious veneration. Mohammedans believe that if 
 a Derweesh strike the ground with his mohjanet 
 several times round the bed of a sick man, he will 
 recover. When a Derweesh of this order dies, his 
 son succeeds him, and this succession is called 
 “ the carrying of the mohjanet.” Besides these, 
 there are the peculiar rod and staff of the shep¬ 
 herd, which are both so constantly to be met with 
 in the very extensive pastoral regions in and around 
 the Holy Land. These facts alone are significant 
 in connection with the frequent and very special 
 allusions to staves which occur in Scripture. 
 
 There is one such rod, however, which has not 
 as yet been fully described, but which, if the follow¬ 
 ing conclusions are sound, is particularly entitled 
 to notice. It is a stout staff, from five to six feet 
 lonsx, often to be met with in Palestine and the 
 encampments of the surrounding deserts, and plays 
 no inconsiderable part in affairs connected with the 
 most primitive forms of Eastern life. The pecu¬ 
 liarity of this staff consists in its being always the 
 straight bough of a tree in its natural and un¬ 
 dressed state. In that part where it is constantly 
 
154 
 
 PALESTINE EXPLORED. 
 
 held in the hand, it is sometimes, from extreme 
 age, much worn. This, however, is the only mark 
 of manipulation which it bears. Such a staff, 
 though used ordinarily as a support in walking, 
 is something more than this, for it forms one of 
 the recognised insignia of rank and power. It 
 marks first the hereditary and lineally descended 
 ruler. Even where all is primitive, in the villages 
 of Palestine, and amongst the Bedcnveen tribes of 
 Syria and Arabia, the customs which prevail are 
 perhaps the most ancient of which any vestige 
 remains. Now, the elder, or head of each village, 
 who is also the hereditary ruler of the place, carries 
 such a staff as I have described. His father held 
 it before him, and, unless he is deposed, it will be 
 borne in turn by his son. The sheikh, the heredi¬ 
 tary and lineally descended chieftain or prince of 
 each Bedcnveen tribe, may also be seen to carry this 
 ancestral staff, as a badge of his dignity and power. 
 Travellers in the Arabian desert will recall the 
 familiar sight of the venerable white-haired chief¬ 
 tain who has met them at the door of his tent 
 holding such a staff. It forms one of the prized 
 possessions of the family. At the sheikh’s death, 
 the right to carry it passes to his eldest son, who 
 inherits it as the head of his house and tribe. 
 
 This staff also marks the priestly rank, which it 
 appertains to equally with the princely. The kadi , 
 
AN ARAB SHEIXH LEAVING ON HIS STAFF, 
 
THE ANCESTRAL STAFF. 
 
 157 
 
 wlio sits as judge in religious questions; the mufti, 
 who answers amongst Mohammedans to the chief 
 priest; and the ullama , or teachers of religion, who 
 answer in like manner to the priests—all bear, in 
 right of their office, a staff like the one described. 
 On the occasion, not very rare of late years, of the visit 
 of some prince or sovereign to the Holy Land, it has 
 been a remarkable sight to see the kadi and mufti 
 of Jerusalem accompanying the 'jpasha to meet the 
 distinguished guest, clad in their costly robes of 
 embroidered silk, and mounted on richly-caparisoned 
 horses, yet bearing in their hands this rude staff; 
 and it would be inexplicable except for the reason 
 I have now given. The use of such a staff is an 
 institution of the country, and, like many other 
 such simple Oriental customs, has an appropriate 
 symbolical meaning. As the branch is the direct 
 and natural offshoot and representative of the parent 
 tree, so the man who owns the ancestral undressed 
 staff, or natural bough, is regarded as the lineal 
 offspring, and “ head of the house of his father.” 1 
 That it should have become the mark of the priest 
 admits of an obvious explanation. In patriarchal 
 times each head of a house appears in the character 
 of a priest to his own family. Noah offered a sacri¬ 
 fice on leaving the ark, and Abraham built an altar 
 in the places where he abode. Melcliizedec, king 
 
 1 Numbers xvii. 3 ; Joshua xxii. 14. 
 
158 
 
 PALESTINE EXPLORED. 
 
 of Salem, according to Jewisli tradition the patriarch 
 Shem, is another notable example. Thus the offices 
 of priest and patriarchal ruler were originally vested 
 in the same person, and when afterwards they be¬ 
 came distinct, as each remained hereditary, they 
 continued to he marked in the same manner. 
 
 In consequence of these facts coming to my 
 knowledge, I was led to inquire whether any refer¬ 
 ence to this staff of double office is to he found 
 in the Bible. How there are two words used in 
 Hebrew for “tribe.” One of these, shaivet / will 
 be found fully described under a notice of the 
 shepherd’s club. Its primary meaning is a blud¬ 
 geon or club, and hence the “ sceptre,” or mace of 
 power; and from this it came to mean a “tribe,” 
 from the sceptre borne by its chief. The other 
 word, which occurs more frequently, is matteh 1 2 
 and often requires the rendering of rod. But 
 what kind of rod ? I answer, evidently a means 
 of support, a rod used as a staff, or walking stick. 
 Five times we have in Hebrew the metaphorical 
 use “ matteh lehhem ,” “ staff, or support of bread.” 3 
 Jacob, we read, “ worshipped [leaning] upon the 
 top of his staff (matteh ).” 4 In our Bible the 
 passage in the Old Testament is translated “ upon 
 
 1 2 nt2D 
 
 •• •• •• — 
 
 • • 
 
 3 Leviticus xxvi. 26 ; Psalm cv. 16 ; Ezekiel iv. 16; v. 16; xiv. 13. 
 
 4 Genesis xlvii. ^1 : Hebrews xi. 21. 
 
THE ANCESTRAL STAFF. 
 
 159 
 
 the bed's head.” It is only a question of the 
 Hebrew vowel points, which were not a part of 
 the inspired volume. The consonants in the ancient 
 rolls stand alone thus, n&ft, mtth , 1 and might he 
 rendered either mittah , “ bed,” or matteh , “ staff.” 
 The inspired quotation, however, in the eleventh 
 chapter of the Epistle to the Hebrews, most em¬ 
 phatically decides the text in favour of the latter. 
 Because Papists, without a shadow of reason, have 
 pointed to this passage in proof of the lawfulness 
 of image-worship, some Protestant commentators, 
 with mistaken zeal, have tried to defend the evident 
 mistranslation of Genesis xlvii. 31. Beds in the 
 East consist simply of a thin woollen mattress, rolled 
 up in the morning and put on one side, and at 
 night stretched out for use on the floor. Hence the 
 derivation of mittah, “ bed,” from natah, “ to stretch 
 out.” 2 They are often laid on a raised portion of 
 the room, generally in a recess, some two feet high 
 by three feet broad, called in Arabic a mastabeh, 
 which accounts for such expressions as, “ Thou 
 shalt not come doivn from the bed on which thou 
 art gone up.” 3 Beds or couches in palaces and 
 great houses are still made sometimes in connection 
 with bedsteads, but this is rare. 4 Jacob, in all pro- 
 
 1 12, written thus with a dot in the centre, stands for a double t. 
 
 2 HLDJ 3 2 Kings i. 4. See also Psalm cxxxii. 3. 
 
 T T* 
 
 4 Canticles iii. 7 ; Amos vi. 4. 
 
i6o 
 
 PALESTINE EXPLORED. 
 
 Inability, had such a bed as David’s must have been, 
 the simple mattress we have described, for Saul 
 commanded concerning the latter, “ Bring him up 
 to me in the bed ( mittah ).” 1 Such, too, was the 
 bed of the paralytic man in the Gospels, which our 
 Lord directed him to take up. It will be seen at 
 once that it is impossible in such a case to speak of 
 “ worshipping on the bed’s head.” 
 
 Not only do we thus gather that the matteh was 
 a staff for support, but, if we trace the word back 
 to its primary meaning, we find it agreed that this 
 is “branch,” or “bough,” from the root already 
 mentioned, natah , “ to stretch out,” “ to spread 
 abroad.” 2 Here, then, we have the idea of a 
 natural branch used as a staff, and, since we 
 know that shaivet, club, signifies tribe, from the 
 club or sceptre borne by its chief, is it not reason¬ 
 able to infer that matteh, boimh, or natural staff, 
 means tribe, from the undressed hereditary rod in 
 the possession of the head of its principal family ? 
 If this conclusion is sound, then matteh , as distin¬ 
 guished from shaivet , would be a tribe as lineally 
 descended from the patriarchs. Now this is a shade 
 
 1 I Samuel xix. 15. This command is rendered somewhat more 
 reasonable than might at first sight appear by the fact that Eastern 
 men and women, even of the highest class, never undress at night, 
 or use any different clothing, simply removing their outer garment 
 and their shoes before they retire to rest. 
 
 2 Ezekiel xix. 11, 12, 14. 
 
THE ANCESTRAL STAFF. 
 
 1 6 1 
 
 of meaning actually required by several passages in 
 which it occurs, as given by Dr. Lee in his Hebrew 
 Lexicon, namely, “ a tribe peculiarly descended 
 from the patriarchs of Israel.” 1 Shaivet must be 
 understood of a tribe in its federal and corporate 
 capacity, and with regard to the sceptre or seat of 
 power: matteh of a tribe viewed as a clan, repre¬ 
 sented by an hereditary chieftain. 
 
 This at once gives a new and striking significance 
 to several passages in the Old Testament. Tamar, 
 it will be seen, demanded from Judah one of his 
 most valued possessions, and that by which he could 
 be certainly identified, when, in answer to the ques¬ 
 tion, “ What pledge shall I give thee ? ” she said, 
 “ Thy signet and thy bracelets, and thy staff ( matteh ), 
 that is in thy hand.” 2 Precious as the signet, or 
 seal, is in the East, this staff would be equally 
 prized. Commentators have hitherto represented 
 his daughter-in-law as a designing woman, who 
 sought, by asking amongst other things for such 
 a trifle as his walking-stick, to hide her object in 
 seeking the valuable marks of identification that 
 would be supplied by his seal and bracelets. But, 
 if the view here taken be right, we learn that there 
 was no attempt at deception, and have another 
 striking touch added to the sad picture of sensual 
 
 1 Dr. Lee refers to Numbers i. 4, 16 ; xvii. 17, 21 ; xxxi. 4, 5, &c. 
 
 2 Genesis xxxviii. 18. 
 
 L 
 
162 
 
 PALESTINE EXPLORED. 
 
 recklessness which must have brought upon Judah 
 a year of very great shame and anxiety. 
 
 We have already observed that the dying patriarch 
 Jacob is said to have bowed himself in worship, 
 leaning on the top of his matteh , or staff. 1 The 
 Apostle Paul appears to enumerate this as a special 
 act of faith in his letter to the Hebrews. “ By 
 faith Jacob, when he was dying, blessed each of the 
 sons of Joseph; and worshipped, [leaning] upon the 
 top of his staff.” 2 On referring to the narrative in 
 Genesis, the blessing the two sons of Joseph, and 
 the worshipping when he leaned on his staff, appear 
 as two entirely separate acts, which took place on 
 different occasions. 3 When he thus leaned upon 
 his ancestral staff, Jacob was taking a solemn oath 
 of Joseph that he would carry his remains to 
 Hebron, and bury him there with his fathers in the 
 land of promise. The act of faith, therefore, to 
 which allusion is so briefly but pointedly made 
 by the Apostle in the latter part of the verse in 
 the words, “ And worshipped, [leaning] upon the top 
 of his staff,” consisted in the patriarch’s giving up a 
 splendid and honoured sepulchre, which would cer¬ 
 tainly have been his in the land of Egypt. As it 
 was, the officials of Pharaoh’s palace, and all the 
 leading nobility of the country, together with an 
 
 1 Genesis xlvii. 31. 2 Hebrews xi. 21. 
 
 3 Compare Genesis xlvii. 29-31 with Genesis xlviii. 
 
THE ANCESTRAL STAFF. I 63 
 
 imposing military escort, actually accompanied liis 
 coffin a distance of four or five days’ journey; 1 and 
 the state would doubtless have lavished upon him 
 little short of royal pomp and distinction, if he had 
 been content to he buried in their midst. Yet he 
 gave up the extraordinary magnificence of a princely 
 and public entombment in the greatest land of that 
 age—an entombment, which, with its deathless 
 monument hewn and sculptured in acres of living 
 rock, appears to have been one of the most coveted 
 distinctions that even that famous land could afford 
 —to lie amongst strangers in a far-off and obscure 
 grave. This was the act; and it was a noble 
 expression of implicit faith in the promise of God 
 to his fathers and to himself, that the land which 
 held that grave would yet assuredly be theirs. 
 Bearing these circumstances in mind, the appro¬ 
 priateness of the mention of this peculiar ancestral 
 staff, and its touching and eloquent connection with 
 the story, will be readily seen. 
 
 It is deeply interesting to observe that Jacob’s 
 choice, even from an earthly standpoint, and with a 
 view only to the sacredness of sepulture, may be 
 said to have been as wise as it was faithful. There 
 is not, perhaps, one ancient tomb in all Egypt, not¬ 
 withstanding the care with which such spots were 
 formerly guarded, which has not been completely 
 
 1 Genesis 1. 7—11. 
 
164 
 
 PALESTINE EXPLORED. 
 
 rifled, and few which do not now lie open to injury 
 of every kind. The last resting-places of the 
 mightiest Pharaohs are in our day shown to all 
 comers by reckless and ignorant custodians. Yet 
 the cave of Machpelah, which we have every reason 
 to believe must lie under the magnificent Moham¬ 
 medan mosque at Hebron, is to this hour guarded 
 with a veneration greater than any other sepulchre 
 has ever enjoyed ! So jealously is it now watched 
 over, that the Prince of Wales, accompanied by Dean 
 Stanley, alone of all non-Mohammedans has been 
 allowed to enter the mosque during this century. 
 Only with the greatest difficulty could His Ptoyal 
 Highness obtain permission to visit it. A guard of 
 two thousand soldiers had to be told off for his 
 protection, and all the inhabitants of Hebron ordered 
 to keep within their houses. The very name of 
 the town in Arabic, El Hhulil , “ the friend,” com¬ 
 memorates the head of Jacob’s family, who was 
 “ the friend of God.” 1 This tomb is one of the 
 few ancient localities in Palestine that seem to be 
 undoubtedlv genuine. Por three thousand seven 
 hundred years, Jews, Christians, and Mohammedans, 
 amid their irreconcilable differences, have agreed 
 in doing honour to this spot as the sepulchre of 
 the great patriarch. Hot only does the strongest 
 tradition point to the present site being that of the 
 
 1 2 Chronicles xx. 7 > Isaiah xli. 8 ; James ii. 23 
 
THE ANCESTRAL STxAFF. 
 
 165 
 
 actual resting-place of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, 
 but also to the very building which now surmounts 
 it, called El Haram , “ the sanctuary/’ being “ the 
 workmanship of Abraham’s own descendants while 
 they yet dwelt in Palestine.” The enclosure wall 
 has been styled by Lieutenant Conder, E.E., “one 
 of the mysteries of Palestine, and a monument 
 inferior only to the Temple enclosure, which it 
 resembles in style.” One stone is said to be thirty- 
 eight feet long by three and a half feet high. 
 Lieutenant Conder remarks that “ they are all 
 drafted with the real Jewish draft, broad, shallow, 
 and beautifully cut, as at Jerusalem.” 1 The Bor¬ 
 deaux pilgrim who saw it A.D. 333 describes it 
 as “ a quadrangle constructed of stones of great 
 beauty,” evidently the one now existing. Benjamin 
 of Tudela, a Jewish traveller, who visited it a.d. 
 1163, when it had passed into the hands of the 
 Christians, who had named the building St. Abraham, 
 says that in the former Mohammedan times it was 
 a synagogue. He adds : “ The Gentiles have erected 
 six sepulchres in this place, which they pretend 
 to be those of Abraham and Sarah, of Isaac and 
 Bebekah, and of Jacob and Leah; the pilgrims are 
 told that they are in the sepulchre of their fathers, 
 and money is extorted from them. But if any Jew 
 comes who gives an additional fee to the keeper of 
 1 Tent Life in Palestine , vol. ii. p. Si. 
 
I 66 PALESTINE EXPLORED. 
 
 the cave, an iron door is opened, which dates from 
 the times of onr forefathers, who rest in peace, and 
 with a burning candle in his hands the visitor 
 descends into a first cave, which is empty, traverses 
 a second in the same state, and at last reaches a 
 third, which contains six sepulchres, those of Abra¬ 
 ham, Isaac, and Jacob, and of Sarah, Bebekah, and 
 Leah, one opposite the other. All these sepulchres 
 hear inscriptions, the letters being engraved; thus, 
 upon that of Abraham we read, * This is the sepul¬ 
 chre of our father Abraham, upon whom he peace ! ’ 
 and so upon that of Isaac, and upon all the others. 
 You then see tubs filled with the bones of Israelites, 
 for unto this day it is a custom of the house of 
 Israel to bring hither the hones of their relicts and 
 of their forefathers, and to leave them there.” 
 Making all due allowance for exaggeration and 
 inaccuracy in this curious account, there is much 
 reason to believe it is right in its main statement, 
 that the real tombs are in caves below the building. 
 Such is the gross superstition of the Mohammedans, 
 that, while they lay reckless hands on every other 
 monument, the tomb of any wely , or saint, is 
 regarded with the utmost veneration. They fear 
 that any profanation of such a spot would he fear¬ 
 fully avenged by the spirit of the saint. Hence the 
 boundless reverence they pay to sepulchre-shrines, 
 whilst they leave all else to ruin and decay. 
 
THE ANCESTRAL STAFF. 
 
 167 
 
 Thus Jacob’s faith in desiring to he buried in the 
 cave of Machpelah, the humble grave of his fathers, 
 in a distant, foreign, and at that time obscure land, 
 has met with a reward even here below in the 
 perpetual honour and inviolability that has attended 
 his last resting-place from that day to this! 
 
 The next mention of such a staff brings us to 
 Sinai. Moses, standing before the burning bush, 
 and hearing his high commission to bring forth the 
 children of Israel out of Egypt, tremblingly objects, 
 ‘ But, behold, they will not believe me nor hearken 
 to my voice. . . . And Jeliovah said unto him : 
 £ What is that in thine hand ? ’ And he said: ‘ A 
 staff”’ (matteh)} Whether this was actually Levi’s 
 original staff or not is uncertain, but it is afterwards 
 repeatedly spoken of as “ Aaron’s staff,” 2 to whom, 
 both as the eldest son and as the priest, we have 
 seen that the matteh would naturally belong. In 
 reference to the wonders wrought by this staff in 
 the presence of Pharaoh, it should be observed that 
 the magicians also each carried a staff which they 
 cast down in imitation of Aaron. 3 According to 
 the mural paintings on Egyptian monuments, priests 
 and other persons of rank were in those days 
 accustomed to walk abroad with a staff from three 
 to six feet long. 4 As the Egyptian priests were 
 
 1 Exodus iv. 1,2. 2 Exodus vii. io, 12,19; viii. 5. 3 Exodus vii. 12. 
 
 4 Wilkinson’s Ancient Egyptians , vol. iii. pp. 3S6-3SS. 
 
168 
 
 PALESTINE EXPLORED. 
 
 distinguished by these sticks, it was fitting that 
 Moses and Aaron amongst God’s priests should 
 carry the like insignia. It will also he seen that 
 there was a peculiar appropriateness in the circum¬ 
 stances of the first miracle, when Aaron’s “staff 
 swallowed up their staves.” Thus at the very 
 commencement of the contest between Jehovah and 
 the idols of Egypt, victory was declared on the side 
 of the Lord’s priest, when his matteh devoured that 
 of Jannes and Jambres, “ destroying their badge of 
 office, and symbolically putting an end to their 
 order altogether.” 
 
 We again meet with this staff in that miraculous 
 proof of Aaron’s Divine appointment to the priest¬ 
 hood, given in the seventeenth chapter of the Book 
 of Numbers. And here the use of this same staff, 
 in itself, as we have seen, the badge of the priestly 
 office, in deciding which tribe had been chosen for 
 the hierarchy, becomes peculiarly striking and ap¬ 
 propriate. Moses is directed to take an almond- 
 wood staff, or matteh , from each one of the twelve 
 princes, or heads of the twelve tribes, and to write 
 every man’s name on his staff. Aaron’s name was 
 to be written on another thirteenth staff, and these 
 were all to be laid up in the tabernacle of the con¬ 
 gregation “before Jehovah,” that is, before the testi¬ 
 mony, or ark, that it might be determined by the 
 blossoming of one of the thirteen which of the 
 
THE ANCESTRAL STAFF. 
 
 16 9 
 
 princes of the tribes the Lord had chosen to the 
 hereditary office of high-priest. 1 Dr. Thomson, in 
 The Land and the Booh, alluding to the fact that 
 these staves were of almond wood, observes, that 
 they were “ selected for the purpose from the tree 
 which, in its natural development, is the most ex¬ 
 peditious of all; and not only do the blossoms 
 appear on it suddenly, but the fruit sets at once, 
 and appears while the flowers are yet on the tree, 
 buds, blossoms, and almonds together on the same 
 branch, as on this rod of Moses.” To this, which 
 he justly remarks is according to the general 
 economy of miracles, may now be added, that the 
 staff’s miraculous fruitfulness was in striking agree¬ 
 ment with its state as a natural undressed lough, 
 and with its being “ the mighty staff ” with which 
 all the miracles of Moses and Aaron had hitherto 
 been performed. 
 
 Dor, that Aaron’s rod, thus laid up, was indeed 
 no other than this same wonder-working staff with 
 which the “ signs ” had been wrought in the land 
 of Egypt, at the Eed Sea, and in the subsequent 
 desert journey, seems plain. God, in giving Moses 
 his first commission, said of the staff he then held 
 in his hand, “Thou shalt take this staff (gnatteh) in 
 thy hand, wherewith thou shalt do signs.” 2 It is 
 twice called “ the mighty staff,” or, as it is literally 
 
 1 Numbers xvii. 1-5 ■ 2 Exodus iv. 17. 
 
 
170 
 
 PALESTINE EXPLORED. 
 
 in the strong Hebrew superlative, “the staff of 
 Gocl” (matteh ha-eloaheem ). 1 At the miraculous 
 trial to ascertain whom the Lord had appointed 
 priest, the matteh taken to represent Aaron is 
 called “ the staff of Levi,” 2 and also “ the staff of 
 Aaron,” though, in the case of the twelve princes 
 of the other tribes, it is only said that Moses was 
 to take “a staff.” 3 We are told, “Every one of 
 their princes gave him a staff apiece; for each 
 prince one, according to their fathers’ houses, even 
 twelve staves; and the staff of Aaron was among 
 their staves.” 4 At the close of the trial each of 
 the twelve princes took hack his own lifeless staff, 
 hut Aaron’s staff, that blossomed and bore fruit, 
 was brought again into the Holy of Holies, “before 
 the testimony,” or ark—in other words, “ before 
 
 1 Exodus iv. 20; xvii. 9. This characteristic Hebrew mode of 
 forming a strong superlative by adding to a noun the genitive of 
 
 D'rfpK, or eloaheem, or ail, two different forms of the word 
 “ God,” occurs very frequently. Thus we read of “ voices of God,” 
 or “mighty voices”—that is, “thunders” (Exodus ix. 28); of “a 
 trembling of God,” or “mighty trembling”—that is, an “earth¬ 
 quake” (1 Samuel xiv. 15); of “mountains of God,” or “mighty 
 mountains ” (Psalm xxxvi. 6); and of “ cedars of God,” or “ mighty 
 cedars” (Psalm lxxx. 10). In the case, too, of proper names, 
 Carmel, “vineyard of God,” signifies “most excellent vineyard,” 
 and Israel, “prince of God,” is “a very great or mighty prince” 
 (Genesis xxxii. 28). 
 
 2 Numbers xvii. 3. 3 Numbers xvii. 2. 
 
 4 Numbers xvii. 6. 
 
THE ANCESTRAL STAFF. 
 
 I/I 
 
 Jehovah ”—“ for a token against the rebels.” 1 We 
 hear of it next when God is about to work another 
 miracle by the hand of Moses—the bringing water 
 out of the rock at Meribah. “ Then Jehovah spake 
 unto Moses, saying: 4 Take the staff; ’ ” and it is 
 added, “ Moses took the staff from before Jehovah , 
 as he commanded him.” 2 Hence we may certainly 
 infer that Aaron’s staff which budded was the self¬ 
 same staff of almond wood that Moses had carried 
 to Sinai, and with which all the miracles were 
 wrought. 
 
 It is deeply interesting to view the 11 otli Psalm 
 in the light of these facts. That this Scripture 
 refers to Messiah we know by His own application 
 of the first verse. When the Pharisees, in answer 
 to the Master’s question, said that they thought 
 Christ was David’s son, Jesus said to them, “How 
 then doth David in the spirit call him Lord, 
 saying— 
 
 ‘ Jehovah said unto my Lord, 
 
 Sit thou at my right hand, 
 
 Until I make thine enemies 
 A footstool for thy feet ’ ? ” 3 
 
 1 Numbers xvii. io. That “before the testimony or ark” is the 
 same as “before Jehovah,” we learn from a comparison of verses 
 4 and 7 of this same chapter. In verse 4, God commanded con¬ 
 cerning the thirteen staffs, “ Thou shalt lay them up in the tent of 
 meeting (the tabernacle) before the testimony.” In verse 7, where 
 the fulfilment of this command is given, it is said, “ and Moses laid 
 up the staves before Jehovah.” 
 
 2 Numbers xx. 7, 9. 3 Matthew xxii. 41-46 ; Psalm cx. r. 
 
172 
 
 PALESTINE EXPLORED. 
 
 That it is an important passage, in proof both 
 of Christ’s priestly office and the change of the 
 Levitical law, we further gather from the use that 
 is made of it in the Epistle to the Hebrews. 1 2 
 This 11 otli Psalm represents Messiah, by Jehovah’s 
 appointment, both as Zion’s king and Zion’s priest— 
 
 “ Jehovah said unto my Lord : 
 
 ‘ Sit thou at my right hand, 
 
 Until I make thine enemies 
 A footstool for thy feet . 5 
 
 Jehovah will send thy strong staff out of Zion : 
 
 Rule thou in the midst of thine enemies. 
 
 • • • • • 
 
 Jehovah hath sworn, and he will not repent; 
 
 Thou art a priest for ever, 
 
 After the order of Melchizedec . 55 2 
 
 The other kings of Judah were not priests. Uzziah 
 was struck with leprosy for attempting so much as 
 to burn incense. Of the tribe of Judah “ Moses 
 spake nothing concerning the priesthood.” 3 The 
 priests of Levi’s line were not kings. Their juris¬ 
 diction only extended to things spiritual. But 
 this is the royal priest, after the similitude of 
 Melchizedec, the high-priest Joshua’s great anti¬ 
 type, of whom it was said, “He shall sit and rule 
 upon his throne; and he shall he a priest upon his 
 
 1 Hebrews v. 6, 10 ; vii. 20, 21. 
 
 2 Psalm cx. 1, 2, 4. 
 
 3 Hebrews vii. 14. 
 
THE ANCESTRAL STAFF. I 73 
 
 throne.” 1 Of this king-priest it is declared in the 
 second verse of the 110th Psalm— 
 
 “Jehovah will send thy strong staff 2 out of Zion.” 
 
 This figure is pregnant with meaning. I11 other 
 places where Messiah’s power and kingly authority 
 is the subject in question, the word “sceptre,” 
 shaivet, is employed. 3 But the ancestral staff, as 
 we have seen, marks the priest as well as the 
 prince, and that prince one of lineal descent. It 
 is here, therefore, most fitly said to be given to 
 him who is described as bearing both offices, and as 
 being the promised prince of David’s direct line! 
 
 We read that this staff shall be sent “out of 
 Zion.” This carries us back to Aaron, and the way 
 in which his authority as high-priest was mani¬ 
 fested. His staff, laid up “before Jehovah,” was 
 brought out from the ark of the Tabernacle, bios- 
 soming and bearing almonds, instinct with Kesur- 
 rection-life, indeed a “strong staff” of indisputable 
 authority sent out of the sanctuary. So manifestly 
 and mightily should Christ be exhibited to Israel 
 
 1 Zechariah vi. 13. 
 
 2 Tpy nts» matteh ’uzzWia. These words are literally “ the staff 
 of thy "strength.” They form an idiom of frequent occurrence in 
 Hebrew, to be rendered as above, just as “ God of my righteousness ” 
 should be translated “myrighteous God” (Psalm iv. 1). 
 
 3 Numbers xxiv. 17 ; Psalm ii. 9, &c. 
 
174 
 
 PALESTINE EXPLORED. 
 
 out of Jerusalem as their great High-priest, to 
 whose authority God would set supernatural seal! 
 That which answers to the miraculous proof of 
 Aaron’s priesthood, in the case of our Saviour, is 
 undoubtedly His own resurrection. By this His 
 Divine mission was incontrovertibly established. 
 He was “with power declared [to be] the Son of 
 God, according to the spirit of holiness, by the 
 resurrection from among the dead.” 1 Just as the 
 blossoming, or coming to life, of Aaron’s almond- 
 wood staff, was the sign of his appointment by God, 
 so Christ Himself, “ the Branch of Jehovah,” w T as 
 raised from the dead, as a testimony to His “ un¬ 
 changeable priesthood.” 
 
 This is the view given us by the Apostle Paul, 
 when adverting in the Epistle to the Hebrews to 
 the call of Christ as a high-priest. Speaking of the 
 sacred office, he says, “Ho man taketh the honour 
 unto himself, but when he is called by God, even 
 as was Aaron. Thus Christ also did not glorify 
 himself to be made a high-priest; but he who spoke 
 to him— 
 
 ‘ Thou art my Son, 
 
 To-day have I begotten thee.’ ” 2 
 
 How these words, which he quotes from the 
 2nd Psalm, refer, we know, to Messiah’s resurrec¬ 
 tion, for the same apostle says in another place, 
 
 1 Romans i. 4. 2 Hebrews v. 4, 5. 
 
THE ANCESTRAL STAFF. I 75 
 
 “He hath raised up Jesus again; as it is also 
 written in the 2nd Psalm— 
 
 c Thou art my Son, 
 
 To-clay have I begotten thee.’ ” 1 
 
 Our Lord Himself says the same thing. When, 
 upon His driving out of the Temple the sheep and 
 oxen, and overturning the tables of the money¬ 
 changers, the Jews demanded a sign to prove His 
 authority, He said to them, “Destroy this temple, 
 and in three days I will raise it up; ” and He 
 spake thus “ of the temple of his body.” 2 Twice, 
 upon other occasions, when the Pharisees and Sad- 
 ducees came and asked for a sign or miracle to 
 establish His Messianic claims, He replied, “ An 
 evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; 
 and there shall no sign he given to it hut the 
 sign of the prophet Jonah,” that is, as our Lord 
 explains, His own resurrection from the dead on 
 the third day. 3 This is still the one sign, the one 
 “ token against the rebels,” in Israel. 
 
 Christ’s ascension on high, and constant session 
 on the Father’s throne, was prefigured by the lay¬ 
 ing up of “ Aaron’s rod again before the testimony,” 
 that is, in the Holy of Holies, which, we are told, 
 is a type of heaven. 4 The bringing out of the rod 
 
 1 Acts xiii. 33. 
 
 3 Matthew xii. 38-40; xvi. 4. 
 
 2 John ii. 19, 21. 
 
 4 Hebrews ix. 7-12. 
 
PALESTINE EXPLORED. 
 
 I 76 
 
 once more “ from before Jehovah/ 5 to work further 
 miracles, very fitly foreshadows our Lord’s second 
 coming, amidst fresh miraculous signs, with power 
 and great glory. 
 
 Men have many schemes in our day for the 
 regeneration of the world, plans of their own 
 devising for putting an end to the miseries which 
 sin has brought both to individuals and to com- 
 munities. God’s way, however, is different, and 
 has been declared plainly from the first. The eyes 
 of Adam’s ruined children have been directed from 
 the days of our first parents to a Personal Be- 
 deemer, and all man’s hopes have been declared 
 to rest upon His alone help. As a sinner he needs 
 an atonement, and Christ has therefore become his 
 liigh-priest, as head of the “family which is named 
 of God in heaven and earth.” Himself the innocent 
 and all-sufficient Victim, He has offered up once for 
 all His own body, and by that “one offering hath 
 perfected for ever them that are sanctified.” Nor 
 was His merciful work then ended. As man’s 
 high-priest He still intercedes for man, yea, for 
 this purpose, “ He ever livetli,” and more especially 
 to procure for those who seek Him the gift of the 
 Holy Spirit. This work He carries on now unseen 
 in that Heaven which must receive Him “until the 
 times of the restoration of all things, of which God 
 spoke through the mouth of all his holy prophets 
 
THE ANCESTRAL STAFF. 
 
 
 1/7 
 
 since the world began/’ 1 But on the great day of 
 atonement the high-priest, after sprinkling the blood 
 on the mercy-seat within the veil, came out from the 
 Holy of Holies, and blessed the people of the Lord. 
 And though scoffers are crying, “ Where is the pro¬ 
 mise of his coming ? for from the day that the fathers 
 fell asleep all things continue as they were from 
 the beginning of the creation,” He will come again, 
 and “his reward shall be with him.” Bor when 
 He thus comes, He will appear in His true character 
 as Zion’s king. He reigns even now in the hearts 
 of His believing people, for those who look to Him 
 as their Saviour serve Him as their Lord, and have 
 already experienced the protection of His power. 
 But then He will be manifested in all the pomp 
 and might of His mediatorial kingdom. When the 
 wicked are crying “ peace and safety,” and setting 
 up the standard, soon to be raised, of universally 
 organised revolt, in the darkest hour of the night of 
 Jacob’s trouble, in a moment, like the lightning’s 
 flash, or the ubiquitous vulture’s swoop from unseen 
 heights, He will come in the unimaginable glory of 
 the Father. 2 When “his feet shall stand in that 
 day upon the Mount of Olives,” all His ancient 
 people Israel shall be saved. 3 The throne that 
 shall be set up at Jerusalem shall sway a ransomed 
 
 1 Acts iii. 2i. 2 Matthew xxiv. 28. 
 
 3 Zechariah xiv. 1-11 ; Romans xi. 26. 
 
 M 
 
I/S 
 
 PALESTINE EXPLORED. 
 
 world, for the receiving back of the Jews shall be 
 to the rest of mankind as “ life from the dead.” 1 
 International politics shall no longer vex the world 
 with war, for the Lord Christ will rule, “even 
 in the midst of his enemies,” and “ all dominions 
 shall serve and obey him ” The problems of govern¬ 
 ment will then be solved. Oppression, ignorance, 
 want, and crime shall cease, for “ the saints of the 
 Most High shall receive the kingdom, and shall 
 possess the kingdom for ever; ” yea, “ the kingdom 
 and dominion and the greatness of the kingdom 
 under the whole heaven shall be given to the 
 people of the saints of the Most High.” 2 
 
 Ho less than this is the glorious prospect, given 
 us alike by Isaiah, the evangelical prophet, and 
 John, the prophet - evangelist, of that millennial 
 time when Jehovah shall fully accomplish the 
 sending forth of Messiah’s “ strong staff out of 
 Zion.” Almost all students of the prophetic word 
 agree in believing that the indications of its glad 
 approach are now thickening around us. The Tal¬ 
 mud preserves the Jewish tradition that the present 
 order of the world would last just 6000 years ; 
 2000 years without the law, 2000 years under the 
 law, and 2000 years under Messiah; and to this 
 conclusion the teachers of Israel were evidently 
 
 1 Romans xi. 15. 
 
 2 Daniel vii. 18, 27. See also Isaiah xi. 1-9 ; lx. ; lxii. ; lxvi., &c. 
 
THE ANCESTRAL STAFF. 
 
 179 
 
 led by those scriptures which represent a thou¬ 
 sand years in God’s sight as one day. 1 We are 
 undoubtedly drawing near to the close of 6000 years 
 of human history—earth’s week of working-days— 
 for, according to the latest and best calculations, we 
 have reached a point within its last half century, 
 and have much reason to believe that when the 
 seventh thousand year dawns it will be the com¬ 
 mencement of the long-foretold Sabbath, the rest 
 that still remaineth for the people of God. 2 The 
 shadows of evening are falling fast upon the day of 
 this dispensation. Turning, therefore, from earthly 
 
 1 Psalm xc. 4; 2 Peter iii. 8. 
 
 2 The exact chronology of Scripture in the wisdom of God leaves 
 two short breaks or chasms, which no ingenuity can fill up, and 
 which prevent our calculating with certainty the age of the world. 
 The first of these breaks is from the death of Moses to the servitude 
 under the Midianites, containing the government of Joshua and the 
 elders, and the interregnum that followed (Joshua xxiv. 31). The 
 second uncertain interval is that which occurred between the death 
 of Samson and the election of Saul, including the governments of 
 Eli and Samuel. “ From forty to sixty years,” says Mr. H. Grattan 
 Guinness in his very able work, The Approaching End of the Age, 
 “comprises in all probability the range of the uncertain in the 
 whole extent of Bible chronology.” Mr. Fynes Clinton’s deeply 
 learned work on chronology, Fasti Hellenici, from the simple state¬ 
 ments of Scripture, places the creation of the world four thousand 
 one hundred and thirty-eight years before Christ, instead of four 
 thousand and four years, as is generally supposed, and this gives us 
 six thousand and eighteen years as the present age of the world, 
 which, allowing for an error of forty to sixty years as above, is in 
 all probability approximately true. 
 
I 80 PALESTINE EXPLORED. 
 
 schemes, which must end in failure, let us patiently 
 wait for the Master’s return with renewed hope 
 and redoubled watchfulness. The best preservative 
 amidst the peculiar perils and trials of the “last 
 days,” is to be found in looking for our King, and 
 preparing to meet Him; our prayer that of the rapt 
 divine, “Lord Jesus, come quickly.” 
 
CHAPTEE YII. 
 
 THE ORANGE. 
 
 “As an orange tree among the trees of the rocky- 
 mountain -forest, 
 
 So is my beloved among the sons. 
 
 I sit down under his shadow with eager desire, 
 
 And his fruit is sweet to my taste.” 
 
 —Canticles ii. 3. 
 
 To those who believe in the plenary inspiration of 
 Holy Scripture, each term which forms a part of the 
 original text is of very great interest. Immense 
 force or beauty will often he found to underlie a 
 single word in that volume which, to the spiritually- 
 enlightened, is at once the simplest and the deepest 
 of hooks. Eor this reason some knowledge of 
 Hebrew, and a thorough acquaintance with Palestine 
 life,—the peculiar products and primitive practices 
 of the land,—to a lover of the Bible are privileges 
 most important to possess, and imparting the richest 
 enjoyment. 
 
 Such thoughts naturally occur in considering 
 the above allegory. The tree there referred to, 
 
PALESTINE EXPLORED. 
 
 182 
 
 rendered in this and in every other passage 
 where it occurs in our version, “the apple tree,” 
 has long exercised the ingenuity of thoughtful 
 and earnest commentators, and not without good 
 reason. While all inspired illustrations are im¬ 
 portant, those which have been chosen by the Holy 
 Spirit to set forth the glorious attributes of Christ 
 may well be regarded as specially worthy of investi¬ 
 gation. That this is a figure applied to the Lord 
 Jesus we cannot doubt. It has always been held 
 by the Church, both before and since His coming, 
 that the Bridegroom of the Song of Solomon, He 
 Whose “ name is as ointment poured forth,” that is, 
 Messiah, the anointed one, is the Christ of God . 1 
 Truly “ a greater than Solomon is here.” He Whose 
 person and work are its principal subjects, and 
 Who, all glorious and all good, forms the central 
 figure in every scene, if indeed Canticles be really 
 part of the Sacred Canon, can be none other than 
 Israel’s Divine King. Doubtless He Himself thus 
 declared, when in those discourses, to which they 
 must have listened with so much delight, He 
 “ expounded ” to His disciples “ in all the Scriptures 
 the things concerning Himself.” Those who have 
 loved their Lord best in every succeeding age have 
 endorsed the saying of the ancient Jewish rabbis , 
 that, if Solomon’s Proverbs be likened to lead, and 
 
 1 Canticles i. 3. 
 
THE ORANGE. 
 
 183 
 
 his Ecclesiastes to silver, his Song must be com¬ 
 pared to pure gold. It is in the highest sense “ the 
 song of songs which is Solomon’s,” or, to give the 
 full force of this strong Hebrew superlative, “the 
 chiefest and best of songs.” 
 
 “ The song that's all songs above, 
 
 Longer, deeper, fuller, higher, 
 
 Sweeter than the psalmist’s lyre, 
 
 The breathing of nought hut love ; 
 
 Love that is strong with strength divine, 
 
 Meet for thy depths, thou soul of mine ! 
 
 Sought for in vain from the creature too long, 
 Painless, and deathless,—0 beautiful song ! 
 
 “ Monarch hands the measures trace, 
 
 Wisest child of mortal race, 
 
 Shelomoh, a king of kings, 
 
 Shelomok, whose glory brings 
 Shadow faint of fairer things. 
 
 For the burning words of bliss 
 Speak a fulness more than his ; 
 
 All the sweets that strew the song, 
 
 Prince of Peace, to thee belong, 
 
 Moves its kindling, melting fire 
 From thy heart, 0 King Messiah ! ” 
 
 But though the just importance of the inspired 
 allegory which stands at the head of this chapter 
 has been owned as undoubtedly applying to Christ, 
 its difficulty has been equally felt. So little was 
 known from actual experience of the “ fruitful trees ” 
 of the Holy Land, and such excellent things were 
 
184 ' PALESTINE EXPLORED. 
 
 said of this particular kind—things which could 
 apply to no one species with which we are familiar 
 in the north-west—that it w T as almost impossible 
 to decide the question. Dr. Kitto would have us 
 understand it to he the citron. Deriving the Hebrew 
 name tappooaiih} from naphahh, “ to breathe,” he 
 calls attention to the ‘ delicious and powerful fra¬ 
 grance that breathes from every part of the citron 
 tree. He also alludes to the fact that Oriental 
 ladies have the fruit often in their hands, or within 
 reach, and employ it for much the same purpose as 
 their western sisters would use a vinaigrette. When 
 the rind is slightly scraped or bruised, the perfume 
 is strongly given out. He might have added that 
 the Jews, both men and women, still make a similar 
 use of this fruit during the rejoicings of the feast 
 of Tabernacles. Each one strives to obtain a large 
 specimen without a single blemish, and having the 
 stalk adhering to it, for which, in lands like 
 Palestine, distant from its general cultivation, a 
 very high price has to be paid. Dr. Thomson 
 appears to be in error in stating that the citron is 
 “ too small and straggling to make a shade,” for like 
 most of the trees of that genus it grows to a con¬ 
 siderable size, and is well calculated, by means of 
 its long stout leaves, to form a fine natural protec¬ 
 tion from the sun. He is, however, strictly right 
 
 1 man. 
 
THE ORANGE. 
 
 185 
 
 in asserting that its fruits are “ so hard and indi- 
 gestible that they cannot be used except when made 
 into preserves.” This, therefore, cannot be the tree 
 whose fruit is sweet to the taste . 1 
 
 The last-mentioned author, in his Land and the 
 Booh , would maintain in all its strictness the render¬ 
 ing of our authorised version. Tor this he relies 
 on the similarity of the Arabic colloquial term for 
 apple, toophahh, and the Hebrew i tajypooahh? He 
 
 1 Canticles ii. 3. 
 
 2 It would certainly seem that the Arabic toophaJih is the modern 
 form of the word tappooalih in Hebrew. But there is a special 
 reason why, in the case of the word “apple,” we should not lay that 
 stress upon the colloquial use of the present Arabic term which 
 might reasonably be laid on such a use in the case of another word. 
 In old English the word “ apple ” had a very general significance, 
 applying indefinitely to any round fruit. The expression “ apple of 
 the eye,” which occurs five times in our version, is an instance of 
 this usage. It has been well remarked, “ No word is more loosely 
 used than this and all its equivalents in various languages. For 
 instance, the Homans called almost every kind of globular fruit 
 pomum, apples, pears, peaches, cherries, &c., not even walnuts 
 excepted ; and we ourselves speak of love-apples, earth-apples, oak- 
 apples, and pine-apples, when we mean the tomato, the tuberous 
 root of the bunium, the spongy excrescence which grows on the 
 leaves and branches of the oak, or the most exquisite of all fruits, 
 the Peruvian ananassa ” ( Fairbairn’s Bible Dictionary — article 
 Apple). In Latin, too, under the name malum, “ apple,” the 
 Romans included also quinces, pomegranates, pears, and citrons; 
 and Virgil’s “ aurea mala ” were probably golden oranges. These 
 last, far more likely than the quince, which is generally green 
 rather than yellow, afforded “ the golden apple ” that Discord is 
 described as casting on the table at the marriage of Thetis and 
 Peleus, and which, through the award of Paris, was the fabled 
 
186 
 
 PALESTINE EXPLORED. 
 
 speaks of but one place in the Holy Land, 
 Askelon, as producing this fruit in perfection. If 
 a really good native apple flourishes there, which 
 I have not been able to ascertain, it must be about 
 the only spot in Palestine where this is found to be 
 the case. The best Syrian apples at Jerusalem 
 come all the way from Damascus. They are the 
 only eatable ones that I have met with, and though 
 of a bright crimson and yellow colour, are small, 
 and far inferior to ours. I never ate good apples 
 in any part of the Holy Land, except at Wady 
 JJrtas, near Bethlehem, in the “ watered gardens ” 
 belonging to the late Mr. Meshullam, and these were 
 from foreign varieties freshly grafted. This ex¬ 
 perienced horticulturist assured me, as the result of 
 his five and twenty years of fruit culture there, 
 that the apple, when thus introduced, in a few 
 years entirely deteriorates. The fact is plain that 
 the heat of all southern parts of Palestine, even in 
 the highest mountain districts, is far too great 
 to permit of its reaching perfection. In some 
 loftier and cooler regions on the Lebanon range it 
 may do better; and Dr. Tristram, when describing 
 
 cause of the fall of Troy. Oranges, too, may have given rise to 
 the legend of the golden apples which hung in the garden of the 
 Hesperides. The very same general use of the word “apple” 
 existed amongst the Greeks, who called an apricot an “ Armenian 
 apple,” an orange “ a Persian apple,” and so forth. 
 
THE ORANGE. 
 
 I 87 
 
 a ride near Baalbec, shows ns under what conditions 
 this must he sought. “ It was interesting,” he says, 
 “ to notice how the change of vegetation registered 
 our increasing elevation. We had long since lost 
 the olive. Now the apricot became scarce, and the 
 apple took its place.” 
 
 This accomplished botanist has come to “ the 
 conviction that the apricot, Mushmushah , alone is 
 the apple of Scripture.” It is true that it grows 
 abundantly in high parts of the country, and yields 
 much fruit. It flourishes, however, more especially 
 around Damascus, where the fine orchards consist 
 for the most part of apricots, and extend for a 
 circuit of many leagues, giving the glittering city, 
 to the Eastern imagination, the appearance of “ a 
 diamond set in emeralds.” No doubt in these wide 
 woods many fine specimens are here and there to 
 be found, beneath which Dr. Tristram might meet 
 with considerable shade. But in most instances 
 this tree is far from affording a good protection 
 from the sun, and would never be sought by a 
 Syrian for this purpose. The fruit, on an average 
 not so large as a good-sized English plum, is far 
 inferior to ours, and often comparatively tasteless. 
 It is whitish-yellow and pink, but not of a golden 
 hue. When dried in the sun, or made into a paste 
 for preservation until the winter months, it is perhaps 
 best. The fruit is thus prepared in large quantities 
 
i 88 
 
 PALESTINE EXPLORED. 
 
 % 
 
 everywhere throughout the East. In its natural 
 state it is not particularly wholesome. Under the 
 most careful cultivation at the Urtas gardens it 
 soon deteriorates, and the only really good apricots 
 I have eaten in Jerusalem were, like the apples, 
 from fresh foreign grafts. The climate of the greater 
 part of Palestine is too hot and dry for both these 
 trees, though the former suffers less than the latter. 
 There is indeed a faint delicate scent possessed by 
 the ripe fruit of the apricot, but little or none by 
 its blossom or leaf. 
 
 Now, it may be asked, is there no tree answering 
 fully to the description of the “ apple ” of Scripture, 
 which, like the olive, vine, fig, and pomegranate, is 
 thoroughly at home in, if not indigenous to, the 
 soil ? Is there no tree of this kind that flourishes 
 commonly and luxuriantly in Palestine under per¬ 
 fectly congenial conditions ? All who have resided 
 for any length of time in the Holy Land will, I 
 think, agree with the reply, that certainly there is 
 just such a tree. The orange, in all its numerous 
 choice varieties, is the rightful representative of the 
 tappooahh, or “ apple ” of Scripture. 
 
 Before proceeding to the proof of this, let us 
 distinctly inquire what are the marks by which 
 the tree may be known. Briefly these are four : 
 pleasant and powerful perfume; sweet and grateful 
 fruit; foliage which affords a delightful shade; and 
 
THE ORANGE. 
 
 189 
 
 a golden colour, which seems to refer to the fruit, 
 or to the tree as seen covered with it. It is said 
 of the bride in Solomon’s Song— 
 
 “ And the fragrance of thy nose [is] like the tappoohheem .” 1 
 
 Of the Bridegroom of the Church it is declared by 
 His people— 
 
 “As a tappooahh among the trees of the rocky 
 mountain brushwood, 
 
 So is my beloved among the sons. 
 
 I sit down under his shadow with eager desire.” 2 
 
 To this it is immediately added— 
 
 “ And liis fruit is sweet to my taste.” 
 
 The intimation as to its colour is given in a truly 
 Oriental proverb concerning wise and courteous 
 speech— 
 
 “ A word spoken on its wheels 
 Is like tappoohheem of gold in engraved work of 
 silver.” 3 
 
 How all these four requisites meet in a very high 
 degree in the orange, and in that tree alone. It 
 must be seen in the full luxuriance of its growth 
 in Syria to realise its excellence. It may be met 
 with in many “ watered gardens ” throughout the 
 hill country, but its true home is on the warm 
 
 1 Canticles vii. 8. Tappoohheem is the plural of tappooahh. 
 
 2 Canticles ii. 3. 3 Proverbs xxv. 11. 
 
190 
 
 PALESTINE EXPLORED. 
 
 maritime plains, where it is now principally culti¬ 
 vated. Here, at Jaffa, the ancient Joppa, and at 
 Sidon, are vast orange orchards. The sandy plain 
 that forms the site of Jaffa, at a depth of from fifty 
 to eighty feet, supplies the water which is required 
 to irrigate the groves,—the supply appearing to 
 come from a wide subterranean river flowing at 
 this depth beneath the ground. In large orchards, 
 called in Arabic bayarah, oranges of many sorts 
 are extensively cultivated, interspersed with a few 
 lemons, citrons, pomegranates, bananas, and date- 
 palms, the whole forming a scene of surpassing 
 fertility and loveliness, which is guarded by a hedge 
 of the gigantic prickly pear (Caches ficus indicct). 
 This dull, light green, weird-looking hedge serves 
 the more to set off the dark, glossy, and abundant 
 foliage of the orange tree. The latter attains a 
 very considerable size, and its thick shining leaves 
 spread a secure and delightful shade. Beneath its 
 branches may constantly be seen the usual low cane 
 stools placed for the accommodation of the owner 
 and his friends. Of all the trees of the garden this 
 is the one chosen for shade. Nothing could be 
 more natural than the declaration— 
 
 “ I sit down under liis shadow with eager desire.” A 
 The fruit is one of the most delicious and service- 
 
 1 Canticles ii. 3. 
 
THE ORANGE. 
 
 19 I 
 
 able of all the productions of Palestine, and, while 
 forming a nourishing article of food, is at the same 
 time a natural preservative from fever. It is abun¬ 
 dant as soon as the grapes are over, and lasts almost 
 until they come again. It greatly excels the fruit 
 received in this country from abroad, which has to 
 be packed in an unripe condition. The varieties 
 are well marked. The blood orange, which, when 
 peeled, is of a deep crimson colour, is the sweetest, 
 but the cultivation of this sort is now mostly con¬ 
 fined to Egypt. There is one very large species, 
 with an enormously thick rind, which attains the 
 size of a small bread melon, an excellent fruit, 
 which is not known in England. The orange is 
 especially grateful in Bible lands. Like the pro¬ 
 duce of the vine it is most wholesome in its season, 
 and may be freely eaten so long as care is taken not 
 to drink water afterwards, for neglect of this pre¬ 
 caution is, with any fruit in Palestine, a sure source 
 of fever. “ Abounding in malic and citric acid, the 
 juice of the orange and its congeners is one of the 
 most agreeable antidotes which the Creator’s bounty 
 has provided against the exhausting thirst and 
 incipient fever of sultry climes. A settler in the 
 torrid swamps of the Amazon will devour a dozen 
 oranges before his morning meal, and in tropical 
 regions such acidulous fruits are invaluable on 
 
192 
 
 PALESTINE EXPLORED. 
 
 account of their anti-febrile virtues.” 1 Only one 
 like the poor, weary, sunburnt slave-girl in the 
 Song of Songs, who has been exposed to the heat, 
 and consequent thirst, of toil beneath a burning 
 Syrian sky, can understand how sweet they are at 
 such a time to the taste . 2 
 
 The fragrance of its flowers is well known, but 
 the alternate tropical rains and hot sun of a Syrian 
 plain serve to increase it to a remarkable extent. 
 As in most trees of this order, fruit, leaves, and 
 flowers are alike scented, but more especially the 
 latter. They lend the most delicious perfume to 
 the groves of orange, and one which is wafted to 
 a great distance. In certain winds it is perceived 
 by ships off Jaffa, several miles away from the 
 shore. It is a singularly refreshing and reviving 
 scent. A consideration of this excellent property 
 of the Scripture “ apple ” sheds a flood of light 
 on a passage which would otherwise be meaning¬ 
 less. The bride in the Song of Songs, who is repre¬ 
 sented as faint with excessive emotion, cries— 
 
 il Straw me with tappoohheemj 
 For I am faint with love.” 3 
 
 In our version the first line of this verse reads— 
 
 “ Comfort me with apples.” 
 
 1 Fairbairri s Dictionary of the Bible —article Apple. 
 
 2 Canticles i. 5, 6 ; ii. 3. 3 Canticles ii. 5. 
 
THE ORANGE. 
 
 193 
 
 But the rendering which I have here given is 
 that adopted by the Septuagint, and is the one re¬ 
 quired by the verb rapfiad, “ to spread/’ in the only 
 two other passages where it occurs . 1 Now, the idea 
 of spreading over a bride either branch, blossom, 
 or fruit of the apple tree, possesses no significance 
 whatever. But if we supply the name of the true 
 tree in question, do we not see at once the appro¬ 
 priateness of the exclamation, 
 
 “ Straw me with orange,” 
 
 or, as it is literally, “ [pieces of] orange trees,” for 
 this word applies equally to the tree and its 
 blossom as well as to its fruit ? This is just what 
 is done to a bride down to the present day, and 
 here surely we have the natural Eastern origin of 
 the customary bridal wreath! It would appear that 
 on such occasions the orange flower was not formerly 
 in the East, as it now is in the West, a mere orna¬ 
 ment, but played an important part in the wedding 
 costume. 
 
 A difficulty has been felt in accounting for the 
 choice in Northern lands of an exotic flower for the 
 garland of a bride, and recently the question has 
 been asked in some horticultural*journals, “Whence 
 has it arisen?” The answer is, that this practice 
 
 1 see Job xvii. 13 ; xli. 30. 
 
 N 
 
194 
 
 PALESTINE EXPLORED. 
 
 would seem plainly to have come with our race 
 from its Eastern cradle. Mr. J. Timbs tells us, 
 “ The use of these flowers (orange blossoms) at 
 bridals is said to have been derived from the 
 Saracens, or at least from the East, and they are 
 believed to have been thus employed as emblems of 
 fecundity .” 1 But the Word of God, as we have 
 shown, quite incidentally gives the true and far 
 more simple reason, namely, that they were employed 
 as affording a powerful perfume to revive the bride 
 from a natural faintness. The strong refreshing per¬ 
 fume of the orange blossom, when newly gathered, 
 would appear to have led to its adoption as a bridal 
 adornment, not only perhaps for the crown or 
 wreath, but also as a beautiful and appropriate 
 addition to other parts of the dress. It is so employed 
 in Palestine wherever it can be had at the present 
 time. Thus there is provided, as it were, a natural 
 scent-bottle, the pungent and reviving fragrance of 
 which sustains the fainting spirits of the sensitive 
 maiden, who might otherwise be overcome with 
 emotion. The great length of time during which 
 this tree is in flower singularly fits it for the 
 purpose by enabling its blossoms to be constantly 
 obtained. Taking the various kinds which follow 
 each other in succession, it may be said to be in 
 bloom almost the whole twelve months. Indeed 
 
 1 Things not Generally Known, First Series, p. 119. 
 
TIIE ORANGE. 
 
 195 
 
 it is a peculiar excellence of the orange, that leaves, 
 flowers, fruit continue on the tree together for 
 
 the greater part of the year, so that it is constantly 
 putting forth its fulness of leafage, fruitage, and per¬ 
 fume at the same time. This remarkable feature has 
 been noticed by Addison’s Spectator in an interesting 
 allegorical letter on “ A Fine Garden.” The writer 
 says : “ It rarely happens to find a plant vigorous 
 enough to have, like an orange tree, at once beautiful 
 and shining leaves, fragrant flowers, and delicious 
 nourishing fruit.” 1 
 
 Let us remember that the words, 
 
 “ Straw me with orange, 
 
 For I am faint with love,” 
 
 occur as an illustration of that fervour of deep 
 affection with which the Church longs for the 
 Heavenly Bridegroom, and with which each believing 
 soul in some precious moments faints for the love 
 of Jesus, and the desire that it has to depart and 
 be with the Lord. The world may ridicule as mere 
 enthusiasm the rich experiences of the believer; 
 but Jehovah, Who “seeth not as man seeth,” and 
 Who “ looketh on the heart,” so far from counting 
 these feelings as vain or imaginary, has written 
 them down as real, and has chosen the boldest and 
 choicest figures to set them forth. 
 
 1 Spectator, No. 455. 
 
196 
 
 PALESTINE EXPLOEED. 
 
 The wise man tells us that 
 
 “ A word spoken on its wheels 
 Is like oranges ( 'tappoohheem ) of gold in engraved 
 work of silver.” 1 
 
 May not this verse contain an allusion to the 
 peculiar feature of the orange, namely, its flowers 
 and fruit continuing on the tree together throughout 
 the whole season ? The orange blossom is a brilliant 
 white, resembling the colour of the molten silver so 
 much employed in Oriental jewellery. As the rich 
 ripe fruit is constantly seen peeping out amid 
 clusters of the shining bloom, it is naturally to 
 an Eastern imagination as “ oranges of gold in 
 engraved work of silver.” This may have given 
 rise to a custom, possibly existing in former times 
 amongst the great, of serving the fruit in baskets of 
 silver filagree. But it is more natural to suppose 
 that the beauty and excellence of the flower- 
 encircled produce, as it still hung on the tree, is 
 that which is here used as a figure of the exceeding 
 comeliness of a wise and gentle employment of 
 man’s unruly tongue. 
 
 The word ojolmeem , 2 “ wheels,” which occurs no¬ 
 where else but in the expression, 
 
 “ A word spoken on its wheels,” 
 
 1 Proverbs xxv. 11. Lowth translates it “in network of silver ; ” 
 
 it is literally “ in figured work masJceeth j of silver.” 
 
 2 D'iDK 
 
 • • T 
 
THE ORANGE. 
 
 197 
 
 lias been taken by some to contain the idea of 
 revolving as of the year, and hence the translation 
 of the line in onr version, 
 
 “ A word spoken in season.” 
 
 But it is plain that here it simply means a literal 
 “ wheel,” as the similar form of the word oaphcin 1 
 does in every instance, and so our translators render 
 it in the margin. In this case 
 
 “ A word spoken on its wheels,” 
 
 in the figurative language of the East, would seem 
 to imply “ a smooth, graceful, courteous word.” The 
 statement is thus brought into perfect accord with 
 the proverbial philosophy not only of the Scriptures, 
 but also of all Eastern lands at the present day. 
 Throughout the Orient the greatest importance is 
 attached to politeness and smoothness of speech, which 
 is exaggerated into countless customary compliments, 
 which pass current among people of all classes, and 
 involve much fulsome flattery and waste of time. 
 Even in a common Eastern legal document, such as 
 the conveyance of a house or a piece of land, after 
 the mention of any of the parties to the deed, there 
 is added, in the case of the most ordinary individuals, 
 “ the most honourable, the boast of his community, 
 the light of his sect,” and further epithets in the 
 
 1 |B1K. 
 
198 
 
 PALESTINE EXPLORED. 
 
 same strain. Tlie cursing and abusive language 
 which is heard side by side with this when a 
 Syrian is angry, only serves to heighten it by the 
 contrast. Protestant Christians in these lands have 
 agreed in their intercourse and correspondence con¬ 
 siderably to curtail the number of these compli¬ 
 ments, and to do away with all that savours of 
 exaggeration or insincerity. Still, w T ith that depth 
 of true wisdom, which is at once worldly-wise and 
 lieavenly-true, our attention is thus beautifully 
 called to the pleasantness, sweetness, and profit¬ 
 ableness of courteous and conciliatory speech. 
 
 The Apostle Paul affords a very excellent example 
 of such tact and delicacy in the use of language, 
 even when called upon to administer severe re¬ 
 proofs. It has been well said that in his inspired 
 correspondence he mingles “good sense and good 
 taste with good things.” Thus, while most faith- 
 fully rebuking the Corinthian Church, he speaks 
 “ truth in love,” and does so after such a gentle 
 manner, and with such “ wise meekness,” that they 
 are convinced and moved, and all comes happily 
 right. They sorrow after a godly manner, and in 
 all things approve themselves to be clear in the 
 matter . 1 
 
 It may be noticed, in connection with the 
 explanation afforded by the silvery blossom, that 
 
 1 2 Corinthians vii. 8-11. 
 
THE ORANGE. 
 
 I99 
 
 a similar figure lias passed into an idiom in our 
 English tongue, namely, “flowery language,” and 
 “flowers of speech.” Well is it for us when, in 
 all our intercourse with others, the golden orange 
 of good matter is seen set off by the fair silvern 
 flowers of a good manner ! Some earnest Christians 
 do not attach to this subject the importance it 
 undoubtedly deserves. 
 
 The great vitality and longevity of the orange 
 are specially worthy of remark. Its vigorous, almost 
 unexampled life, in maintaining thick shining foli¬ 
 age, abundant fragrant flowers, and luscious fruit, 
 all at the same time, has been already mentioned. 
 To this it should be added that the tree is known 
 to attain a very great age, and to continue to a 
 late period its marvellous fecundity. In the orangery 
 at Versailles, one tree bears the inscription, “ semd 
 en 1421,” “sown in 1421;” while another in the 
 yard of the convent of St. Sabina, at Rome, is said 
 to have been planted in the year 1200. In Holland 
 many orange trees still flourishing are said to have 
 been in the same family for two hundred and three 
 hundred years. Even in Europe an aged tree has 
 been known to yield nearly eight thousand oranges 
 a year. Well does this intense vitality fit the 
 orange to illustrate the excellency of Him Whose 
 earliest earthly symbol was Eden’s Tree of Life, 
 yea, Who is the Life itself—Essential Life—and 
 
200 
 
 PALESTINE EXPLORED. 
 
 Who has come down from heaven that we, though 
 dead in sins, might receive this life from Him, and 
 enjoy it abundantly! 1 
 
 Some have imagined that the orange is not in¬ 
 digenous to the soil of Syria and the adjacent parts, 
 and allege the fact that the colloquial Arabic name 
 in Palestine, bourdikan , is apparently a modern cor¬ 
 ruption of the Italian, Portugal . But to this it may 
 be conclusively replied that the colloquial Arabic 
 name for carriage everywhere throughout Syria is 
 Carrosa, evidently an adaptation of the Italian. Yet 
 who can doubt that in past generations the people 
 were familiar with chariots and wheeled vehicles, 
 which are mentioned so often in the Bible ? There 
 is a very interesting tradition throwing light on this 
 point, which is preserved among the Beni Sakk’r 
 tribe of Bedaween Arabs, the largest and most 
 powerful of those which inhabit the Belka, or high¬ 
 land of Moab. It purports to account for their 
 first emigration from the depths of the Arabian 
 peninsula, owing to the breaking up of the tribe’s 
 flourishing settlement by a disastrous flood. They 
 speak most distinctly of their ancestors pursuing 
 
 1 John xiv. 6 ; x. io. It is not without special significance that 
 the orange used as a figure of Christ, and the olive employed as a 
 symbol of His Church (Romans xi. 17, 24, &c.), are both alike dis¬ 
 tinguished for vital tenacity, abundant productiveness, and length 
 of days above all other fruit-trees. 
 
THE ORANGE. 
 
 201 
 
 the cultivation of the orange many ages ago. Dr. 
 Tristram says : “ There is a curious tradition relative 
 to the Beni Saltier (Sons of the Falcon), that about 
 twelve hundred years since they left their cradle in 
 the centre of Arabia; that their forefathers lived 
 there in a district very like that of M’zab , in the 
 African Sahara, where there were no springs, hut 
 where the water was collected into enormous tanks 
 by walls built across the ivaclys (valleys); and 
 by these means gardens, palm groves, and orange 
 orchards were fertilised.” 1 The orange tree is thus 
 coupled with the palm in a passage in Joel, where 
 they are mentioned, together with the olive, the vine, 
 the fig, and the pomegranate, as some of the principal 
 fruit-trees of the land. The prophet cries—- 
 
 “ The oil languishes ; 
 
 • • • • • 
 
 The vine is dried np, 
 
 And the fig tree languishes ; 
 
 The pomegranate and the palm and the orange, 
 
 All the trees of the field are withered.” 2 
 
 This appears to me conclusive against the apple, 
 which could never, in a hot country like Palestine, be 
 thus preferred before the abundant apricot, 3 or spoken 
 of as in any sense a representative tree. 
 
 1 Land of Israel, 2nd edition, p. 493. 
 
 2 Joel i. 10, 12. “Oil” occurs elsewhere in Scripture for the 
 olive or “oil tree.” 
 
 :3 The apple is never dried for winter use in Palestine, while the 
 
202 
 
 PALESTINE EXPLORED. 
 
 The original home of the orange was doubtless 
 the warm lower slopes of the Himalayas, where it 
 still grows wild, and whence it overspread Persia. 
 But it is difficult to suppose that Solomon, who 
 was a very eminent botanist, specially attached 
 to the culture of watered gardens, and who, more¬ 
 over, ransacked the world for the luxuries of life, 
 failed to introduce this tree; even if we could 
 believe that the travelled and magnificent Egyptian 
 monarchs had not carried it still farther west long- 
 ages before. 1 That the fruit has been familiar to 
 dwellers in the Holy Land from very ancient times 
 appears the more probable from the luxuriant way 
 in which it flourishes there, in all districts where 
 irrigation is employed, but chiefly on the hot sandy 
 plains. The trees yield most abundantly, appearing 
 often one mass of golden balls ; and a “ bayamh ,” or 
 orange grove, is a very remunerative property, pro- 
 vided only that water can be drawn up from a 
 depth not greater than fifty or sixty feet, or, better 
 still, furnished at a moderate royalty from some 
 adjacent spring or stream. 
 
 Solomon, so well versed in horticulture, while 
 
 fruit of the apricot is largely prepared in this way, both whole and 
 in the shape of apricot paste, which latter is now beginning to be 
 imported into this country. 
 
 1 i Kings iv. 33; Ecclesiastes ii. 5, 6, 8, 10; 2 Chronicles ix. 
 
 21-24. 
 
TEE ORANGE. 
 
 203 
 
 laying the principal scenes of his Song in or near 
 four different “ gardens,”—that is, irrigated gardens, 
 —-if I am right, mentions the orange four times. 1 
 How, the apple tree does not need irrigation, but 
 the more delicate and juicy fruit of the orange 
 could not live two weeks, during hot weather in 
 the Holy Land, out of a “ watered garden.” The 
 intimate and necessary association of the orange 
 with that greatest of all refreshments in a warm 
 country, an abundant supply of clear running water, 
 lends it a peculiar charm, and gives an excellent 
 coolness to its shade. I observe that a passing 
 traveller, who speaks of her “ enchanting resting- 
 place ” in an orange orchard at Jaffa, has a casual 
 notice of this delightful feature. “ Making our 
 way,” she says, “ beneath the branches bowed down 
 with their weight of golden fruit, we reached a 
 sweet spot under the shady foliage, beside one of 
 the rills of water flowing along the channels for the 
 irrigation of the ground, supplied by means of a 
 Persian wheel. It was a luxurious season of dolce 
 far niente. A variety of flowers formed the carpet 
 on which we reclined; luscious fruit hung in ripe 
 abundance within reach of our hand; the sweet 
 perfume of orange and lemon blossom scented the 
 air; while the busy hum of insects (who did not 
 torment us) mingled with the pleasantest of all 
 1 Canticles ii. 3, 5 ; vii. 8 ; viii. 5. 
 
204 
 
 PALESTINE EXPLOITED. 
 
 sounds in an Eastern land, tlie rippling murmur of 
 water and the soft whirr of the distant wheel.” 1 
 The orange is in every way a noble and excellent 
 tree. It was not, therefore, to be supposed that it 
 would be passed over in those Scriptures where all 
 nature is laid under contribution to furnish the 
 choicest figures of Christ Jesus the Lord and His 
 redeeming work. Those who are well acquainted 
 with its loveliness and value in a hot land will enter 
 into something of the deep meaning of that exquisite 
 picture of a full experience of the salvation of 
 God— 
 
 “ As an orange tree among the trees of tlie rocky- 
 moun tain-forest, 
 
 So is my beloved among the sons. 
 
 I sit down under his shadow with eager desire, 
 
 And his fruit is sweet to my taste.” 2 
 
 How invitingly, how beautifully, is here displayed 
 the perfect shelter of Jesus’ atoning death and 
 righteousness; the refreshing fragrance of His pre¬ 
 cious name, holy character, and all-prevailing inter¬ 
 cession ; and the satisfying sweetness enjoyed by the 
 soul that feeds on Him, who is the true Tree of 
 Life—the one fruitful tree in earth’s wild waste! 
 
 The worth of the orange is beautifully enhanced 
 in these verses by a striking contrast with the trees 
 
 2 Canticles ii. 3. 
 
 1 Gath to the Cedars, p. 6. 
 
THE ORANGE. 20 5 
 
 of the dry, tangled, rocky forests of the Judean 
 mountains. The highly poetical comparison is— 
 
 “ As an orange tree among the trees of the ya’ar ” 1 
 
 This is the last spot in which we should expect to 
 find so glorious a tree. The word ya’ar is evidently 
 the similar modern wa’ar of the fellahheen dialect, 
 the technical name by which they distinguish those 
 pathless, rocky, unenclosed, barren mountain forests, 
 chiefly consisting of low brushwood, which form a 
 considerable feature of the highland, or hill-country, 
 of Palestine. 
 
 It will interest the Biblical student to trace the 
 use of this word ya’ar in all the passages, some 
 fifty-six in number, in which it occurs in the Old 
 Testament. Upon many of these the above expla¬ 
 nation throws a new light. Take, for instance, that 
 where Solomon, after speaking of his “ gardens and 
 paradises, or parks,” adds, “I made me pools of 
 water, to water therewith the rocky - mountain- 
 forest {ya’ar) that bringeth forth trees ,” 2 that is, 
 the rocky wilderness where he planted forest-trees, 
 and probably arranged tiny streams, pools, and 
 cascades, by which they were rendered cool and 
 picturesque. To irrigate a garden or an orchard by 
 means of artificial pools is nothing extraordinary 
 in a land like Palestine. In the case, however, 
 
 1 
 
 2 Ecclesiastes ii. 6. 
 
20 6 
 
 PALESTINE EXPLORED. 
 
 of a mere ornamental wild, none but a very magni¬ 
 ficent and wealthy monarch could afford such a 
 luxurious use of water. Again, Jonathan’s obtaining 
 honey in a yalar by reaching out with “ the end 
 of the rod that was in his hand,” and dipping 
 it in the wild honey that was dropping, presum¬ 
 ably from a rock,—for there it is that the wild 
 swarms of bees now build, and from Scripture refer¬ 
 ences appear anciently to have built, 1 —becomes 
 at once explained by the fact that the yalar of 
 Palestine is full of large rocks, cliffs, and caves . 2 
 The yccar is mentioned as a spot fatal to an army 
 that had become entangled in it ; 3 as the lair of 
 lions 4 and bears ; 5 as a lonely, deserted place ; 6 as 
 inaccessible , 7 where the words “ forest (ya’ar) of 
 the vintage,” which have no meaning, should be 
 “ the defenced or inaccessible forest; ” as a place, 
 coupled with a desert, where it would not ordinarily 
 be safe to sleep ; 8 and as a place constantly set on 
 fire . 9 In denouncing the chastisement of Israel, 
 God declares of her vineyards and fig orchards— 
 
 1 Deuteronomy xxxii. 13 ; Psalm lxxxi. 16. 
 
 2 1 Samuel xiv. 25-27. 3 2 Samuel xviii. 6-8. 
 
 4 Jeremiah v. 6; xii. 8; Amos iii. 4. 5 2 Kings ii. 24. 
 
 6 Micah vii. 14. 7 Zechariah xi. 2. 
 
 8 Ezekiel xxxiv. 25. 
 
 9 Psalm lxxxiii. 14; Jeremiah xxi. 14; Isaiah ix. 18. Portions 
 
 of the wa’ar are constantly set on fire by the charcoal burners, who 
 
 often kindle in this reckless fashion a whole hillside. 
 
THE ORANGE. 
 
 207 
 
 “ I will make them a yaSar” 1 
 
 Of tlie fertile mountain range to the west of the 
 plain of Esdraelon it is said— 
 
 “ Carmel shall be esteemed a ya'ar ” 2 
 
 Even on the once choicely cared-for Holy City, God 
 pronounced this same doom— 
 
 “ Jerusalem shall become heaps, 
 
 And the mountain of the house (the Temple area) 
 like the high places of a ya’ar ” 3 
 
 How literally such prophecies have been fulfilled, the 
 neglected thickets on all these spots now attest. 
 
 The trees in the waars are seldom large or fine, 
 while a tangled brushwood takes up most of the 
 dry, rock-strewn ground. Giant roots are in the 
 soil, but that which springs from them is constantly 
 being cut, burnt down, and kept low, owing to the 
 great need of fuel, and the want of proper forest 
 laws. Pleasant and fair as an orange tree would 
 appear in any position, it would be doubly de¬ 
 lightful in such stony, stunted woods. Thus is 
 the glory and the goodness of Jesus mightily 
 enhanced when we view Him beside the fairest of 
 the sons of men, who, compared with the “ chief 
 among ten thousand,” “the altogether lovely,” are 
 but as the barren “trees of the rocky-mountain- 
 forest! ” 
 
 1 Hosea ii. 12. 2 Isaiah xxix. 17. 
 
 3 Micah iii. 12 ; Jeremiah xxvi. 18. 
 
208 
 
 PALESTINE EXPLORED. 
 
 “ As a sliining orange stands 
 ’Mid the trees of wild waste lands,— 
 Where its lustrous leaves have made, 
 Sweet as dense, a cooling shade, 
 Golden pomes and silvern bloom 
 Ever mingle fruit and fume : 
 
 Tree of life ! whose vital power, 
 Fulgent leaf, fair scented flower, 
 Luscious fruit together bears, 
 
 Smiling thus through countless years, 
 
 As a shining orange stands 
 
 ’Mid the trees of wild waste lands, 
 
 So among earth’s sons I see, 
 Well-beloved, no form like Thee ! 
 Sheltered by Thy precious blood, 
 
 I recline at peace with God ; 
 
 ’Neath Thy righteousness divine 
 Calmly rests this heart of mine, 
 While Thine intercessions spread 
 Fragrant shadow o’er my head. 
 
 Adam erst in primal glade, 
 
 Couched below the life-tree’s shade, 
 Knowing nor to weep nor die, 
 
 Shared not such a rest as I! 
 
 More than Paradise could give 
 Theirs to taste on Thee who live, 
 Slaking fevered thirst and keen, 
 Sweet to me Thy fruit has been. 
 
 I shall never thirst again, 
 
 Never seek for joy in vain ; 
 
 Now by faith I feed on Thee, 
 
 Life eternal flows to me ! ” 
 
( 209 ) 
 
 CHAPTEE VIII. 
 
 THE KEEPER . 
 
 “ He who keepeth thee will not slumber. 
 
 Behold, he who keepeth Israel 
 Doth not slumber or sleep. 
 
 Jehovah is thy keeper ! ” 
 
 —Psalm cxxi. 3-5. 
 
 The infinite condescension and tenderness of God 
 shine out brightly in every part of His word. They 
 are, perhaps, chiefly conspicuous in those lowly 
 human images by which He has represented His 
 various relations towards His people. He has been 
 graciously pleased to liken Himself to a potter, to a 
 metal-worker or refiner, to a shepherd, to a footman 
 or runner, and to a servant or slave . 1 A considera¬ 
 tion of the humble nature of these occupations will 
 prepare us for the bold metaphor by which Jehovah 
 is pictured as the “ keeper ” of Israel. This repre¬ 
 sentation is full of power, and would appear to 
 refer to a custom and office peculiar to Bible lands. 
 
 1 Romans ix. 21 ; Malachi iii. 3 ; Psalm xxiii. 1 ; Hebrews vi. 
 20; Luke xxii. 27; Philippians ii. 7. 
 
 0 
 
2 10 
 
 PALESTINE EXPLORED. 
 
 The simple and open modes of life prevailing in 
 the East render the services of watchmen, or 
 keepers, of very great importance. When garden 
 crops are ripening a keeper is hired, who, from 
 an elevated stage, a kind of light log-hut rudely 
 thatched with boughs of trees, guards the produce 
 day and night. Job says of the insecurity and 
 weakness of the wicked, in allusion to the frail 
 temporary huts of these watchmen— 
 
 “ He buildeth his house like a moth, 
 
 And like a booth that the keeper maketli .” 1 
 
 Vineyards must likewise partake of such care if 
 their fruits are to be reaped. The bride in the Song 
 of Solomon laments that this hard and menial task 
 fell to her sad lot— 
 
 “ They made me keeper of the vineyards .” 2 
 
 Olive-yards, whose trees in one common enclosure 
 are often owned by various proprietors, are always 
 placed under a keeper in autumn when the fruit 
 begins to ripen. The unlighted towns and villages, 
 no less than the unprotected lands, render the duties 
 of keepers, or watchmen, very arduous and important. 
 Here they are charged to arrest any stranger who is 
 found in the streets after dark without a light, and 
 to look well to the protection of the houses and 
 
 1 Job xxvii. 18. 
 
 2 Canticles i. 6. 
 
THE KEEPER. 
 
 2 I I 
 
 shops in their respective districts. The disconsolate 
 and bewildered bride, rashly venturing out of doors 
 at midnight, alone, without a lantern, and with wild 
 cries, is represented as immediately seized and very 
 roughly handled by these keepers, as certainly would 
 be the case now. 
 
 “ The keepers that go about the city found me, 
 
 They smote me, they wounded me ; 
 
 The keepers of the walls took away my veil 
 from off me . 5 ’ 1 
 
 For several months in the year, dwellers in 
 Palestine leave the hot towns and villages, and 
 reside in tents, or small houses, in adjacent cool 
 and elevated districts, thus taking change of air 
 without quitting their ordinary avocations. This 
 appears to have been the custom from time im¬ 
 memorial. Not only on these occasions, but also 
 in travelling, when the tents are pitched in the 
 neighbourhood of any inhabited place, it is usual to 
 apply at once to the governor, or headman of the 
 district, for a keeper to watch over the encampment 
 
 1 Canticles v. 7. The word in this instance rendered “ keeper,” 
 
 • • • 
 
 shoamair, from shaniar, “to keep watch,” or “to 
 
 guard” (see Jeremiah iv. 17, &c.), is the word usually employed 
 to denote this office. The only exception to this rule is when 
 vineyard cultivation is in question. In this case the words used 
 seem invariably “I^‘ 3 , noatzair, from “ 1 V 3 natzar, “to keep,” or 
 “watch” (Isaiah xxvii. 3; Jeremiah iv. 16; Job xxvii. 18), and 
 the very similar cognate form " 1123 , nocitair, from “ 1123 , natar , with 
 the same meaning (Canticles i. 6 ; viii. 11, 12). 
 
2 12 
 
 PATESTINE EXPLORED. 
 
 by night. The keepers commonly employed in Jeru¬ 
 salem are tall, white-robed, jet-black Nubians, who 
 are armed with clubs — men of great strength 
 and dreaded fierceness, yet, notwithstanding, very 
 loyal and faithful to their employers. I have 
 myself constantly hired keepers to watch over my 
 encampment, and can testify to the stern reality of 
 their labours, when I have suffered, as in a certain 
 notable instance while in tents near Jerusalem, 
 from the nocturnal assaults of robbers, one of whom 
 was secured after a sanguinary struggle. The story 
 of this occurrence so well illustrates those features 
 of Palestine life which have from the earliest times 
 given rise to the office of a keeper, that I cannot 
 do better than briefly recount it here. 
 
 During the hot summer of 1871, while many of 
 the residents at Jerusalem, according to the custom 
 I have described, were encamped outside the city 
 walls, almost nightly robberies took place. Men 
 were constantly prowling about the tents after dark, 
 and, as appeals to the authorities produced no 
 result, very great uneasiness prevailed. The camp 
 of our mission party was pitched at this time half a 
 mile west of the city, on the Jaffa road, in a large 
 enclosure, called from its high and healthy situation 
 the Sanatorium. In the centre of this enclosure 
 stood a substantial stone-built house, which served 
 as the sleeping quarters of the more delicate, while 
 
THE KEEPER, 
 
 213 
 
 seventeen tents were grouped before it, forming 
 a picturesque encampment. We rose at sunrise 
 and rode into Jerusalem to engage in the labours 
 of the day, and at sunset we returned to par¬ 
 take of our evening meal, enjoy the cool air, and 
 retire early to sound and refreshing rest under our 
 canvas roofs. But the quiet and peace of this 
 pleasant and healthful life was soon to be broken. 
 One night a lady of our party, who was sleeping in 
 a tent alone, was awakened by a movement at her 
 head, and saw a man, who was making off with a 
 box, disappear through the door. She was at first 
 afraid to cry out, and he easily escaped before the 
 alarm was given. Emboldened by their predatory 
 success, the robbers attempted to enter three tents 
 the next night. Erom that time we ceased to rely 
 upon our Muslim keeper—a man of the adjoining 
 village of Lifta , chosen, as was usual, for his own 
 somewhat desperate character, as on the whole the 
 fittest for such a post—and commenced to watch 
 ourselves. To apply to the hopelessly weak and 
 corrupt local government was found worse than use¬ 
 less. I had already learned, by painful experience, 
 that Palestine criminals could safely laugh at and 
 defy the authorities while free, and no less safely 
 bribe them with their spoils when caught. In 
 Syria, circumstanced as we were, we could have 
 little other protection, under God, than that which 
 
PALESTINE EXPLORED. 
 
 2 14 
 
 we could afford ourselves. Accordingly a great 
 part of the night I kept guard over the camp 
 in turn with others. No more attempts followed 
 for a while, and we began to relax the strictness of 
 our watch. 
 
 One night about this time, feeling thoroughly 
 dissatisfied with our keeper Mustafa, who had 
 lately obtained the help of his brother, I called 
 him up, and threatened him severely with the 
 consequences which would follow if we suffered 
 any loss or injury through his neglect. He was 
 thoroughly aroused by the words, which plainly 
 impeached his diligence, courage, and honesty, and, 
 when we retired to rest in our tents, Mustafa and 
 his brother repaired to mount guard, and probably 
 for the first time to keep a faithful watch. At 
 half-past two o’clock we were roused from our beds 
 by a noise, and hastily dressing, I ran out, to find 
 that our keeper’s brother had seen a man stealing 
 to one of the servants’ tents, but, in the pursuit 
 which followed, he had succeeded in making good 
 his escape. Some time passed in searching the 
 grounds, and we again sought rest in our tents. 
 Hardly, however, had I laid down, before terribly 
 loud but distant cries reached my ears, which more 
 resembled the yells of wild beasts than the shouts 
 of men. I leaped from my camp bed, seized the 
 first weapon which came to hand, which chanced 
 
THE KEEPER. 
 
 215 
 
 to "be an oak club, and, half naked, ran for the 
 spot whence the noise proceeded. I called to 
 others as I started, and a youth armed with a 
 gun followed me. I had to climb two jedars — 
 walls of loosed piled-up stones—and in perfect 
 darkness to make my way over rough rock boul¬ 
 ders, and through formidable thistles and nettles. 
 The yells, however, guided me to the spot, and in 
 another moment I had thrown myself upon three 
 struggling men, to find to my inexpressible relief 
 that Mustafa and his brother were mastering a 
 gigantic fellow, who succumbed on my coming up 
 without further resistance, and to be sprinkled 
 with the blood that had been flowing from their 
 wounds. The youth who had followed me soon 
 reached the scene, and our arrival proved most 
 timely; for three of our prisoner’s comrades, who had 
 returned to his aid, now took to flight. 
 
 We brought him into our camp, and, having 
 bound his feet in the irons used to fetter our asses, 
 attended to a severe sword-wound on his head. I 
 had rarely seen a more powerful man. He was 
 considerably over six feet, well made in proportion, 
 and the savage glance of his sullen eyes, as he lay 
 bound and cowering amongst us, I shall not soon 
 forget. We then proceeded to the spot where he 
 had first been sighted, and discovered a parcel 
 containing money and clothes, which were after- 
 
2 I 6 PALESTINE EXPLORED. 
 
 wards identified as those which he had stolen from 
 a German encampment in an earlier part of the 
 night, and a stonemason’s hammer with which he 
 was armed. We also found his turban, which con¬ 
 tained between the tarboosh, or red cloth cap, and 
 the inner close-fitting skull-cap of white cotton, 
 called arakiyeh (the fellahheen constantly use them 
 in this way as a kind of pocket-book), a number of 
 letters giving us his name, residence, and occupa¬ 
 tion. From these he was at once recognised as a 
 man of position - and property in a neighbouring 
 village, Ain Karim, a long-suspected and desperate 
 character. 
 
 Great was our thankfulness at such a merciful 
 providence, and still more so when we learnt how 
 specially it had been exercised. Mustafa, it seems, 
 armed with his sword, had stolen out alone in the 
 direction in which the robber had first come. There, 
 at some distance beyond the wall of our encamp¬ 
 ment, hidden by a rock, he had watched this man 
 stealthily returning to secure the already stolen 
 booty, which he had dropped when surprised at the 
 first alarm, and which we afterwards found. Upon 
 our keeper showing himself, the man caught sight 
 of him, and said in a low voice, Are you So-and-so ? 
 naming one of his companions; Mustafa’s answer 
 was an attempt to seize him, when the man turned 
 to fly, but in running fell over a low embankment 
 
THE KEEPER. 
 
 2 17 
 
 in the dark, and was thus caught. A deadly con¬ 
 flict now ensued, in which Mustafa lost his sword, 
 and, notwithstanding his great strength, and the 
 advantage he had gained, was completely over¬ 
 powered. At this moment one of the man’s accom¬ 
 plices came up, and seizing Mustafa’s sword, struck 
 at the combatant above, whom he mistook in the 
 darkness for our keeper, and thus inflicted a severe 
 wound upon the back of his comrade’s head. This, 
 with the arrival of Mustafa’s brother, followed by 
 myself, decided the struggle. 
 
 Early next morning a summary trial of the pri¬ 
 soner took place in our camp, the judge and the 
 officers of the court, together with the representatives 
 of our English consulate, coming out to the Sana- 
 torium for the purpose. The man raised a clever 
 defence, hut it availed him nothing. When upon 
 cross-examination he refused to admit that he was 
 guilty, the officers standing by with brutal violence 
 struck him on the face with the palms of their 
 hands, and otherwise cruelly ill-treated him. It 
 was a painful scene, such as generally occurs at a 
 criminal trial in Palestine. I witnessed it on that 
 occasion for the first time. As I looked on indig¬ 
 nantly, I realised with awful vividness the depth 
 of degradation and suffering to which our Saviour 
 stooped, when He submitted to be treated as a male- 
 
PALESTINE EXPLORED. 
 
 2 I 8 
 
 factor of the lowest class in just this way! 1 The 
 trial resulted in a sentence to a lone: term of 
 imprisonment. There was much general rejoicing 
 at the capture of one of those dangerous felons, 
 whom the police are powerless to arrest, and no 
 more tents were molested that year in the neigh¬ 
 bourhood. 
 
 It is very difficult to find keepers for this work 
 who can be thoroughly trusted. Most native Syrians 
 are afraid to encounter these robbers, who form a 
 desperate class, while many will conspire to plunder 
 the very tents they are hired to guard. Another 
 great practical difficulty is to find a keeper who 
 will remain awake during the whole night. The 
 weariness of those who keep a faithful watch, and 
 their longing for day during the tedious lonely 
 hours of darkness, is alluded to in a graphic and 
 beautiful fffiure of the Psalmist— 
 
 11 My soul [waiteth] for the Lord 
 
 1 Matthew xxvi. 67 ; xxvii. 30 ; Mark xiv. 65 ; Luke xxii. 63-65 ; 
 John xviii. 22. The Apostle Paul, when tried before the court of 
 the Sanhedrim, was treated in the same manner. When he began 
 to speak in his own defence, Ananias, the High-priest, who was 
 the head of the court, ‘ ‘ commanded those that stood by him 
 to smite him on the mouth ” (Acts xxiii. 2); but this holy man 
 was not so meek and patient as his Master under similar provo¬ 
 cation. 
 
THE KEEPER. 
 
 2 I 9 
 
 More tlian keepers for the morning, 
 
 [More than] keepers for the morning .” 1 
 
 The usual method adopted to secure due vigi¬ 
 lance is to require the man to call out loudly, or to 
 blow a whistle, every quarter of an hour. This not 
 only serves to frighten away robbers, but also to 
 assure his wakeful employer that he is diligently on 
 duty. Even when acting as keepers of vineyard or 
 other produce, they cry out loudly at intervals to 
 let it be known that the place is watched. There 
 seems a plain reference to such a practice in the 
 prophet Jeremiah, where down-trodden Jerusalem 
 and Judea are represented as held against their 
 own excluded and rightful possessors as by watchful 
 keepers. 
 
 “ Behold, cry aloud concerning Jerusalem : 
 
 Keepers ( noatzair ) come from a far country, 
 
 And utter their voice against the cities of Judah. 
 
 Like keepers ( shoamair) of a field are they against 
 her round about; 
 
 Because she hath been rebellious against me, 
 saith Jehovah .” 2 
 
 Yet, notwithstanding all precautions, as soon as 
 sleep falls on the tired camp, it is too often the case 
 that the hireling keeper lies down on the ground, 
 
 1 Psalm cxxx. 6. 
 
 2 Jeremiah iv. 16, 17. 
 
220 
 
 PALESTINE EXPLORED. 
 
 wraps around him his thick ’ abaiyeh , or cloak, and, 
 careless of his charge, or overcome with weariness, 
 yields himself up to his drowsy propensities. 
 
 Viewed in the light of these facts, how full of 
 condescension and cheer is the assurance of God’s 
 never-ceasing care— 
 
 “ He who keepeth thee will not slumber. 
 
 Behold, he who keepeth Israel 
 Doth not slumber or sleep. 
 
 Jehovah is thy keeper ! ” 1 
 
 While the services of the keeper constitute at 
 all times a marked feature of life in Palestine, they 
 are perhaps more needed when travelling through 
 the country than at any other time. Then, when 
 the moving camp is nightly pitched in strange 
 fields, it becomes absolutely necessary to apply to 
 the nearest authorities for a nocturnal guardian, 
 before one can safely lie down to rest. Now this 
 Psalm cxxi. being one of “ the Songs of Degrees,” 
 
 ] Psalm cxxi. 3-5. See also Psalm cxvi. 6— 
 
 “ Jehovah is the keeper ( shoamair ) of the simple,” 
 and Psalm cxlvi. 9— 
 
 “ Jehovah is the keeper ( shoamair ) of strangers.” 
 
 In Ecclesiastes v. 8, God’s watchful care and supreme providence 
 is described by the same term shoamair, and the same bold and 
 beautiful figure is probably intended. “ If thou seest the oppres¬ 
 sion of the poor, and violent perverting of judgment and justice in 
 the city [or province], marvel not at the matter, for a higher than 
 the high is keeper.” 
 
THE KEEPER. 
 
 22 1 
 
 was probably composed to be sung on the way to 
 Jerusalem, as a pilgrim hymn, when the Israelites 
 were coming up annually to keep the three great 
 feasts. As a journeying Psalm, it would therefore 
 have peculiar significance in its allusion to the 
 keeper by night. 
 
( 222 ) 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 CRUSHED STRAW. 
 
 “For in this mountain shall the hand of Jehovah rest ; 
 
 And Moab shall be trodden down under him, 
 
 Even as crushed straw is trodden down in Madmenah.” 
 
 —Isaiah xxv. io. 
 
 One of the most peculiar and prominent features 
 of agriculture in the Holy Land is the primitive 
 mode of threshing, or treading down, straw, by 
 which it is crushed to atoms and converted into 
 fodder. Camels, laden with two huge sacks, may 
 constantly be seen carrying the straw when so 
 crushed into the towns where, under the Arabic 
 name of teben / it is a regular article of commerce. 
 It forms by far the larger part of the food of horse, 
 mule, ass, ox, camel, and dromedary,— that is, of 
 all the beasts of burden. Indeed the provender of 
 horse, mule, and ass consists only of about one part 
 of barley, mixed with two or three parts of this 
 broken straw, with the exception of fresh barley 
 and other grasses, called hhasJieesh , during the short 
 six weeks in March and April when they can be 
 
 1 The e in teben is sounded short, something like i. 
 
CRUSHED STRAW. 
 
 freely procured. Hay is unknown—straw, in the 
 form before-mentioned, entirely taking its place. 
 This seems always to have been the same; for we 
 read that Solomon’s officers provided his stables 
 with the very food that the Sultan’s officers would 
 procure now: “ barley and crushed straw (teven) for 
 the horses.” 1 Twice we read in Isaiah that the food 
 of the ox was teven. 2 
 
 Teben , I have said, is the technical Arabic term 
 for crushed or trodden straw, and this surely must 
 be the meaning of the very same Hebrew word 
 teven 3 in all the passages where it occurs in the 
 Old Testament. The similarity of the Arabic teben 
 and the Hebrew teven does not appear to the 
 English reader as close as it really is. One char¬ 
 acter in Hebrew, 2 , stands for both b and v, and the 
 harder consonant is distinguished from the softer 
 merely by a point or dot in the centre of the letter. 
 As these points or dots, in common with most of 
 the kindred vowel marks, are not found in the most 
 ancient Hebrew manuscripts, or in those of the 
 Syriac and other cognate languages, or in any of the 
 ancient monumental inscriptions, it is impossible for 
 an Oriental scholar to suppose for a moment that 
 they were originally a part of the inspired text. 
 While they are no doubt very correct in the main, 
 
 1 I Kings iv. 28. 2 Isaiah xi. 7 ; lxv. 25. 
 
 3 j^JFI The e in this word is short like the Arabic. 
 
224 
 
 PALESTINE EXPLORED. 
 
 some manifest and serious errors must be laid to 
 their charge, several of which are noted in this 
 work. There is every probability that the Hebrew 
 word for “crushed straw” was pronounced precisely 
 the same as its Arabic equivalent. 
 
 Fortunately our translators have uniformly ren¬ 
 dered this word, in all but two passages, by the 
 same English expression. The places, therefore, where 
 teven occurs in Hebrew may be readily recognised 
 by the English reader without any reference to the 
 original, for they are in each instance those where 
 the word “ straw ” is found in our version. In 
 all these places let “ crushed or broken straw ”— 
 i.e., straw in a very similar state to our chopped 
 hay—be understood as the exact meaning of the 
 Hebrew. Two passages only occur where it is 
 differently translated, but both refer to the same 
 thing. Jeremiah, challenging the ^ false prophets, 
 and bidding the people compare their lying dreams 
 with the true Divine communications, cries— 
 
 “ Wliat [hath] the crushed straw (teven) [to do] with 
 the wheat ? saith Jehovah . 5 ’ 1 
 
 Twenty camel-loads of teben are scarcely worth one 
 camel-load of wheat, and though for a brief season 
 they appear mingled together in the heap of the 
 
 1 Jeremiah xxiii. 28. It is “chaff” here in our version, which, 
 it is true, forms a small part of all good teben. 
 
CRUSHED STRAW. 
 
 225 
 
 tliresliing-floor, the time is sure to come when they 
 will he clearly distinguished and finally separated. 
 Job says of the wicked— 
 
 “ They are as crushed straw ( teben ) before the wind ,” 1 
 
 a far stronger figure of weakness and instability than 
 “ stubble,” by which the word is misrendered in our 
 version. 
 
 There is a special word in Hebrew for straw in 
 its natural state, hash , 2 from kashash to gather, which, 
 answering exactly to the same word in Arabic, is 
 sometimes straw with the ear attached, just as it is 
 gathered by the reapers, and sometimes stubble. In 
 the Authorised Version it may be known by its being 
 translated in every case “ stubble.” What could be 
 plainer as a reference to straw in its natural con¬ 
 dition, than the following comparison used of the 
 strength of leviathan— 
 
 “ A club is counted [by him] as a straw (Jcasli ), 3 
 where a heavy cudgel is compared to a puny blade 
 of grain in the estimation of the monstrous and 
 invulnerable crocodile. 
 
 Keeping this distinction in mind, we shall under¬ 
 stand the great difficulty in which the children of 
 
 1 Job xxi. 18. The same force is given to another comparison 
 in this book. Speaking of leviathan, the crocodile, it is said in 
 Job xli. 27— 
 
 “ He esteemetli iron as crushed straw (teven). ” 
 
 2 65 ?j? 3 Job xli. 29. 
 
 P 
 
226 
 
 PALESTINE EXPLORED. 
 
 Israel were placed by Pharaoh’s tyrannical edict, 
 when they had to gather straw in its natural state 
 hash, instead of being supplied with ready-made 
 teven, or crushed straw. For Pharaoh commanded 
 “ the taskmasters of the people and their officers, 
 saying: Ye shall no more give the people crushed 
 sir cm {teven) to make brick as heretofore; let them 
 go and gather crushed straw {teven) for themselves: 
 and the measure [or number] of the bricks which 
 they did make heretofore ye shall lay upon them; 
 ye shall not diminish ought thereof. ... So the 
 people were scattered abroad throughout all the 
 land of Egypt to gather straw {hash) for the crushed 
 straw {teven )!' 1 It was this crushed straw that was 
 required to mix with the clay to make sun-dried 
 bricks, as is still the case in Egypt to the present 
 day. 2 It was now about two months to harvest, 
 
 1 Exodus v. 6, 7, 8, 12. 
 
 2 Gesenius derives m, teven, from 1132 , banah, “ to build;” from 
 
 its early use in brickmaking. This helps materially to identify the 
 teven of Scripture with crushed or broken straw, the only kind of 
 straw used for this purpose. Such small particles are required to 
 mix in with the clay to make it bind. Since writing the above, 
 the author has observed Lieutenant Conder’s interesting notice of 
 a similar use of crushed straw in the present Palestine brick¬ 
 fields. “ The bricks are made in spring by bringing down water 
 into ditches dug in the clay, where chopped straw is mixed in with 
 the mud; thence the soft mixture is carried in bowls to a row of 
 wooden moulds or frames, each about ten inches long by three 
 inches across ; these are laid out on flat ground and are squeezed 
 full, the clay being then left to harden in the sun ” ( Tent Work in 
 Palestine, vol. ii. p. 238). 
 
CRUSHED STRAW. 
 
 2 2J 
 
 and they would not only have to hunt for last 
 year’s straw in the few places where it still re¬ 
 mained, hut, when they had collected it, would 
 further have to manufacture it themselves into 
 teben. In our version the English reader per¬ 
 ceives only half their difficulty. But the officers 
 of the children of Israel would understand that 
 when they had managed to find ordinary straw— 
 a rare commodity at any time in Egypt, and then 
 it was almost a year since the last harvest—they 
 had yet to crush it on the threshing-floors by a 
 long and laborious process. Well might they see 
 “ that they were in evil case, after it was said, Ye 
 shall not diminish ought from your bricks of your 
 daily task.” 1 
 
 While in the West unbroken straw is most ex¬ 
 tensively used in many ways, such as thatching, 
 plaiting, packing, and littering stable and farmyard 
 floors, in Palestine it is but little employed. There 
 it is sometimes plaited into baskets and trays, twisted 
 into ropes, and stuffed into pack-saddles. Besides 
 these occasional uses, for which only a small quan¬ 
 tity is required, I am not aware of its being 
 commonly put to any other purpose. Corn in 
 Palestine, owing to the heat and drought, is much 
 shorter in the stalk than with us, and the straw is 
 therefore necessarily less valuable, except for use in 
 
 1 Exodus v. 19. 
 
223 
 
 PALESTINE EXPLORED. 
 
 its crushed state as fodder and to mix with clay 
 in brickmaking. For both these requirements it 
 has to undergo a similar preparation, forming, as 
 already remarked, a regular agricultural process, 
 which may be witnessed for months together in 
 the dry season in every part of the country. In 
 describing it a few words are necessary on harvest 
 operations in general. 
 
 The uncertainty and consequent anxiety attend¬ 
 ing the gathering in of harvest in our land is un» 
 known in Syria. The weather during summer has 
 an unvarying constancy. Both at the time of har¬ 
 vest, from the latter end of April to the early part 
 of June, and for three or four months afterwards, 
 no drop of rain falls. Thus there is no need of 
 stacking grain, and threshing and winnowing are 
 performed in the open field under a cloudless sky. 
 The threshing-floor is either a tolerably smooth 
 rocky surface, or a piece of ground carefully laid 
 with a well-beaten compost of clay and cowdung. 
 It is generally placed upon some elevated spot, 
 where it is exposed to the wind. Such is the 
 threshing-floor now in existence on the top of 
 Olivet; and such was that of Araunah, which once 
 stood on the summit of Mount Moriah, afterwards 
 the site of the Templed Here the grain is brought 
 
 1 2 Chronicles iii.’i. The Arabic name for a threshing-floor, jurun, 
 or jam, is virtually the same as the Hebrew pj, goaren. May not our 
 
CRUSHED STRAW. 
 
 229 
 
 in small slieaves upon the backs of camels and 
 asses. These are placed on the floor in a great heap, 
 called a soldi, from which they are raked down 
 to he laid in thin layers in a circle, having the 
 heap for its centre, with a circumference of ten 
 to fifteen yards. Over the grain thus spread out, 
 oxen ranged in a row are kept constantly walking 
 round. In doing so they perform a double office. 
 First they thresh by treading out the corn, which, 
 as it is detached from the ear, being heavier than 
 the straw, either falls below it or is pressed into 
 the soft mass, and thus escapes being bruised. 
 But another process is going on at the same time. 
 The straw, the lighter part, keeps on the top of the 
 trodden surface, and being of a much softer nature 
 than the grain, is gradually crushed into little pieces 
 by the triturating action of the oxen’s hoofs. 
 
 There is another mode of threshing, much less 
 common, but which I once witnessed on a floor 
 not far from Jerusalem. In this case the cattle are 
 yoked to a rude sledge, constructed of heavy logs of 
 timber, having its under surface full of small sharp 
 pieces of the hard black basalt stone, called hajr cs 
 
 word corn, used for grain generally, come from this Hebrew word 
 joaren 1 The threshing-floor is thus actually put for its contents in 
 the shape of grain, in Deuteronomy xvi. 13 : “ Thou shalt observe 
 the feast of Tabernacles seven days, after thou hast gathered in 
 thy corn (pi, (joaren ) and thy wine.” 
 
230 
 
 PALESTINE EXPLORED. 
 
 soda, ancl sometimes of iron points, firmly let into 
 the wood. The sledge, to which oxen or horses 
 are yoked, is then driven over the loose sheaves by 
 a man who stands upon it, and thus adds to its 
 grinding power the benefit of his own weight, 
 while the process is facilitated by another labourer, 
 who moves the straw about occasionally with a 
 wooden pronged fork. This heavy sledge is doubt¬ 
 less Isaiah’s “ sharp threshing-sledge having teeth .” 1 
 It is still called moarej by the fellahheen, which 
 with the invariable softening of the g into j is the 
 same as the Hebrew word moarag? Such “ threshing- 
 sledges ” Oman offered to David as fuel for the altar 
 he was about to erect . 3 From their great size it 
 can be seen that they would furnish sufficient wood 
 to consume the sacrifice of two oxen, for which 
 purpose flails, our “ threshing instruments,” would 
 be wholly inadequate. Sometimes the threshing- 
 sledge, instead of having “ teeth ” of stone or iron 
 on its under side, is furnished with a number of 
 little wooden rollers, or wheels, bound with iron 
 tires, which turn round as it is drawn along, and 
 serve the same purpose. The classical reader will 
 call to mind that the Eoman tribulum mentioned bv 
 
 V 
 
 Virgil, and described by Varro in the fifty-second 
 chapter of his first book, was of these two kinds. 
 The latter tells us that the threshing machine with 
 
 O 
 
 1 Isaiah xli. 15. 2 JTlO 3 1 Chronicles xxi. 23. 
 
CRUSHED STRAW. 
 
 231 
 
 rollers, used specially in a part of Spain, was known 
 as the “ Carthaginian waggon.” What more likely 
 than that this was brought to the colony of Car¬ 
 thage in the first instance from the shores of Pales¬ 
 tine by its Phoenician or Canaanitish founders ? 
 
 In that interesting passage in Isaiah, where the 
 varied processes of agriculture are set forth as an 
 illustration of the different methods of working 
 which God adopts in His spiritual husbandry 
 amongst men, both these instruments are enume¬ 
 rated as used in moderation to thresh out corn. 
 
 “ The Icetzahh 1 are not threshed with a threshing- 
 sledge ( hharootz ), 2 
 
 Neither is a cartwheel rolled upon the cummin ; 
 
 But Jcetzahh are beaten out with a staff ( matteh ), 
 
 And cummin with a club ( sliciivet ). 
 
 Bread [that is, corn] is bruised, 
 
 But he will not ever be threshing it; 
 
 He drivetli the wheels of his cart, and his horses, 
 
 And he bruiseth it not .” 3 
 
 I 
 
 1 A kind of sesame, or rape seed, grown for oil, still known 
 
 by this name in Palestine, and still beaten out in the same way. 
 
 * ynn 
 
 3 Isaiah xxviii. 27, 28. Horses are still used in threshing in Asia 
 Minor, though they are seldom so employed in Palestine. Dr. Van 
 Lennep describes this as follows :—“ The heaps of sheaves are first 
 spread out evenly upon the floor, in a diameter of fifty or sixty feet. 
 Seven or eight of the horses are then tied to each other by a single 
 rope, so as to stand abreast from the centre to the circumference 
 of the circle. The driver holds the end of the rope with one hand, 
 or fastens it to an upright post in the centre, while with the other 
 lie whips the animals to keep them moving abreast in a circle around 
 
232 PALESTINE EXPLORED. 
 
 The hharootz , from the root hharatz} the primary 
 notion of which seems to consist in sharpness, is 
 the technical name of that form of threshing-sledge 
 which has sharp teeth on its under side, and “ the 
 wheel of the cart” is the threshing-sledge having 
 rollers. We have here the origin of our word 
 tribulation, from the Latin tribulum , a threshing- 
 sledge, and can observe its singularly appropriate 
 and beautiful meaning. The harsh action of the 
 heavy-armed sledge as it rubs and drives out the 
 corn, and crushes and breaks up the heap, fully 
 illustrates the true action of trial and affliction. 
 While the chaff and straw are bruised and broken 
 to atoms, the effect of the tribulum on the good 
 wheat is only to separate it unhurt, purified from 
 its surroundings—the precious from the vile. 
 Thus “ we must through many tribulations enter 
 into the kingdom of God ”—for sanctified affliction 
 to the believer is gain, and not loss . 2 It purifies 
 his nature, but preserves him unhurt for the 
 heavenly garner. 
 
 The work of threshing is more quickly done by 
 
 him, as he stands in the middle of the heap. The outside horses 
 of course have the most travelling to do, and so he frequently 
 changes their relative position by holding in turn each of the extre¬ 
 mities of the rope, so that the horses at the other end of the line 
 alternately walk at the circumference or at the centre ” (Bible Lands 
 and Customs, by H. J. Van Lennep, D.D., vol i. p. 80). 
 
 2 Acts xiv. 22 . 
 
CRUSHED STRAW. 
 
 233 
 
 means of these instruments, hut it would appear 
 that their use was always somewhat rare. The 
 process of duly preparing the straw for fodder is 
 better performed hy the hoofs of cattle than by 
 any mechanical contrivance. So say the fellahheen, 
 who point out that in this simple way not only is 
 it chopped sufficiently fine, hut at the same time 
 the broken pieces are properly bruised and softened, 
 and so made more palatable as provender. Where, 
 therefore, labour is cheap, and time, owing to pro¬ 
 longed fine weather and the impossibility of plough¬ 
 ing before the rain, not of much consequence, and 
 cattle-food, consisting chiefly of this crushed straw, 
 a very important matter, the slower process came 
 naturally to he preferred. Hence the verb “ to thresh ” 
 in Hebrew, doosh , x is a word which primarily means 
 “ to trample down,” “ to tread under foot .” 2 
 
 When the grain is all beaten out, and the wind 
 serves—that is, every day that it blows from the 
 west between noon and sunset, which it does con¬ 
 stantly at this season—the heaps, now entirely 
 broken up, are tossed into the air with a winnow¬ 
 ing fork. The grain, being heaviest, falls straight 
 down; the teben, or crushed straw, being lighter, is 
 carried by the breeze and falls aslant, forming a 
 
 1 
 
 2 Job xxxix. 15, “The wild beast may trample them;” Daniel 
 vii. 23, “The fourth beast . . . shall tread it down .” 
 
23 4 
 
 PALESTINE EXPLORED. 
 
 heap a little farther on; while the chaff, moatz} 
 lighter even than the straw, is carried farther still, 
 sometimes forming a third little heap by itself, 
 and sometimes being quite blown away. It will 
 be seen that this adds a further force to the graphic 
 representation of the wicked already noticed— 
 
 “ They are as crushed straw ( teven ) before the wind, 
 
 And as chaff (moatz) that the whirlwind carrieth away ! ” 2 
 
 When thus separated from the grain, the crushed 
 straw is again laid by itself on the threshing-floor, 
 and further subjected for a whole day to the tramp¬ 
 ling of oxen—for its value entirely depends upon its 
 fineness. This second treading-down, or threshing, 
 of crushed straw by itself—a constant practice 
 to be witnessed during summer and autumn in 
 every village of Syria—has not yet, I believe, been 
 brought to the notice of commentators. My atten¬ 
 tion was first called to it by purchasing on one 
 occasion a very inferior kind of teben for the use 
 of my stables in Jerusalem. Having shown a 
 specimen of this provender to a fellalili , a neigh¬ 
 bouring farmer, he pronounced it only half pre¬ 
 pared, and needing the usual second subjection to 
 the feet of oxen. At his proposal some of his own 
 cattle were brought into the city, and for a con- 
 siderable part of a day were driven round upon 
 
 1 )‘iD 
 
 2 Job x.\i. i S. 
 
CRUSHED STRAW. 
 
 235 
 
 the teben, as it lay spread upon the pavement of 
 my stable-yard. At the close of this “ treading- 
 down ” it was found to be in excellent condition. 
 The fellahh informed me that the Syrian farmers 
 constantly sent such half-prepared teben into the 
 towns as soon as the corn was winnowed out, 
 whilst with that reserved for their own use they 
 were in the habit of doing what he had done with 
 mine. 
 
 This further process throws light on several pas¬ 
 sages of Scripture. Take, for instance, that merciful 
 provision of the law, “ Thou slialt not muzzle the 
 ox when he treadeth down ” (that is, tlireslieth), 
 which is twice used by the Apostle Paul as an 
 eloquent allegory of the truth “ that the labourer is 
 worthy of his hire,” and the Christian minister of 
 support from the Church . 1 In our version it is 
 when “ he treadeth out corny But this word 
 “ corn ” is carefully omitted in the original, and has 
 been wrongly inserted by our translators. If the 
 ox is only treading down teben, his own proper food, 
 from which the grain has been already removed, he is 
 equally to be allowed to pick up what he needs, as 
 he patiently plods along, or stops at intervals for 
 rest. This Mosaic law is everywhere observed in 
 
 1 Deuteronomy xxv. 4; 1 Corinthians ix. 9; 1 Timothy v. 18. 
 The Greek word in these two last verses simply means “thresh¬ 
 ing,” as in the Hebrew. 
 
236 
 
 PALESTINE EXPLORED. 
 
 Palestine by a peasantry wlio otherwise are very 
 unmerciful in their treatment of dumb animals. 
 The fellahh who employs his oxen, and sometimes 
 his asses, in this work of treading, will never 
 muzzle them at such time, and he will tell you, if 
 interrogated on the subject, that it is a great sin to 
 do so. 
 
 Again, we read of the destruction brought on 
 the kingdom of Israel in the days of Jehu’s idola¬ 
 trous son by Hazael, king of Syria: “ And he 
 (Hazael) left of the people to Jelioahaz only fifty 
 horsemen, and ten chariots, and ten thousand foot¬ 
 men ; for the king of Syria had destroyed them, 
 and had made them like the dust in threshing .” 1 
 Here the allusion, probably a proverbial expression, 
 refers only to the crushing up into tiny pieces of 
 the heap of broken straw when laid by itself. Corn 
 is never threshed in this way, for such a treatment 
 would destroy it. The separate heaps of tcben , how¬ 
 ever, are purposely subjected to a long and violent 
 treading down—the sole object in their case being 
 to bruise them in every part, and to crush them to 
 atoms. Another similar example is furnished in 
 the passage of Isaiah before referred to— 
 
 “ Behold, I will make thee into a new sharp thresliing-sledge 
 having teetli ; 
 
 1 2 Kings xiii. 7. 
 
CEUSHED STEAW. 
 
 237 
 
 Tliou shalt tliresli mountains, and beat [tliem] small, 
 
 And slialt make bills as chaff; 
 
 Thou slialt fan them, and the wind shall carry them away, 
 
 And the whirlwind shall scatter them .” 1 
 
 The comparison of mountains and hills to the 
 huge heaps on the threshing-floor is a hold and 
 striking figure, whilst the reference to the wind 
 carrying them away plainly identifies the heaps in 
 question with those consisting entirely of teben . 
 The whole process of winnowing in Palestine pro¬ 
 ceeds, as I have shown, on the principle that the 
 wind is not strong enough in the warm season, 
 except on very rare occasions, to do this in the case 
 of corn. The following quotation from the prophet 
 Micah requires the same explanation— 
 
 “Arise and tread down, thou daughter of Zion ! 
 
 Pori will make thine horn iron, 
 
 And I will make thy hoofs copper, 
 
 And tliou shalt beat in pieces many peoples.” 2 
 
 Here the picture is that of Zion enabled at last 
 to trample down her proud persecuting foes, even as 
 in threshing a powerful heifer crushes under her 
 feet the heap of broken straw. From all these pas¬ 
 sages we may draw the conclusion that, according 
 to the general use of types throughout Scripture to 
 signify in each instance the same thing, unless the 
 contrary is expressly stated, tcven, or crushed straw, 
 
 1 Isaiah xli. 15. 2 Micah iv. 13. 
 
238 
 
 PALESTINE EXPLORED. 
 
 always occurs as a figure of the wicked, the enemies 
 of God and His people. 
 
 In the light of this explanation we may now 
 turn to examine the somewhat difficult passage in 
 Isaiah which stands at the head of this chapter. 
 In our version it reads— 
 
 “ For in this mountain shall the hand of the Lord res 
 And Moab shall he trodden down under him, 
 
 Even as straw is trodden down for the dunghill .” 1 
 
 Many have maintained the last words should read, 
 “ in the waters of- the dungpool.” These see in the 
 language of the next verse— 
 
 “ And he shall spread forth his hands in the midst of it, 
 
 As a swimmer spreadeth them forth to swim,” 
 
 a representation of Moab pressed down into the 
 same pool. But this explanation, together with the 
 rendering of our translation in the preceding verse, 
 turns on a misconception. No dungpool exists in 
 Palestine, much less any treading down of straw in 
 such a place. In the corn lands and pastures no 
 manure requiring carriage is now used, and there is 
 every reason to believe that no such manure was 
 ever thought necessary. Vast caves throughout the 
 mountains of Judah, the home of wild pigeons, are 
 full of guano, while some of smaller size, that serve 
 as winter cattle-sheds, are not much less rich, but all 
 
 1 Isaiah xxv. io. 
 
CRUSHED STRAW. 
 
 239 
 
 are left undisturbed, except such as are in the neigh¬ 
 bourhood of “ watered gardens.” The carcases of 
 horses, mules, asses, and even of huge camels, are left 
 to rot where they fall on the border of the fields, no 
 one even so much as covering them with earth. 
 Tew sights in Palestine seem stranger than this to a 
 
 o o 
 
 Western eye. But for the troops of hyenas, jackals, 
 and wild dogs that infest the country, and the 
 immense number of all kinds of huge vultures and 
 other carrion birds, this neglect would be a fruitful 
 source of pestilence. In a word, these wonderfully 
 fertile arable lands never receive any manure that 
 requires to be carried. Excessively heavy rains 
 and fierce heat, falling on a soil peculiarly deep and 
 rich, and constantly crumbling over it the limestone 
 rock of which the mountains are composed, together 
 with the fallow of a sabbatic year, seem to have 
 rendered the land abundantly productive without 
 any farmyard or artificial dressing. In horticulture, 
 it is true, manure is freely employed, but principally 
 dry goat’s-dung, and in the north of Syria for melon 
 and cucumber beds, pigeon-dung, procured from 
 towers in which these birds are fed and preserved 
 in vast numbers for this purpose . 1 The sweepings 
 of stable or cowshed are esteemed of little value. 
 Swine are still, as anciently, prohibited by cere¬ 
 monial law. Cowdung is commonly used, by the 
 
 1 Isaiah lx. 8 ; Luke xiii. 8. 
 
240 
 
 PALESTINE EXPLORED. 
 
 poorest of the people, when fashioned into cakes and 
 dried in the sun, but only as fuel . 1 Manure is never 
 manufactured or used in a liquid state. The expres¬ 
 sion, “like dung on the face of the earth,” may 
 allude to that state of the streets and byways in 
 the villages and towns, which so shocks a traveller 
 or resident on his first coming to the country . 2 
 That for the conduct of which careful sanitary 
 provision was made under the law while Israel were 
 encamped in the desert—a very necessary subject 
 for legislation amongst Oriental nations—now takes 
 place everywhere without what we should consider 
 due regard either to decency or cleanliness . 3 As 
 neither drainage nor cesspools exist in any of the 
 primitive towns or villages, this usage appears 
 ancient, though no doubt under a good government 
 it was not allowed to constitute the nuisance which 
 it is now. Nothing therefore like the dungpool which 
 some commentators have imagined has any existence. 
 In each village the refuse matter is thrown out on 
 to one large heap, “ the dunghill ” of Scripture, very 
 wisely kept dry, and from time to time publicly 
 burnt, amidst much festive mirth. Hence, with an 
 intensity of meaning that we are apt to miss, dung 
 stands in the Bible for that which is utterly vile 
 and worthless . 4 
 
 1 Ezekiel iv. 15. 2 2 Kings ix. 37 ; Jeremiah xvi. 4. 
 
 3 Deuteronomy xxiii. 12, 13. 4 Jobxx. 7. 
 
CRUSHED STRAW. 
 
 24I 
 
 But to return to the verse in question. The 
 true translation, which will he found suggested in 
 the margin of the Bible, is as follows:— 
 
 “ And Moab shall "be trodden down under him, 
 
 Even as crushed straw is trodden down in Madmenah .” 1 
 
 This rendering, with reference to what has gone 
 before, will be seen to bring out a powerful and 
 consistent figure, and one in perfect keeping with 
 that of the next verse. There, evidently speaking 
 still of the Lord, it is said— 
 
 “ And lie shall spread forth his hands in the midst 
 of it (Mount Zion), 
 
 As a swimmer spreadeth [them] forth to swim. 
 
 And he will bring down their pride, 
 
 Together with the plots of their hands.” 2 
 
 All swimmers in the East use “ hand over hand ” 
 swimming, that is, they raise each arm alternately 
 as high as they can, and bring it down upon the 
 water with sounding force. The action, therefore, 
 of stamping to pieces w r ith the feet in the tenth 
 verse is represented in the next as followed by 
 
 1 The latter part of the verse adopting the hen, which is con¬ 
 firmed by many of Kennicott’s best codices, reads : • • • 2 N 1 D 
 
 —Moav . . . mathbain bfono MacLmainali. Here 
 
 the unusual form of mathbain for teven, and bemo, the well-known 
 form of the preposition M in an elevated style of writing, appear 
 plainly expressions employed in this place to preserve the much- 
 prized alliteration peculiar to the poetry of the prophets. 
 
 2 Isaiah xxv. 11. 
 
 Q 
 
242 
 
 PALESTINE EXPLORED. 
 
 repeated blows with the arm, even as a swimmer, 
 lifting each hand in turn above his head, brings 
 it down with all his might upon the surface of 
 the water. 
 
 The place mentioned would naturally be the 
 Madmen in Moab itself, for Madmenah is only 
 the feminine form of this name . 1 There is reason 
 for supposing that the region of Madmen was famous 
 for abundant harvests of grain, and consequently 
 for extensive and well-known threshing-floors. The 
 Belkci , a high and extensive tableland, which forms 
 one of the finest corn-producing districts of Syria, lies 
 here. Moab, it must be remembered, is throughout 
 Scripture a special type of the enemies of the Lord 
 and His people. In this extended sense we must 
 understand Balaam’s prophecy of Christ— 
 
 C( And a club ( shaivet ) shall rise out of Israel ; 
 
 And shall smite the corners of Moab .” 2 
 
 The twenty-fifth chapter of Isaiah looks beyond a 
 present deliverance to the final overthrow of the last 
 apostate faction by Messiah at His second coming, 
 and the establishment of Israel and the Church in 
 everlasting peace. Here, as elsewhere, the final 
 struggle is represented as taking place in and around 
 Jerusalem. The forceful figures of trampling and 
 striking down in the two verses we have been con- 
 
 1 Jeremiah xlviii, 2. 2 Numbers’bcxiv. 17. 
 
CRUSHED STRAW. 
 
 243 
 
 sidering set forth the defeat of the world powers, 
 and the ruin of the finally impenitent “ at the 
 revelation of the Lord Jesus from heaven with His 
 powerful angels, in flaming fire, rendering vengeance 
 to them that know not God, and to them that obey 
 not the gospel of our Lord Jesus .” 1 Of that time 
 He has Himself declared— 
 
 “ 1 will tread them in mine anger, 
 
 And trample them in my fury.” 2 
 
 While His judgments shall pass harmlessly over 
 His own people (the wheat), who will have been first 
 safely gathered into Llis garner, His enemies shall 
 be broken to atoms like the crushed and trodden 
 straw! 
 
 2 Isaiah lxiii. 3. 
 
 1 2 Thessalonians i. 7, 8. 
 
( 244 ) 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 SIFTING. 
 
 “ For lo, I will command, 
 
 And I will sift the house of Israel among all the 
 nations, 
 
 As [corn] is sifted in a sieve, 
 
 And not a small stone shall fall upon the earth. ” 
 
 —Amos ix. 9, 
 
 Corn in Palestine, after it lias undergone the highly 
 primitive processes of threshing and winnowing, de¬ 
 scribed in the last chapter, comes into the market 
 in a mixed and unclean condition. Dust and stones 
 of the open-air threshing-floor, light and damaged 
 grains of wheat, a small sprinkling of barley, and 
 seeds of several wild grasses, notably the black 
 zowan, the bitter and poisonous “ tares ” of Scripture, 
 which when first growing cannot be distinguished 
 from the wheat, mingle largely in the samples 
 offered for sale in the bazaars. Neither the agri¬ 
 culturist nor the merchant cleans the corn, and it is 
 this fact that has to a great extent discredited the 
 splendid wheat of Syria in English markets, But 
 
SIFTING. 
 
 245 
 
 this forms no drawback to the consumer in the 
 Holy Land, who lays in his annual stock of grain 
 after each year’s harvest, and, so that there be good 
 wheat and a sufficient proportion of it in that which 
 he purchases, makes but little account of what else 
 it may contain. The fact is that the separation of 
 the refuse from the corn is regularly made from 
 time to time in each household. Among the poor 
 this is made by the husband or wife, and in the 
 case of the well-to-do by their servants, or more 
 generally by those workpeople, male and female, 
 who make this a special branch of labour. Hence 
 arises the distinct process of sifting, which, although 
 it is to be observed going on all the year round in 
 most families throughout the land, forming a very 
 striking and marked feature of Palestine life, I do 
 not remember to have seen anywhere described. It 
 is very vividly impressed on my memory as one of the 
 novel and deeply-interesting sights with which I soon 
 became familiar in our parsonage home on Mount Zion. 
 
 The sieve used for this purpose, called ghurbal , 
 though shallow, is a very large one—about an Eastern 
 yard, that is, two and a half feet in diameter. The 
 native woman seats herself on the floor, generally 
 in the courtyard of the house, with her feet spread 
 widely apart, and holds the sieve half full of wheat 
 between her two hands. She begins the process, in 
 which great dexterity is displayed, by shaking the 
 
246 
 
 PALESTINE EXPLORED. 
 
 ghurbcd from right to left six or seven times, till all 
 the crushed straw and the chaff that still remains in 
 the corn comes to the surface, most of which she is 
 able to gather up and throw away. Then she com¬ 
 mences to hold the sieve in a slanting position, and 
 for a considerable length of time jerks it up and 
 down, blowing vigorously across it all the while with 
 her mouth. This part of the manipulation, which 
 is most skilfully performed, has three results. First, 
 the dust, earth, barley, and small grains of wheat 
 fall through the-meshes of the sieve on the ground 
 between her feet. Next, chiefly by means of the blow¬ 
 ing, the remaining teben and chaff is either dispersed 
 or collected in that part of the ghurbcd which is 
 farthest from her. Thirdly, the best of the wheat 
 goes to the bottom in one heap, while at the same 
 time the small stones are collected together in a 
 little pile by themselves, on that part of the sieve 
 which is nearest to her chest. She then removes 
 with her hands the stones, teben, and chaff*. After 
 this she sets the ghurbcd down, and carefully going 
 over the corn picks out any impurities which may 
 yet remain. The “sifting” is then complete. The 
 refuse that has fallen through the sieve in a heap 
 between her feet is again subjected to a similar ope¬ 
 ration in a finer ghurbcd. The best part of it, con¬ 
 sisting of some grains of light wheat mixed with 
 
 OO O 
 
 barley, called rdddyed, is generally ground and 
 

 
 A BETHLEHEM WOMAN SIFTING WHEAT. 
 
 
 
SIFTING. 
 
 249 
 
 baked separately, while the remaining mixture, com¬ 
 posed of very small grains of wheat, black zowan , 
 or tares, and other grass seeds, is used to feed fowls. 
 
 Often have I stood to watch this primitive but 
 dexterous process, which, as it is the same in every 
 part of the land, is in all probability that to which 
 Divine allusion is twice made in the Scriptures . 1 It 
 
 1 Amos ix. 9 ; Luke xxii. 31. The passage in Isaiah where, in 
 our version, Jehovah is said to threaten to “ sift ” the nations who 
 are gathered together at Armageddon against restored Israel “ with 
 the sieve of vanity,” is clearly a misrendering, and appears to have 
 no reference to the sifting which is described above. The verse, 
 Isaiah xxx. 28, is literally— 
 
 “And his breath [is] as an overflowing stream, 
 
 That reacheth even to the neck ; 
 
 To shake the nations witli an emptying shaking; 
 
 And a bridle shall he in the jaws of the peoples, leading them 
 astray.’’ 
 
 There are two images of destruction employed here—a deep flood 
 and a mighty wind. Streams which suddenly form in the valleys, 
 when swollen by winter storms, rise with fearful rapidity as high 
 as a man’s neck, and sweep away all before them. With such sud¬ 
 denness and overwhelming destruction a burning blast sent by God 
 shall blow upon the assembled hosts with a blowing that shall 
 empty their ranks, as when at winnowing-time the shirocco in its 
 boisterous form arises ; and this wild east wind scatters far and 
 wide the heaps of chaff and crushed straw. A deadly wind seems 
 certainly to have been instrumental in the destruction of Senna¬ 
 cherib’s host,—a judgment no doubt typical of the destruction of 
 the last of Israel’s foes. God says of this Assyrian invader, in 
 Isaiah xxxvii. 7, 29— 
 
 “ I will send a blast upon him ; ” s 
 
 “ I will put my ring in thy nose, and my bridle in thy lips, 
 
 And I will turn thee back: ” 
 
 as if in allusion to the threatening in Isaiah xxx. 28. A burning 
 
250 
 
 PALESTINE EXPLORED. 
 
 would be difficult to imagine a bolder or more ap¬ 
 propriate figure of searching and ceaseless trial. 
 Under this representation the prophet Amos foretold 
 the eighteen centuries of persecution and suffering 
 which the Jews have so terribly experienced— 
 “For lo, I will command, 
 
 And I will sift tlie house of Israel among all the 
 nations, 
 
 As [corn] is sifted in a sieve, 
 
 And not a small stone shall fall upon the earth.” * 1 
 
 shirocco wind of more than ordinary vehemence has been known to 
 prove as fatal as the' simoon of the desert, and probably by some 
 such “blast” upon their exposed camp the 185,000 troops of Sen¬ 
 nacherib met their death (Isaiah xxxvii. 36). 
 
 1 Amos ix. 9. The word I have translated “small stone” is the 
 Hebrew " 111 V, tzh'oar , the diminutive of 11 X. tzoor, a rock or 
 stone. This is plainly the sense in 2 Samuel xvii. 13, where 
 Hushai uses the hyperbolical figure of drawing a whole city with 
 ropes into the adjacent river, “ until there be not even a small stone 
 ( tseroar) found there.” It is most probable that the word in its 
 other sense, as derived from a root which means “ stone,” should be 
 “ lump ” rather than “ bundle,” in those passages where the latter 
 rendering now occurs (1 Samuel xxv. 29; Job xiv. 17; Canticles 
 i. 13). Lieutenant Conder, R.E., while working on the survey of 
 Palestine, made an interesting discovery of this word which he found 
 unknown to educated Arabic-speaking townspeople, but used still 
 by the fellaliheen with its old technical meaning. The following 
 has appeared amongst Notes from the Memoir of the Map :— Surdr. 
 A good instance of the peculiarities of the peasant language is fur¬ 
 nished by this word. A native of Beyrout called on me, and I 
 asked him if he knew what the word meant. Though an educated 
 man, he could not tell ; but Mr. Bergheim, who lives amongst the 
 peasantry, informs me that it means “pebbles.” Thus the word, 
 unknown to the townsmen, but retained amongst the peasantry 
 is the Hebrew tzh'oar, “ a pebble. ” 
 
SIFTING. 
 
 251 
 
 The “ tribes of the wandering foot and weary 
 breast ” have been dispersed into every land, and 
 yet have failed to find anywhere a place of quiet 
 habitation. Driven hither and thither, now the 
 victims of avaricious kings and nobles, and now the 
 sport of a cruel and ignorant populace, they have 
 been like wheat tossed in a sieve. Theirs has been 
 a history of unrest without a parallel in the life of 
 any other people. Truly they have been sifted 
 “ among all the nations— 
 
 O 
 
 ( As [com] is sifted in a sieve. 5 ” 
 
 And yet He who gave the “ command ” for this has 
 done so not with a view to their destruction, but 
 to their purification. Most appropriately has He 
 likened the painful discipline to which He has 
 subjected them to “sifting,” for His purpose in it 
 throughout has been to prepare them to take their 
 place amongst the good wheat. From time to time 
 “ the good seed,” “ the children of the kingdom,” 
 “ the remnant according to the election of grace,” 
 have been gathered out of them, and added to the 
 Church of the Firstborn. But even the hard-hearted, 
 stony-ground members of this marvellously preserved 
 people, though worthless as the pebbles amongst 
 the grain, have not been allowed to perish, for so 
 have been fulfilled the words— 
 
 “ And not a small stone shall fall upon the earth.” 
 
252 
 
 PALESTINE EXPLORED. 
 
 Through all, the Hebrew race has remained intact, 
 a standing miracle of Divine providence in the 
 sight of the whole world. What other people 
 have survived the loss of their national polity, 
 their land, their liberty, and the favour and respect 
 of all their fellow-men, among whom they have 
 been a “ byword, a hissing, and a reproach ” ? 
 Yet this has been the case with the sifted seed 
 of Abraham, and in their miraculous preservation 
 they stand as a lonely but living monument of 
 hoary antiquity to attest the truth of the Bible. 
 
 The same figure is employed with equal force 
 in our Lord’s warning words to Peter. “ Simon, 
 Simon,” the Master declared, “ behold, Satan 
 asked to have you, that he might sift you as 
 wheat .” 1 The bold, loving, and impetuous dis¬ 
 ciple, at the moment when he was thus addressed, 
 had nerved himself for an act of heroism, and in 
 vain self-confidence thought himself fully equal to 
 its performance. In answer to this solemn warn¬ 
 ing, he replied earnestly, “Lord, with thee I am 
 ready to go both to prison and to death.” Brave 
 indeed he was at the arrest in the garden of Geth- 
 semane, and, had this been the climax, as he sprung 
 forth, sword in hand, to defend his Lord, he would 
 have been in no danger of denying Him . 2 But 
 Peter little knew the subtlety of that arch-foe, 
 
 1 Luke xxii. 31. 
 
 2 John xviii. 10. 
 
SIFTING. 
 
 whom more than the cunning of Jewish priests, 
 or the violence of Eoman soldiers, he had cause 
 to fear. A night of terrible confusion and anxiety 
 followed, a night of slow anguish and great per¬ 
 plexity, during which our Blessed Lord was hurried 
 from one hostile tribunal to another, and sudden 
 surprises followed in swift succession. Introduced 
 after dark into the high priest’s palace, the humble 
 fisherman of Galilee found himself in very new 
 and untried circumstances. Characters naturally 
 sanguine, bold, and impetuous, like that of Peter, 
 are almost always deficient in the quality of patient 
 endurance, "which, humanly speaking, alone could 
 have enabled him to bear up against the long and 
 unexpected terrors and humiliations of that weary 
 night. Satan was thus, with fiend-like malice, 
 “ sifting ” the disciple of Christ. He was keeping 
 him constantly tossed about, as skilfully and dili¬ 
 gently as an experienced sifter keeps the contents 
 of a sieve of wheat continually moving. He w r as 
 thus seeking to find out and bring to the surface 
 all that was bad and worthless in the apostle’s 
 character, and we know that his hellish exploit 
 succeeded. Well was it for the tried disciple that 
 he was enjoying the inestimable benefit of Jesus’ 
 special intercession, that the Lord had prayed for 
 him that his faith might not utterly fail, and that 
 this sad experience might be made the means of 
 
254 
 
 PALESTINE EXPLORED. 
 
 lxis true conversion. Satan’s malice was baffled, 
 and Peter went out from the high priest’s palace 
 not only a sadder, but a wiser and a better man. 
 Satan’s cruel and malicious dealings with Peter 
 were thus overruled by God, to the true end for 
 which all sifting is employed, namely, the purifica¬ 
 tion of that which is subjected to the process. The 
 devil was seeking to bring to light the corruptions 
 of Peter’s heart, in order to pour contempt on 
 the truth in the person of one of its most eminent 
 professors, and in order to destroy the apostle him¬ 
 self by driving him to despair through the display 
 of his sinfulness. This is his cunning and wicked 
 design in all the temptations and perplexities with 
 which he is allowed to vex the children of men. 
 But the omnipotent grace of Him who is stronger 
 than the strong is ever bringing good out of evil, 
 and even Satan, in His mighty hand, becomes only 
 a blundering slave to sift the wheat, that is thus, 
 as by a final process, prepared for the Master’s 
 use ! 
 
( 35 5 ) 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 THE SHEPHERD'S CLUB AND STAFF . 
 
 “ Thy club and thy staff they comfort me.” 
 
 —Psalm xxiii. 4. 
 
 The Syrian shepherd has two implements of his 
 calling, neither of which is wanting when lie is on 
 full duty. If his scanty dress is examined, it may 
 be seen to consist of a Jcamise , or unbleached calico 
 shirt, gathered in round the waist by a strong red 
 leather belt . 1 Hung to this belt, a the leathern 
 
 1 Over the Jcamise , in wet or cold weather, and during the night, 
 the shepherd, like all other peasants, wears a thick, warm, sleeveless, 
 sack-like outer garment, made of camel’s-hair, invariable as to 
 material, shape, and colour, the latter being dark brown of different 
 shades, with whitish perpendicular stripes. This is the common 
 overcoat of the agricultural labourer and of all the working classes 
 of the country districts. In allusion to the proverbial ease with 
 which this loose simple garment is put on, it is said that Nebuchad¬ 
 nezzar shall “ array himself with the land of Egypt,” that is, possess 
 himself of its spoils, “ as a shepherd putteth on his outer garment 
 ( beged ) ” (Jeremiah xliii. 12). When we read that John the Baptist 
 had “his outer garment of camel’s-hair, and a leathern girdle,” it is 
 the same as saying that he went about dressed not like a well-to-do 
 priest, but like a poor peasant; and with this agrees the statement 
 that his food was “ locust beans and wild honey ” (Matthew iii. 4). 
 
256 PALESTINE EXPLORED. 
 
 girdle ” of Scripture, 1 which all workmen or labourers 
 wear, beside his rude clasp-knife and small leather 
 pouch, or “ scrip,” is a formidable weapon of defence, 
 a stout bludgeon now called in Arabic naboot, used 
 to protect himself and his charge from assailants. 
 It is generally made of a species of oak that is 
 to be found in fine park-like groves on the high¬ 
 lands of Gilead and Baslian. It is about two feet 
 long, and often has a large number of heavy iron 
 nails driven into its rounded head, which render it, 
 in the hands of an expert, a very deadly arm. Some¬ 
 times it is fashioned from a species of willow called 
 saphsaph, most probably the once-mentioned tzaph- 
 tzaphah 2 and then it is highly prized. This white 
 wood is peculiarly light, and at the same time 
 exceedingly tough and strong. The club is easily 
 attached to the belt, being furnished with a noose 
 of cord passed through a hole in the end by which 
 it is grasped. It may often be seen hanging in this 
 way from the shepherd’s girdle during the daytime, 
 but at night he carries it in his hand. 
 
 The nature of the pastures in Palestine and 
 throughout the East accounts for this strange 
 adjunct to a peaceful calling. These are altogether 
 different from ordinary English grazing grounds. 
 Grass is never sown or cultivated as in the West. 
 The rich spontaneous growth of the arable plains 
 
 1 Matthew iii. 4 ; Mark i. 6. 2 mQXSX. Ezekiel xvii. 5. 
 
FORMS OF THE SHEPHERD’S SHAIVET CR OAK CLUB. 
 
 R 
 

 
 
 
 ' 
 
 
 
 % 
 
tiie shepherd’s club and staff. 259 
 
 affords good feed, and for a portion of the year 
 the flocks can he kept on this supply. For two 
 months in spring they can he turned out upon those 
 fields which, being kept for summer crops, are not 
 sown till late in April. In autumn they can be 
 transferred to the stubble-lands from which the 
 winter crop has been reaped. But these are not, 
 strictly speaking, the proper pastures of Palestine. 
 Such pastures invariably consist of lonely, unfenced, 
 desert hills, where the sheep are constantly exposed 
 to a double danger—peril of wild beasts, and peril 
 of robbers. It is in obvious allusion to this that 
 David, comparing himself to a sheep with Jehovah 
 for his shepherd, says— 
 
 “ Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of 
 mine enemies.” 1 
 
 These dusty, barren, rocky wildernesses abound 
 for the most part in caves and hiding-places, which 
 render them the more insecure, since such of these 
 spots as can be easily defended are still, as in the 
 days of Saul, from time to time the resort of bands 
 of reckless and desperate outlaws. Ho dwelling is 
 to be seen there for a distance of many square miles, 
 save the low black tents of equally lawless Bcdawccn 
 Arabs, whose “ hand is against every man,” that is, 
 who are a powerful organised confederacy of robbers. 
 Ho cultivation is attempted, and the bold shepherd 
 
 1 Psalm xxiii. 5. 
 
26 o 
 
 PALESTINE EXPLORED. 
 
 alone of all dwellers in town or village frequents 
 the spot. Such an ordinary slieep-rnn, the wilder¬ 
 ness of Judea, extends for fifteen miles from Jeru¬ 
 salem to Jericho, and, though traversed by an im¬ 
 portant highway, was, and still is, a very dangerous 
 place. The outlaws, and the nomad and semi¬ 
 nomad Arabs, who wander, like David and his 
 exile band, over these wild pasture - lands, are 
 seldom so scrupulous as the followers of the future 
 kinq; of Israel. When the son of Jesse sent to 
 ISTabal, who fed' his sheep at Carmel, the modern 
 Kurmul , some eight miles south of Hebron, on the 
 border of this same Judean wilderness, to ask for 
 a customary backsheesh , or present, at shearing time, 
 he did so on the following grounds : “ Thy shepherds 
 who were with us, we hurt them not, neither was 
 there aught missing to them, all the days they w T ere 
 in Carmel.” 1 Inmates of some other similar camps 
 would not have been so forbearing, and the occa¬ 
 sional presence of such wanderers in all the prin¬ 
 cipal pastures explains the stalwart shepherd’s need 
 of a weapon of defence. 
 
 Wild animals, or “beasts of the field,” constitute 
 perhaps a still greater danger. These to this day 
 infest all the pastures. The screech of the hyena, 
 and the yell of the jackal, may even be heard 
 around the very walls of Jerusalem. Fierce Syrian 
 
 1 I Samuel xxv. 7. 
 
THE SHEPHERD’S CLUB AND STAFF. 26 I 
 
 bears and powerful hunting leopards prowl in the 
 less frequented parts. The lion is now never met 
 with west of the Jordan, hut was once the terror 
 of the deserts of the land of Israel. 1 Wolves also 
 were common in former times, and are still encoun¬ 
 tered. 2 These wildernesses, too, are the home of 
 several very venomous reptiles, which in the hot 
 season revel in their crumbled rocks, dust, and heat. 
 Dr. Tristram, speaking of Palestine, says : “ The lime¬ 
 stone rocks and chalky hills afford the cover and 
 security, both in summer and winter, in which the 
 serpent tribe delights. Under such circumstances 
 they are quickened into a dangerous activity, and 
 their poison becomes very malignant.” There is the 
 well-known Cobra di capello, and also the Cerastes 
 or horned viper. This latter, though it rarely ex¬ 
 ceeds eighteen inches in length, is a much-dreaded 
 reptile. It has a practice of lying in ambush in 
 pathways, and darting out on any passing animal. 
 It is probably the 
 
 “ Adder in the path, 
 
 That biteth the horse’s heels,” 3 
 
 to which Dan was likened on account of the acts 
 
 1 Judges xiv. 5 ; 1 Samuel xvii. 34 ; 2 Samuel xxiii. 20 ; I Kings 
 xiii. 24 ; 2 Kings xvii. 25. 
 
 2 Isaiah xi. 6; Jeremiah v. 6; Matthew vii. 15; Luke x. 3; 
 John x. 12, &c. 
 
 3 Genesis xlix. 17. 
 
262 
 
 PALESTINE EXPLORED. 
 
 of fierceness, cruelty, and treachery which were 
 committed hy that tribe. It is so venomous that 
 death ensues in less than half-an-liour after its bite, 
 and it is more vicious than even the cobra, for it 
 will attack unprovoked. The great yellow viper, 
 beautifully marked, and the largest of its tribe in 
 Palestine, is also to he met w T ith, and is especially 
 “ dangerous from its size and nocturnal habits.” A 
 whitish-yellow scorpion abounds, and the larger 
 and more deadly black species sometimes occurs. 
 Huge birds of prey, with the formidable lammer- 
 geyer at their head, still hover above the deserts, 
 out of sight at ordinary times, but ready, with 
 lightning speed, to swoop down on the faint 
 amongst the flock, or even to do desperate battle 
 with the shepherd himself. Hence the obvious 
 need of his being armed; and the principal weapon 
 which he carries, indeed often the only one besides 
 a sling, is the club, or bludgeon, described above. 
 
 The guardian of the flock also carries a long 
 shepherd’s staff 1 , called ccssaycth. Sometimes, though 
 this is rare, it has a curved handle, but in general 
 it is simply a straight strong rod. Its use answers 
 to that of our shepherd’s crook, namely, to guide 
 the sheep, to rescue them from danger, to rule the 
 stragglers into order, and at times to chastise the 
 wilful. Thus the Palestine shepherd bears about 
 with him a “ club ” and a “ staff,” two entirely dif- 
 
THE SHEPHERD'S CLUB AND STAEF. 263 
 
 ferent instruments, with distinct and special uses, 
 but both employed in caring for the sheep. 
 
 This conveys the full meaning of the royal 
 Psalmist, the once valiant shepherd-boy, when he 
 writes under inspiration— 
 
 “ Thy club and thy staff they comfort me .” 1 
 
 Jehovah’s club, that is, His arm of power, will beat 
 down every foe. The good shepherd at the approach 
 of an enemy starts up, drops his staff, or, for 
 greater safety, thrusts it down his hack under his 
 kamise, and seizing his bludgeon, and securing it 
 to his wrist by the noose, in order that it may not 
 be lost if struck out of his hand, stands prepared 
 to fight to the death with Bedaween or bear to 
 protect his charge. “ The great shepherd of the 
 sheep, our Lord Jesus Christ,” is not less mindful of 
 His flock. When He did battle with the powers 
 of darkness for their salvation, He laid down His 
 precious life. This is the aspect of His work as 
 “ the Good Shepherd,” so strange to us, but so 
 familiar to an Eastern, on which the Lord dwells 
 in the fourth gospel: “ I am the good shepherd: 
 the good shepherd layeth down his life for the 
 sheep. He that is a hireling, and not a shepherd, 
 whose own the sheep are not, beholdeth the wolf 
 coming, and leaveth the sheep, and fleeth, and the 
 
 1 Psalm xxiii. 4. 
 
264 
 
 PALESTINE EXPLORED. 
 
 wolf snatcheth them, and scattereth them. ... I 
 lay down my life for the sheep. . . . Tor this 
 cause doth the Father love me, because I lay 
 down my life.” 1 Of Him who “ was dead and is 
 alive ” we may still say with Nehemiah, “ Our God 
 will fight for us.” 2 The day, too, is coming when 
 Messiah at His second Advent shall “ break,” or 
 rather, as it should be, shall “ shepherd ” all His 
 enemies and ours with a “ club of iron.” 3 But the 
 Lord has also a pastoral staff. With this He guides 
 us by the way, helps our infirmities, chastens us 
 when we wander, rescues us from peril, and leads 
 us back into the “ paths of righteousness.” 0 Thou 
 Good Shepherd! “thy club and thy staff”—Thy 
 power and goodness, Thy might and mercy, both 
 alike necessary for my preservation in this wilder¬ 
 ness—“ they comfort me ! ” 
 
 The club and staff are mentioned as being of 
 special comfort in a dark, narrow valley. 
 
 “Yea, though I walk through the ravine 
 of the shadow of death, 
 
 I will fear no evil, for thou art with me, 
 
 Thy club and thy staff they comfort me.” 4 
 
 1 John x. 11—17. 2 Nehemiah iv. 20. 3 Psalm ii. 9. 
 
 4 Psalm xxiii. 4. The word translated “ valley ” here in our version, 
 gay, must be carefully distinguished from ’ aivieJc , a broad 
 
 plain amongst surrounding mountains, and from nyp2 bik’ah, like 
 the same Arabic term, a long deep plain or cleavage between two 
 parallel lines of mountain ; and also from /H 3 nahlicd, which an- 
 
THE SHEPHERD’S CLUB AND STAFF. 
 
 265 
 
 This scarcely seems to signify the actual dissolu¬ 
 tion of the body, although the words may be thus 
 applied. It would appear more properly to mean 
 any season of gloom or imminent danger. The 
 figure—a very familiar one to the dweller amid 
 the fastnesses of Judea, and one which must have 
 stamped itself with indelible force upon the mind 
 of David, the whole of whose earlier life was passed 
 
 swers to the Arabic wady, a long winding valley of whatever shape 
 which bears a winter watercourse. Indeed, these various terms, 
 which are all alike translated “ valley ” in our version, are used in 
 the Old Testament with the greatest precision, and are a striking 
 illustration of the singular power and minute accuracy of the 
 Hebrew language. As distinguished from the other words for val¬ 
 ley, a gay is a ravine, or gorge-like glen. These deep, narrow glens 
 abound in the central districts of the country, and form a very pic¬ 
 turesque and characteristic feature of Palestine highland scenery. 
 The Valley of the Son of Hinnotn is always called a gay —in one 
 place it is spoken of as “the gay ” (Jeremiah ii. 23) ; and the word 
 used in the New Testament for hell, Gehenna, is only another 
 form of Gay Hinnom. It came to bear this awful character from its 
 having been in former times the scene of the hideous fiery worship 
 of Moloch (2 Kings xxiii. 10 ; Jeremiah vii. 31, 32); and also from 
 Tophet being here, the place of filth and refuse, this name being 
 apparently derived from HSiy thophet, “an object of loathing” 
 (Job xvii. 6). Carcases and other refuse and filthy matter were 
 brought to this spot, and consumed upon fires kept constantly burn¬ 
 ing for that purpose. See Jeremiah xix. 11, 12, 13, and also the 
 allusion in Isaiah xxx. 33— 
 
 “ For long ago hath Tophet been ready, 
 
 Yea, for the king hath it been prepared ; 
 
 It is made deep and broad, 
 
 Its pile is fire and wood in abundance ; 
 
 The breath of Jehovah, like a stream of brimstone, 
 doth kindle it.’’ 
 
266 
 
 PALESTINE EXPLOITED. 
 
 amongst such surroundings—is that of a dark rocky 
 defile, where the path narrows, the cliffs tower over¬ 
 head, and where the trembling sheep lost upon the 
 mountains is peculiarly exposed to the assaults of 
 enemies. Places of this kind occur repeatedly in 
 the gorges with which the wilderness pastures 
 abound, and the well - known going down from 
 Jerusalem to Jericho affords several striking 
 examples. Huge hyenas, deadly foes to the flock, 
 which hunt at night in small packs, some going 
 before and some waiting behind, easily entrap the 
 sheep in these narrow, dark ravines. David, there¬ 
 fore, when declaring his fearlessness what time he 
 has to go through “the ravine of the shadow of 
 death,” is by a bold and beautiful metaphor express¬ 
 ing his confidence in Jehovah’s protection in every 
 time of danger. Death certainly is to most men 
 such a season, and moreover Satan often makes a 
 last furious onslaught against the dying believer to 
 distress if he cannot destroy him. But the Good 
 Shepherd is at this supreme moment very near to 
 those who look to Him; and, while they receive 
 comfort from the support of His exceeding great and 
 precious promises as from a staff on which they 
 may safely lean, they receive comfort also from the 
 mace of His mighty power, which drives back the 
 enemies of God and man, and thus guards them in 
 the hour of life’s latest peril! 
 
THE SHEPHERD’S CLUB AND STAFF. 2 67 
 
 On turning to the original, this distinction be¬ 
 tween the shepherd’s two implements is fully con¬ 
 firmed. David uses two different words. The first 
 is shaivet , l which, by changes natural to Hebrew, 
 becomes shaibt, or saibt, and hence, doubtless, comes 
 our “ sceptre,” by which it is frequently rendered 
 in the English version. The strong, tapering, oak 
 club of the shepherd, with its rounded head studded 
 with powerful iron nails, is the simple origin of the 
 royal sceptre. Shaivet occurs more than one hun¬ 
 dred and thirty times for “ tribe,” the idea being 
 derived from the sceptre borne by its chief. When 
 used in war, it was made of iron; and clubs, or 
 maces, of this kind, always armed with lance-like 
 projections , are still to be seen throughout Palestine. 
 They often appear conspicuously in the public pro¬ 
 cessions of the Derweeshes, who carry about with 
 them at those times very ancient weapons. These 
 formidable weapons not only have their rounded 
 heads covered with long sharp spikes, but generally 
 terminate in a dagger-like point at either end. Such 
 were the “ three darts,” or rather, as it should be 
 translated, the “ three maces ” ( shevciteem , the plural 
 of shaivet), which Joab seized, as the first weapons 
 
 1 There is a closer resemblance than might at first sight 
 
 appear between this word shaivet and the present Arabic name 
 naboot, for the consonants are alike, save the substitution of n 
 for sh. 
 
268 
 
 PALESTINE EXPLORED. 
 
 that came to hand, and savagely thrust “ through 
 the heart of Absalom.” 1 At first sight it seems 
 inexplicable to the Hebrew scholar how battle 
 clubs, or maces, could have been used for this pur¬ 
 pose, but the construction of the ancient weapons 
 still to be seen in Palestine makes the matter plain. 
 This word “ club ” is one of the famous titles of 
 Christ. In Balaam’s prophecy, the figure of a 
 shcdvet, or sceptre-club, is applied to Messiah Him¬ 
 self. With reference to the twofold aspect of the 
 Lord’s Advent, the son of Beor was inspired to 
 declare— 
 
 “ There shall come a star out of Jacob, 
 
 And a club ( shaivet ) shall rise out of Israel, 
 
 And shall smite the corners of Moab, 
 
 And destroy all the children of tumult .” 2 
 
 If the Lord Christ is a “star” to Jacob, His own 
 people, cheering and guiding them through the night 
 of affliction, He is also a “ club ” for chastisement 
 and judgment upon Moab, their enemies and His. 
 
 The metaphor of “ passing under the club ” 
 
 1 2 Samuel xviii. 14. 
 
 2 Numbers xxiv. 17. Our version reads “children of Sheth.” 
 It is possible “ Sheth ” may be a proper name, in which case it 
 can scarcely mean the third son of Adam, but would have some 
 reference to a well-known Moabite prince or place. It is now by 
 some of the best critics rendered “war” or “tumult,” and in this 
 case “ the children of Sheth ” would mean the “ tumultuous, or 
 warlike ones,” a very fitting description of the world-powers in 
 these last days. 
 
a derweesh’s iron mack. 
 
THE SHEPHERD’S CLUB AND STAFF. 2 J\ 
 
 ( shaivct) occurs in the Old Testament. 1 It is pro¬ 
 bably, as Jewish writers assert, a process of taking 
 the tithe. The animals were all brought together 
 and placed in pens, and were then passed one by 
 one through a narrow entrance, where the shep¬ 
 herd stood with his club dipped in some colour¬ 
 ing matter. As the beasts went by he let the 
 rounded head of the club fall on every tenth, 
 and those thus branded were taken for the tithe. 
 It is in reference to this that God declares of 
 His ancient people in the last days, “ I will bring 
 you out from the peoples, and will gather you out 
 of the countries wherein ye are scattered, with a 
 mighty hand and with a stretched-out arm, and 
 with fury poured out. And I will bring you into 
 the wilderness of the peoples, and there will I con¬ 
 tend with you face to face. . . . And I will cause 
 you to pass under the club , and I will bring you 
 into the bond of the covenant. And I will purge 
 out from among you the rebels and the trans¬ 
 gressors against me: I will bring them forth out 
 of the country where they sojourn; and they shall 
 not enter into the land of Israel.” 2 Here we have 
 the gathering together of Israel out of the countries 
 where they are now scattered, and at the same time 
 the purging out from amongst them of the rebels, 
 
 1 Leviticus xxvii. 32 ; Ezekiel xx. 37. 
 
 2 Ezekiel xx. 34-37. 
 
PALESTINE EXPLORED. 
 
 ^ / * 
 
 both strikingly displayed by this figure of gathering 
 together a flock to take out of it a tithe for slaughter. 
 Thus “ passing under the club ”—the symbol, as 
 we have seen, of Divine power—implies the two 
 purposes for which the Jews are yet to be restored 
 to Palestine whilst still in unbelief. First, for the 
 infliction of a terrible and final judgment. Secondly, 
 for their conversion as a nation, and their complete 
 and glorious restoration to the land of promise. 1 
 
 The other word used by David, mistieneth, 2 uni¬ 
 formly rendered staff in every passage where it 
 occurs, seems to mean a stick, used as a support 
 or stay, a long staff, such as is used to this day 
 by aged men to support their steps, or by a shep¬ 
 herd in tending his flock. 
 
 Viewed in this light, the twenty-third Psalm 
 clearly explains an otherwise obscure passage in 
 the prophet Micali. As given in our version 
 it is— 
 
 “ Feed tliy people with thy rod ( shaivet), 
 
 The flock of thine heritage .” 3 
 
 The word “ feed ” here, retail? is not merely to 
 supply with food, but is a technical expression, 
 “ to shepherd ”—that is, to do all that is implied 
 
 1 See Palestine Repeopled, seventh edition, pp. 38-50. 
 
 2 3 Micah vii. 14. 
 
 4 n5 n* This word is the exact equivalent of the Greek -rroL/j.aii'eLv, 
 poimainein, “to tend as a shepherd.” 
 
THE SHEPHERD’S CLUB AND STAFF. 
 
 273 
 
 in the office and care of a shepherd. The prophet 
 is speaking of the return of Israel to their own 
 land. To make place for the chosen people, the 
 heathen must he driven out. Regarding his nation 
 as a defenceless flock, thrust away from their right¬ 
 ful pastures, Micali calls upon “ the Good Shepherd ” 
 to use on their behalf the mace, or “ club of iron,” 
 sliaivet barzel , with which King Messiah is repre¬ 
 sented in the second Psalm as scattering the 
 heathen. The lines should be rendered—• 
 
 “ Shepherd thy people with thy club, 
 
 The flock of thine heritage.” 
 
 The answer of the Lord in the next three verses 
 plainly implies the nature of that pastoral care for 
 which the prophet cries—• 
 
 “ The nations shall see, 
 
 And shall be ashamed of all their might. 
 
 • • • • 
 
 They shall lick dust like a serpent, 
 
 They shall come trembling out of their holes 
 Like worms of the earth : 
 
 They shall be afraid of Jehovah our God, 
 
 And shall fear because of thee .” 1 
 
 1 Micah vii. 16, 17. Compare with this Zechariah xi. 4-7, which 
 requires a similar explanation, speaking also, as it does, of the 
 interposition of God on behalf of His ancient people Israel, who, 
 like a helpless flock, are at the mercy of foreign oppressors, and 
 deserted by their own unfaithful shepherds. “Thus saith Jehovah 
 my God : shepherd the flock of slaughter ; whose buyers slay them 
 and hold themselves not guilty, . . . and their own shepherds spare 
 
2;4 
 
 PALESTINE EXPLORED. 
 
 This figure of the shepherd’s club is most im¬ 
 portant in its bearing upon the representation of 
 Messiah’s vengeance on His impenitent enemies 
 given in the second Psalm. In our version it 
 is— 
 
 “ Thou shall break them with a rod of iron.” 1 
 
 The Septuagint, Syriac, and Yulgate versions 
 translate it—• 
 
 “ Thou slialt shepherd them with a club of iron .” 2 
 
 This mitdit le'ave the matter doubtful, if we did 
 not possess an inspired authority. Once, however, 
 in the Revelation, the passage is applied to Christ, 
 and twice to His people, and in each instance the 
 
 them not. Tor I will no more spare the inhabitants of the land, 
 saith Jehovah. But lo, I will deliver the men, every one into his 
 neighbour’s hand. . . . And I shepherded the flock of slaughter, 
 even you the poor of the flock ” (Zechariah xi. 4-7). Here, as in 
 Micah vii. 16, 17, we may gather from the^'whole context that 
 the shepherding evidently applies not to “ feeding,” but to fighting 
 for, and protecting the flock, which is represented as in danger of 
 slaughter. 
 
 1 Psalm ii. 9. The expression here “rod of iron” is 'PH? 
 shaivel barzel. 
 
 2 That is, instead of DlpPl, teerdaim , from rda\ “tobreak,” 
 they read Dy^r}, teed aim, from nyj ? raah, “to shepherd.” It is 
 only a question of the vowel points. The consonants OSnip tr’m, 
 which in the earliest MSS. we know stood alone, may be read 
 either way. It is a striking instance of those errors which have 
 crept in with the points. Remove these here, and a grave difficulty 
 entirely disappears, for the New Testament and the Septuagint then 
 contain a perfectly truthful and literal rendering of the Hebrew. 
 
THE SHEPHERD’S CLUB AND STAFF. 275 
 
 inspired Greek quotation lias the technical ex¬ 
 pression “ to shepherd,” rendered in our version “ to 
 rule.” 1 With this Divine quotation, surely there 
 cannot be any doubt as to the right reading, and 
 the figure at once becomes consistent and powerful. 
 
 “ Thou shalt shepherd them with a club of iron, ,, 
 
 that is, treat them as a shepherd deals with those 
 who rob or injure his sheep. 
 
 One important part of the office of the under- 
 sheplierd, the minister of Christ, is here illustrated. 
 He, like his Master, is not only to feed and nourish 
 the souls committed to his care, but also to be pre¬ 
 pared to guard them from their foes at the cost, if 
 needs be, of suffering and loss. The Apostle Paul, 
 that pattern minister, was thus constantly laying 
 down his life for others. To “ false brethren,” he 
 tells the Galatians, he “ did not yield submission, 
 even for an hour; that the truth of the gospel 
 might continue with you.” 2 Painful as it must 
 have been, when he thought the Apostle Peter’s 
 conduct likely to injure others, he “withstood him 
 to the face, because he was evidently to blame ” for 
 
 1 Revelation ii. 27; xii. 5; xix. 15. This application to the 
 believer of Messianic passages which apply in the first instance to 
 Christ, occurring as it does in a number of other instances, sets 
 forth very beautifully the intimate union which exists between the 
 saint and his Saviour. 
 
 3 Galatians ii. 1-5. 
 
276 
 
 PALESTINE EXPLORED. 
 
 his act of dissimulation, in withdrawing himself 
 from the Gentiles through fear of certain Jews who 
 had come from Jerusalem. 1 This consideration, too, 
 adds much to the deep meaning of Jesus’ tender 
 restoration of His penitent disciple, which is literally, 
 “ Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me ? . . . 
 shepherd my sheep.” 2 The significance of these 
 pathetic words is heightened by the fact that the 
 Lord at once proceeded to prophesy that Peter, who 
 fell through fear, would indeed be dauntless and 
 faithful in the pastoral office, and glorify God by 
 the cruel death of crucifixion, rather than betray his 
 charge. 3 
 
 The same idea seems to have been in the mind 
 of Paul when addressing for the last time the elders 
 of the Ephesian Church. “ Take heed unto your¬ 
 selves,” is his warning cry, “ and to all the flock, in 
 which the Holy Spirit hath made you overseers, to 
 shepherd the Church of God, which he purchased 
 with his own blood. I know that after my depart¬ 
 ing grievous wolves will enter in among you, not 
 sparing the flock; and from among your own selves 
 will men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw 
 
 1 Galatians ii. II-14. 
 
 2 John xxi. 16. The words in verses 15, 17, are respectively, 
 “ feed my lambs,” “ feed my sheep,” a technical term for supplying 
 with food being used in these passages. 
 
 3 John xxi. 18, 19. 
 
2 77 
 
 THE SHEPHERD’S CLUB AND STAFF. 
 
 away the disciples after them.” 1 Here the “shep¬ 
 herding ” mainly refers to defending the flock cou¬ 
 rageously against their spiritual foes. Hence the 
 allusion to the blood of God having been shed in 
 their behalf, and to the coming in of false teachers, 
 terrible as wolves, though outwardly clad in sheep’s 
 clothing, who are to be faithfully resisted. 
 
 We are specially warned that in the last days 
 “ evil men and impostors will wax worse and 
 worse, deceiving and being deceived.” 2 No wonder 
 that it is said of such a time, “ All that desire to live 
 godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution.” 3 We 
 need pastors now of David’s spirit. “ Thy servant,” 
 he tells us, “ kept his father’s sheep ; and there came 
 a lion and a bear, and took a lamb out of the flock; 
 and I went out after him, and smote him, and deli¬ 
 vered it out of his mouth ; and he arose against me, 
 but I caught his beard, and smote him and slew 
 him.” 4 Such “ shepherding ” the flock of God 
 requires in our day! We want men “valiant for 
 the truth,” who are not afraid or ashamed of being 
 true Protestants, however unfashionable, ignorant, 
 or uncharitable the spirit of the age may deem 
 them. We want ministers who, though it in¬ 
 volve ignominy and loss, will “ contend earnestly 
 
 1 Acts xx. 28-30. 2 2 Timothy iii. 13. 3 2 Timothy iii. 12. 
 
 4 1 Samuel xvii. 34, 35. Probably David’s shepherd’s club 
 played an important part in smiting these wild beasts. 
 
278 PALESTINE EXPLORED. 
 
 for the faith once delivered to the saints.” We 
 want bishops and presbyters who are not ashamed or 
 unmindful of their consecration and ordination vows; 
 that, the Lord being their helper, they are “ ready, 
 with all faithful diligence, to banish and drive away 
 all erroneous and strange doctrines contrary to God's 
 Word ; and both privately and openly to call upon,and 
 encourage others to the same.” In these last days, 
 error is abroad in countless subtle and dangerous 
 forms, and Satan, in the disguise of an angel of 
 light, is spreading new traps for the unwary— 
 snares sacerdotal, infidel, and materialistic. The 
 enemies of truth are swiftly gathering, and appa¬ 
 rently preparing, as they have never done before, 
 to unite their forces for the final struggle. At such 
 a time it surely behoves the faithful pastor to culti¬ 
 vate a suffering, self-denying, unworldly spirit, and 
 do battle courageously on behalf of the flock over 
 which the Holy Spirit has made him overseer. 
 
I 
 
 ( 2 79 ) 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 MOUNT ZION. 
 
 “ They that trust in Jehovah are as Mount Zion, 
 
 Which shall not be moved : it abideth for ever. 
 
 The mountains are round about Jerusalem ; 
 
 And Jehovah is round about His people, 
 
 Henceforth, even for evermore.” 
 
 —Psalm cxxv. i, 2. 
 
 COMPAPJSONS, or similes, are sometimes used, not 
 only to place a subject in a clearer light, which 
 may be done by commonplace illustrations, but also 
 to amplify and ennoble it. In this case sublime 
 and splendid imagery must be summoned to serve. 
 Perhaps one of the finest examples of this kind of 
 lofty comparison is to be found in the illustra¬ 
 tion of the privileges of believers, drawn from the 
 immutable strength and danger-defying situation of 
 Mount Zion. It occurs in one of the Songs of 
 Degrees. It is most probable that these “ Songs of 
 Ascendings,” or “ goings up,” w~ere sung in chorus by 
 the Hebrew caravans to cheer their yearly journeys 
 to the City of the Great King. May we not well 
 
28 o 
 
 PALESTINE EXPLORED. 
 
 suppose that the eager pilgrim band burst into 
 the 1 2 1st Psalm, the second of these songs, as 
 they first caught sight of the heights of Jerusalem, 
 singing— 
 
 “ I will lift lip mine eyes unto the mountains ; 
 
 From whence shall my help come ” ? 1 
 
 Then it would seem that, halting near the gates to 
 form the procession to the sanctuary, they pealed 
 forth the hymn— 
 
 “ I was glad when they said unto me, 
 
 Let us go to the house of Jehovah. 
 
 Our feet shall stand 
 
 Within thy gates, 0 Jerusalem ! ” 2 
 
 And at length arrived, as it would appear, within 
 the Temple area, and looking forth on the sacred, 
 never-to-be-forgotten scene, full of holy joy, they 
 celebrated their mercies and privileges in the follow¬ 
 ing words:— 
 
 “ They that trust in Jehovah are as Mount Zion, 
 
 Which shall not be moved : it abideth for ever. 
 
 The mountains are round about Jerusalem ; 
 
 And Jehovah is round about His people, 
 
 Henceforth, even for evermore.” 3 
 
 Many who repeat these soul-stirring Hebrew 
 verses form but a faint conception of their full 
 force. But to those who are familiar with the 
 
 1 Psalm cxxi. I. 2 Psalm cxxii. I, 2. 
 
 3 Psalm cxxv. i, 2. 
 
MOUNT ZION. 
 
 28 l 
 
 natural features of the district they possess peculiar 
 power and beauty. Mount Zion sometimes stands 
 for the one hill on the south-western quarter of 
 Jerusalem, now partly within and partly without 
 the walls, which in ancient times, however, entirely 
 encircled its summit; and sometimes for the whole 
 site of the city, consisting of the seven hills on 
 which it was situated, namely, Mount Zion, Mount 
 Acra, Mount Ophel, Mount Moriah, Mount Gareb, 
 and Mount Goath. 1 In this latter sense, Mount Zion, 
 as the largest, most anciently inhabited, and most 
 important part of Jerusalem, stands, by a figure of 
 speech, for the whole of the triple-walled metro¬ 
 polis of Palestine. Whether we confine it to the 
 single mountain in question, or regard it as spoken 
 of all the seven hills enclosed by the three walls 
 of the ancient city. Mount Zion would convey 
 to the mind of an Israelite a very grand represen¬ 
 tation. The mountains of Judah in this central 
 part of the chain, where they rise to the height 
 of over 2500 feet above the level of the sea, 
 are composed on the surface, and to a great 
 depth below, of tertiary limestone of four different 
 kinds. There is a nummulitic limestone which 
 has bands of flint and fossils, called in Arabic 
 Kacooley ; a beautifully white limestone which goes 
 
 1 In proof of this statement the reader is referred to the seventh 
 edition of the author’s Palestine Repeopled, Appendix D. 
 
282 
 
 PALESTINE EXPLORED. 
 
 by the name of Mcilakey, much used for ornamental 
 stone work; an exceedingly hard silicious chalk, 
 also with bands of flints called Mizzey ; and lastly, 
 a pink and white strata of indurated chalk, also 
 exceedingly hard, and taking a fine polish, known 
 as the “ Santa Croce ” marble. The Kacooley and 
 Malakey rocks are comparatively soft when first 
 quarried at any depth below the ground, but the 
 Malakey , wherever it rises to the surface or is 
 exposed to the air, gradually and constantly hardens, 
 which renders it a very valuable stone for building 
 purposes, as I know from actual experience of its 
 use. The Malakey , however, in the hills which 
 form the site of the Holy City, generally under¬ 
 lies the marble - like Mizzey, or silicious indurated 
 chalk, which exceedingly hard stone forms most of 
 the surface rock. In consequence of this feature, 
 where the Malakey crops up near the ground, large 
 tombs and beers, or underground cisterns, have been 
 excavated in that softer stratum of rock, while the 
 Mizzey has been left to form the natural roof. The 
 huge rock-cut cisterns in the present Haram area, 
 the site of the courts of the Temple, some of 
 which are forty feet deep, afford a striking example 
 of such excavations. The Malakey stratum has a 
 depth of forty feet, and the Mizzey of seventy-one 
 feet, in the immediate neighbourhood of the city. 
 Owing to the great depth to which the hard Mizzey 
 
MOUNT ZION. 
 
 233 
 
 rock descends, all attempts to sink tlie shaft of an 
 artesian well near Jerusalem have hitherto been 
 abandoned. I have said the Mizzey stone prevails 
 upon the surface both in and around the city. The 
 best evidence of this is offered by the fact, that in 
 almost every instance when a man purchases a 
 small plot of land, he finds enough of this stone to 
 build, not only a house and enclosure v T all founded 
 upon their own native rock, but also the accom¬ 
 panying leer. I have had occasion to excavate much 
 of the Mizzey upon my own grounds on Mount 
 Gareb, and have good reason to know how exceed¬ 
 ingly hard, difficult of clearage, and durable it is. 
 TIence it was perfectly natural that Mount Zion 
 should have been pre-eminently regarded from the 
 earliest times as “ the level or tableland rock,” 1 the 
 natural, immovable, stone stronghold of Canaan’s 
 “ everlasting hills.” 
 
 In a glance at the spot given us in the days of 
 
 1 Jeremiah xxi. 13, *Vl¥, tzoor pameeshoar , ‘ ‘ rock of the 
 
 meeshoar , ” a Hebrew idiom for “the meeshoar rock.” This word 
 meeshoar means “level down,” or “tableland.” It is applied 
 specially as a technical and local name to the smooth upland downs 
 of Moab (Deuteronomy iii. 10 ; Joshua xiii. 17, xx. 8; Jeremiah 
 xlviii. 8, 21). Hence, from the idea of a smooth, plain, lofty place, 
 meeshoar came to have the secondary metaphorical sense of “ equity,” 
 or “justice” (Psalm xlv. 6, lxvii. 4; Isaiah xi. 4; Malachi ii. 6). 
 No doubt, in allusion to this meaning of the word, as well as to its 
 being a level surface on the summit of hills, Jerusalem was proudly 
 called by its inhabitants “ the meeshoar rock.” 
 
 I 
 
284 
 
 PALESTINE EXPLORED. 
 
 David, we learn that it was regarded from time 
 immemorial as a place of such strength, owing to 
 its steep, precipitous, rocky sides, as to be held 
 impregnable,—the Gibraltar of Palestine fortresses. 
 Josephus gives a detailed account of the magnificent 
 natural position of the walls, towers, and fortifications 
 of the city of Herod at this point. His descriptions, 
 which it has been so much the fashion in modern 
 times to decry as enthusiastic and exaggerated, have 
 throughout the work of the Palestine Exploration 
 Eund been for the most part minutely confirmed. 1 
 This Jewish writer, who was engaged in a leading 
 capacity in the siege of Jerusalem under Titus, tells 
 us that the first of the three enclosure walls ran 
 round the summit of Mount Zion, that it was 
 defended by sixty towers; and speaking of the 
 three named Hippicus, Phasselus, and Mariamne, he 
 describes them as the wonder of all beholders on 
 account of their great height, massive structure, and 
 commanding position. Titus, who destroyed all else, 
 left these as trophies of his splendid victory, to 
 show the exceeding vastness and strength of the 
 fortifications which had been reduced by the might 
 
 1 The principal exception to this rule occurs in the case of his 
 description of the town of Caesarea. If the ruins now supposed to 
 represent this once important place are on the true site—and it 
 appears to me that this has been by no means indisputably proved 
 —they appear to contradict the magnificence which Josephus 
 recounts. 
 
MOUNT ZION. 
 
 285 
 
 of Rome. Josephus speaks of them as “for large¬ 
 ness, beauty, and strength, beyond all that were in 
 the habitable earth.” 1 “ The largeness also of the 
 
 O 
 
 stones,” he says, “was wonderful, for they were not 
 made of common small stones, nor of such large 
 ones only as men could carry, but they were of 
 white marble cut out of the rock (probably Malakey); 
 each stone was twenty cubits in length (at least 
 about twenty-seven feet), and ten in breadth, and 
 five in depth. They were so exactly united to one 
 another, that each tower looked like one entire 
 rock of stone, so growing naturally, and afterwards 
 cut by the hands of the artificers into present shape 
 and corners; so little, or not at all, did their joints 
 or connection appear.” 2 Quite recently, in the win¬ 
 ter of 1874, Mr. Henry Maudslay, an English civil 
 engineer, while making improvements in the school 
 of the Anglican Bishop at Jerusalem on the south¬ 
 west brow of Mount Zion, where it overlooks the 
 pool now called the Birket es Sultan , was so fortu¬ 
 nate as to fully explore and lay bare the ancient 
 lie of the rock. Nothing could be grander than the 
 huge natural fastness, which he was able to follow 
 and display. The limestone crag proved to have 
 been scarped, that is, cut smooth and straight as 
 a wall, with infinite labour perpendicularly to 
 
 1 Josephus’ Wars of the Jews , book v. chap. iv. sec. 3. 
 
 2 Josephus’ Wars of the Jews , book v. chap. iv. sec. 4. 
 
286 
 
 PALESTINE EXPLORED. 
 
 the average height of thirty feet throughout the 
 hundred and thirty yards explored on this occasion. 
 The foundation of a mighty tower, a projecting 
 scarp forty-five feet square, was discovered under 
 the school-house, standing itself on a broad ledge 
 of rock, below which another deep scarp appeared 
 to exist. In one place thirty-six steps were laid 
 bare, cut in the face of the scarp ascending the base 
 of a second smaller tower. The bases of three 
 towers in all were examined, and a system of no 
 less than eighteen beers, or cisterns, cut in the rock, 
 which supplied them with w T ater. It is exceedingly 
 interesting to observe that both these “ cisterns to 
 receive rain-water,” and these “ steps,” are specially 
 noted in connection with all the towers described 
 by Josephus as standing upon the three walls. 1 In 
 one place a ditch, some twenty^ feet wide, was 
 found, with a rough rock slope below. On the 
 western side were found at the foot of the scarp 
 a number of fallen stones from three to four feet 
 long, “ many of which,” says Lieutenant Conder, 
 “ seem to me to be Eoman work, with a draft of 
 three inches broad.” He adds : 2 “ The stones were 
 found principally face downwards, as though fallen 
 
 1 Josephus’ Wars of the Jews, book v. chap. iv. sec. 3. 
 
 2 See paper by Lieutenant Conder, L.E., in January Quarterly 
 Statement of Palestine Exploration Fund, p. 7, and April Quarterly 
 Statement, p. 18. This deeply interesting discovery has not yet 
 received the attention it deserves. 
 
MOUNT ZION. 
 
 287 
 
 from the tower above, or pushed over from within.” 
 Here, then, in this modern glimpse at the famed 
 fortress of Jehus, we see rock-cut faces rising per¬ 
 pendicularly in one place to the height of perhaps 
 more than fifty feet. Well might David, rejoicing 
 in the security of God’s people, allude in enthusiastic 
 language to these remarkable features as fitting 
 symbols of the Divine protection, and to the awe 
 with which they struck the minds of those monarchs 
 who came to besiege the city wdien they first beheld 
 them— 
 
 “ Beautiful for elevation, the joy of the whole 
 earth, 
 
 Is Mount Zion, on the sides of the north ; 
 
 The city of the great king. 
 
 • • • • • 
 
 For lo, the kings were assembled, 
 
 They marched on together. 
 
 They beheld, and so they marvelled, 
 
 They were troubled, they hasted away ; 
 
 Trembling took hold upon them there, 
 
 Pain, as of a woman in travail. 
 
 • • • • • 
 
 Walk about Zion, and go round about her, 
 
 Count her towers ; 
 
 Mark ye well her bulwarks. 
 
 • • • • • 
 
 For this God is our God for ever and ever, 
 
 He will himself be our guide until [or, over] 
 death.” 1 
 
 1 Psalm xlviii. 2, 4-6, 12-14. The word I have translated 
 “ elevation, ” noapli, only occurs in this place. It is evidently 
 
288 
 
 PALESTINE EXPLORED. 
 
 Undoubtedly the rock face I have described must 
 have formed part of the adamantine foundations 
 upon which afterwards rose the first or old wall. 
 Once huge ramparts crowned this scarp, and on the 
 square projecting bases Herod built massive towers 
 of immense strength. No stone of these can now 
 be pointed out. Lieutenant Conder, reviewing Mr. 
 Maudslay’s important exploration, says it is especially 
 “ valuable as showing that, however the masonry 
 may have been destroyed and lost, we may yet 
 hope to find indications of the ancient enceinte in 
 the rock scarps which are imperishable.” This is 
 very true; for, while man can destroy what man 
 has made, the everlasting hills smile at his rage. 
 Yet who can hear of it without perceiving the force 
 and sublimity of that glorious description of the 
 immobility of believers— 
 
 “ They that trust in Jehovah are as Mount Zion, 
 
 Which shall not be moved, it abideth for ever.” 
 
 derived from nooph, which has the sense of “ to lift up,” and 
 hence, in a technical sense, “to wave,” “to lift up and wave to 
 and fro,” a wave-offering, which is its meaning in twenty places. 
 Five times it has the sense of “ lifting up and striking with,” as of 
 a sickle or a tool (Exodus xx. 25 ; Deuteronomy xxiii. 25, xxvii. 5 ; 
 Joshua viii. 31 ; Isaiah x. 15), and seven times of “lifting up and 
 shaking the hand in a threatening manner” (Isaiah x. 32, xi. 15, 
 xiii. 2, xix. 16; Zechariah ii. 9; Job xxxi. 21). The word here, 
 therefore, is a very suggestive one, and seems to convey the idea, 
 not only of an elevated place, lifted up on high, and offered as it 
 were to God, but of one that defies its foes. 
 
SKETCH MAP OF JERUSALEM AND ITS ENVIRONS. 
 
 1. The Protestant Cemetery, the black line to the north-east of it showing 
 
 the position of the scarped foundation of the wall of Zion. 
 
 2. Birket es Sultan, or Sultan’s Pool. 
 
 3. The traditional Aceldama. 
 
 4. Birlcet Mamilla. 
 
 5. The School of the late Anglican Bishop. 
 
 T 
 
MOUNT ZION. 
 
 29 I 
 
 Not less impressive is the comparison used to 
 set forth their eternal security as safe-guarded by 
 Jehovah Himself— 
 
 “ The mountains are round about Jerusalem ; 
 
 And Jehovah is roundabout his people, 
 
 Henceforth, even for evermore.” 
 
 The Holy City, on its seven closely-clustered but 
 well-defined hills, is surrounded by deep narrow 
 valleys, which make the ascent to the gates toil¬ 
 some on every side but the north-west. Though 
 the slopes ascending to the city on all sides are 
 still steep, recent explorations have shown that 
 in former times they were far more precipitous. 
 The (Ubris of the twenty-seven-times-sacked city 
 lies upon them in one spot to the depth of 125 
 feet. 1 There now exists in England a deeply- 
 interesting model of Jerusalem and its environs, 
 exhibited by the Palestine Exploration Fund in the 
 Science and Art Department of the South Kensing¬ 
 ton Museum. This model gives us the true ancient 
 lie of the ground in and around the city, being an 
 embossed copy of the rock contours, made accu¬ 
 rately to scale, the result of years of scientific 
 survey and exploration, embodying the careful work 
 of Col. Sir Charles Wilson, E.E., Col. Warren, 
 
 1 See The Recovery of Jerusalem, p. 187. A brief account of its 
 twenty-seven sieges is given in Our Work on Palestine (Messrs, 
 llentley & Sons), pp. 48-66. 
 
292 
 
 PALESTINE EXPLORED. 
 
 E.E., Lieut. Conder, E.E., Mr. Schick of Jeru¬ 
 salem, and others. Here we look upon the true 
 site of the city of David and Solomon, as it must 
 have existed before its deep ravines and abrupt 
 slopes were to a great extent buried and oblite¬ 
 rated, as they are now, under vast heaps of rub¬ 
 bish. Ho engineer can glance at this model and 
 doubt for a moment where the third or outer wall 
 of the city must have stood, namely, on the brow 
 of the natural ridge that runs, with a more or less 
 steep descent, all round the city, except for some 
 six hundred yards on the north-west. How let any 
 one follow with a measure this brow of the ridge, 
 and he will find that it gives a circumference of four 
 miles, just the thirty-three stadia that Josephus 
 assigns to the outside limits of the city ! 1 It is 
 strange that any doubt should ever have existed 
 on this point, and yet in very few plans of the 
 city is this line suggested. 
 
 If we bear in mind the position thus assigned, it 
 adds much force to the figure under consideration. 
 Jerusalem in ancient times was not only “ beautiful 
 for elevation,” but also secure and strong, beyond 
 most cities, on the same account. With its massive 
 and lofty walls, resting for the greater part of four 
 miles on the brow of rocky precipitous hills, it was 
 
 1 “The whole compass of the city was thirty-three furlongs.”— 
 Josephus, Wars of the Jews , book v. chapter iv. section 3. 
 
MOUNT ZION. 
 
 293 
 
 entirely surrounded, except for a few hundred yards, 
 by the nahhal , or torrent valley, of Kidron, on the 
 north and east, and the gay , or ravine-like glen, of the 
 son of Hinnom, or Gehenna, on the west and south. 
 Beyond these rise the mountain of Scopus on the north, 
 from which may be had the finest view of the city, 
 and the Mount of Olivet on the east, which is a con¬ 
 tinuation of Scopus, where it turns abruptly to the 
 south. Olivet, after running for about three-quarters 
 of a mile, slightly dips, and rises again in a separate 
 hill called the Mount of Offence, where the village 
 of Siloam, now Silwan, still clings to its steep sides, 
 and where once upon its summit, towering high above 
 the sanctuary of Jehovah, the idol temple of Solomon’s 
 heathen wives commanded the Holy City. The narrow 
 vale of Gehenna along the west and south, one of the 
 most verdant and picturesque in all the neighbour¬ 
 hood, is shut in by the present so-called Hill of Evil 
 Counsel, a terraced ridge with bold limestone cliffs, 
 honeycombed by excavated sepulchres, which in some 
 parts rises to a considerable elevation. The mountains 
 most emphatically stand “ round about Jerusalem,” 
 and in doing so must have greatly safeguarded it in 
 ancient times. We are specially told that when 
 Titus besieged the city, he found it impossible to 
 invest it completely until he had built a wall round 
 the entire sides of these mountains, nearly five miles 
 long, with thirteen places at intervals in which he 
 
294 
 
 PALESTINE EXPLORED. 
 
 stationed garrisons, which added another mile and a 
 quarter to these vast earthworks. “ The whole was 
 completed,” says the Jewish historian, “in three 
 days; so that what would naturally have required 
 some months was done in so short an interval as is 
 incredible.” 1 Assaults upon the city, even then,could 
 only he delivered effectively upon its level corner 
 to the north-west, whence every hostile advance 
 was necessarily directed in all its various sieges. 
 To those familiar with these facts, beautifully bold, 
 graphic, and forceful is the Psalmist’s figure of the 
 security of the Lord’s people— 
 
 C£ The mountains are round about Jerusalem ; 
 
 And Jehovah is round about his people, 
 
 Henceforth, even for evermore.” 2 
 
 1 Josephus, Wars of the Jews, book v. chap. xii. section 2. 
 
 2 To some, accustomed to our use of the word “mountains,” it 
 has seemed that hills like Scopus, Olivet, the Mount of Offence, 
 &c., closely clustering round the Holy City, are not lofty or large 
 enough to be dignified with such a title, and these have been led to 
 look for “the mountains round about Jerusalem” in the peak of 
 Neby Samwil, some three and a half miles away, in the grand natural 
 wall of Moab, rising up to a height of over 4000 feet from the 
 Jordan valley, at a distance of 25 miles, and some other far-off but 
 conspicuous elevations. We must, however, remember that the 
 term "in, liar, “mountain,” is given in Scripture to any compara¬ 
 tively large ridge, or collection of small hills, and to many such a 
 hogs-back as Scopus or Olivet. The hill over Jericho, the modern 
 Ain es Sultan, is called a liar, or “mountain” (Joshua ii. 16). Ebal 
 and G-erizim are each called a liar (Deuteronomy xi. 29) ; Zion, 
 which is overlooked by most of the hills which I have described as 
 standing round it, is repeatedly spoken of as a liar (2 Kings xix. 31 ; 
 
MOUNT ZION. 
 
 295 
 
 These words must have sounded in Hebrew ears as 
 sublime as they were comforting, and, when sung on 
 the heights of Zion, inspiring in the last degree. 
 
 Jerusalem may indeed fitly stand as an image 
 of the believing and ever-tried people of God. Its 
 history, like that of the Church militant, has been 
 one of continual warfare. It has been well re¬ 
 marked by Mr. Grove, in summing up the annals of 
 the city, that while our first glimpse of it in the 
 Old Testament tells how the children of Judah 
 “ smote it with the edge of the sword, and set 
 the city on fire,” so “ almost the latest mention of it 
 in the Hew Testament is contained in the solemn 
 warnings in which Christ foretold how Jerusalem 
 should be compassed with armies. ” 1 Twenty-seven 
 times the waves of wild Eastern war have beaten 
 upon its embattled walls. It has a story of trial 
 and suffering without a parallel in the history of 
 
 Psalm ii. 6, &c.) ; and Olivet itself is in one place actually called 
 by this name (Zechariah xiv. 4). There can be, therefore, no doubt 
 of the appropriateness and literal accuracy of speaking of Jeru¬ 
 salem as surrounded by “mountains” in the case of the hills in 
 close proximity to its walls. These mountains, with their deep 
 intervening glens, stand like vast earthworks and fosses—a natural 
 fortification—around the Holy City. Distant heights both afford 
 no marked protection to Zion, and fail to convey any sense of that 
 nearness and immediatecy of the Divine presence and power which 
 the Psalmist seems to be expressing. 
 
 1 Judges i. 8 ; Luke xxi. 20. See article on Jerusalem in Smith’s 
 Bible Dictionary. 
 
2 9 6 PALESTINE EXPLORED. 
 
 any other spot. Yet it still remains a city of some 
 thirty thousand inhabitants, surrounded by lofty and 
 picturesque walls, and we know from the prophetic 
 word that it is finally to enjoy a never-ending 
 future of peace and glory. But before the arrival of 
 this happy time a last terrible trial of unexampled 
 severity awaits Jerusalem, namely, that foretold by 
 our Saviour, and plainly predicted in so many pas¬ 
 sages of the prophets. 1 The Jewish population of 
 the city has doubled in recent years, and events 
 now rapidly ripening are preparing the way for 
 Israel’s return to the Holy Land as a nation, while 
 yet in unbelief. This temporary solution of the 
 Eastern Question is to be looked for at any moment. 
 But what will happen when God, thus working by 
 the political necessities of the times, causes them to 
 return to the land that He gave to their fathers ? Let 
 Jeremiah answer— 
 
 “ Alas ! for that day is great, 
 
 So that none is like it: 
 
 It is even the time of Jacob’s trouble.” 2 
 
 Daniel, speaking of “ the time of the end,” when 
 he represents Israel as seen in their own land, suf¬ 
 fering a fearful and overwhelming invasion at the 
 hands of the King of the North, declares of that 
 
 1 Matthew xxiv. ; Lukexxi. ; Isaiah li. 17-23 ; lix. 1—18 ; Ezekiel 
 xx. 32—xxi. 27 ; Joel ii.; Zeplianiah i. 
 
 2 Jeremiah xxx. 3-7. 
 
MOUNT ZION. 
 
 29; 
 
 siege of Jerusalem, “ there shall be a time of dis¬ 
 tress, such as never was since there was a nation 
 even to that same time.” 1 Zechariah, foretelling 
 the closing scenes of this dispensation, as we learn 
 from the following verses, says in the name of the 
 Lord, “ I will gather all the nations against Jeru¬ 
 salem to battle; and the city shall be taken, and the 
 houses rifled, and the women ravished; and half of 
 the city shall go forth into captivity.” 2 
 
 To quote from the author’s Palestine Eepeopled. 
 “ In the twenty-second chapter of Ezekiel, we have 
 a dark picture of Israel’s impiety, followed by a 
 threatening of their long dispersion: ‘ I will scatter 
 thee among the heathen, and disperse thee in the 
 countries, and will consume thy filthiness out of 
 thee ! ’ But even this long discipline will not be suf¬ 
 ficient, therefore we read in the following verses.— 
 ‘ Because ye all become dross, behold, therefore, I 
 will gather you into the midst of Jerusalem. As they 
 gather silver, and copper, and iron, and lead, and 
 tin, into the midst of the furnace, to blow the fire 
 upon it, to melt it, so will I gather you in mine 
 anger and in my fury, and I will lay you on, and 
 melt you. Yea, I will gather you, and blow upon 
 you in the fire of my wrath, and ye shall be melted 
 in the midst thereof. As silver is melted in the midst 
 of the furnace, so shall ye be melted in the midst 
 
 1 Daniel xii. i. 
 
 2 Zechariah xiv. 2. 
 
298 
 
 PALESTINE EXPLORED. 
 
 thereof. And ye shall know that I, Jehovah, have 
 poured out my fury upon you.’ ” 1 These terrible 
 final judgments are to he correctional. The Lord 
 “ doth not willingly afflict and grieve the children 
 of men/’ and in the issue we learn that the coming 
 sorrows of the Jewish people are to be blessed of 
 God to their conversion, and their restoration to the 
 Divine favour. In view, however, of this time of 
 Jacob’s trouble, the last and worst of eighteen 
 centuries of suffering, it will be seen at once how 
 these very mountains, which served to make Jeru¬ 
 salem secure before the days of cannon, will only 
 add so many new terrors to the siege of the future ! 
 
 1 Ezekiel xxii. 19-22. 
 
INDEX OF HEBREW WORDS 
 
 EXPLAINED IN THIS WORK. 
 
 
 PAGE 
 
 jBIK.... 
 
 . 197 
 
 b's.... 
 
 . 6l 
 
 Sx 
 
 . 170 
 
 D'ii^s.... 
 
 . 170 
 
 D'JSK.... 
 
 • : t 
 
 . I96 
 
 p'DS.... 
 
 . 59 
 
 
 . 59 
 
 1N3.... 
 
 . "3 
 
 im.... 
 
 . 241 
 
 rm.... 
 
 T T 
 
 . 226 
 
 pwp?.- 
 
 
 nypa.... 
 
 . 264 
 
 *!?•••• 
 
 . 115 
 
 nma.... 
 
 t ••; 
 
 . 115 
 
 -nil.... 
 
 •• T 
 
 . 53 
 
 -nil.... 
 
 . 53 
 
 rrm.... 
 
 . 53 
 
 K\a.... 
 
 .. 264 
 
 n 3 -" 
 
 .. 228, 229 
 
 
 PAGE 
 
 mn . 
 
 . 233 
 
 in. 
 
 . 294 
 
 run. 
 
 CO 
 
 Ln 
 
 pin. 
 
 . 231 
 
 n-iDin. 
 
 . 120 
 
 *D'n. 
 
 . 78 
 
 'lin. 
 
 CO 
 
 n n. 
 
 .232 
 
 bin. 
 
 . 120 
 
 bv . 
 
 . 136 
 
 bbu . 
 
 . 136 
 
 bbu . 
 
 . 136 
 
 is>. 
 
 . 205 
 
 i^. 
 
 . H7 
 
 nnb’. 
 
 . 147 
 
 in'. 
 
 . 8 
 
 Dni?. 
 
 . 7o 
 
 HiJDIft. 
 
 t • 
 
 . 241 
 
 nsVo. 
 
 . 241 
 
 p». 
 
 TAGE 
 
 . 234 
 
 . 
 
 . 230 
 
 ntsiD. 
 
 • 158 , 173 
 
 ib'D.... 
 
 . 283 
 
 n' 3 b». 
 
 . I96 
 
 nwo.... 
 
 V v 
 
 . 272 
 
 
 . 241 
 
 m— 
 
 . 93 
 
 w . 
 
 . 288 
 
 
 . 287 
 
 b\:.... 
 
 . 141 
 
 - T 
 
 . 264 
 
 HEM.... 
 
 T T 
 
 . 159 
 
 ItM.... 
 
 - T 
 
 . 211 
 
 itoii.... 
 
 . 211 
 
 1VJ.... 
 
 ” T 
 
 . 211 
 
 ivi).... 
 
 . 211 
 
 nsD.... 
 
 t : 
 
 . 33 
 
 TV.... 
 
 . 173 
 
3oo 
 
 INDEX TO HEBREW WORDS. 
 
 ... 
 
 PAGE 
 
 . 61 
 
 pw.... 
 
 .. ioi, 264 
 
 w... 
 
 “ T 
 
 . 61 
 
 
 . 141 
 
 ms... 
 
 . 250 
 
 nSSSS... 
 
 t t : - 
 
 . 256 
 
 nm... 
 
 . 250 
 
 n?- 
 
 . 78 
 
 nvg... 
 
 . 231 
 
 msp... 
 
 . 78 
 
 
 . 78 
 
 Pp.... 
 
 PAGE 
 
 . 225 
 
 an.... 
 
 . 142 
 
 am.... 
 
 T 
 
 . 141 
 
 D'n'ai.... 
 
 . 141 
 
 nm.... 
 
 00 
 
 Oi 
 
 nm.... 
 
 T T 
 
 . 272 
 
 yyw... 
 
 .274 
 
 nm.... 
 
 “ T 
 
 .193 
 
 
 . 141 
 
 nnw.... 
 
 . 141 
 
 . 
 
 ..158,267 
 
 
 PAGE 
 
 “DE^ ... 
 
 V V 
 
 . US 
 
 pms\... 
 
 ... 129, 130 
 
 mpns?..., 
 
 . 129 
 
 D'm.... 
 
 • " T 
 
 . 130 
 
 IffiP .... 
 
 ~ T 
 
 . 211 
 
 mxw., 
 
 . 211 
 
 
 . 94 
 
 ng?.... 
 
 . 94 
 
 135.- 
 
 ... 223, 226 
 
 man.... 
 
 . 184 
 
 nan..., 
 
 . 265 
 
INDEX OF SCRIPTURE REFERENCES 
 
 
 Genesis— 
 
 i. 5, 8, 13, 19, 
 
 ii. 2. 
 
 23 , 3 D 
 
 PAGE 
 
 . 17 
 
 viii. 22. 
 
 
 
 xviii. 6. 
 
 
 . 33 
 
 xxi. 8-10. 
 
 
 . 49 
 
 xxiii. 11. 
 
 
 . 18 
 
 xxiv. 11. 
 
 
 
 xxiv. 18. 
 
 
 . 19 
 
 xxiv. 31. 
 
 
 . 18 
 
 xxv. 29-34. • • • 
 
 
 . 72 
 
 xxvi. 19. 
 
 
 . 114 
 
 xxvii. 28. 
 
 
 . 132 
 
 xxx. 36. 
 
 
 . 18 
 
 xxxi. 23. 
 
 
 . 18 
 
 „ 4 °. 
 
 
 . 135 
 
 xxxii. 28 . 
 
 
 . 170 
 
 xxx viii. 18 ... 
 
 
 . 161 
 
 xlii. 18. 
 
 
 . 18 
 
 xliii. 16. 
 
 
 . 18 
 
 >> 2 3 . 
 
 
 . 18 
 
 » 25,31... 
 
 
 . 70 
 
 xlv. I. 
 
 
 . 59 
 
 xlvi. 6. 
 
 
 . 134 
 
 xlvii. 31. 
 
 ■ • 158, 
 
 159, 162 
 
 xlviii. 
 
 
 . 162 
 
 xlix. 17. 
 
 
 . 261 
 
 1. 7-11. 
 
 
 . 163 
 
 Exodus— 
 
 
 
 iv. 1, 2. 
 
 
 . 167 
 
 „ J 7 . 
 
 
 . 169 
 
 „ 20. 
 
 
 . 170 
 
 v. 6, 7, 8, 12... 
 
 
 
 „ 1 9 . 
 
 
 
 vii. 10, 12, 19. 
 
 
 
 viii. 5 . 
 
 
 . 167 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Exodus— 
 
 viii. 16-24. 83 
 
 ix. 28. 170 
 
 xiii. 21. 44 
 
 xvi. 4, 8, 12. 70 
 
 xvii. 9. 170 
 
 xix. 16. 45 
 
 XX. 32. 288 
 
 xxii. 6. 38 
 
 xxii. 24. 54 
 
 xxiv. 15. 45 
 
 xxv. 31-35. 95 
 
 xxv. xi, 17, 29, 31, 38.... 74 
 
 xxvii. 21. 17 
 
 Leviticus— 
 
 xvii. 13. 35 
 
 xxiii. 27-43. 144 
 
 xxvi. 26. 158 
 
 xxvii. 32. 271 
 
 Numbers— 
 i. 4, 16... 
 
 x. 34 . 
 
 xi. 11, 25 
 xvii. 1-5 
 
 *> 6 
 M 7 
 
 55 
 
 ,, 17-21 
 xx. 7, 9.... 
 xxii. 24.... 
 xxiv. 17.... 
 xxviii. 2... 
 
 . 161 
 
 . 44 
 
 . 24 
 
 . 169 
 
 . 170 
 
 . 157, 170 
 
 . 171 
 
 . 170 
 
 . 17 1 
 
 . 171 
 
 . 161 
 
 . 171 
 
 . 54 
 
 173, 242, 268 
 
 . 70 
 
CO 
 
 0 2 INDEX TO SCRIPTURE REFERENCES. 
 
 Numbers— 
 
 xxviii. 16-24 
 xxix. 13-40.. 
 xxxi. 4, 5.... 
 xxxii. 16. 
 
 » 3 6 . 
 
 xxxv. 33. 
 
 Deuteronomy— 
 
 iii. 10. 
 
 xi. 29. 
 
 xvi. 13. 
 
 xxiii. 12, 13. 
 
 „ 2 5 . 
 
 xxv. 4. 
 
 xxvii. 5. 
 
 xxxii. 2. 
 
 „ .. 13 •••• 
 xxxiii. 28.... 
 
 Joshua— 
 
 ii. 16. 
 
 vii. 21, 22... 
 
 viii. 31. 
 
 xiii. 17. 
 
 xv. S3. 
 
 xx. 8. 
 
 xxii. 14. 
 
 xxiv. 31. 
 
 Judges— 
 
 i. 8. 
 
 iv. 17-2T ... 
 
 v. 24. 
 
 vi. 23. 
 
 „ 36-40 ... 
 
 »» 3 8 . 
 
 xiv. 5. 
 
 xix. 8. 
 
 Ruth— 
 
 ii. 4. 
 
 1 Samuel— 
 i. 21-23... 
 iv. 1. 
 
 viii. ix.... 
 
 ix. 12. 
 
 xiii. 12 .... 
 xiii. 19-22 
 
 PAGE 
 
 • 150 
 
 • 150 
 
 . l6l 
 
 ■ S3 
 
 • S3 
 
 • S3 
 
 • 35 
 
 .. 283 
 .. 294 
 .. 229 
 .. 240 
 3, 288 
 
 ... 2 35 
 
 ... 288 
 
 ... 141 
 
 ... 206 
 ... 142 
 
 2 94 
 
 98 
 
 288 
 
 283 
 
 59 
 
 283 
 
 157 
 
 179 
 
 2 95 
 
 8 
 
 9 
 
 18 
 
 137 
 
 i39 
 
 261 
 
 18 
 
 19 
 
 48 
 
 59 
 
 28 
 
 19 
 
 59 
 
 14 
 
 
 PAGE 
 
 1 Samuel— 
 
 xiv. 15 . 
 
 . 170 
 
 xiv. 25-27. 
 
 . 206 
 
 xvii. 34. 
 
 .26l, 277 
 
 xix. 15 . 
 
 . l6o 
 
 xxiv. 3. 
 
 . 53 
 
 xxv. 7. 
 
 . 260 
 
 „ 18 . 
 
 . 33 
 
 » 2 9 . 
 
 . 250 
 
 2 Samuel— 
 
 i. 21. 
 
 . I 3 2 , ! 4 2 
 
 » 26 . 
 
 . 18 
 
 ,, 27 . 
 
 iv. 5 . 
 
 „ 12 . 
 
 vii. 11 . 
 
 XV. I. 
 
 . 18 
 
 . 18 
 
 . 115 
 
 . 28 
 
 . 28 
 
 xvii. 13 . 
 
 . 250 
 
 xviii. 6-8 . 
 
 . 206 
 
 „ 14 . 
 
 . 268 
 
 xxn. 43 . 
 
 . 13 ° 
 
 xxiii. 6 , 7 . 
 
 . 3 8 
 
 » 20 . 
 
 . 261 
 
 Kings— 
 
 i- 5 . 
 
 iv. 28. 
 
 ,, 3 Q. 
 
 . 28 
 
 . 223 
 
 . 202 
 
 
 
 vii. 49, 50. 
 
 . 74 
 
 xi. 36. 
 
 . 9 2 
 
 xiii. 24. 
 
 . 261 
 
 xv. 4. 
 
 . 9 2 
 
 xvii. 1. 
 
 . 142 
 
 xviii. 26. 
 
 . 18 
 
 „ 28 . 
 
 . 8 5 
 
 „ 4 2 -45 . 
 
 . 46 
 
 ,, 44-46 . 
 
 . 2 9 
 
 xix. 4. 
 
 . 18 
 
 5 ? 5 > . 
 
 . 67 
 
 xxii. 38. 
 
 .115 
 
 Kings— 
 
 
 i. 2... 
 
 . 82 
 
 9? 4 ... 
 
 .159 
 
 ii. 12. 
 
 . 18 
 
 j? 2 4 . 
 
 . 206 
 
 vi. 21. 
 
 . 18 
 
 vii. 1. 
 
 . 33 
 
 viii. 19. 
 
 . 9 2 
 
INDEX TO SCRIPTURE REFERENCES. 303 
 
 PAGE 
 
 2 Kings— 
 
 ix. 32.19, 109 
 
 >’"37 . 240 
 
 xiii. 7. 236 
 
 xvii. 25. 261 
 
 xviii. 17. 115 
 
 xix. 31. 294 
 
 xxiii. 10. 265 
 
 1 Chronicles— 
 
 xxi. 23. 230 
 
 2 Chronicles— 
 
 iii. 1. 228 
 
 ».4 . 74 
 
 viii. 4. 67 
 
 ix. 17-20. 75 
 
 ix. 21-24. 202 
 
 xx. 7. 164 
 
 Ezra— 
 
 ix- 9. 55 
 
 Nehemiah— 
 
 ii. 14. 115 
 
 iii. 15. II 5 > 136 
 
 iv. 20. 264 
 
 Esther— 
 
 v. 10. 59 
 
 viii. 16. 90 
 
 Job— 
 
 i. 16. 66 
 
 iii. 21. 99 
 
 xiv. 17. 250 
 
 xvi. 18. 36 
 
 xvii. 6. 265 
 
 „ 13 . 193 
 
 xviii. 5, 6. 91 
 
 xx. 7. 240 
 
 ,, 26. 66 
 
 xxi. 17. 9 1 
 
 ,, 18.225, 234 
 
 xxvii. 18.210, 211 
 
 xxviii. 18, 19. 75 
 
 xxx. 4. 7° 
 
 xxxi. 21. 288 
 
 xxxvii. 21. 130 
 
 xxxviii. 9. 4 1 
 
 „ 28. I 4 2 
 
 xxxviii. 37. 130 
 
 xxxix. 15. 233 
 
 xl. 18. 61 
 
 xli. 15. 61 
 
 ,, 2 7 . 22 5 
 
 2 9 . 22 5 
 
 „ 3 °. 193 
 
 Psalms— 
 
 ii. 6. 295 
 
 „ 9 . i 73 > 264, 2 74 
 
 iY ;. 1 . 173 
 
 viii. 2. co 
 
 xviii. 42. 
 
 . 13 ° 
 
 xx. 1, 7. 
 
 
 ,» 5 . 
 
 
 xxi. 3. 
 
 
 xxiii. 1. 
 
 
 ” 4 . 255, 
 
 263, 264 
 
 j) 5 ... 
 
 . 259 
 
 xxxvi. 6. 
 
 
 xxxviii. 4. 
 
 . 24 
 
 xlii. x . 
 
 
 3 . 
 
 
 xlv. 6. 
 
 
 xlviii. 2, 4-6, 12-14. 
 
 
 liv. 1, 3 . 
 
 
 „ 4 , 5 . 
 
 
 lv. 17. 
 
 
 lxii. 3. 
 
 . 56 
 
 lxvii. 4. 
 
 
 lxix. 1, 2, 14, 15. 
 
 . 89 
 
 lxxviii. 14. 
 
 
 lxxx. 10. 
 
 
 0 12. 
 
 . 54 
 
 lxxxi. 16. 
 
 
 lxxxiii. 14. 
 
 
 lxxxix. 6. 
 
 
 0 37 . 
 
 
 xc. 4... 
 
 . i 79 
 
 cv. 16. 
 
 . 158 
 
 „ 39 . 
 
 
 CX. I, 2 , 4 . 
 
 
 >, 2. 
 
 . 152 
 
 „ 3 . 
 
 . 147 
 
 cxvi. 6. 
 
 
 cxviii. 12. 
 
 . 38 
 
 cxxi. 1. 
 
 
 VO 
 
 1 
 
 CO 
 
 e\ 
 
 .209, 220 
 
 CXX 11 . I, 2 . 
 
 
304 
 
 INDEX TO SCRIPTURE REFERENCES 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Psalms— 
 
 cxxiv. 4, 5. 89 
 
 cxxv. 1, 2. 280 
 
 cxxvi. 4. 62 
 
 cxxx. 6... . 219 
 
 cxxxi. 2. 51 
 
 cxxxii. 3. 159 
 
 cxxxix. 9, 10. 44 
 
 cxlvi. 9. 220 
 
 cxlvii. 18. 141 
 
 Proverbs— 
 
 ii. 4 , 5 . 99 
 
 iii. 20. 129 
 
 vi. 6-8. 77 
 
 x. 26. 69 
 
 xiii. 9. 91 
 
 xviii. 10. iii 
 
 xix. 12. 131 
 
 XXV. II. 189, 196 
 
 XXX, 25. 78 
 
 Ecclesiastes— 
 
 ii. 5, 6, 8, 10. 202 
 
 „ 6. 205 
 
 x. 8. 54 
 
 xi. 7. 90 
 
 xii. 5 . 93 
 
 Song of Solomon— 
 
 i. 3. 182 
 
 „ 5, 6. 192 
 
 ,, 6. 210, 211 
 
 >> 7 . 5 8 
 
 „ I 3 . 2 So 
 
 ii. 3...181, 185, 189, 190, 192, 
 
 203, 204 
 
 » 5. 192,203 
 
 Ri. 7 . 159 
 
 iv. 15. 114 
 
 „ 16 . 141 
 
 v. 2. 140 
 
 ,,.7 . 211 
 
 vii. 8. 189, 203 
 
 viii. 5. 203 
 
 ,, 11, 12. 211 
 
 SAIAH— 
 
 ii. 2. 149 
 
 vii. 18. 83 
 
 ix. 3. 106 
 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Isaiah— 
 
 
 ix. 18. 
 
 
 x. 15. 
 
 . 288 
 
 „ 32. 
 
 . 288 
 
 xi. 1 9. 
 
 . 178 
 
 4 . 
 
 . 283 
 
 „ 6... 
 
 
 „ 7 . 
 
 . 223 
 
 »> I 5 . 
 
 . 288 
 
 xiii. 1. 
 
 . 25 
 
 *» 2 . 
 
 . 288 
 
 XV. 1. 
 
 . 25 
 
 xvii. 1. 
 
 . 25 
 
 xviii. 4. 
 
 . i 3 8 
 
 xix. 1. 25 
 
 ,, 16. 288 
 
 xxii. 9 . 
 
 .ns 
 
 „ 11. 
 
 . US 
 
 xxiii. 1 . 
 
 . 25 
 
 xxv. 10 . 
 
 
 „ 11. 
 
 
 xxvii. 3 . 
 
 
 xxviii. 9 . 
 
 . 50 
 
 „ 27,28. 
 
 . 231 
 
 xxix. 17 . 
 
 
 xxx. 6 . 
 
 . 25 
 
 » 14 . 
 
 .... 113, 119 
 
 ,, 28 . 
 
 
 » 33 . 
 
 
 xxxii. 2 . 
 
 . 58 
 
 xxxiiiVi2 . 
 
 . 38 
 
 xxxvii. 7, 29 . 
 
 . 249 
 
 „ 3 6. 
 
 
 xli. 8 . 
 
 
 »» 15 . 
 
 .... 230, 237 
 
 xliii. 1, 2. 
 
 . 90 
 
 xlv. 3 . 
 
 . 99 
 
 xlix. 22 . 
 
 . 40 
 
 ,, 23 . 
 
 . 43 
 
 1 . 10 . 
 
 
 
 
 Ii. 17-23. 
 
 
 lix. 1-18 . 
 
 
 lx . 
 
 
 5 . 7 . 
 
 . 149 
 
 „ 8 . 
 
 . 239 
 
 lxii . 
 
 . 178 
 
 ,, 10, 11 . 
 
 
 lxiii. 3. 
 
 . 243 
 
 lxv. 5. 
 
 . 70 
 
 ,, 17. 
 
 . 148 
 
 » 25. 
 
 . 223 
 
INDEX TO SCRIPTURE REFERENCES. 305 
 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Isaiah— 
 
 
 lxvi. 
 
 . I78 
 
 „ 7-11 . 
 
 
 „ 22 . 
 
 
 „ 2 3. 
 
 . 150 
 
 JEREMIAH— 
 
 
 i. II, 12. 
 
 . 94 
 
 ii. 23. 
 
 . 265 
 
 iii. 16. 
 
 
 iv. 2. 
 
 . 18 
 
 „ *6. 
 
 211, 219 
 
 „ 17. 
 
 211, 219 
 
 v. 6. 
 
 206, 261 
 
 vi. 4. 
 
 . 56 
 
 vii. 31, 32. 
 
 . 265 
 
 ix. 18. 
 
 . 141 
 
 xi. 12. 
 
 . 04 
 
 ,, 19. 
 
 . 70 
 
 xii. 8. 
 
 
 xv. 8. 
 
 . 57 
 
 xvi. 4. 
 
 
 „ 6. 
 
 . 85 
 
 xviii. 9. 
 
 . 19 
 
 >1 17. 
 
 . i34 
 
 xix. 1, 2. 
 
 . 120 
 
 „ XI, 12, 14. 
 
 160, 265 
 
 XX. 16. 
 
 . 57 
 
 xxi. 13. 
 
 • 37, 283 
 
 „ 14. 
 
 . 206 
 
 xxiii. 28. 
 
 . 224 
 
 „ 33, 34, 36, 33- 
 
 . 2 5 
 
 XXV. 10. 
 
 . 91 
 
 xxvi. 18. 
 
 . 207 
 
 xxx. 3-7. 
 
 . 296 
 
 xii. 5. 
 
 . 85 
 
 „ 8. 
 
 . 97 
 
 xliii. 12. 
 
 
 xlvii. 5. 
 
 . 83 
 
 xlviii. 2. 
 
 . 242 
 
 „ 8,21. 
 
 . 283 
 
 ,, 37. 
 
 . 85 
 
 Lamentations— 
 
 
 ii. 14. 
 
 . 2 S 
 
 Ezekiel— 
 
 
 iv. 15. 
 
 . 240 
 
 ,, 16. 
 
 . 158 
 
 v. 16. 
 
 . 158 
 
 Ezekiel— 
 
 vi. 3. 
 
 xii. 10. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 . 6 3 
 
 xiii. 5. 
 
 
 xiv. 13 . 
 
 . 158 
 
 xvi. 4. 
 
 . 4 1 
 
 xvii. 5.. 
 
 . 256 
 
 „ 10. 
 
 . 134 
 
 xix. 11, 12, 14. 
 
 
 „ 12 . 
 
 . 134 
 
 XX. 34-37. 
 
 
 xxi. 31, 32. 
 
 
 xxii. 19-22. 
 
 
 „ 30. 
 
 
 xxiv. 7, 8. 
 
 . 3§ 
 
 xxxi. 12. 
 
 . 63 
 
 xxxii. 6. 
 
 
 xxxiv. 13. 
 
 . 6 3 
 
 „ 2 5. 
 
 
 xxxv. 8. 
 
 . 63 
 
 xxxvi. 4, 6. 
 
 . 63 
 
 ,, 10. 
 
 . 19 
 
 xl.-xlvi. 
 
 . 149 
 
 xlii. 16-20. 
 
 . 150 
 
 xlv. 17-25. 
 
 . 150 
 
 ,, 21-25. 
 
 . 150 
 
 xlvi. 16, 17. 
 
 . 150 
 
 xlviii. 30-35. 
 
 . 149 
 
 Daniel— 
 
 
 ii- 34, 35. 
 
 . 125 
 
 iv. 9. 
 
 . I3 6 
 
 Vix. 13. 
 
 
 H 
 
 CO 
 
 to 
 
 
 ,, 23. 
 
 . 233 
 
 xii. 1. 
 
 
 
 
 Hosea— 
 
 
 ii. 12. 
 
 
 vi. 4. 
 
 
 viii. 10. 
 
 . 25 
 
 xii. 10. 
 
 
 xiii. 15. 
 
 . 134 
 
 xiv. 5. 
 
 . 132 
 
 „ 5-7. 
 
 . 143 
 
 Joel— 
 
 
 i. 10, 12. 
 
 
 ii. 
 
 
 
 
 iii. 18. 
 
 . 63 
 
 U 
 
INDEX TO SCRIPTURE REFERENCES. 
 
 306 
 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Amos— 
 
 
 iii. 4 . 
 
 . 206 
 
 vi. 4. 
 
 . i 59 
 
 ix. 9. 
 
 .. 244, 249, 250 
 
 Micah— 
 
 
 iii. 12. 
 
 . 207 
 
 iv. 1, 2. 
 
 . i 49 
 
 ,, 13. 
 
 . 237 
 
 v. 7 . 
 
 . i 3 2 
 
 vii. 11 . 
 
 . 54 
 
 ,, 14. 
 
 
 ,, 16,17. 
 
 . 273 
 
 Nahum— 
 
 
 i. 1. 
 
 . 2? 
 
 „ 10. •• 
 
 •••'.. 3 § 
 
 Habakkuk— 
 
 
 i. 1. 
 
 . 25 
 
 Zephaniah— 
 
 
 i. 
 
 . 296 
 
 ii. 6. 
 
 . 53 
 
 iii. 9 . 
 
 .. 150 
 
 Zeciiariah— 
 
 
 ii. 4 , 5 . 
 
 . 39 
 
 „ 9 . 
 
 . 288 
 
 vi. 13. 
 
 . 173 
 
 xi. 2 . . 
 
 .. 206 
 
 ,, 4-7 . 
 
 . 273 
 
 xii. 10. 
 
 .127, 145 
 
 xiv. 1-11. 
 
 . 1 77 
 
 „ 2 . 
 
 
 5 ? 4 .. 
 
 . 295 
 
 16-19.... 
 
 . 150 
 
 Malachi— 
 
 
 ii. 6. 
 
 . 283 
 
 ill. 3 . 
 
 
 Matthew— 
 
 
 iii. 4. 
 
 .255, 256 
 
 < 
 
 H 
 
 00 
 
 . 95 
 
 Vll. 2 . 
 
 . 34 
 
 
 
 ,, 15 . 
 
 . 261 
 
 ,, 26,27... 
 
 . 87 
 
 xi. 30. 
 
 
 xii. 38-40.... 
 
 ••••. 175 
 
 xiii. 52. 
 
 . 65 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Matthew— 
 
 xvi. 4. 175 
 
 xvii. 5. 45 
 
 xviii. 2-4. 51 
 
 xxi. 16. 50 
 
 xxii. 41-46.147, 171 
 
 xxiii. 4. 26 
 
 xxiv. 296 
 
 ,, 28. 177 
 
 ,, 30. 44 
 
 XXV. 18. 98 
 
 xxvi. 64... 44 
 
 ,, 67. 218 
 
 xxvii. 30. 218 
 
 ,, 34. 89 
 
 „ 46. 17 
 
 Mark— 
 
 i. 6. 256 
 
 ii. 24. 1 
 
 iw 24. 34 
 
 xiii. 26. 44 
 
 xiv. 65. 218 
 
 xv. 25. 17 
 
 Luke— 
 
 ii. 7, 12. 41 
 
 vi. 38. 34 
 
 viii. 52. 128 
 
 x. 3. 261 
 
 xiii. 8 1. 239 
 
 „ 33 . 37 
 
 xx. 18 . 126 
 
 xxi. 296 
 
 ,, 20. 295 
 
 2 7 . 44 
 
 xxii. 27. 209 
 
 „ 3i. 249, 252 
 
 „ 35 , 3 6 , 38 . 15 
 
 ,, 6 3-65. 218 
 
 xxiii. 27. 128 
 
 John— 
 
 ii. 17. 89 
 
 ,, 19-21. 175 
 
 iv. 52. 17 
 
 v. 2. 115 
 
 vi. 39, 40, 44, 54. 127 
 
 viii. 6. 64 
 
 ix. 7. 115 
 
 x. 10. 200 
 
 r 
 
INDEX TO SCRIPTURE REFERENCES. 307 
 
 
 PAGE 
 
 John— 
 
 x. n-17 . 
 
 
 264 
 
 ,, 12. 
 
 
 261 
 
 xi. g. 
 
 
 18 
 
 xiv. 6. 
 
 
 200 
 
 xviii. 10. 
 
 
 252 
 
 „ 18 . 
 
 
 67 
 
 „ 22. 
 
 
 218 
 
 xxi. 9. 
 
 
 67 
 
 >> 16. 
 
 
 2 76 
 
 » l8 » 19 . 
 
 
 276 
 
 Acts— 
 
 i- 9 . 
 
 
 45 
 
 iii. 19-21. 
 
 .... 146, 
 
 1 77 
 
 x. 13. 
 
 
 7 i 
 
 xiii. 33 . 
 
 
 *75 
 
 xiv. 22. 
 
 
 232 
 
 XX. 28-30. 
 
 
 277 
 
 xxiii. 2. 
 
 
 218 
 
 23. 
 
 
 17 
 
 Romans— 
 
 i- 4 . 
 
 
 174 
 
 ix. 21. 
 
 
 209 
 
 xi. 15. 
 
 H 
 
 4 ^ 
 
 00 
 
 v* 
 
 178 
 
 „ 17 , 24. 
 
 
 200 
 
 ,, 26. 
 
 
 1 77 
 
 1 Corinthians— 
 
 ix. 9. 
 
 
 235 
 
 2 Corinthians— 
 
 iv. 7. 
 
 
 9 8 
 
 V. II. 
 
 
 126 
 
 vii. 8, 11 . 
 
 
 198 
 
 Galatians— 
 
 ii. i -5 . 
 
 
 275 
 
 ,, n-14. 
 
 
 276 
 
 iv. 29. 
 
 
 49 
 
 Philippians— 
 
 ii- 7 . 
 
 
 209 
 
 iii. 8-11. 
 
 
 127 
 
 
 PAGE 
 
 COLOSSIANS — 
 
 ii- 3 . 
 
 . 9 8 
 
 1 Thessalonians— 
 
 iv. 13-18. 
 
 . 127 
 
 2 Thessalonians— 
 
 i- 7-9 . 
 
 .. 128, 243 
 
 1 Timothy— 
 
 v. 18 . 
 
 . 235 
 
 2 Timothy— 
 
 iii. 12. 
 
 . 2 77 
 
 >» 13. 
 
 . 2 77 
 
 Titus— 
 
 ii- 13. 
 
 
 Hebrews— 
 
 v- 4 , 5 . 
 
 . 174 
 
 v. 6, 10. 
 
 
 vi. 20. 
 
 
 vii. 14. 
 
 
 vii. 20, 21. 
 
 
 ix. 7-12. 
 
 . 175 
 
 xi. 21. 
 
 .. 158, 162 
 
 James— 
 
 ii. 23. 
 
 
 2 Peter— 
 
 iii. 8. 
 
 . 179 
 
 Revelation— 
 
 1. 7 . 
 
 ... 44, 127 
 
 ii. 27. 
 
 . 275 
 
 xii. 5. 
 
 
 xiv. 14. 
 
 . 44 
 
 xviii. 23. 
 
 
 xix. 15. 
 
 . 275 
 
 XX. 4, 5 , 6. 
 
 CO 
 
 H 
 
 cC 
 
 (N 
 
 M 
 
 xxi. 1. 
 
 
 >1 16 . 
 
 . 149 
 
 ,, 18, 21. 
 
 . 75 
 
 „ 22 . 
 
 . 149 
 

INDEX OF SUBJECTS 
 
 Names of Hebrew, Arabic, Greek, and Latin words, Names of Arabic 
 Towns, and Titles of Books, are in italics. 
 
 Aaron, priesthood of, proved, 168 
 staff of, identical with Moses’, 
 167, 169 
 
 Abiayeh, 219, 255 
 Abijam, given a lamp in Jeru¬ 
 salem, 92 
 
 Abou Shousheh, 106 
 Abraham’s hospitality, 71 
 Absalom, fifty sais employed by, 
 28 
 
 death of, 267 
 Aceldama, 123 
 
 Aclian, disposal of treasure by, 98 
 Acre, plain of, 80 
 “Adder in the path,” 261 
 Addison, 195 
 
 Adonijali, fifty sais employed 
 by, 28 
 
 Advent of Christ, 104, 126, 175, 
 243 , 273 
 
 Age of present order of world, 
 179 
 
 Agriculture— 
 
 arable land, nature of, 2 
 arable land, manure not used 
 on, 239 
 
 harvest festivities, 106 
 Ahijah’s prophecy, 92 
 Ail, 170 
 Aimek, 101, 264, 
 
 Ain Karim, village, of, 216 
 Ain Fusail, 60 
 A in es Sultan, 294 
 
 Aleppo, 101 
 
 Alliteration in Hebrew, 241 
 
 Almond tree, 93 
 
 Aloes, 102 
 
 Anata, 94 
 
 Anathotli, 94 
 
 ’ Anazeh , 39 
 
 Ancient Egyptians, Wilkinson’s, 
 167 
 
 Ant, the, 75 
 
 Antiquities of the Jcivs, 103, 116 
 Apartment of women inviolable, 
 10 
 
 Apheek and Aphak, 59 
 Aphek, 59 
 Aphekah, 59 
 
 “Apple” of Scripture, marks 
 of, 188 
 
 Apple, loose meaning of the word, 
 
 18 5 
 
 does not flourish in Palestine, 
 
 186 
 
 Approaching End of the Age, 49, 
 179 
 
 Apricot, does not flourish in 
 Palestine, 187 
 
 prepared mostly for winter 
 use, 187, 201 
 
 Aqueduct made by Pilate, 116 
 Aqueducts, 58, 116 
 Arab sheikh, see Sheikh 
 Arabic, coarse words in collo¬ 
 quial, 7 
 
3 IO 
 
 INDEX OF SUBJECTS. 
 
 Arabic names of Palestine places 
 have Hebrew meanings, 18 
 transliteration, 53, 230 
 Arabic words explaining He¬ 
 brew— 
 beer , 113 
 bukeiah, 264 
 jedar, 53 
 jurun, 228 
 kcish, 225 
 ketzahh, 231 
 matar, 141 
 moarej, 230 
 seah, 33 
 shahhak, 130 
 tcilla, 138 
 teben, 222 
 surar, 250 
 wa'ar, 205 
 
 Arable land, see Agriculture 
 Arabs, see Bedawetn 
 Arakiyeli, 216 
 ’ Araph , 141, 142 
 Aristophanes, 136 
 Aristotle, 137 
 Armageddon, 249 
 Askelon, 186 
 Assayah, 262 
 ’Atal, 22 
 
 Aujah, river, attempt to ford, 
 88 
 
 Avenger of blood, 107 
 Ayesh, 72 
 ’ Azariyeh, El, 93 
 
 Baalzebub, 82 
 Babylon, judgment of, 91 
 Backsheesh, 260 
 Bakbook, 120 
 Balaam, 54 
 Banah, 226 
 Barghash, 81 
 Barley, measuring of, 30 
 travellers’ right to eat, 2 
 stored by ants, 76 
 Bayarah, 190, 202 
 Beair, 113 
 
 Bedaiveen, 10, 14, 35, 38, 39, 7r, 
 72, 86, 96, 154, 200, 259, 263 
 Bed of the Bible, 159 
 Beef, 70 
 Beer, 113, 286 
 
 Beged, 255 
 
 Belka, 200, 242 
 
 Beni Sakk'r Arabs, 200 
 
 Beraikah and Barak, 115 
 
 Bergheim, Mr. Samuel, 106, 250 
 
 Bethany, 93 
 
 Bethshan, 101 
 
 Bible, declarations of, watched 
 over, 95 
 
 difficulties of, see also Diffi¬ 
 culties, 3, 6, 49 
 Eastern book, is an, 3, 5 
 figurative language of, 5 
 literary work, as a, 5 
 realistic treatment of, 6 
 simplicity of, 4 
 
 Bible Lands and Customs, Van 
 Lennep, D.D., 231 
 Bik'ah, 101, 264 
 Birket, 115 
 
 Bishops, ordination vow of, 278 
 Blood-feud, 107 
 Blood spilt on ground, 34 
 Blue-fly, 79 
 
 Bondage of Israel in Saul’s days, 14 
 Bordeaux pilgrim, 165 
 “Bosom,” the pocket of Scrip¬ 
 ture, 34, 41 
 Bracelets, 73 
 Bread, 70 
 Brickmaking, 226 
 Bridal wreath, origin of, 192 
 Bridges, 87 
 
 Broth, common food, 71, 72 
 Burden-bearers, 22 
 “Burden” of Scripture, 24 
 
 Cactus ficus indica, 190 
 Csesarea, ruins of, 284 
 Cairo, metal-workers’ bazaar, 74 
 driving in, 27 
 
 Camel, kneeling at dismounting, 
 
 25 
 
 Camel’s milk, 73 
 Camp-fires, 37-40 
 Camp life, 8-12, 37, 39 
 Canals of Egypt, 83 
 Candlestick in Tabernacle, 95 
 Carmel, Elijah’s prayer at, 45 
 meaning of name, 170, 207 
 Carrion birds, 239 
 Carrosa, 200 
 
INDEX OF SUBJECTS. 
 
 3 11 
 
 Carthaginian waggon, 231 
 Caves, manure, full of, 238 
 robbers, haunts of, 259 
 Cement of Palestine, s eeHhomrah 
 Cerastes, 261 
 Chaff, 224, 234 
 Chalk, indurated, see Mizzey 
 Chaplin, Dr., 103 
 Charcoal fires, 66 
 Chariot, account of travels in a, 
 103 
 
 Children— 
 
 carried on shoulder, 41 
 riding, taught to, 42 
 salted at birth, 41 
 swaddled, 41 
 weaned, when, 47 
 Chimneys, absence of, 66 
 Christ— 
 
 advent of, 104,126,175, 243, 273 
 believers’ love to, 195 
 believers one with, 275 
 club, compared to, 268 
 earthen vessel, body of, an, 98 
 forerunner, as a, 29 
 manifestation of, see Advent 
 name, protection of, hi 
 night-mist, waiting in the, 140 
 orange-tree, compared to an, 
 181, 204 
 
 passing through deep waters, 89 
 priesthood of, proved, 172 
 preparing food for disciples, 67 
 resurrection of, 173 
 revelation of, see Advent 
 roads prepared for, 104 
 rock for shadow, 58 
 sign given by, 175 
 Song of Solomon, in, 182 
 staff, typified by a, 172 
 stone, typified by a, 126 
 Shepherd, the Good, 58, 263 
 violence towards, at His trial, 
 217 
 
 Chronology of Scripture, 179 
 Church, Jerusalem a figure of, 295 
 Cincinellse, 82 
 
 Cisterns, for storage of produce, 96 
 Citron, 184 
 
 Clay, brickmaking used in, 226 
 feet of Daniel’s, image, 125 
 potter’s, 123 
 
 Clinton, Mr. Fynes, 179 
 Clouds, dew of, 133 
 
 Mediterranean, come from, 45 
 mention of, in Scripture, 44, 
 129 
 
 morning, the, 44 
 not seen on a dewy night, 130 
 unusual in Palestine, 44, 127 
 “ thick,” 138 
 Club, 13, 255 
 of iron, 13, 83, 267, 273 
 Cobra di Capello, 261 
 Coffee-drinking, 16, 68 
 Coins, hidden, 97 
 Conder, R.E., Lieut. C. R., 12, 
 18, 86, 120, 165, 226, 250, 286, 
 288, 292 
 
 Corinthian Church, Paul’s tender 
 rebuke of, 198 
 Corn, abundance of, 2 
 measuring of, 30 
 sifting of, 244 
 travellers’ right to, 1 
 wrongly inserted, 235 
 winnowing, 233 
 Courteous speech, 197 
 Criminals, trial of, 217 
 Crocodile, 61, 225 
 Crusaders attacked by flies, 82 
 Crushed straw, 222, 229 
 Crying out by keepers, 219 
 Cummin, 231 
 Cup of Palestine, 16 
 Customs of Palestine most 
 ancient, 16 
 
 Cutting a mark of grief, 83 
 Cyrus, promise of wealth to, 99 
 
 Dahheel, 108 
 
 Damascus, apples, best, come 
 from, 186 
 
 apricot flourishes at, 187 
 Darts of iron, 83 
 Daughters despised, 43, 47 
 I David, 24, 61, 70, no 
 David, familiar with rights of 
 sanctuary, no 
 
 David’s lament for Saul and 
 Jonathan, 142 
 
 Day, length of, in Palestine, 17 
 Days of week, names of, 17 
 Deborah’s song, 9-11 
 
312 
 
 INDEX OF SUBJECTS. 
 
 Deep eh, 107 
 
 Degrees, songs of, 220, 279 
 De Mundo , Aristotle’s, 137 
 Denveeshes, 13, 85, 152, 267 
 Desert, see "Wilderness 
 Devout expressions, 19 
 Dew, nature of, 130 
 
 season when it falls in Pales¬ 
 tine, 133 
 Diet, see Food 
 
 Difficulties of Bible explained— 
 ants gathering food in harvest, 
 75 
 
 comfort me with apples,” 192 
 club used as a dagger, 267 
 dew dropped by clouds, 129 
 “ dew of thy birth,” the, 147 
 “feeding” with a rod, 272 
 hart panting after water- 
 brooks, 61 
 
 harvest put before summer, 78 
 “ holy beauties,” 149 
 indelicate language, so-called, 7 
 Isaac’s age when weaned, 49 
 Jael’s killing Sisera, 8 
 Jesus stooping down and writ¬ 
 ing on the ground, 64 
 “ mountains,” use of the word, 
 294 
 
 name of Jehovah a strong 
 tower, 108, hi 
 
 small stone of the sieve, 246,250 
 straw threshed by itself, 234 
 sword, disciples to take a, 14 
 swords and spears, cutting 
 with, 85 
 
 “tears have been my food,” 70 
 watcher tree, 93 
 worship leaning on a staff, 162 
 “ wings of the morning,” 43 
 “ womb of the dawn,” 148 
 Dismounting from camel, 25 
 Distances, how computed, 17 
 Donkey-fly, 79 
 Doosh , 233 
 
 Dore’s pictures conventional, 25 
 Dothan, 101 
 
 Dress of men and women, 16 
 Dried fruit, 187, 201 
 Drinking-vessels of Solomon, 74 
 Drosos (Spocros), meaning of, 136 
 Dubban halady , 79 
 
 Dubban asrack, 79 
 hkail, 79 
 shurran, 79 
 Dung, 240 
 
 Dungpool, none in Palestine, 
 238 
 
 Dust sprinkled on blood, 34 
 
 Earthen vessels, 98 
 Ebal, 294 
 
 Egypt, 26, 41, 63, 73 
 Egyptian priests, staves of, 167 
 Ekron, 82 
 
 Elijah acting as Ahab’s sais, 28 
 food prepared for, 67 
 praying on Carmel, 45 
 threatening drought, 142 
 Eloaheem, 170 
 En Gannim, 53, 80, 101 
 Enoch’s preaching, 128 
 Ephesian Church, address to 
 elders of, 276 
 
 Esdraelon, plain of, 8, 29, 53, 80 
 Euripides, 136 
 
 Exploration of Palestine, diffi¬ 
 culty of, 96 
 
 Exploration of Palestine life 
 specially important, 20 
 
 Fairbciirn’s Bible Dictionary, 185 
 Fasti Hellenici, Mr. Fynes Clin¬ 
 ton, 179 
 
 “ Father of Rain,” 46 
 Feek, 63 
 
 Fellahheen , 32, 47, 66, 106, 118, 
 205, 230, 233, 234, 250 
 Fellahheen of Palestine, Mrs. 
 Finn, 109 
 
 Fertility of soil, 2, 239 
 Fig, 201 
 
 Figurative language— 
 
 exuberance of Scripture, 5 
 metaphor most frequent, 43 
 sources of, in Psalms, 13 
 Finn, Mrs., 109 
 Fires, camp, 37 
 charcoal, 66 
 lighting, mode of, 65 
 smoke of wood, 68 
 thorns amongst, 38 
 Flies, different kind described, 79 
 Floods, 86, 249 
 
INDEX OF SUBJECTS. 
 
 313 
 
 Flowery language, 199 
 Fodder, 222 
 Food, 70 
 
 Fording rivers, 87 
 Forerunners, 26 
 Forests of Palestine, 205 
 
 Gadair, 53 
 Gamal, 53 
 
 Gardens, in Song of Solomon, 203 
 irrigated spots, 203 
 manured, 239 
 Gath to the cedars, 204 
 Gay, 264, 293 
 Gay Hinnom, 265, 293 
 Gaza, 81 
 Gedairah, S3 
 Gedaliah, 85 
 Gehenna, 265, 293 
 Gerizim, 294 
 Gesenius, 120 
 Ghurbal, 245 
 
 Gideon’s miraculous sign, 137, 139 
 Girding, 119 
 
 Girdle, leathern, 34, 119, 255 
 Girls, neglect of,in tlie East, 43,47 
 Goaren, 228 
 
 Goat’s sour buttermilk, see Lehen 
 Gold, pure, 73 
 Grazing grounds, 256 
 Great Sea westward, 45 
 Grove, Mr., 295 
 Guest-room, 67 
 
 Guinness, Mr. H. Grattan, 49, 179 
 
 Hajr es Soda, 229 
 Hammal, 22 
 Hammam , BirJcet , 115 
 Hammer and nail of a tent, 8 
 Hannah as a nurse, 47 
 Har, 294 
 
 Haram El, the Hebron “sanc¬ 
 tuary,” 165. 
 
 Harvest festivities, 105 
 night-mist in heat of, 138 
 period of, 78 
 
 Hazael, destruction brought by, 
 236 
 
 Heat, 80 
 
 Heat of summer, 133 
 Hebrew, alliteration in, 241 
 Hebrew Lexicon, Gesenius’, 120 
 
 LIebrcio Lexicon, Dr. Lees’, 161 
 Hebrew, pleasure from know¬ 
 ledge of, 183 
 
 points, errors in, 159, 233, 274 
 Hebron, Jacob’s desire to be 
 buried there, 162 
 tomb of the patriarchs, 164 
 Heshes, 81 
 Hharaph, 78 
 
 Hharootz and liharatz, 232 
 Hlmr sooth, 120 
 Hhasheesh, 222 
 Hherev, 85 
 Hhoareph , 78 
 Hhomrah, use of, 60, 116 
 preparation of, 117 
 two kinds of, 125 
 Hhulil Gate, n 7 
 Hhulil El, see Hebron 
 Hidden treasure, 95 
 Highways, see Roads 
 Hill of Evil Counsel, 293 
 Hind, 61 
 
 Hippolytus coronifer, 136 
 Hippopotamus, 61 
 “Holy beauties,” 149 
 Holy Land, see Palestine 
 Horned viper, 261 
 Horse— 
 
 food of, 222, 228 
 guarded from flies, how, 80 
 threshing, used in, 231 
 Horse-fly, 79 
 
 Horsemanship in Palestine, 42 
 Horticulture, see Gardens 
 Hospitality, Arab, 67, 71 
 Hours of the day, 17 
 “ House of hair,” 9 
 House of Forest of Lebanon, 75 
 Hunting leopard, 261 
 Hushai, 250 
 Hyenas, 239, 260, 266 
 
 Image of Nebuchadnezzar’s 
 dream, how broken, 123 
 Imagery of the Bible, see Figu¬ 
 rative language 
 Imam, 105 
 
 Ingathering, see Tabernacles, 
 feast of 
 
 Iron mace, 267, 273 
 Isaac, when weaned, 48-50 
 
314 
 
 INDEX OF SUBJECTS. 
 
 Isaac and Rebekah, meeting of, 25 
 Ishmael, the conspirator, 85, 96 
 Israel, meaning of the name, 170 
 
 Jackal shoes, 102 
 Jackals, 239, 260 
 Jacob’s request to be buried at 
 Hebron, 162 
 
 Jael taking Sisera’s life, 8-12 
 Jaffa, 190, 192, 203 
 •7 arai% 118 
 Javelins, 83 
 Jedar, 52, 215 
 
 Jehoram, given “a lamp in Jeru¬ 
 salem,” 92 
 Jemel , 53 
 Jenin, 53, 80, xoi 
 Jeremiah shivering potter’s ves¬ 
 sel, 119 
 
 Jericho, 97, 266, 294 
 Jerubbaal, see Gideon 
 Jerusalem— 
 
 Benjamin’s territory in, 92 
 model of, 291 
 mountains round, 291 
 pools at, 115 
 roads to, Solomon’s, 102 
 roads to, when repaired, 105 
 rocks of, their nature, 281 
 rocky city, a, 36. 
 scarped foundation of wall of, 
 120, 285, 288 
 
 seat of David’s throne, 92 
 seven mountains, is on, 281 
 “ table-land rock,” 36, 37 
 temple area in, 115 
 temple of Ezekiel to be in, 149 
 violence, a constant scene of, 37 
 “wall of fire” round, 39 
 walls of, 281, 292 
 warfare, has a history of, 295 
 water supply, 117 
 Zion, what part of so-called, 281 
 Jesus, see Christ 
 Jewellery of pure gold, 74 
 Jews— 
 
 honour in store for, 40 
 night-mist to, God a, 143 
 repentance of, 145 
 restoration of, 147 
 sufferings of, 250, 271, 296 
 tribulation of, last, 296 
 
 Jezreel, plain of, 80 
 Jonathan obtaining honey in a 
 ya’ar , 206 
 Joppa, see Jaffa 
 Jordan valley, 77, 81 
 Josephus, 102, 116, 285, 286, 292, 
 294 
 Job, 95 
 
 Judah’s pledging his matteh, 161 
 Judgment of the world, 127 
 Jurun or Jurn, 228 
 
 Kacooley , 281 
 Kadi, staff of, 157 
 Kamise, 119, 255, 263 
 Kash and kashash, 225, 226 
 Katzeer, 78 
 Kaioad, 105 
 Kayitz, 78 
 
 Keeper, office of, 38, 209 
 Keraia, 95 
 Ketzahh, 231 
 
 Kidron, Nahlial, or valley of, 124, 
 2 93 
 
 “Kill and eat,” 71 
 King of the North, 296 
 Kislion, river, 87 
 Kitto, Dr., 184 
 “Knives and lancets,” 85 
 Kurmul, 260 
 
 S- 
 
 Labiates family, 137 
 
 Lake of Galilee, 76 
 
 Lamp at night, 90 
 
 Land and the Book, 169 
 
 Language of the Bible, figurative, 
 
 5 , 13 
 
 indelicate, so-called, 7 
 phrases of, still heard, 17 
 “Last days,” character of, 277 
 Leben, food, as, 73 
 Sisera, given to, 8 
 soporific effects of, 11 
 Lee, Dr., 161 
 Lehhem, 70 
 
 Lennep, Dr. H. J. Van, 231 
 
 Lentil soup, 72 
 
 Leopard, hunting, 261 
 
 Liberality rewarded, 34 
 
 Life of Palestine to be explored, 20 
 
 Lifta, village of, 213 
 
 Light, Eastern fondness of, 38, 90 
 
INDEX OF SUBJECTS. 
 
 315 
 
 Lightning, 66 
 Limestone rock, 36, 52 
 Lions, 261 
 Lord of Flies, 82 
 Lungs, power of, 65 
 
 Mace of Iron, 13, 83, 267, 273 
 Madmenak and Madmen, 242 
 Malakey , 282 
 Mantilla, Birket, 115 
 Manure, 239 
 Maskeeth, 196 
 Mastabeh, 159 
 Matar, 141 
 
 Materialism met on its own 
 ground, 6 
 Mathbain, 241 
 Matteh, 158, 161, 231 
 Maudslay, C.E., Mr. Henry, 120, 
 285 
 
 Mauristan, coins found in, 97 
 Measurer of corn, 31 
 Meat in Palestine, 70 
 Mediterranean Sea, 45, 46, 88 
 Meeshoar, 283 
 Megiddo, new site of, 101 
 Mesha, king of Moab’s enactment, 
 IJ 3 
 
 Meshullam, Mr., 186 
 Meteoroloyia, Aristotle’s, 137 
 “Mighty staff, the,” 169 
 Millennium, 39, 40, 53, 145, 178 
 Ministers, duty of, as shepherds, 
 2 75 
 
 ordination vow of, 278 
 Mish’eneth, 272 
 Mittah, 159 
 Mizzey, 52, 282 
 Moab, 238, 242, 283 
 Moab mountains, 294 
 Moabite stone, 113 
 Moaraj or Moarej , 230 
 Moatz, 234 
 
 Mohar , travels of a, 101 
 Mohjanet, 152 
 Moloch worship, 265 
 Money hidden in the earth, 97 
 Mookaries, 76, 100 
 “Morning cloud,” see Clouds 
 Moses’ blessing, 142 
 song, 140 
 staff, 167 
 
 Mosquito, 80 
 Mount of Offence, 293 
 of Olives, 124 
 Zion, see Zion 
 
 Mountains round Jerusalem, 291 
 of Judah, 281 
 use of word, 294 
 Mufti , staff of, 157 
 Mujedda, 101 
 Mukam, 105, 107 
 Mule-drivers, see Mookaries 
 Mushmushah, 187 
 Mustafa of Lifta, 214 
 Mutton, 70 
 M’zab , 201 
 
 Na-atz , 93 
 Nabal, 260 
 
 Nablous , see Shechem, 103 
 
 Naboot, 256, 267 
 
 Nahhal, 264, 293 
 
 Nahhal of Kidron, 124, 293 
 
 Name of God, protection of, no 
 
 Namous, 80 
 
 Naphahh , 184 
 
 Natali, 159 
 
 Nazal, 141 
 
 Nebuchadnezzar’s vision of image, 
 
 125 
 
 Neby Samwil, 294 
 Negeb. 62 
 New Jerusalem, 75 
 Newness of life, 148 
 Night, coldness of, 134 
 Night-clothes of Easterns, 160 
 Night-lamp kept burning, 90 
 Night-mist, effects of, 139, 143 
 nature of, 134, 138 
 rain connected with, 140 
 value of, 131 
 Nile valley, 62 
 Noapli and Noopli, 287 
 Noatair and Natar, 211 
 Noatzair and Natzar, 211, 219 
 Noon, heat of, 56 
 reckoning by, 18 
 resting sheep at, 57 
 Nubians employed as keepers, 212 
 Nursing children, 41 
 
 Oak-trees, 256 
 Oaphan, 197 
 
3 1 6 
 
 INDEX OF SUBJECTS. 
 
 Offence, Mount of, 293, 294 
 Olive, 200, 201 
 
 Olivet or Olives, Mount of, 293, 
 294 
 
 Olive yards, 210 
 Ophneem , 196 
 Orange— 
 
 apple, the, of Scripture, 188 
 bridal wreath, origin of, 192 
 flourishes at Joppa, 190 
 flowers of, 196 
 fragrance of, 192 
 garden tree, a, 203 
 length of time in flower, 194 
 introduced into Palestine, 202 
 irrigation, need of, 203 
 original home of, 202 
 vitality of, 194, 199 
 wholesomeness of, 191 
 Oman’s offer to David, 230 
 Our Work in Palestine, 114, 291 
 Ox, unmuzzled, 235 
 threshing with, 229, 237 
 
 Palm, 201 
 Palmyra, 67 
 desert of, 38 
 
 Palestine Re-peopled, vi. 272, 281, 
 297 
 
 Papyrus, account of a Mohar's 
 travels, 101 
 
 Parable of the Talents, 98 
 “ Passing under the club,” 268 
 Passover, feast of, 144 
 Pastures, 256 
 
 Patriarchal and priestly offices in 
 one person, 157 
 Paul, courage of, 275 
 
 courtesy, pattern of, 198 
 malefactor, treated as, 218 
 Pebble, Hebrew and Arabic for, 
 250 
 
 Pentecost, feast of, 144 
 Persia, sais in cities of, 27 
 Peter restored by Christ, 276 
 sifted by Satan, 252 
 warming himself, 67 
 withstood by Paul, 275 
 Pharaoh’s edict as to crushed 
 straw, 226 
 
 Phrases of Bible now heard, 
 17-19 
 
 Pictures of Scripture scenes and 
 subjects, 25 
 Pigeons, wild, 238 
 Pilgrims Progress, 24 
 Poimainein, 272 
 Points, Hebrew, 159, 223, 274 
 Pomegranate, 201 
 Pools, or rain-water reservoirs, 
 115, 201 
 
 now at Jerusalem, 115 
 Poor, gifts to, at harvest feast, 106 
 Pottage of the East, 72 
 Pottery, heaps of broken, 118 
 Pottery Gate, 120, 123 
 Preaching of our day, where de¬ 
 fective, 128 
 Priclcly-pear, 102, 190 
 Prince of Wales’ visit to the 
 Hebrew mosque, 164 
 Protestantism, 277 
 
 Qarha, 114 
 
 Quarterly Statement of Palestine 
 Exploration Fund, 286 
 
 Ra'a\ 274 
 Ra’ah, 272 
 
 Rabbi, staff borne by, 152 
 Rdddyed, 246 
 
 Rain, season of, 113, 133, 141, 228 
 violence of, 86 
 Rain-water cisterns, 113, 286 
 Rami eh, 81 
 Raphad, 193 
 Ravav and rav, 142 
 Ravines and gorges, 63, 264 
 Realistic elements of the Bible, 6 
 Recovery of Jerusalem, 291 
 Repentance, 104 
 
 “ Restoration of all things,” times 
 of, 145 
 
 Resurrection of believers, 127 
 Reveeveem, 141 
 
 Revised version, the, iii. 64, 127 
 Riding, how learned by Easterns, 
 42 
 
 River Aujali, 88 
 Kislion, 87 
 Jordan, 87 
 
 subterranean, at Jaffa, 190 
 Roads, ordinary state of, 99 
 repaired at intervals, 130 
 
INDEX OF SUBJECTS. 
 
 317 
 
 Hoads, Homan, 101 
 Roamalih, 85 
 Hobbers, assaults b} r , 212 
 capture of, 214 
 caves of, 259 
 
 precautions against, 14, 38, 214 
 Hocks of central range, 36, 37, 281 
 “ Rod of iron,” 112 
 Homan roads, iox 
 itos, meaning of, 136 
 Rosemary, 137 
 Bottle, 32, 33 
 
 Royal visits to Palestine, 103 
 Runners before a chariot, 28 
 
 Sdah, and Seak, 33 
 Sabbath, plucking ears of corn 
 on, 1 
 
 Sa'cer, 141 
 Sciis, 26 
 
 Salutations, 18, 19 
 Salvation, God’s plan of, 176 
 Samuel, when weaned, 47 
 foretells employment oisais, 28 
 Sanatorium at Jerusalem, 2x2,217 
 Sanctuary, privileges of, 107 
 Sandflies, 81 
 Santa Croce marble, 282 
 Saphsaph, 256 
 
 Satan, avenger of blood, 111 
 sifting Peter, 252 
 Scarped foundations of Zion, 120, 
 285, 288 
 
 Schick, Mr. Conrad, 100, 292 
 Scopus, mount, 293, 294 
 Scorpion, 262 
 
 Scribes and Pharisees, 26, 64 
 Scriptures, see Bible 
 Seasons, order of, 78 
 Se'eereem, 141 
 
 Sennacherib’s host overthrown, 
 249 
 
 Serpents haunting jedars, 54 
 Sesame, 231 
 
 Shaivet, 231, 242, 255, 267 
 Shaivet, used of “tribe,” 158, 
 r6r, 173 
 Shahhak, 129 
 Shakaid and Shakad, 94 
 Shamayeem , 130 
 Sharon, plain of, 12, 80 
 Shechem, 97, 103 
 
 Sheep folds, 53 
 Shehhakeem, 129 
 Sheihk, 19, 67, 71, 84, 154 
 Shekels found at Jericho, 97 
 Shepherd fights for his sheep, 260, 
 
 273 
 
 Good, the, 263 
 rest of, at noon, 57 
 staff of, 263 
 Sheth, 268 
 Shever, 113 
 Shiloh, 97 
 Shirocco, 134, 249 
 Shivering of potter’s vessel, 112, 
 ii 7 
 
 Shoamair and shamar, 211, 219, 
 220 
 
 Siddim, vale of, 60 
 Sieve, 245 
 
 Sifting wheat, 65, 245 
 Sign, given of Christ’s authority, 
 I 7 S 
 
 Silloh, 96 
 Siloam, 293 
 Silver, pure, 73 
 Silwan , 293 
 
 Sisera’s life taken by Jael, 8-12 
 Sledge, threshing, 229 
 Sling, 13 
 
 Slothful servant like smoke to 
 the eyes, 69 
 
 Sluggard like smoke to the eyes, 
 69 
 
 Smoke, 68 
 
 Snow, falls of, melting suddenly, 
 86 
 
 Sobeh, 229 
 
 Solomon, roads made by, 102 
 Song of Solomon, rabbis’ opinion 
 of, 182 
 
 “Songs of Degree,” 220, 279 
 Spear, 85 
 
 Spectator, Paper 455, 195 
 Staff, ancestral, described, 153 
 official use of, 152, 154 
 Steps cut in rock scarps, 286 
 Stewing meat, 71 
 Stones, used by muledrivers, 100 
 used to crush pottery, 118 
 thrown on to roads, 180 
 Stooping down and writing on 
 ground, 63 
 
3 1 8 
 
 INDEX OF SUBJECTS. 
 
 Storms, sudden, 86, 249 
 Straw, crushed, 222, 229 
 in Authorised Version, 224 
 short, in Syria, 227 
 unbroken, 225 
 uses of, 227 
 
 “ Stubble” in Authorised Version, 
 
 225 
 
 Subterranean river at Joppa, 190 
 Sultan,Birket e$,n5, 118, 120, 285 
 Summer, period of, 78 
 Superlative degree, form of 
 Hebrew, 170, 183 
 Sicrdr , 250 
 
 Survey of Western Palestine, 63, 
 96, 250 
 
 Swaddling clothes, 41 
 Swimming, hand over hand, 241 
 Sword, 13, 15, 84, 217 
 
 Tabernacle, furniture of, 74, 95 
 Tabernacles, feast of, 144, 146, 
 148, 184 
 
 “Tableland Rock,” the, 36, 37, 
 283 
 
 Tadmor, 67 
 Tal, 135 
 Talal, 136 
 
 Talmud, tradition of, as to the 
 time of the end, 178 
 Tamar’s demand, 161 
 Tappooahh , 184 
 
 Tarboosh , used aspocketbook, 216 
 Tears called food, 70 
 Teben, 222, 246 
 Temple, area of, 114 
 
 golden candlestick in, 95 
 overlaid with pure gold, 74 
 Ezekiel, of, 149 
 Tent-life, 8-10, 211, 220 
 Tent-Life in Palestine, Lieut. 
 Conder, R.E., 12, 18, 87, 165, 
 
 226 
 
 “Testimony, the,” 170 
 Teven , 223 
 
 Thar, or blood-revenge, 107 
 Third wall of Jerusalem, 292 
 Thomson, W. M., D.D., 169 
 Thophet, 265 
 
 Threshing, process of, 229 
 Threshing-floor, 228 
 Threshing-sledge, 229 
 
 Tiberias, 76, 81 
 Timbs, Mr. J., 194 
 Timneh, 31 
 
 Tithe, taking of flock, 271 
 Tittle, 95 
 Titus, 284 
 
 Tomb of the patriarchs at Hebron, 
 164 
 
 Tombs, Mohammedan veneration 
 of, 166 
 
 money buried in, 97 
 Toophahh, 185 
 Tophet, 265 
 
 Towers of Hippicus, &c., 284 
 Transliteration, Hebrew and 
 Arabic, 8, 53, 230 
 Travelling, armed, 14 
 keeper required when, 220 
 Treasures, hidden, 95 
 Trial of criminal, 217 
 “ Tribe,” words for in Hebrew, 
 158, 161 
 
 Tribulation, 232 
 
 Tribulum , 230 
 
 Tristram, Dr., 186, 201, 261 
 
 Tudela, Benjamin, of, 165 
 
 Tudmoor, 67 
 
 Tyre, coins found at, 97 
 
 Tzaphtzapliah, 256 
 
 Tzeroar, 250 
 
 Tzoor, 250, 283 
 
 TJllama, staff of, 157 
 Unbelief answered, 6 
 Uzziah, 172 
 
 Valley of the son of Hinnom, 
 117, 265, 293 ; see also Gay 
 Vineyard walls, 54 
 Vineyards, 210 
 Vinisauf, 81 
 Viper, horned, 261 
 yellow, 262 
 Vultures, 239, 262 
 
 Wa'ar, see Ya'ar 
 Wady, 265 
 Wady Muss in, 102 
 Urtas, 186, 188 
 Wall of fire, 39 
 called jedar, 52 
 Walls of Jerusalem, 281 
 
INDEX OF SUBJECTS. 
 
 3 19 
 
 "Warren, R.E., Colonel, 291 
 TE ars of the Jews, 285,286,292,294 
 Wataid, 8 
 
 Watchman, see Keeper 
 Weaning of children, 47 
 Weapons of Palestine, 13 
 Weather, see Rain 
 Wely, 105 
 
 Wheat, abundance of, 2 
 compared with teben, 224 
 measuring, 30 
 travellers’ right to, 1 
 sifting, 245 
 winnowing, 233 
 
 Wicked, teben, a type of the, 237 
 Wild animals, 14, 38, 239, 260, 266 
 Wild boars round vineyards, 55 
 Wild growth, nature of, 38 
 Wilderness, 259 
 Wilderness of Judea, 260 
 Wilson, R.E., Col. Sir Charles, 
 291 
 
 “Wings of the morning,” 44 
 Winnowing, 233. 249 
 Winter, period of, 78 
 Wisdom, pursuit of, 99 
 Wolves, 261, 263 
 
 “Womb of dawn,” 148 
 Women, apartments of, 10 
 Wood tires, 68 
 
 “Word spoken on its wheels,” 197 
 Word of God, see Bible 
 World, age of present order of, 179 
 Writing with finger on ground, 63 
 
 Ya’ar, charcoal burners set fire 
 to, 206 
 
 nature of, 205, 207 
 irrigated by Solomon, 205 
 references to, in Bible, 205 
 Yalad , 147 
 Yaldootli, 147 
 Yathaid , 8 
 Yisrael, Birket, 115 
 Yod, 95 
 
 Zion, fortress of, 117 
 scarped foundation of wall, 120, 
 285, 288 
 
 spot indicated by, 281 
 sublime figure of, 279 
 see Jerusalem 
 Zophar the Naamatliite, 66 
 Zowan, 244, 249 
 
 THE END. 
 
 HUNTED BY DA LI.AN TYNE, HANSON AND CO. 
 KDINliUROH AND LONDON