SELAH MERRILL,D.D. 
 
 U. 51 CONSUL 
 
BY-PATHS 
 
 B 
 
 THE RELIGIOUS TRACT SOCIETY. 
 
 56, PATERNOSTER Row, LONDON. 
 

 
 
 
 CLEOPATRA'S NEEDLE. With 
 an Exposition of the Hiero- 
 glyphics ... .... ... ... 2 6 
 
 FRESH LIGHT FROM THE 
 ANCIENT MONUMENTS. By 
 A. H. SAYCE, LL.D 3 
 
 RECENT DISCOVERIES ON THE 
 TEMPLE HILL AT JERUSALEM. 
 By the Rev. J. KING, M.A. 2 6 
 
 BABYLONIAN LIFE & HISTORY. 
 
 By E. A. WALLIS BUDGK, M.A. 3 
 
 GALILEE IN THE TIME OF 
 CHRIST. By SELAH MERRILL, 
 D.D 2 6 
 
 EGYPT & SYRIA. Their Physical 
 Features in Relation to Bible 
 History. By Sir J. W. DAWSON, 
 F.R.S. 3 
 
 ASSYRIA: ITS PRINCES, PRIESTS, 
 AND PEOPLE. By A. H. SAYCE, 
 LL.D 3 
 
 THE DWELLERS ON THE NILE. 
 By E. A. WALLIS BUDGE, M.A. 3 
 
 THE DISEASES OF THE BIBLE. 
 
 By Sir J. RISDON BENNETT, M.D., 
 F.R.S. , Ex-President of the 
 Royal College of Physicians ... 2 6 
 
Reduced by permission from the Map of the Palestine Exploration Fund. 
 
 GALILEE IN THE TIME OF CHRIST. 
 
f atfis of i3ible Itnofolrtrge. 
 V. 
 
 GALILEE IN THE TIME OF 
 CHRIST. 
 
 BY 
 
 REV. SELAH MERRILL, D.D., 
 
 Author of ' East of the Jordan? &>c. 
 
 WITH A MAP OF GALILEE. 
 
 THIRD 
 
 THE RELIGIOUS TRACT SOCIETY, 
 
 56 PATERNOSTER ROW, 65 ST. PAUL'S CHURCHYARD, 
 AND 164 PICCADILLY. 
 
 l8 9 I 
 
HORACE HART, PRINTER TO THE UNIVERSITY 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 PREFACE 7 
 
 SECTION 
 
 I. INTRODUCTORY 9 
 
 II. How THE COUNTRY WAS GOVERNED, FROM 
 
 B.C. 47 TO A.D. 66 . . . . .12 
 
 III. THE NAMES * GALILEE,' AND ' GALILEE OF 
 
 THE GENTILES' 15 
 
 IV. EXTENT OF GALILEE, AND THE NUMBER OF 
 
 INHABITANTS TO A SQUARE MILE . . 17 
 V. GALILEE A REGION OF GREAT NATURAL 
 
 FERTILITY AND RICHNESS . . . .22 
 
 VI. THE WATERS OF GALILEE . . . .28 
 
 VII. THE PLAIN OF GENNESARETH 33 
 
 VIII. AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTIONS AND MANUFAC- 
 TURES ........ 35 
 
 IX. THE SEA OF GALILEE A Focus OF LIFE AND 
 
 ACTIVITY ....... 46 
 
 X. THE NOTED CITIES AND TOWNS OF GALILEE 48 
 XL JOSEPHUS' STATEMENT AS TO THE NUMBER 
 OF TOWNS AND INHABITANTS PROBABLY 
 CORRECT . 62 
 
 42S253 
 
6 CONTENTS. 
 
 SECTION PAGE 
 
 XII. CHARACTER OF THE GALILEANS ... 68 
 XIII. RELIGION, EDUCATION, AND MORALS AMONG 
 
 THE GALILEANS . . . . . .82 
 
 XIV. THE POETICAL TALENT FINELY DEVELOPED 
 
 AMONG THE GALILEANS .... 93 
 
 XV. THE PROPHETS, JUDGES, AND OTHER FAMOUS 
 
 MEN OF GALILEE ..... 94 
 XVI. THE WEALTH AND MATERIAL PROSPERITY OF 
 
 THE PROVINCE 98 
 
 XVII. WAS GALILEE REGARDED WITH CONTEMPT BY 
 THE PEOPLE OF JERUSALEM, AS is so OFTEN 
 
 ALLEGED? 104 
 
 XVIII. NAZARETH, ITS CHARACTER AND PROBABLE 
 SIZE ; ORIGIN OF THE NAME ; NOT so ISO- 
 LATED AS is SUPPOSED . . . -113 
 XIX. SUMMARY OF RESULTS : GALILEE PROVIDEN- 
 TIALLY FITTED FOR THE FIRST RECEPTION 
 OF CHRIST AND His GOSPEL . . .120 
 
 LIST OF AUTHORITIES QUOTED 123 
 
 INDEX 127 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 THE object of this work is to represent Galilee as it 
 was in the time of our Lord. To do this will be, 
 the author feels, a special service to many who are 
 desirous of learning all that can be known of the earthly 
 life of Christ. In fairness to the reader, it should be 
 stated that the substance of this volume appeared as an 
 Essay in 1874, which met with a very flattering recep- 
 tion in England, Germany, and America. The text for 
 the present edition has been thoroughly revised and 
 partly re-written. It is published now in the hope that 
 the perusal of these pages will lead some minds to 
 appreciate more forcibly than they have ever done 
 before that the country where the Master appeared was 
 Divinely chosen for that purpose, and that its natural 
 features symbolise in a great degree both the beauty 
 and the strength of the Christian Religion. 
 
GALILEE IN THE TIME OF CHRIST. 
 
 INTRODUCTORY. 
 
 fact is sometimes overlooked that a Divine 
 1 revelation implies history, and that history im- 
 plies locality. Hence a familiar acquaintance with its 
 locality and history would seem to be necessary, if one 
 would fully appreciate and understand such a revelation, 
 whether it comprises a series of events extending over 
 many centuries, or is embodied in the person and life of 
 a single individual. It may not be, therefore, a rash 
 conclusion that our Lord meant to call attention to 
 this fact by His constant reference to the natural objects 
 about Him. This interesting characteristic of His teach- 
 ing is indicative of one of the prominent methods by 
 which His life is to be approached. The infinite beauty 
 of His character will not appear in its clearest light if 
 we study Him from the spiritual side alone. We seem 
 to draw near to Him irt the flesh in proportion as we 
 become acquainted with the country where He lived, 
 the race to which He belonged, and the scenes and 
 events amid which He grew up to manhood. 
 
10 e ( ; f^LI^EE / IN! THE TIME OF CHRIST. 
 
 When we actually turn to books, commentaries, and 
 other sources of information concerning the home of our 
 Lord, we are introduced at once to a poverty-stricken 
 land and to a degraded people. The province is 
 spoken of as having been, at that period, one of the 
 most ' obscure ' and * despised ' of the Roman empire ; 
 and Nazareth has the misfortune of being represented 
 as then an 'insignificant village/ whose inhabitants 
 were ' ignorant ' and even ' immoral.' Such is, perhaps, 
 the general impression of Galilee ; but it is very far 
 from the truth. The writers of the Gospels invariably 
 speak of Nazareth as a ' city,' TTO'AIS, and in no case do 
 they call it a ' village,' /cco/ir? ; and it is quite probable 
 that its population amounted to fifteen thousand or 
 twenty thousand souls. As to the province itself, it 
 was in Christ's time one of the gardens of the world- 
 well watered, exceedingly fertile, thoroughly cultivated, 
 and covered with a dense population. 
 
 The object of the present work is sufficiently indi- 
 cated by its title. It may be said, however, that the 
 subject could hardly be confined to the dates which 
 bound the life of Christ. We must be allowed to 
 illustrate our subject to some extent, at least, both by 
 what preceded this period, say, during the life of 
 Herod the Great, and by what followed it, even to 
 the destruction of Jerusalem by Titus. Still, our sole 
 purpose is to set forth Galilee as it was during the life 
 of our Lord. 
 
 The work now proposed has never, so far as we are 
 aware, been thoroughly done ; and almost the only 
 attempts in this field are those of Hausrath and Keim. 
 
INTRODUCTORY. II 
 
 But the former is very brief (hardly ten pages) ; and 
 the latter, although a little fuller (about sixteen pages), 
 does not pretend to exhaust the subject. We have 
 patiently searched in every direction for facts which 
 might illustrate this country at the time when 'Jesus 
 went everywhere among its cities and villages, teaching 
 and preaching the gospel of the kingdom.' But it will 
 be seen that, instead of putting the statements of the 
 Gospels foremost, we have kept them in reserve, and 
 have sought to gather from all external sources those 
 facts by which to light up the background against which 
 the statements of the Gospels rest. We shall, at the 
 close of the volume, give a brief notice of some of the 
 principal books which have served us in our investiga- 
 tions. 
 
 The map prefixed to the book is reduced, by the kind 
 permission of the Committee of the Palestine Explora- 
 tion Fund, from their large scale map of Galilee. 
 
12 
 
 II. 
 
 How THE COUNTRY WAS GOVERNED, FROM B.C. 47 TO 
 A.D. 66. 
 
 IT will be necessary to give a brief outline of the 
 manner in which Palestine was governed during the 
 period now under consideration. In B.C. 47, Herod, 
 then a young man twenty-five years of age, was 
 appointed by his father. Antipater, military governor 
 of Galilee, and his brother, Phasaelus, military governor 
 of Judaea. In B.C. 41, Phasaelus and Herod were 
 appointed by Antony tetrarchs of Judaea, i.e. of the 
 whole province west of the Jordan. In B.C. 40, Phasaelus 
 was taken prisoner by the Parthians, who had invaded 
 Syria, sweeping the country as far south as Jerusalem ; 
 and, rather than suffer indignities and cruelties from his 
 barbarian enemies, he put an end to his own life even 
 while his hands were bound. The same year Herod 
 was declared king of Judaea by the Roman Senate, 
 although it was not until three years later, or in B.C. 37, 
 that he became master of his kingdom, and entered 
 upon his reign. He died in Jericho, April i, B.C. 4, 
 at the age of seventy. The same year Archelaus, 
 Herod's son, was appointed by Augustus ethnarch of 
 Judaea, Samaria, and Idumaea. At the same time 
 Augustus appointed Herod Antipas, Archelaus's brother, 
 tetrarch of Peraea and Galilee, and Herod Philip, half- 
 
HOW THE COUNTRY WAS GOVERNED. 13 
 
 brother of Archelaus and Antipas, tetrarch of Batanaea, 
 Trachonitis, Auranitis, Paneas, and Gaulanitis. Luke 
 in his Gospel 1 , speaking in a general way, mentions 
 only Trachonitis and Ituraea. In A.D. 6, Archelaus was 
 banished by Augustus, and Judaea came directly under 
 the Romans. In A.D. 33, Herod Philip died, and was 
 buried in Eastern Bethsaida. In A.D. 32, Herod 
 Antipas was banished, his wife Herodias going with 
 him into exile. In A.D. 37, Herod Agrippa I., grandson 
 of Herod the Great, was by the emperor Caligula made 
 'king' of Trachonitis, i.e. of the region which had been 
 Herod Philip's tetrarchy. In A.D. 41, Claudius added 
 to his dominions Judaea and Samaria, with Abilene, i.e. 
 the tetrarchy of Lysanias, and the parts about Libanus. 
 In A.D. 44, King Agrippa persecuted the Christians, 
 beheaded James the brother of John, and arrested 
 Peter. The same year, however, Agrippa died in a 
 strange manner at Caesarea on the sea-coast. The 
 account of his violent disease and sudden painful death 
 is given byjosephus 2 , and also in the twelfth chapter of 
 the Acts. In the latter place will be found the details 
 of Peter's miraculous escape from his imprisonment. 
 Agrippa had been king of Judaea from A.D. 41 to 44. 
 Judaea came again directly under the Romans. In 
 A.D. 53, Agrippa II., son of the former, was by Claudius 
 made 'king' of Herod Philip's tetrarchy Trachonitis, 
 Auranitis, Gaulanitis, Batanaea, and Abilene. In A.D. 
 55, Agrippa II. received from Nero, in addition to 
 the country already under his dominion, the cities of 
 Tiberias and Tarichaea in Galilee, and Julias, together 
 1 Luke iii. i. 2 Ant., XIX. viii. 2. 
 
14 GALILEE IN THE TIME OF CHRIST. 
 
 with fourteen villages about it, and Abila, all of which 
 were in Peraea. In A.D. 60, he heard Paul's defence at 
 Caesarea, the place just mentioned, where his father had 
 died. He rendered great service to Vespasian during 
 the Jewish war, taking sides against his country. 
 
 Some points to be remembered as of special impor- 
 tance are the following : i. That Herod Antipas was 
 the only civil ruler to whom Christ was subject. 2. The 
 very long reign of Herod Antipas. 3. The long reign 
 of the mild and prosperous ruler Herod Philip. 4. That 
 Judaea from A.D. 6 to A.D. 66, the time of the revolution, 
 was governed by Roman officials, with the exception of 
 from A.D. 41 to A.D. 44, when Herod Agrippa I. was 
 king. The fact that Judaea was thus governed will 
 hereafter be seen to be of great importance in estimating 
 the contrast between affairs there and those in Galilee 
 during the same period. 
 
III. 
 
 THE NAMES 'GALILEE,' AND 'GALILEE OF THE 
 GENTILES.' 
 
 IT does not belong to the limits of the present work to 
 show how this province came to be called Galilee. The 
 origin of the word thus applied is, indeed, obscure. It is 
 a word of pretty frequent occurrence in the Hebrew 
 Bible, and has a variety of meanings, among which are 
 circuit or district. But as Philistia, the Jordan valley, 
 the wild and savage region west of the Dead Sea, and 
 the northern part of the country, are thus designated, it 
 is evident that no particular section could originally have 
 been intended by it. The significance of the phrase in 
 Isa. ix. i, * Galilee of the nations,' or, as it is rendered 
 in the English version of Matt iv. 15, ' Galilee of the 
 Gentiles,' is by no means clear, so far as referring to any 
 region that was defined by fixed geographical limits. 
 We are convinced that there is no ground for identify- 
 ing 'Galilee of the Gentiles,' as Jahn l and some other 
 writers have done, with what was known in later times 
 as ' Upper Galilee.' Further, the location of the ' twenty 
 cities in the land of Galilee 2 ,' given by Solomon to 
 Hiram, is also unknown. Ewald calls these cities 
 ' small,' and Ritter refers to them as * small and unim- 
 portant places probably ; ' whereas the Hebrew gives 
 
 1 Bib. Arch., 25, p. 31. * I Kings ix. u. 
 
16 GALILEE IN THE TIME OF CHRIST. 
 
 no hint of that kind whatever. In our opinion they 
 were heathen cities subject to Solomon ; for the Jewish 
 king would hardly have given away twenty cities 
 occupied by his own people, unless he had been brought 
 into great financial straits, which was not the case. And 
 although Strabo states that ' the inhabitants of Galilee, 
 of the Plain of Jericho, and of the territories of Phila- 
 delphia and Samaria/ were composed of ' mixed tribes 
 of Egyptians, Arabians, and Phoenicians,' we feel 
 justified in claiming that the cities of both Upper and 
 Lower Galilee were, with a very few exceptions, oc- 
 cupied by a Jewish population. 
 
 ' Cabul,' the word used by Hiram, has never been 
 satisfactorily explained, so far as the special meaning 
 which he intended to give it is concerned. Of the 
 passage in I Kings ix. 13, explanations maybe found in 
 the lexicons of Gesenius and Fiirst, also in Josephus 1 
 and in Ewald ; Ewald rejects altogether that of Jose- 
 phus. For a reason why Solomon gave these cities to 
 Hiram, see Ewald 's History of Israel, III., p. 292. In 
 connection with Isa. ix. i, the passage in i Mac. v. 15 
 et seq. should be compared, and in Keim, I., p. 308, will 
 be found some hints on the name ' Galilee.' 
 
 1 Ant., VIII. v. 3. 
 
IV. 
 
 EXTENT OF GALILEE, AND THE NUMBER OF 
 INHABITANTS TO A SQUARE MILE. 
 
 GALILEE embraced the northern portion of the country 
 west of the Jordan, covering in the main the territory of 
 the four tribes, Asher, Naphtali, Zebulun, and Issachar. 
 The boundaries of these tribes are given definitely 
 enough in Josh, xix., but it is impossible to trace them 
 now, because the places mentioned as marking the 
 boundaries have not, with very few exceptions, been 
 identified. For the same reason the boundary line of 
 this province, so explicitly laid down by Josephus x , is 
 lost to us, as well as the line dividing between what in 
 his day were known as ' Upper ' and ' Lower ' Galilee. 
 When the division of the country took place among 
 the four tribes just referred to, there were, in all, sixty- 
 nine cities mentioned by name. For the most part 
 their sites are unknown. In Josephus' time this pro- 
 vince numbered two hundred and four cities and villages, 
 of which the names of about forty are given by him. 
 Of this number not more than ten can be located with 
 any great degree of certainty ; perhaps as many more 
 could be located approximately ; while the rest re- 
 main unidentified. Ritter called this region, 'a true 
 terra incognita' 
 
 The very best maps of Galilee hitherto have erred in 
 
 1 Wars, III. iii. I. 
 
 B 
 
1 8 GALILEE IN THE TIME OF CHRIST. 
 
 trying to tell more than is absolutely known of that 
 country. Their authors have been actuated by the 
 commendable desire to place before readers and students 
 the information they needed ; but in doing so they 
 have sometimes helped to give the authority of tradition 
 to a certain site which modern researches have shown 
 cannot be the true one. 
 
 The accurate and reliable map published by the 
 Palestine Exploration Fund is our best authority for 
 the present topography of the country : but with this 
 important help it is still impossible to do more than 
 indicate the general outline of the province as it was 
 known twenty or thirty centuries ago. The sixty-nine 
 cities of Joshua, or the forty cities and villages mentioned 
 by Josephus, have not yet been identified, although 
 within recent years a few sites have been recovered and 
 added to the list of those previously known. In Upper 
 Galilee sixteen of the nineteen cities of Naphtali were 
 ' fortified ' P??P ^?, 'aret mibhtzar) \ After all the 
 careful and successful explorations that have been made 
 hitherto in this region, it still remains, beyond doubt, a 
 rich field for research. Relics, foundation stones, and 
 ancient sites are waiting to be brought to light on the 
 hill-summits of Naphtali, as well as in the territory of 
 the other tribes that occupied the northern province of 
 Palestine. Fortunately, the object we now have in view 
 can be accomplished without knowing definitely the 
 location of those cities and towns which once made this 
 region a centre of life and prosperity. 
 
 1 Josh. xix. 35. 
 
EXTENT OF GALILEE. 19 
 
 During the period under consideration the limits of 
 Galilee may have varied somewhat with the changes in 
 its own and neighbouring rulers. Carmel once belonged 
 to it, but was, in Josephus' time, under the control of the 
 Tyrians. The Lake of Tiberias and the River Jordan 
 may at one period have formed the eastern boundary ; 
 but the Talmud reckons Gamala, which was situated on 
 the east of the lake, together with the region above 
 Gadara and Caesarea Philippi, as belonging to Galilee l . 
 Graetz refers to a passage in the Talmud which makes 
 Jotapata and Gischala mark the north or north-western 
 boundary. Lightfoot gives some very good reasons why 
 Persea, or a portion of it, might in Christ's time have been 
 included under the general name of * Galilee.' This 
 would harmonise with the statement just given from 
 Neubauer respecting the region about Gadara. 
 
 The division of Galilee into 'upper' and Mower,' 
 familiar to us from Josephus, is recognised by the 
 Talmud, which has, however, a division peculiar to itself, 
 as follows : ' Galilee contains the upper, the lower, and 
 the valley. Thus the country above Kefr Chananyah, 
 where the sycamore is not found, is called Upper Galilee ; 
 the country below Kefr Chananyah, where the sycamore 
 flourishes, is called Lower Galilee ; while the valley is 
 the district of Tiberias 2 .' 
 
 Where the boundaries remain so indefinite it is impos- 
 sible, of course, to give the exact extent of its territory. 
 The whole territory of Palestine, including that of the 
 trans-Jordanic tribes, has been estimated at about 11,000 
 
 1 Neubauer, pp. 178, 236, 242. a Shebiith ix. 3. 
 
 B 2 
 
20 GALILEE IN THE TIME OF CHRIST. 
 
 square miles l . From the recent surveys the country 
 west of the Jordan is found to contain 6,000 square 
 miles, and the country east of the Jordan, reckoning that 
 which properly belongs to Eastern Palestine, contains 
 about the same number. Of the territory west of the 
 Jordan, it is safe to say that Galilee occupied about 
 one-third perhaps a small third. Mr. Phillott's esti- 
 mate, in the article ' Census,' just referred to, is with- 
 out doubt altogether too low, as he allows only 930 
 square miles to Galilee. On the other hand, Keim's 
 estimate may be too high, as he allows to it about 2,000 
 square miles. 
 
 But the limits of the province have seemed to many 
 persons too narrow for the number of inhabitants it is 
 purported to have contained. The question has been 
 asked how three millions or more people could have 
 been crowded into such a space, and supported there in 
 comfort, and often in luxury. The problem, however, 
 may not have been such a difficult one as it appears to 
 those who have given the matter but little consideration. 
 About the Sea of Galilee, only thirteen miles long by 
 seven broad, there were ten or more flourishing cities 
 and towns. This seems improbable ; but the fact is 
 established beyond dispute. Among illustrative facts 
 bearing upon this point we may mention that the island 
 of Malta had, in 1849, a population of 1,182 to the 
 square mile. The county of Lancashire had 1,064, an d 
 that of Middlesex 6,683 inhabitants to the square mile. 
 The island of Barbadoes, with an area of about 166 
 square miles, without any large towns, without manu- 
 1 Smith's Bible Diet., art. 'Census.' 
 
EXTENT OF GALILEE. 21 
 
 factures of any description, a purely agricultural colony, 
 supports a population of 180,000 souls, or over 1,084 to 
 the square mile. Considering the fact that Galilee had 
 a number of large cities, and that the whole province 
 was dotted with important towns, its 2,000 square miles 
 may have supported 3,000,000 inhabitants. 
 
22 
 
 V. 
 
 GALILEE A REGION OF GREAT NATURAL FERTILITY 
 AND RICHNESS. 
 
 THE province to which our attention is now called was 
 by no means the least favoured, nor the least important 
 portion of the Holy Land. On account of its astonish- 
 ing fruitfulness, its many resources, and its hardy 
 population, it ranked next to Jerusalem in importance ; 
 * it was the bulwark of Jerusalem ' in more senses than 
 one. The Gospels, in those portions of them which 
 relate to Galilee, place it in an exceeding fertile region, 
 whose surface was covered with 'cities and villages' 
 which were crowded with a dense population, and full of 
 energy and life. Most travellers in that country, and 
 those writers who have studied its physical character- 
 istics, represent it as being of great natural fertility and 
 beauty, remarkably diversified by mountain and hill, 
 valley and plain, springs, rivers, and lakes, while its 
 climate is the * nearest possible approach to a perpetual 
 spring.' Josephus, Tacitus, the Babylonian Talmud 
 (A.D. 500), Antoninus Martyr (A.D. 600), and almost any 
 number of authorities since the time of the latter, have 
 been unanimous in praising the natural beauties and 
 resources of Galilee. Here is ' the most fertile soil in 
 all Palestine.' To one its beautiful lake is ' the eye of 
 Galilee.' The Rabbis compared the lake to 'gliding 
 
GALILEE A REGION OF GREAT FERTILITY. 23 
 
 waters.' 'The shores of Tiberias formed one of the 
 gardens of the world.' To another the Plain of Genne- 
 sareth is ' the unparalleled garden of God.' The Rabbis 
 testify again that the shores of the lake were ' covered 
 with cities, villages, and market-places.' Pliny speaks 
 of the ' Lake of Genesara ' as ' skirted by pleasant 
 towns,' among which he mentions Julias, Hippos, 
 Tarichaea, and Tiberias. The Hebrews said : ' The land 
 of Naphtali is everywhere covered with fruitful fields and 
 vines ; and the fruits of this region are renowned for 
 their wonderful sweetness 1 .' ' If Nature could influence 
 mind, if it could create genius, Naphtali would be the 
 land of poets.' ' For sixteen miles about Sepphoris 
 the region was fertile, flowing with milk and honey.' 
 ' Galilee is a land of water-brooks, abounding in timber, 
 fertile and beautiful.' The words of the dying lawgiver 
 in regard to the four tribes which settled in this section 
 lead us to expect that they were to occupy a region of 
 great richness and beauty, or, in other words, applying 
 to the territory what was said of the people, a land ' full 
 with the blessing of Jehovah V All that we know of the 
 country since confirms the impression given by Moses. 
 Rcnan, with glowing language, speaks of this region as 
 'a country very green, and full of shade and pleasant- 
 ness, the true country of the Canticle of Canticles and 
 of the songs of the well-beloved.' 
 
 In addition to these testimonies the statements of 
 Josephus are of special importance, since, as military 
 governor of the province, he knew thoroughly its cha- 
 
 1 Neubauer (p. 180) gives references to Tal. Bab., Megilla 6<?, and 
 I 1 ., rakuth 44 a. 2 Deut. xxxiii. 23. 
 
24 GALILEE IN THE TIME OF CHRIST. 
 
 racteristics and resources. Of the country in general 
 he says : ' It is throughout rich in soil and pasturage, 
 producing every variety of tree, and inviting by its 
 productiveness even those who have the least inclination 
 for agriculture ; it is everywhere tilled, no part allowed 
 to lie idle, and everywhere productive 1 .' And he speaks 
 of the Plain of Gennesareth as 'admirable both for 
 its natural properties and its beauty.' ' Such is the 
 fertility of the soil that it rejects no plant, and accord- 
 ingly all are here cultivated by the husbandman ; for so 
 genial is the air that it suits every variety. The walnut, 
 which delights beyond other trees in a wintry climate, 
 grows here luxuriantly, together with the palm-tree, 
 which is nourished by heat ; and near to these are 
 figs and olives, to which a milder atmosphere has been 
 assigned. One might style this an ambitious effort of 
 Nature, doing violence to herself in bringing together 
 plants of discordant habits, and an admirable rivalry of 
 the seasons, each, as it were, asserting her right to the 
 soil ; for it not only possesses the extraordinary virtue of 
 nourishing fruits of opposite climes, but also maintains a 
 continual supply of them. Thus it produces those most 
 royal of all, the grape and the fig, during ten months, 
 without intermission, while the other varieties ripen 
 the year round.' He goes on to speak of ' the genial 
 temperature of the air,' of the plain being ' irrigated by 
 a highly fertilising spring,' and of the fish, similar to 
 those found in the Lake of Alexandria. 
 
 There can be no doubt that this land had been 
 remarkably favoured by Nature. The Hebrew phrase, 
 1 Wars, III. iii. 2, 3. 
 
GALILEE A REGION OF GREAT FERTILITY. 25 
 
 ' a land flowing with milk and honey,' might best 
 express the exceeding fertility and richness of Galilee 
 at the time of Christ. The capabilities of the soil were 
 perhaps fully developed by skilful labour. The indus- 
 trious farmers devoted their chief attention to the crops 
 best adapted to their soil, and which at the same time 
 found the readiest market ; hence, in many cases, 
 meadow and pasture land were turned into tillage, 
 because the cultivation of grain and fruits was found 
 to be more profitable than the raising of cattle. The 
 rich fields were sometimes so parcelled out that the 
 plough could no longer be employed, and the soil 
 must be turned up with the spade. Yet in the open 
 fields where the plough was used the workmen prided 
 themselves on being able to turn and lay a furrow 
 with skill 1 , which would never have been attempted in 
 the stony fields of Judaea. 
 
 With such a soil, and under such thorough cultivation, 
 it is not surprising that the country became a paradise 
 in beauty. All the trees and fruits of Palestine flourished 
 here to perfection. It was even asked why the fruits of 
 Gennesareth were not found in Jerusalem at the time of 
 the feasts, and the reply was made, ' so that no one may 
 be tempted to come to the feasts merely for the sake of 
 enjoying those fruits.' Here were found all the pro- 
 ductions which made Italy rich and beautiful, with the 
 additional advantage that here also 'the palm and the 
 balm-tree flourished in great luxuriance ; ' in the eyes 
 of the Romans ' these palm groves were beautiful and 
 lofty.' In a word, forests in many cases covered its 
 
 1 Luke ix. 62 ; xvi. 3. 
 
26 GALILEE IN THE TIME OF CHRIST. 
 
 mountains and hills, while its uplands, gentle slopes and 
 broader valleys, were rich in pastures, meadows, cultivated 
 fields, vineyards, olive-groves, and fruit trees of every 
 kind. Here in this ' garden that has no end/ flourished 
 the vine, the olive, and the fig ; the oak, the hardy 
 walnut, the terebinth, and the hot-blooded palm ; the 
 cedar, cypress, and balsam ; the fir-tree, the pine, and 
 sycamore ; the bay-tree, the myrtle, the almond, the 
 pomegranate, the citron, and the beautiful oleander. 
 These, with still many other forest, fruit, and flowering 
 trees, and shrubs, and aromatic plants, together with 
 grains and fruits, to which should be added an infinite 
 profusion of flowers, made up that wonderful variety 
 of natural productions which adorned and enriched the 
 region where was the home of Jesus. 
 
 The two last paragraphs have been left as they were 
 originally written in 1873, partly for the reason that, 
 when this work first appeared as an essay, the state- 
 ments in this section were thought by some persons to 
 be very much overdrawn ; but the Rev. Dr. Zeller, who 
 spent eighteen years as a missionary in Nazareth, and 
 whose knowledge of the region is extensive and intimate, 
 examined the work, and his first criticism was that the 
 facts with regard to the natural fertility of Galilee had 
 been underrated. It is hardly necessary to add any- 
 thing, from still other sources, to this important and 
 decisive testimony. But it should be remembered that 
 Dr. Zeller bases his conclusion upon his acquaintance 
 with the country in its decay. 
 
 The characteristic now referred to is one for which 
 Galilee was always celebrated. In Solomon's time this 
 
GALILEE A REGION OF GREAT FERTILITY. 27 
 
 region furnished many of the luxuries required for the 
 table and the palace of the king. Of the twelve com- 
 missariat officers who supplied for the royal establish- 
 ment enormous quantities of fine flour, meal and barley, 
 and great numbers of fat oxen, pasture-fed oxen, sheep, 
 harts, roebucks, fallow-deer, and fatted fowl 1 , four, and 
 perhaps five, were stationed within the limits of the 
 province we are now considering. Hence, not only the 
 abundance, but the great variety of its productions may 
 properly be inferred. 
 
 Furthermore with regard to forests, it is probable that 
 in ancient times this was a well-wooded country. 
 Scattered notices in the Old Testament justify this 
 conclusion, and, for a single later testimony, to which 
 many more examples might be added, we may refer to 
 Josephus 2 , where he speaks of the hills about. Jotapata 
 being stripped of timber to be used in carrying on the 
 siege of that place. The soil of Galilee is well adapted 
 to forest culture, and were proper care taken, the 
 region might, in a generation or two, be enriched by 
 a noble growth of oak and other trees. 
 
 It is hardly within the limits proposed to ourselves to 
 speak of the condition of the country in our own time : 
 yet we may call attention to the works of Tobler, Ritter, 
 Arnaud, and Tristram, where will be found brief notices 
 of some of the present productions of this region, such 
 as wheat, barley, millet, pulse, indigo, rice, sugar-cane, 
 oranges, the cherry, pear, and apricot, the mulberry, and 
 still other grains, fruits, shrubs, and plants, including 
 tobacco. 
 
 1 i Kings iv. 22, 23. 2 Wars, III. vii. 8. 
 
28 
 
 VI. 
 THE WATERS OF GALILEE. 
 
 GALILEE was a well-watered country. The words of 
 promise spoken to the Hebrews in regard to the land 
 which they were to enter, ' a land of brooks of water, 
 of fountains, and depths that spring out of valleys and 
 hills V would be truer of Galilee than of any other section. 
 The lakes of this province, with their blue, transparent 
 waters, contribute not a little to the charming beauty of 
 the landscapes. The water of Lake Merom is sweet, as 
 is also that of Lake Tiberias, and crystal clear. The 
 Rabbis find it difficult to praise enough their beautiful 
 lake, which was justly the pride of their whole land. 
 They speak, in a phrase already quoted, of its ' grace- 
 fully flowing' or 'gliding waters.' Jehovah, they said, 
 had created seven seas, and of these He had chosen the 
 Sea of Gennesareth as His special delight. The names 
 of these seas are given as the Great Sea, or the 
 Mediterranean ; the Sea of Tiberias, which was also 
 known to them as Genusar ; the Sea of Samecho, 
 known in Josephus as Semechonitis ; the Salt Sea, 
 or the Sea of Sodom ; the Sea of Hultha ; the Sea 
 of Shelhath, or Sheliyath ; and the Sea of Apamia. 
 
 In the view of the Christian, in a far higher sense than 
 1 Deut. viii. 7. 
 
THE WATERS OF GALILEE. 29 
 
 was thought of by the Rabbis, God has indeed chosen 
 the Sea of Galilee, and blessed it beyond all other seas 
 of the earth. 
 
 The Jordan, the only stream in Palestine deserving 
 the name of ' river,' with its * sources,' its ' floods/ and 
 its remarkably winding course, belonged, at least in its 
 upper and finer half, to Galilee. Perhaps the Litany, 
 where it bends from a southerly to a westerly course, 
 touched upon the northern frontier of this province. 
 Here belonged the Kishon, the famous ' river of battle,' 
 called in the song of Deborah and Barak * that ancient 
 river.' It took its rise near the foot of Tabor, went in 
 a winding course across the plain of Esdraelon, and 
 entered the Bay of Acre, near the foot of Carmel. A 
 principal feeder of this stream came from Gilboa and 
 Engannim. It received ' the waters of Megiddo,' not 
 far from the town of the same name. When the Kishon 
 was at its height, it would be, partly on account of its 
 quicksands, as impassable as the ocean itself to a retreat- 
 ing army. The river Belus should also be mentioned, 
 which entered the sea near Acre, and from the fine sand 
 of whose bed the Phoenicians, according to tradition, 
 first made glass. The present name of the stream with 
 which so important a fact is connected, is Nahr N'aman ; 
 but we are not so certain as to what name it bore in the 
 early Hebrew history. In Josh. xix. 26 we find a Shihor 
 Libnath mentioned, which has been thought to be iden- 
 tical with the river Belus of Josephus and Pliny. But 
 this is doubted by so eminent a scholar as Mr. George 
 Grove, who even thinks that the Hebrew words do not 
 refer to any river. 
 
30 GALILEE IN THE TIME OF CHRIST. 
 
 ' No less than four springs pour forth their almost 
 full-grown rivers through the plain' of Gennesareth. 
 ' Beautiful springs, characteristic of the whole valley of 
 the Jordan, are unusually numerous and copious along 
 the western shore of the lake 1 .' Half-an-hour north of 
 the town of Tiberias are five or six profuse springs lying 
 near together and called the 'cool fountains,' to distin- 
 guish them from the hot ones south of the city. Ritter 
 speaks of 'the hundred brooks' that distribute their 
 waters through the neighbourhood of Banias. ' carrying 
 fertility everywhere.' Thomson speaks of 'the ample 
 supply of water about Ayun.' Six streams have been 
 counted flowing into Lake Huleh from the mountains 
 lying west of it, the largest of which streams is from 
 forty to fifty feet wide. The abundance of dew which 
 falls about Tabor, remarked by Burckhardt, Robinson, 
 and others, was of the utmost importance to vegeta- 
 tion in that immediate neighbourhood. The 'dew of 
 Hermon' was long ago praised 2 , and the rich vegetation 
 of the surrounding region is largely due to this fructify- 
 ing influence. The perpetual snow on Hermon proved 
 no doubt an unspeakable blessing to the people of this 
 province, freshening the atmosphere by day and cool- 
 ing it by night. The snow was even carried to Tyre, 
 Sidon, and Damascus as a luxury, and labourers swelter- 
 ing in the hot harvest fields used it to cool the water 
 which they drank 3 . No doubt Herod Antipas at his 
 feasts in Tiberias enjoyed also from this very source the 
 modern luxury of ice-water ! Not only were ice and 
 
 1 Stanley, Sinai and Palestine, p. 366. 2 Ps. cxxxiii. 3. 
 
 3 Prov. xxv. 1 3 ; Jer. xviii. 14. 
 
THE WATERS OF GALILEE. 31 
 
 snow from the mountains used for the purpose now 
 indicated, but the inhabitants of this city had still another 
 method of making warm water cool and delightful. This 
 method was in use throughout the Jordan valley, and 
 especially in Jericho, where the heat was intense. Water 
 from the fountain, lake, or stream was put into earthen 
 jars, which were of a great variety of sizes according to 
 the needs of families or individuals, and these were 
 exposed to the air, generally in a sheltered place, and 
 where a draught was felt. In this manner it became 
 extremely cold even in the hottest weather, and was 
 regarded as one of the greatest comforts of life. In 
 ministering to the sick, and in entertaining weary 
 travellers, * a cup of cold water ' was not only refreshing, 
 it was more highly prized than a bag of gold. 
 
 The warm springs of this province are also to be 
 noticed : at Biram, Gadara, and Tiberias, of which those 
 at the last place were perhaps the most renowned. 
 ' These three springs/ the Rabbis say, * remained after 
 the Deluge/ The exact location of Biram is not known, 
 nor do the limits of this work permit us to describe the 
 remarkable springs at Gadara. There is a large cluster 
 of them near Tiberias. Some of these are hot, and 
 are called by the Rabbis * the boiling waters.' The 
 supply of water in the largest is sufficient to turn the 
 wheels of mills. Pliny, referring to these springs, uses 
 the expression, ' which are so conducive to the restora- 
 tion of health,' as though their medicinal qualities were 
 widely known. Josephus reports that when he was 
 governor of Galilee, his enemy, John of Gischala, asked 
 him for 'permission to come down and use the hot 
 
32 GALILEE IN THE TIME OF CHRIST. 
 
 baths of Tiberias for the benefit of his health.' The per- 
 mission was granted, although John really desired it as 
 an opportunity of carrying out his schemes of political 
 intrigue. We find a case where a certain famous Rabbi, 
 Joshua Ben Levi, being sick, bathed in these warm 
 springs, supporting himself meantime on the arm of a 
 friend. These springs were indeed one of the ' watering- 
 places ' of that age and country, the delightful resort of 
 people of means, and were visited also with great benefit 
 by the feeble or sick of the land, on account of the heal- 
 ing properties of the waters. People were attracted 
 hither from Jerusalem and all other parts of the land ; 
 and no doubt the city of Tiberias was by this means 
 greatly increased both in size and importance. 
 
 If, in a word, we think of the numberless brooks and 
 mountain torrents, the springs, besides the warm ones 
 already mentioned, the reservoirs, the aqueducts and 
 watercourses, remains of which exist about the Plain 
 of Gennesareth and elsewhere, the fountains, the cisterns, 
 and the wells, we have a land in which there was no 
 lack of water, and one surprisingly favoured in this 
 respect above Judaea. 
 
33 
 
 VII. 
 
 THE PLAIN OF GENNESARETH. 
 
 SOME special notice ought to be taken of the Plain 
 of Gennesareth, perhaps in fertility and beauty the gem 
 of the East, as it certainly was the gem of Palestine. 
 We have already quoted Josephus' glowing description 
 of it. It must not be thought of as of great extent. 
 Josephus makes it thirty stadia long by twenty broad : 
 and Porter, in his Handbook, ' three miles long by one 
 broad ; ' but two miles and a half long by one broa.d 
 is all that is allowed to it by recent explorers. Here 
 Nature had lavished her tropical profusion and glory. 
 Trees retained their foliage throughout the whole year, 
 and during ten months of the year grapes and figs ripened. 
 In this rank soil grew the finest wheat of the land. 
 
 Strabo mentions a sweet or aromatic rush or cane 
 as growing here, that was highly prized. We find the 
 ' tents of Gennesareth ' referred to, and the explanation 
 given that ' temporary shady bowers or small tents 
 were made,' in which the people lodged who ' gathered 
 the fruits of its noble gardens.' Still, its superior and 
 delicious fruits were not found at Jerusalem at the 
 feast, lest, as we have seen, some persons might attend 
 them for the sake of enjoying these fruits alone. Ritter, 
 borrowing a phrase from Hippocrates, says that its 
 climate was a ' harmonious mingling of the seasons,' 
 
 C 
 
34 GALILEE IN THE TIME OF CHRIST. 
 
 and the Rabbis referring to it as being near Tiberias, 
 affirmed that it possessed both ' gardens and paradises.' 
 To make the name * Gennesareth ' suggestive of the 
 richness of the soil, or of the sweetness of its fruits, 
 several fanciful interpretations have been adopted, such 
 as referring it to the Hebrew kinnor, 'a harp,' signify- 
 ing, ' its fruit is sweet as the sound of a harp ; ' to 
 gan, ' garden,' and sar, * prince,' meaning * garden of 
 princes,' or to gan and osher, 'riches,' i.e. 'a garden 
 rich in fertility and productions.' We are not obliged 
 to accept these explanations, still they serve to indicate 
 the high estimation in which this little plain has been 
 held by those who have known something of its natural 
 wealth and beauty. 
 
35 
 
 VIII. 
 
 AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTIONS AND MANUFACTURES. 
 
 i. Oil. Of the productions of this province, fish, wine, 
 wheat, and oil occupy a foremost place. On account 
 of the fine quality and great abundance of the latter, 
 as well as because it was an important article of 
 commerce with other nations, this product deserves our 
 first attention. The dying lawgiver said of Asher : ' Let 
 him dip his foot in oil V In allusion to this phrase 
 the Rabbis said : ' In Asher oil flows like a river.' ' It 
 is easier,' they said, 'to raise a legion [i.e. a forest] of 
 olive-trees in Galilee than to raise one child in Judaea V 
 Gischala was renowned for the abundance of its oil. 
 Once, when oil was wanted at Laodicea, men were sent 
 to Jerusalem and Tyre to purchase ; but the quantity 
 desired could be found only in Gischala, in Galilee. 
 While Asher produced the most oil, Tekoa produced the 
 best. Tekoa was called the alpha for oil, while Gischala 
 occupied the third place in the country in regard to 
 the quantity and quality of oil produced. Both Syrians 
 and Phoenicians drew their supplies from this province, 
 and the traffic in this commodity alone proved a source 
 of wealth to the Galileans. Attention is called to a 
 
 1 Deut. xxxiii. 24. 2 Neubauer, p. 180. 
 
 C 2 
 
36 GALILEE IN THE TIME OF CHRIST. 
 
 certain period when oil was ten times as dear at Caesarea 
 as at Gischala. Josephus shows that both demand and 
 supply were great, the selling price high, and the revenue 
 large. Of the business at Gischala, John, the rival of 
 Josephus, once had a monopoly. He seems to have 
 been a man of shrewdness and cunning, and not above 
 making use of the misfortunes of his countrymen for 
 his own pecuniary profit. The Jews at Caesarea Philippi 
 were, it appears, under some kind of strict military 
 discipline, and having only a very limited amount of 
 pure oil, they were on the point of being compelled 
 to use that produced by the heathen, which would 
 have been ' a violation of their legal institutions.' By 
 representations of this kind and other entreaties, John 
 obtained permission of Josephus to remove to Caesarea 
 the pure oil that was in Gischala. But, taking advantage 
 of the necessities of the people, which caused the differ- 
 ence in the price of this article as already alluded to, 
 ' he realised, by this sinister procedure, a vast sum 
 of money.' In the other villages and towns of Upper 
 Galilee, as well as at Gischala, great quantities of oil 
 were stored. Especially was this true of Jotapata, where 
 it was so abundant that it was used freely as a means of 
 defence when that place was besieged. Large quantities 
 of it were heated, ' for many were employed in the 
 work,' who * poured it down upon the Romans on all 
 sides, hurling with it also their vessels glowing with 
 heat' Being ' poured over those sheltered by their close- 
 locked shields,' ' the oil, insinuating itself readily under 
 their armour, spread over the whole body, from head 
 to foot, feeding, not less eagerly than flame, upon their 
 
PRODUCTIONS AND MANUFACTURES. 37 
 
 flesh.' ' And as they were cased in their helmets and 
 breastplates, there was no extrication from the scalding 
 fluid, and, leaping and writhing in anguish, they fell 
 from the scaling-planks.' This novel but terrible and, 
 as it proved, effective means of defence, ' soon scattered 
 the ranks of the Romans,' who, * scalded, rolled head- 
 long from the ramparts in excruciating agony.' 
 
 By looking back to the days of Solomon, we may 
 get a hint as to the productiveness of this country in 
 the amount of agricultural products which this king fur- 
 nished to Hiram as a yearly tribute. This fact shows 
 in what Solomon's country was rich, and what Hiram 
 needed. Besides immense quantities of wine, wheat, 
 and barley, about two hundred thousand gallons of the 
 best oil were sent to Hiram every year 1 . As the cities 
 on the Phoenician coast advanced in wealth, and their 
 commerce was extended, which was true as we approach 
 the beginning of our era from the time of Solomon, the 
 business of receiving supplies from Galilee was greatly 
 enhanced. Furthermore, in Christ's time oil was a 
 common article in the treatment of the sick. Herod the 
 Great, in his last sickness, was almost killed by being 
 plunged into a vessel of oil. He was at this time at 
 Jericho, and his body ' was racked with complicated 
 sufferings.' Hoping for relief, he visited the warm 
 springs opposite Jericho, and there the physicians advised 
 the treatment already mentioned. * On their letting him 
 down into a vessel filled with that fluid [warm oil], his 
 eyes became relaxed, and he fell back suddenly as if 
 
 1 i Kings v. ii ; 2 Chron. ii. 10. 
 
38 GALILEE I*T THE TIME OF CHRIST. 
 
 he were dead.' The cries of his attendants, however, 
 roused him ; but he despaired of recovery, and returned 
 to Jericho to die. 
 
 In the affair of John's monopolising the oil trade 
 of Gischala which Josephus condemns, Graetz takes 
 decidedly the part of the former against the latter. 
 Indeed, Graetz is throughout a bitter opponent of Jose- 
 phus 1 . On p. 392 he says that the Galileans sold to the 
 Phoenicians- and Syrians their surplus oil, and received 
 therefrom a large revenue. On p. 394 he states that 
 the Galileans did not sell their surplus oil to their heathen 
 neighbours, because it was forbidden to transport the 
 means of life oil and wine out of the Jewish country. 
 
 The theory has been put forth by some, and stoutly 
 maintained, that Christ was an Essene. But Christ, as 
 we learn from Mark vi. 13, Luke x. 34, and many other 
 passages, commended the use of oil in sickness, in 
 anointing the body, and in every way according to the 
 customs of the time ; while the Essenes renounced the 
 use of oil altogether. Josephus says positively that 
 ' they consider oil defiling ; and should any one acci- 
 dentally come into contact with it,, he wipes his body 2 .' 
 These facts go far towards settling the question whether 
 Christ was an Essene. 
 
 2. Certain Places noted for Particular Productions or 
 Manufactured Articles. Our limits do not allow us to 
 speak of the grain-production and other industries of 
 this province with any great detail. We can only pass 
 hastily in review the names of some of its prosperous 
 towns, and speak of the manufactured articles or agri- 
 1 Graetz, HI. p. 397. 2 Wars, II. viii. 3. 
 
PRODUCTIONS AND MANUFACTURES. 39 
 
 cultural and other productions for which each was cele- 
 brated. If the evidence on these points which we derive 
 from the Talmud does not all refer to the time of Christ, 
 or the first century (which cannot easily be decided), it 
 shows, at least, that in contrast with Judaea, Galilee had 
 decidedly the advantage in regard to agricultural pro- 
 ducts and industries of all kinds. 
 
 The figs, grapes, and other fruits of the Plain of 
 Gennesareth had a national reputation for their superior 
 quality. The very name Gischala (gush chaleb, * fat 
 soil ') suggested the richness of that region. The people 
 living there were mostly farmers. The region about 
 Safed was noted for its fertility, as was also that about 
 Banias. A portion of this northern district is still cele- 
 brated for its excellent wheat. Notice is taken of the 
 fact that in this province but few small cattle were raised 
 (i.e. sheep and goats), because the rich land could be put 
 to a more profitable use. These, however, were raised in 
 abundance in the waste regions of Judaea and Syria. 
 The heavy soil of the Plain of Jezreel produced superior 
 grain, which was fully equalled by that which grew in 
 the fertile fields of Gennesareth. The wheat of Chorazin 
 and Capernaum was widely celebrated. Bethshean, on 
 account of its fertility, was called the Gate of Paradise. 
 The Rabbis boast of the olives of that place, and also of 
 the fine and coarse linen garments which were there 
 manufactured. Safed was celebrated for its honey; 
 Shikmonah for its pomegranates ; Achabara for the 
 raising of pheasants. Sigona furnished the best wine ; 
 the region about Sepphoris was noted for the production 
 of grain and fruit. Rabbi Jose, who lived in Galilee, 
 
40 GALILEE IN THE TIME OF CHRIST. 
 
 said : ' For sixteen miles on either side of Sepphoris 
 there flows milk and honey.' 
 
 Large quantities of grain were stored in the towns of 
 Upper Galilee, some of which, at the time referred to, 
 was probably the tribute belonging to the Roman 
 emperor. The same was true of certain places in Lower 
 Galilee. 
 
 Grain merchants congregated at Arabah. In the 
 siege of Jotapata there was no lack * of all kinds of 
 provisions, except salt and water.' Magdala boasted of 
 three hundred shops where pigeons for the sacrifices 
 were sold. About this place the indigo plant flourished 
 then, as now, and the Talmud calls it ' the city of colour.' 
 More literally, one portion of the city was called ' the 
 tower of dyers,' and here were eighty shops where fine 
 woollen cloth was made. Arbela, also, was celebrated 
 for the manufacture of cloth. 
 
 Abundance of flax was raised in Galilee, and the linen 
 fabrics made here by the women were of unusual fineness 
 and beauty. A peculiar kind of vessel was necessary for 
 preserving oil, and of the manufacture of this Galilee 
 seems to have had a monopoly. Kefr Chananyah and 
 Sichin ( Asochis ?) were the most noted places for earthen 
 vessels and pots. ' The pots made at Sichin, as well as 
 those made at Kefr Chananyah, are well baked and 
 solid.' ' The clay used in their manufacture is the dark, 
 and not the white kind.' This was the principal business 
 of the inhabitants of these two towns, and the business 
 was lucrative. * To come from selling pots in Kefr 
 Chananyah,' was a proverbial saying, equivalent to the 
 French proverb, ' To carry water to the river.' 
 
PRODUCTIONS AND MANUFACTURES. 4] 
 
 As to these pots made from black clay, it is possible 
 that certain fragments of ancient pottery recently dug 
 up at Jerusalem have some connection with them, at 
 least to the kind of ivare alluded to. In the Birket 
 Israil certain curious vases were found, ' all of an 
 extremely hard, massive, black ware, coated in three 
 instances with a dark crimson glaze, perhaps produced 
 by cinnabar 1 .' 
 
 We may add that in some of the ancient mounds 
 which exist in Palestine and about old ruins the debris 
 is composed largely of broken pottery. This is of many 
 colours ; but while the red is the prevalent kind, in a 
 few localities the black exists almost to the exclusion of 
 every other variety. 
 
 Galilee must have been largely affected by the 
 commerce and other business interests of Phoenicia. 
 Twenty miles from the Mediterranean would, at almost 
 any point, take one into the heart of Galilee ; and the 
 inhabitants of these two sections, living in such close 
 proximity to each other, were, no doubt, to a great 
 extent, identical in their interests. It was not a small 
 matter for the Galileans to be thus situated at the very 
 gates of the markets of the world. The ships of the 
 people who controlled so largely the trade and commerce 
 of all civilised lands were at their very doors. Strabo 
 says of the people of Tyre, ' the great number and 
 magnitude of their colonies and cities are proofs of their 
 maritime skill and power.' 
 
 The purple dye of Tyre had a world-wide celebrity on 
 account of the durability of its beautiful tints, and its 
 
 1 Recovery ofjenisalcm, p. 374. 
 
42 GALILEE IN THE TIME OF CHRIST. 
 
 manufacture proved a source of abundant wealth to the 
 inhabitants of that city. Homer speaks of Sidon as 
 'abounding in works of brass/ and praises it for the 
 drinking-vessels of gold and silver which its skilful 
 workmen had made. From this city, even in his time, 
 came the choicest works of art, and the most costly 
 offerings to the gods were the product of its looms. 
 Both these cities were crowded with glass-shops, dyeing 
 and weaving establishments ; and among their cunning 
 workmen not the least important class were those 
 who were celebrated for the engraving of precious 
 stones 1 . 
 
 The Phoenicians were renowned in ancient times for 
 the manufacture of glass, and some of the specimens of 
 their work that have been preserved are still the wonder 
 of mankind. Here and elsewhere it was produced in 
 such abundance that before the commencement of our 
 era glass was in ordinary use for drinking vessels, 
 and a glass bowl could be bought for a penny. On 
 the other hand, so much skill had been devoted to its 
 manufacture that elegant and costly articles were 
 produced, and for a single pair of vases Nero paid a 
 sum equal to four thousand five hundred pounds. It is 
 a noticeable fact that Galilee's own (original) coast, near 
 the river Belus, including the bed of that stream, 
 furnished the sand for the glass-shops of the world. 
 ' Numerous ships ' came here to convey this sand to 
 other ports, Tyre, Sidon, and Alexandria, where, for a 
 long period, the most famous workshops of this kind 
 existed. The supply was said to be inexhaustible. 
 
 J 2 Chron. ii. 7, 14. 
 
PRODUCTIONS AND MANUFACTURES. 43 
 
 In the matter of shipping, whether ship-building be 
 thought of, or traffic upon the sea, Phoenicia surpassed 
 all other nations. This fact made that people the 
 connecting link between the civilisation of the East 
 and the vast and unknown regions of the West. 
 Their ships went to all parts of the world as then 
 known ; and news of remote peoples, conquests, and 
 discoveries would be brought first to Phoenicia, and 
 disseminated among themselves and their immediate 
 neighbours. 
 
 The commerce and business of Phoenicia would bring 
 wealth, and wealth would bring power and ease, and in 
 time a luxurious mode of life, which could not fail to 
 influence in some degree the people of the hill-country 
 only a few miles away. Flax for its looms, timber for 
 its ships, corn, wine, oil, wheat, barley, sheep and cattle 
 to feed its inhabitants, as well as for export to other 
 countries, would be largely furnished by its nearest 
 neighbour, Galilee, which was especially favoured in the 
 production of all these staple articles of consumption 
 and merchandise 1 . 
 
 3. Fisheries of the Sea of Galilee. We have yet to 
 speak of the fisheries of the Sea of Galilee. The sea 
 abounded in fish of the choicest kinds. The southern 
 portion of the lake, especially, was in the time of Christ 
 one of the finest fishing-grounds in the world. Some 
 varieties caught here were similar to those found in 
 the Nile ; while other varieties were peculiar to this 
 lake alone. 
 
 Not only Tarichaea, but Bethsaida also (if it really 
 
 1 See Acts xii. 20. 
 
44 GALILEE IN THE TIME OF CHRIST. 
 
 means, as some claim, ' house of fish '), and to these 
 Keim would add Chorazin, derived their names from 
 the business of fishing ; and all the cities about the lake 
 sent forth their fishermen by hundreds over its surface. 
 Tarichaea was noted for its extensive fish factories. 
 Here fish were prepared and packed, and, it has 
 been inferred with some reason, shipped to all parts 
 of the country and to the different cities about the 
 Mediterranean. They were sought as luxuries in the 
 market-places of Jerusalem. This trade in fish had 
 enriched the citizens of Tarichaea ; and people came 
 even from Jerusalem, especially just before the great 
 feasts, to fish in these waters, and thus provide means 
 of support for the millions who on those occasions 
 flocked to the Temple. 
 
 This fishing-ground was free to all, so long as one by 
 his nets, hooks, or other means of catching the fish did 
 not interfere with the passage of boats. By a common 
 law of the land, dating, as was supposed, from the time 
 of Joshua, this ground could not be monopolised. 
 
 In Christ's time the Jews distinguished sharply be- 
 tween clean and unclean fish. This is, no doubt, alluded 
 to in the phrase, * They gathered the good into vessels, 
 but cast the bad away 1 ;' for if TO, /mAa in this passage 
 means those that are good and of choice quality, ra 
 (TdTTpa must mean the opposite, or those of inferior or 
 poor quality. Without violence to the passage, we may 
 say that this phrase indicates that the fish-merchants 
 about the lake and in the distant markets where these 
 fish were sent, demanded the choicest kinds. And the 
 
 1 Malt. xiii. 48. 
 
 
PRODUCTIONS AND MANUFACTURES. 45 
 
 Gospels themselves furnish evidence enough to show 
 that this business in Christ's time was extensive and 
 profitable T . 
 
 But it is, probably, next to impossible for us a f . the 
 present day to appreciate the extent of this particular 
 industry of the Sea of Galilee in the time of our Lord. 
 The same may be said of this business in Egypt in 
 ancient times, with regard to which the following facts 
 are interesting, and, in a sense, illustrative of our subject. 
 Wilkinson, partly on the statements of Herodotus and 
 Diodorus, reports the annual income of the fisheries of 
 Lake Mceris and its sluices which led to the Nile as 
 ^70.700, while at present the annual revenue from the 
 fish of Lake Mceris is only about 102 2 . 
 
 1 Matt. iv. 1 8, 21 ; Luke v. 2-10 ; John xxi. i-n, and elsewhere. 
 
 2 Ancient Egyptians, 2nd edit., III. p. 64. 
 
4 6 
 
 IX. 
 
 THE SEA OF GALILEE A Focus OF LIFE AND 
 ACTIVITY. 
 
 A MERE glance at the life of the lake is all that we 
 can devote to this topic, before we pass on to consider 
 the cities lying about it and those that were scattered 
 throughout the province. In those days the sea was 
 covered with ships and boats, engaged either in fishing 
 or traffic, or carrying travellers or parties of pleasure 
 from shore to shore. * Merchants come and go from 
 Hippos to Tiberias.' Hippos was on the east side of the 
 lake, and Tiberias on the west. Once, when Josephus 
 planned a certain movement against Tiberias, which was 
 to start by water from Tarichaea, he collected for the 
 purpose at that point, apparently in a short time, two 
 hundred and thirty ships from the vicinity of Tarichaea 
 alone. He says in his Life, that 'the sight of the lake 
 covered with these vessels struck the Tiberians with 
 terror.' Later, when this city expected an attack from 
 the Romans, the citizens got ready a great number of 
 vessels, to which they might flee in case of a repulse. 
 The day went against them, and they fled to their ships ; 
 in these they made a bold resistance, and cost the 
 Romans a fierce and bloody struggle before they could 
 be overcome. That is a bloody sea-fight in which from 
 
THE SEA OF GALILEE. 47 
 
 four to six thousand are slaughtered on one side alone, 
 as was the case here, and not a 'sharp skirmish,' as 
 one has termed this event. As all could hardly have 
 perished, the number of Jews killed is a hint, at least, 
 that the number of ships on the side of the Tarichaeans 
 was large. We are speaking of Tarichaea alone ; but 
 when we think of all the cities and towns by which the 
 lake was surrounded, we can easily understand that in 
 Christ's time its ships and boats were very numerous. 
 The difference between ships and the small boats which 
 are attached to them is clearly brought out in the Greek 
 of John xxi. 3, 6, 8. The phrase in Josephus ' climbing 
 up into their ships,' is a significant hint as to the size of 
 some of their vessels. And as to the appearance of the 
 lake then : ' when we add to the fishermen the crowd of 
 ship-builders, the many boats of traffic, pleasure, and 
 passage, we see that the whole basin must have been a 
 focus of life and energy ; the surface of the lake con- 
 stantly dotted with the white sails of vessels flying before 
 the mountain gusts, as the beach sparkled with the 
 houses and palaces, the synagogues and temples of the 
 Jewish or Roman inhabitants 1 .' 
 
 1 Sinai and Palestine, p. 367. 
 
X. 
 
 THE NOTED CITIES AND TOWNS OF GALILEE. 
 
 IF now we turn to the cities and inhabitants of this 
 province, we shall find a country whose surface was 
 dotted with flourishing towns, and covered with a dense 
 population. From the Gospels themselves, we should 
 expect to find here numerous 'cities and villages,' 
 swarms of people, activity and energy, much wealth, 
 and in some cases even luxury. 
 
 Beginning with the Sea of Galilee, we find upon 
 its shores no less than nine cities, while numerous 
 large villages could be counted on the plains and 
 hillsides around. Not far from Tiberias lay Bethmaus, 
 where was a synagogue. About an hour's walk, or a 
 little more than that, below the baths of Tiberias lay 
 Tarichsea, where the fish business was, as we have seen, 
 extensively carried on. The lake reached to the walls 
 on two of its sides. Of the sea-fight there we have 
 already spoken. At that time many thousands of the 
 inhabitants were slain : six thousand robust young men 
 were sent to Corinth to work on the canal which Nero 
 was cutting through the Isthmus there, and thirty 
 thousand more were sold as slaves. This place had 
 had a hard fortune; for in B.C. 51 Cassius took it, 
 and carried into slavery thirty thousand of its inhabi- 
 
NOTED CITIES AND TOWNS OF GALILEE. 49 
 
 tants. It was called a larger place than Tiberias. 
 Josephus was brought there by sea (probably because 
 the distance was considerable, and because Tiberias 
 was unfriendly to him) the night after he was wounded 
 near Capernaum. From a passage in Josephus, where 
 he states that * materials for rafts were abundant ' and 
 ' workmen were numerous,' we gather that one of the 
 important industries of the city was ship-building. 
 
 Near Tarichsea, and just below the point where the 
 Jordan leaves the lake, there was a splendid bridge 
 across the river, supported by ten piers, and thronged 
 by soldiers, citizens, and merchant-caravans from the 
 rich plains and cities of the Decapolis, which lay to 
 the east. 
 
 Three or four miles from the Jordan, after crossing it, 
 on the eastern shore of the lake, was situated a town 
 which some scholars are inclined to identify with 
 Hippos, an important city of the district ruled by 
 Herod Agrippa II., a place where he sometimes resided, 
 and one that obtained considerable notoriety in the 
 Jewish war. But a more probable supposition as to 
 the site of Hippos, and the one which, in consequence 
 of our recent investigations, we are inclined to favour, is 
 that it is identical with the modern Fik. Still further 
 northward along the shore last mentioned, was situate 
 Gamala, called Camel, from the peculiar shape or outline 
 of the hill on which it stood. It was a little south of 
 east from Tiberias, and its walls and towers commanded 
 a fine view of the lake below and of the country on 
 every side. The Talmud reckoned it as a city of 
 Galilee. Josephus did not overrate the character of 
 
 D 
 
50 GALILEE IN THE TIME OF CHRIST. 
 
 this place when he called it ' the strongest city in 
 that part.' It was noted likewise for the bravery of 
 its inhabitants. This fact, combined with its ' strong 
 natural defences,' enabled it to withstand a siege of 
 seven months from Agrippa II., after it had revolted 
 from the Romans. Vespasian at last led against it 
 three veteran and famous legions, the 5th, loth, and 
 1 5th, but they were vigorously repulsed, Agrippa was 
 wounded, and Vespasian himself was once surrounded 
 by the enemy and in imminent danger of losing his 
 life. At length, however, the tide turned against the 
 Jews, the fortress was subdued, and the garrison and 
 citizens were terribly punished. 
 
 A short distance farther north, on the left, or south 
 bank, of what is now called Wady Semakh, was Gergesa, 
 near which was the scene of the demoniacs and the herd 
 of swine 1 . Passing on up the eastern side of the lake, to 
 about one mile above where the Jordan enters it, one 
 would reach the Eastern Bethsaida. Herod Philip, the 
 tetrarch, had transformed this place from a fisherman's 
 village into a beautiful and flourishing city, and given it 
 a royal name, Julias, in honour of Julia, the daughter 
 of Augustus ; and here, in a magnificent and costly 
 tomb, which he built for himself, Philip was buried 
 A. D. 33. It was near this city that Christ fed the five 
 thousand with the five loaves and two fishes, and, after 
 sending the multitudes away, retired to the neighbouring 
 hill to pray 2 . From this place, after crossing the Jordan, 
 to Tiberias, our starting-point, the distance is only four, 
 or perhaps six, hours' ride ; yet, within this limited space, 
 1 Matt. viii. 28-34. 2 Luke ix - 10-17. 
 
 
NOTED CITIES AND TOWNS OF GALILEE. 51 
 
 along the north-western and western shore of the lake, 
 were situated in the time of Christ no less than four 
 flourishing cities or towns, namely : Chorazin, the 
 Western Bethsaida, Capernaum, and Magdala. If, 
 however, we may judge from the ruins existing at 
 the present time, there were at least seven instead 
 of four such towns within the distance here indicated. 
 From this Western Bethsaida, which was a beautiful 
 * city,' TTO'AIS, by the sea, three disciples were called 
 Philip, Andrew, and Peter, and this may also have been 
 the home of Zebedee and his two sons, the apostles 
 James and John. John calls it Bethsaida in Galilee, to 
 distinguish it from the other 1 . It was intimately con- 
 nected with many events in the life of Christ. The 
 fine wheat-fields about Chorazin and Capernaum we 
 have already noticed. To the names now given should 
 be added another, that of Beth-Arbel, or Arbela, as it 
 was also called in Christ's time, distant about one hour 
 from Tiberias, and lying west of Magdala. It had been 
 celebrated as a stronghold from the days of Hosea 2 . 
 Josephus speaks of its fortified caves, which at many 
 periods, but especially in the early days of Herod the 
 Great, were the hiding-places of robbers. Its situation 
 was important, as it commanded the road from Carmel, 
 Ptolemais, and Southern Galilee to Damascus. In B. c. 
 39, after Herod was made king, he crushed these 
 robbers by a bold and thorough stroke, perfectly 
 characteristic of the man. 
 
 Magdala was also, as we have already seen, a 
 flourishing city of this densely populated region ; the 
 
 1 John i. 44; xii. 21. 2 Hosea x. 14. 
 
 D 2 
 
52 GALILEE IN THE TIME OF CHRIST. 
 
 name has been immortalised in every language of 
 Christendom as denoting the birth-place of Mary 
 Magdalene, or better, Mary of Magdala. Chorazin, 
 Bethsaida, and Capernaum were those in which ' most ' 
 of the Master's ' mighty works were done,' and which, 
 ' because they repented not 1 ,' He felt it necessary to 
 ' upbraid ' and denounce. Capernaum was for nearly 
 three years the home of Jesus. Here all the elements 
 of Christ's character were exhibited as in no pther 
 place. His own words throw much light on the 
 condition of the city at that time. It was one of the 
 chief points on the great caravan route, already referred 
 to, leading from Egypt and the sea-coast to Damascus. 
 It had its custom-house, its numerous tax-gatherers, its 
 Roman garrison, its schools, and its costly synagogue 2 . 
 Besides the places already mentioned as lying on 
 or near the shore of the lake, we have yet to speak 
 of Tiberias, on the west side, and which, probably, 
 surpassed any one of the others, both in political and 
 social importance (both Capernaum and Tarichaea may 
 have equalled if not surpassed Tiberias in commercial 
 importance), as well as in the richness and splendour 
 of its buildings. With a decided Roman taste, Antipas 
 (B.C. 4-A.D. 39) had lavished upon it vast sums of 
 money to make it a perfect city. Here, close by the 
 warm springs, and bathed by the blue waters of the 
 lake, this luxurious and worldly Herod, the murderer 
 of John the Baptist, had built magnificent Grecian 
 colonnades, Roman gates, splendid public buildings, 
 including his palace, and adorned the city with marble 
 1 Matt. xi. 20-24. 2 Luke iv. 31. 
 
NOTED CITIES AND TOWNS OF GALILEE. 53 
 
 statues, and sought to appease the Jewish portion of 
 the citizens, to whom these things were no doubt very 
 distasteful, by building for them perhaps the finest 
 synagogue in all the north, ' in whose colossal basilica 
 during the period of the revolution the assemblies of 
 the people were held.' The Bov\-tj, or council of nobles, 
 of Tiberias numbered in the time of the Jewish war 
 six hundred members. Previous to the building of 
 Tiberias, Sepphoris had been the chief city of Galilee. 
 Lewin thinks that Antipas built Tiberias a few years 
 before Christ began His public ministry, about A.D. 27. 
 There had been either a battle here, or else an old 
 burying-ground, for the workmen came upon quantities 
 of human bones, which made the place unclean to the 
 stricter Jews. It is supposed that Christ never visited 
 this city ; for which two reasons are suggested : I, He 
 may have shared in the feeling of the orthodox Jews ; 
 or, 2, He may have wished to avoid Antipas 1 . In the 
 time of Agrippa II. Tiberias was degraded below 
 Sepphoris, and on this account there must have been 
 some feeling between the citizens of the two places. 
 Vespasian did not dare approach Tiberias, which had 
 been fortified by Josephus, with less than three legions 
 of his best troops. The old prejudice on account of the 
 bones at last died out, and the Rabbis have a tradition 
 as to how the city was made pure. Sailors formed 
 quite a class among its inhabitants. The place was the 
 scene of many important events in the Jewish war. 
 But from the Jordan to the sea-coast, scattered every - 
 
 1 For the Jewish law violated in connection with these bones, see Ant., 
 XVIII. ii. 3. 
 
54 GALILEE IN THE TIME OF CHRIST. 
 
 where among the hills, were numerous towns and cities, 
 many of which were of great importance ; we may 
 mention Gischala, Kadesh, Safed, Caesarea Philippi 
 (Paneas), Cana, Ramah, Gabara, Jotapata, Japha, 
 Gabatha, Zabulon, Hazor, Rimmon, Nazareth, Tabor, 
 Sepphoris ; and in the south Bethshean (Scythopolis), 
 and possibly Gadara. It must not be supposed that this 
 list embraces all of even the important places of Galilee, 
 for Josephus states that it had two hundred and four 
 cities and villages, the smallest of which numbered 
 about fifteen thousand inhabitants. Tarichaea had forty 
 thousand, and Scythopolis about the same number. 
 Japha was the largest * village ' in Galilee, and strongly 
 fortified. Zabulon was one of the largest cities in the 
 north, and built in elegant style. It was ' a town of 
 admirable beauty,' and ' its houses were built on the 
 model of those of Tyre, Sidon, and Berytus.' This 
 remark of Josephus will be significant when we add the 
 statement of Strabo, that the houses of Tyre were many 
 stories in height, ' more even than at Rome,' where 
 Augustus, to check the passion for erecting lofty 
 dwellings, decreed that buildings along the public ways 
 at least should not exceed seventy feet in height. From 
 the language we are to infer that, remote from the streets, 
 they were still higher, and, of course, in other respects 
 their elegant or magnificent character would correspond. 
 Jotapata was 'the strongest of the cities fortified by 
 Josephus.' Mount Tabor was a stronghold. There 
 was a fortress on it at least from B.C. 218 to A.D. 70, 
 which, however, dated probably from the early history of 
 the country. In B.C. 218 it was taken by Antiochus the 
 
NOTED CITIES AND TOWNS OF GALILEE. 55 
 
 Great, and in B.C. 55 Alexander, son of Aristobuliis, and 
 rival of Antipater, the father of Herod the Great, rallied 
 his forces at Mount Tabor, but was defeated by Gabinius, 
 and ten thousand of his men (i.e. Jews) were slain. This 
 beautiful and conspicuous natural object, with its walls, 
 towers and roofs, may well have been the ' city set upon 
 a hill.' Safed, because of its lofty situation, was visible 
 from the shores of the Sea of Galilee. Later, Safed and 
 Tiberias formed two of the four sacred cities of the Jews ; 
 the two others were Hebron and Jerusalem. Sepphoris 
 was of great importance. It was called ' the security of 
 all Galilee.' Here were the public archives of the 
 province, after they were removed from Tiberias in the 
 time of Agrippa II., and here also was a royal magazine 
 of arms. Some of these cities were built on the summits 
 of hills, or, in other cases, on the brows of the mountains, 
 and, when seen from afar, were compared to 'birds 
 resting upon lofty nests.' Many of those places that 
 were strongly fortified were celebrated for severe and 
 bloody struggles during the Jewish war, and for the 
 bravery of their inhabitants fighting to the death for 
 their country and homes. 
 
 Caesarea Philippi deserves special notice. ' It was the 
 famous seat of idol-worship for many ages.' Its present 
 name, Banias, is a corruption of Panes, which com- 
 memorates the worship of the Greek god Pan. But the 
 name Paneas is in turn but a corruption of the far more 
 ancient name Balinas, which commemorates the worship 
 here of Baal ten and perhaps fifteen centuries before the 
 place was even known to the Greeks. The old inhabi- 
 tants of the land could hardly have selected a more 
 
56 GALILEE IN THE TIME OF CHRIST. 
 
 charming locality than this as a religious centre. On 
 account of its scenery alone it had been a place of note 
 from the earliest times. It has been spoken of as ' the 
 finest spot in the Holy Land ; ' far up among, or rather 
 under, the hills, beneath Hermon's 'eternal tent of 
 snow,' with its castles and palaces, its grotto-sanctuary 
 of Pan, and its marble gods, with scenery both pic- 
 turesque and grand, it might well be esteemed as 
 'beautiful for situation.' 
 
 West and south of the town stretched the great Huleh 
 Plain and the Lake w r hich was known in earlier times as 
 ' the waters of Merom,' whose shores were the scene of 
 one of the greatest battles of Joshua's time, when the 
 tribes of Northern Canaan massed their forces warriors, 
 horses and chariots ' even as the sand that is upon 
 the sea-shore in multitude 1 ,' for a final and desperate 
 conflict with the invader. Seven centuries later these 
 shores were desolated by the conquering army of Tiglath 
 Pileser, King of Assyria 2 . Two centuries before Christ 
 (B.C. 198) a great battle was fought immediately before 
 this town between Scopas, the general of Ptolemy 
 Epiphanes, and Antiochus the Great, in which a large 
 part of Scopas' army was destroyed. This battle is 
 specially memorable and interesting in the annals of 
 Palestine because in it elephants were extensively used, 
 which must have caused terror to the people of Upper 
 Galilee who either witnessed or engaged in the struggle. 
 
 The 'grotto-sanctuary' just referred to, was, as Jose- 
 phus describes it, * a very fine cave in a mountain, under 
 which there is a great cavity in the earth, and the cavern 
 
 1 Josh. xi. 4. 2 2 Kings xv. 29. 
 
NOTED CITIES AND TOWNS OF GALILEE. 57 
 
 is abrupt, and prodigiously deep, and full of still water ; 
 over it hangs a vast mountain, and under the caverns 
 arise the springs of the Jordan 1 .' In the parallel passage 
 in the Wars' 2 , he describes * a yawning chasm' in the 
 cave, * which descends to an immeasurable depth, con- 
 taining a vast collection of still water, hitherto found 
 unfathomable by any length of line.' Herod the Great 
 adorned this place, ' which was already a remarkable 
 one,' still further, by the erection of a beautiful temple 
 of white marble, which he dedicated to Augustus. Under 
 Herod Philip the place was greatly enlarged, and it 
 enjoyed perhaps its most flourishing period, although 
 it retained its importance throughout the first century at 
 least. 
 
 Eastward from the town, towards Damascus, ran one 
 of the main highways of the country, which from the 
 days of Abraham had been a favourite route for invading 
 armies. By a law of the land, these roads were of such 
 width that chariots could meet and pass each other 
 without difficulty or danger. On the north side of this 
 highway, three miles from Caesarea Philippi, stood one 
 of the strongest castles in Syria, from whose walls and 
 towers the beholder could look down on the Lake and 
 Plain, and up to the highlands of Galilee that rose 
 beyond. The public road, after crossing the Plain, 
 divided and led up over the hills in two directions, one 
 branch going to Sidon and the other to Tyre. Both 
 roads were guarded by castles situated at the most 
 commanding points. That on the road to Tyre was in 
 full view from that above Banias, and as in those days 
 1 Ant., XV. x. 3. 8 I. xxi. 3. 
 
58 GALILEE IN THE TIME OF CHRIST. 
 
 means for signalling from point to point were well known, 
 the soldiers in these two fortresses in times of danger 
 or in moments of victory no doubt by this means 
 communicated with each other across the great Plain 
 below. 
 
 This place has borne in history no less than seven 
 different names, although Caesarea Philippi is the only 
 one by which it is known in the New Testament, called 
 thus to distinguish it from its sister city on the sea-coast. 
 About the commencement of our era it had likewise a 
 variety of masters. It is a curious but interesting fact 
 that in the year 36 B.C. this town, and the region about 
 it, were owned by the fascinating but infamous Cleopatra, 
 having been bestowed upon her by the infatuated Antony. 
 After her death it was farmed out to Zenodorus, a petty 
 ruler, who disgraced his office by his intrigues with the 
 robbers of the desert. On his death, in B.C. 20, Herod 
 the Great came into possession of it, by whom it was 
 bequeathed to his son Herod Philip, He died in A.D. 
 33, when it reverted to the Emperor Tiberius, and was 
 attached to the Roman province of Syria. Scarcely 
 four years passed before it was given by Caligula, in 
 A.D. 37, to Herod Agrippa I., who died in A.D. 44. This 
 is the person called in Acts xii. i, 'Herod the King,' 
 who died, as there narrated, a terrible death at Caesarea 
 on the sea-coast. For nineteen years subsequent to his 
 death it was under the dominion of the procurators 
 Cuspius Fadus, Tiberius Alexander, and Cumanus. At 
 last it was bestowed upon Herod Agrippa II. in A.D. 53, 
 to whom it belonged during the Jewish war, or from 
 A.D. 66 to A.D. 70, 
 
NOTED CITIES AND TOWNS OF GALILEE. 59 
 
 In A. D. 67, after the destruction of Jotapata, and 
 Galilee was practically subdued, King Agrippa II. 
 invited Vespasian to Caesarea Philippi, and entertained 
 him, it is said, ' in the best manner his resources per- 
 mitted.' Here the Roman general ' rested his troops 
 for twenty days, and enjoyed himself in festivities, 
 presenting thank-offerings to God for his success,' i. e. 
 over the patriots of Galilee. This was in midsummer, 
 and his son Titus was with him during this interval of 
 relaxation from their work of conquest. Three years 
 later, in A.D. 70, after Vespasian had gone to Rome, Titus, 
 who had taken Jerusalem, went again to Caesarea Philippi, 
 and remained some time, exhibiting public spectacles of 
 various kinds. Very many of the Jewish prisoners taken 
 at Jerusalem were brought hither at this time, and de- 
 stroyed in the most violent and cruel manner. Some 
 were thrown to wild beasts, while others, in large bodies, 
 were compelled to encounter one another in combat.' 
 
 These facts show, on the one hand, that this place 
 possessed unusual attractions, while, on the other, these 
 scenes and deeds of cruelty and blood, which the Romans 
 enjoyed, and even looked upon as sport, only add to 
 the chequered history of this ancient town, which has 
 witnessed almost every variety of fortune that cities or 
 men can experience. 
 
 The interest of these few historical facts, as connected 
 with this place, will be greatly enhanced, it seems to us, 
 when we consider that Caesarea Philippi was visited by 
 our Lord, and that one of the foot-hills of Hermon, 
 overlooking the region as well as the town itself, was 
 the scene of the Transfiguration. This single fact would 
 
60 GALILEE IN THE TIME OF CHRIST. 
 
 make it one of the most sacred localities in the Holy 
 Land. It was here that Christ questioned His disciples 
 as to His own character : ' Whom do men say that I, 
 the Son of Man, am l ? ' On the one hand, before their 
 eyes as they sat and spoke together, were the military 
 power of Rome and pagan idolatry in its most fascinat- 
 ing forms, and on the other Christ and His disciples, a 
 humble band ; but the Master utters to one of them 
 the notable words : ' Thou art Peter, and upon this 
 rock I will build My Church ; and the gates of hell 
 shall not prevail against it:' a prediction of ultimate 
 triumph in the face of what to human wisdom must 
 have seemed insurmountable obstacles. This city, 
 famous for the visits and works of kings, emperors, 
 and victorious generals, was honoured also by the 
 presence of Jesus of Nazareth. This is, however, but 
 one of the many strange contrasts which meet us 
 almost at every turn as we study the history of this 
 land of marvels. 
 
 The terrible energy with which the Galileans defended 
 Jotapata in the Jewish war ought never to be forgotten. 
 Vespasian tried to starve them out, but could not. The 
 valley about it was so deep that the sight failed on 
 looking down into it. 
 
 The citizens of Gadara fought at Tarichsea. It was 
 taken by Vespasian, burned, and the inhabitants mas- 
 sacred. 
 
 Cana was perhaps Cana of Galilee, a place memorable 
 to the Christian, where Josephus was at one time when 
 summoned to Tiberias 2 . 
 
 1 Matt. xvi. 13. 2 Life, XVI., XVII. 
 
NOTED CITIES AND TOWNS OF GALILEE. 6 1 
 
 Sepphoris was the seat of one of the Five Councils 
 which Gabinius established to govern the nation ; it 
 was a place of strength, and had an arsenal. The 
 Talmud mentions an 'upper' and a Mower' town. 
 
 At Scythopolis the I5th legion wintered after Jotapata. 
 Josephus makes it belong to the Decapolis, of which 
 ' it was the largest city ; ' but commercially it belonged 
 to the region of the Sea of Galilee. Both the Talmud 
 and Josephus agree in this. Scythopolis, and certain 
 places east of the Sea of Galilee, which are usually 
 reckoned to Peraea, the Talmud counts to Galilee. But 
 even if we had not this authority, the fact that they lay 
 on or near the shore of the Lake, and would therefore 
 add very much to its life and business, is sufficient 
 reason for mentioning them in our estimate of Galilee. 
 
XL 
 
 JOSEPHUS' STATEMENT AS TO THE NUMBER OF 
 TOWNS AND INHABITANTS PROBABLY CORRECT. 
 
 WE are fully justified in saying that the country at the 
 time now under consideration was dotted with flourish- 
 ing cities and villages, and densely settled with an 
 industrious and enterprising people. Josephus' state- 
 ment that Galilee contained two hundred and four 
 cities and villages, the smallest of which numbered above 
 fifteen thousand inhabitants 1 , which would raise the 
 population to upwards of three millions, has been often 
 quoted ; but the truth of it has been almost universally 
 denied, or at least doubted. It ought not to be over- 
 looked, however, that very many of those who have 
 questioned or disputed his testimony have not always 
 been scrupulous to quote his exact language ; for instance, 
 Dr. SchafT, in a note to Lange on Luke 2 , says, 'four 
 hundred and four cities and villages ; ' McClintock and 
 Strong 3 say, ' two hundred and forty cities and villages ; ' 
 Graetz 4 says, ' smallest city has fifteen thousand inhabi- 
 tants/ which is not the language of Josephus ; and 
 Keim says, ' according to Josephus' incredible statement' 
 Jahn reads ' two hundred and four cities and towns, the 
 largest of which had one hundred and fifty thousand 
 
 1 Life, XLV. 2 Page 49, col. i. 
 
 " Cydopcedia, vol. iii. p. 717, col. 2, art. ' Galilee.' 4 III. p. 392. 
 
NUMBER OF TOWNS AND INHABITANTS. 63 
 
 and the smallest fifteen thousand inhabitants,' as if from 
 Josephus, but the statement is not in Josephus at all. 
 
 We propose to give several reasons, never before 
 presented, why the statement of Josephus should be 
 regarded as probably correct and reliable. 
 
 1. Josephus, as the military governor of Galilee, was 
 intelligent, shrewd, and capable ; and he would be likely 
 to know thoroughly the resources of his own province. 
 Besides, this was at a very critical period, when the 
 national existence was at stake, and when it was neces- 
 sary that the entire strength of the country should be 
 rallied for defence. 
 
 2. This statement of his was made in a letter which 
 he wrote to his enemies or rivals, who had been sent 
 from Jerusalem to supersede him in his command, who 
 were likewise familiar with the country, and who would 
 have detected him in any misstatement of that kind. 
 
 This fact we regard as of great weight, in reference to 
 which we may appropriately quote Josephus' own words, 
 used on another occasion, that ' to publish a falsehood 
 among such as could at once detect it, would be to insure 
 disgrace.' 
 
 3. Josephus raised without difficulty an army ' of 
 above a hundred thousand young men.' It appears 
 from the same passage that, in addition to these troops, 
 there were garrisons in the various fortresses which the 
 general had repaired and strengthened. Nineteen such 
 places are mentioned as having been fortified by Jose- 
 phus, or by his orders. Besides, he is particular to say 
 'young men,' showing that the supply of men was so 
 great as to make it unnecessary, even in this extreme 
 
64 GALILEE IN THE TIME OF CHRIST. 
 
 national emergency, to call upon boys or old men, or 
 others still, who were unfit for military duty. Without 
 doing any violence to the language of Josephus, we 
 might conclude from it that, in addition to the men 
 under arms, there was another body equal in number to 
 these, who were * detained at home to provide supplies ' 
 for those in the field. Indeed, Jost, in his Geschichte 
 der Israeliten, makes the number of men enrolled to be 
 two hundred thousand, which the words of Josephus 
 seem to justify, and which certainly cannot be dis- 
 proved. 
 
 4. In the affair of the robbery of the steward of 
 Agrippa and Berenice, when the people of the towns 
 near Tarichsea were greatly incensed against Josephus 
 for his part in the matter, 'one hundred thousand 
 assembled in a single night to oppose him.' 
 
 5. When, after the conquest under Joshua, the four 
 tribes settled in that country which afterwards became 
 Galilee, they numbered within their limits sixty-nine 
 cities ' with their villages.' Many of these cities were 
 at that time fortified ; a fact elsewhere noticed. 
 
 6. By a census of that date, the tribes occupying this 
 territory mustered 223,600 fighting men 1 . 
 
 7. The slabs from Nineveh say that in the days of 
 Hezekiah, King of Judah, Sennacherib ' took from him 
 forty-six strong fenced cities, and of smaller towns a 
 countless number,' besides carrying off ' more than two 
 hundred thousand captives.' 
 
 8. In the year A.D. 39, when Herod Antipas was being 
 tried at Rome, charged with preparing to levy war 
 
 1 Josh. xix. 10-39. 
 
NUMBER OF TOWNS AND INHABITANTS. 65 
 
 against the Romans, it was developed in the evidence 
 that in a single armoury he had armour collected for 
 seventy thousand men. This was in a time of compara- 
 tive peace, and there is no contradiction of this impor- 
 tant testimony. What might have been its resources in 
 this respect when the whole province was rallying to 
 defend the common country ? 
 
 9. If we look forward a few years, we shall find a very 
 significant hint. One would suppose that the Jewish 
 nation in the terrible war of A. D. 66-70, so far as Pales- 
 tine was concerned, had become almost entirely extinct, 
 the towns destroyed, and the people slaughtered. Yet, 
 only sixty-three years later, an army of two hundred 
 thousand men rallied under the banner of Bar Cochab in 
 rebellion against Rome. Julius Severus, the best general 
 of the empire, was sent to crush this rebellion. He 
 reported to the emperor that the rebels were in 
 possession of fifty of the strongest castles and nine 
 hundred and eighty-five villages. This struggle, which 
 lasted probably three years, cost the Jews upwards of 
 five hundred and eighty thousand lives. The loss on 
 the part of the Romans was also terrible, insomuch that 
 Hadrian, in his despatches to the Senate announcing the 
 conclusion of the war, refrained from the usual congratu- 
 latory phrases. If the rebels had fifty strongholds and 
 nine hundred and eighty-five villages in their possession 
 in all Judaea, then in the prosperous years before A.D. 66 
 Galilee may well have had two hundred and four cities 
 and villages 1 . 
 
 1 Milman, History of the Jews, II. pp. 431-438 ; Jost, Jitdenthum, II. 
 p. 79 ; Dion Cassius, Ixix. 1 5, * Hadrian.' 
 
 E 
 
66 GALILEE IN THE TIME OF CHRIST. 
 
 ic. Captain Burton, in his Unexplored Syria, a 
 country which was full of life in Christ's time, but of 
 which very little is known from history, speaking of the 
 abundance of ruins with which the region just north 
 of Galilee is covered, says, that to one standing on 
 a certain Lebanon peak which overlooks that section, 
 'the land must in many places have appeared to be 
 one continuous town 1 .' 
 
 11. Still further north, in the 'Alah, i.e. the 'high- 
 land ' of Syria, north-east and south-east of Hamah, 
 there are three hundred and sixty-five ruined towns. 
 The Arabs declare 'that a man might formerly have 
 travelled for a year in this district, and never have slept 
 twice in the same village 2 .' 
 
 12. A remark similar to that of Captain Burton, just 
 quoted, has been made in regard to the Phoenician coast, 
 which lay west of Galilee, and with which Galilee was in 
 such close connection, namely : * It was so thickly 
 covered with towns and villages that it must have given 
 the appearance of being one unbroken city 3 .' 
 
 13. If we go east of the Jordan into Peraea and the 
 Decapolis, we find a country that in former times was 
 more thickly dotted with cities and towns than any other 
 portion of Syria of equal size, or any other section of the 
 globe. In the Hauran alone, corresponding to ancient 
 Bashan, the Arabs claim that there are one thousand of 
 these ruined places. 
 
 14. It should also be remembered that in those times 
 the cities were usually packed with people. In our day 
 
 1 I. p. 79- 2 Ibid. II. p. 1 60. 
 
 3 Schroder, Die Phonizische Sprache, 1869, Einleitung, p, 3. 
 
NUMBER OF TOWNS AND INHABITANTS. 67 
 
 we are hardly able to appreciate this fact, and certainly 
 we do not make allowance enough for it in judging of 
 the number of inhabitants of any given Eastern city 
 or country as reported in the old histories. For instance, 
 no modern city of the size of ancient Jerusalem would 
 have held, much less accommodated, the number of 
 people which often flocked there to attend the feasts. 
 A few years before the siege under Titus an estimate 
 was made, and the official return was 2,565,000 persons 
 present at the Passover. Josephus says 2,700,000, which 
 did not include many sick and defiled persons, and many 
 foreigners who had come for religious worship. Some 
 recent measurements of Dr. Thomas Chaplin, of Jerusa- 
 lem, throw much light on this apparently remarkable 
 statement of the Jewish historian. 
 
 15. Perhaps a hint may be obtained by noticing the 
 number killed in the various battles and sieges of 
 Galilee, so far as these were reported. We have 
 made a careful estimate, and find the whole number 
 to be about 1565630. This includes the prisoners, who, 
 however, except in the case of Tarichaea, were a mere 
 fraction. Several fights occurred where the number 
 of killed is not given. Further, a large number of 
 people would be destroyed in various ways in such 
 a terrible war, and no record made of the number 
 lost. If we put the whole number killed at one hundred 
 and seventy-five or two hundred thousand, it cannot 
 be regarded as an exaggeration. 
 
 In the face of such illustrative facts, the statement 
 of Josephus in regard to the cities and villages of Galilee 
 can no longer seem improbable. 
 
 E 2, 
 
68 
 
 XII. 
 CHARACTER OF THE GALILEANS. 
 
 i. Thoroughly a Jewish People. It is by no means 
 an easy task to describe minutely the character of this 
 people, numbering perhaps three millions, made up as 
 it was of many peculiar original or internal elements, 
 and wrought upon by so many peculiar influences that 
 were foreign or external to it. On the west were 
 the Phoenicians, on the north the Syrians, on the 
 south the Samaritans, and in some of the principal 
 cities of the province were strongly marked features 
 of Greco-Roman civilisation. Yet this remark in regard 
 to the existence here of Greco-Roman civilisation must 
 not be made to mean too much ; for, when all the 
 evidence on this point is collected, the real extent of 
 such a foreign element is seen to have been very 
 limited. The people preserved, as a body, their 
 thoroughly Jewish character, in spite of any foreign 
 influences tending to the contrary. It is as a Jewish 
 people that the Galileans are to be judged. This 
 fact is very significant. Those elements of national 
 character by which a people is preserved from blend- 
 ing with those with whom it comes in contact form 
 an interesting topic for study. Perhaps the tenacity 
 with which the Jew held to his religious ideas might 
 
CHARACTER OF THE GALILEANS. 69 
 
 tend to exclusiveness and bigotry. Yet while he 
 would not allow interference in the affairs of his 
 religion, he prided himself upon his noble treatment 
 of strangers ; and, as he allowed foreigners to settle 
 upon Jewish soil, so he claimed the corresponding 
 right, namely, to be allowed to go and settle wherever 
 men were. In Christ's time one might have spoken 
 with truth of the omnipresent Jew. 'The Jews had 
 made themselves homes in every country, from the 
 Tiber to the Euphrates, from the pines of the Caucasus to 
 the spice-groves of happy Arabia 1 .' A mere catalogue 
 of the cities where they had settled at that time in the 
 Far East, in Egypt, in Syria, in Greece and her islands 
 is astonishing. With but few exceptions, they seem to 
 have been everywhere a wealthy, and, in general, an 
 influential class. The decrees issued from time to time 
 by the Roman Senate, favouring or honouring the Jews 
 in the different cities of the empire, were very numerous, 
 and throw much light upon their numbers, character, 
 prosperity, and their civil and social relations and stand- 
 ing. A number of these are preserved by Josephus. If 
 one should say that the Jews were bigoted in regard to 
 religion, he should remember at the same time, that, in 
 regard to social, commercial, and political relations, none 
 were more cosmopolitan in either sentiment or practice 
 than they. And if the Jewish people deserve any credit 
 for this cosmopolitan spirit, perhaps the praise should be 
 given to the Galileans, who, on account of their peculiar 
 surroundings, must have led the way in this friendly 
 intercourse with other nations. It will be important to 
 
 1 Merivale, Romans under the Empire, III. p. 287. 
 
70 GALILEE IN THE TIME OF CHRIST. 
 
 remember this point when we come to consider the 
 religious character of this people. 
 
 Greek influence in Palestine in Christ's time can be 
 reduced, we think, to a very small amount. The decided 
 contempt of the Jews, as a nation, for all foreign 
 languages, learning, science, history, &c., would tend 
 to preserve their Jewish character, their religion, and 
 peculiar customs intact They preserved their national 
 character free from foreign influences to a far greater 
 degree than many are disposed to admit, and made 
 efforts in the first century after Christ to maintain 
 among themselves a thorough knowledge of the Biblical 
 Hebrew. 
 
 Gadara and Hippos are spoken of as Greek cities. 
 The Syrians in Scythopolis seem to have been a 
 majority. The ' Strangers ' in Tarichsea were not 
 necessarily foreigners, but new-comers, in distinction 
 from old settlers. The Greeks in Tiberias were a 
 small fraction of the whole population. In Judaea 
 also, Gaza was a Greek city, and in Caesarea both 
 Syrians and Greeks were numerous. On Syrian and 
 Phoenician cities, see Ant., XIII. xv. 4. Syrians hated 
 the Jews. 
 
 2. Chiefly an Agricultural People. Further, it is 
 chiefly as an agricultural people that we must regard 
 them. There was, indeed, in that period, a. vast amount 
 of public building going on (under Herod the Great, 
 Antipas, and Philip), which would require and occupy 
 many men ; secondly, we must reckon the lake com- 
 merce, which was considerable ; thirdly, the fisheries 
 (important, as we have seen) ; fourthly, the carrying 
 
CHARACTER OF THE GALILEANS. 71 
 
 trade transporting the productions of the country to 
 foreign markets, and also merchandise between Egypt 
 and Damascus. It is an important fact that whatever 
 was landed from Ptolemais for Damascus, and whatever 
 came from Egypt bound for Damascus or the Far East, 
 and merchandise from the Far East and Damascus, 
 bound for Egypt or Rome, would always, or at least 
 generally, pass through Galilee. Add to these, dyeing, 
 weaving, stone-cutting, ship-building, pottery manufac- 
 ture, and a few other industries. But when we have 
 made a sufficient deduction for all these methods of 
 employment, we shall have left still the bulk of the 
 population, whose business was agriculture. 
 
 An interesting topic to follow out would be the 
 estimation in which labour was held by the people of 
 Galilee. Cicero said of manual labour, 'there is 
 nothing liberal in it.' A sentiment directly the 
 opposite of this was inculcated by the teaching and 
 practice of our Lord. The inhabitants of the northern 
 province appear to have been an earnest, busy, and 
 laborious class. Its wealth and prosperity, together with 
 the good order, both civil and social, which prevailed 
 there, would seem to indicate industry, enterprise, and 
 intelligence on the part of its citizens. Under a people 
 who believed in a personal and righteous God, and 
 in their own personal accountability, all honest labour 
 became honourable, and the valleys and hills of Galilee 
 blossomed as a rose. 
 
 $. Eminent for Patriotism and Courage. Among the 
 prominent virtues of the Galileans we mention here their 
 patriotism. If the influence of surrounding nations had 
 
72 GALILEE IN THE TIME OF CHRIST. 
 
 been so marked upon their character as is sometimes 
 claimed, and it seems to us that Graetz, for example, 
 exaggerates this beyond reason, it would have resulted 
 in weakening the ties which bound them to their country, 
 national institutions, and ideas ; but from the time of 
 Herod's first connection with this province in B.C. 47, to 
 the destruction of Jerusalem in A.D. 70, the Galileans 
 were among the noblest patriots of which the nation 
 could boast. Had this patriotism been wanting in 
 them, even in the least degree, the fact would have 
 been developed greatly to their prejudice in the Jewish 
 war ; but in that struggle the Galileans made a noble 
 record. Their intense devotion to 'the national idea' 
 has been spoken of as ' hot-blooded.' 
 
 Also their loyalty and devotion to their rulers, and 
 their bravery, for which they were justly celebrated, may 
 properly be considered in connection with the topic just 
 mentioned. To the young governor, Herod, they were 
 warmly attached. When he was appointed king, this 
 province declared almost unanimously in his favour. 
 Again, the fact that Antipas held the government forty- 
 three years without special complaint from his subjects, 
 shows a people well-disposed towards a ruler who, what- 
 ever may be said of his morals, was, as a ruler > liberal, 
 energetic, and capable in every sense. Still later, the 
 devotion of the Galileans to Josephus was made by him 
 a matter of special praise. Their interest in him, and 
 their anxiety for his welfare, outweighed all considera- 
 tions of peril or loss of property to themselves. The 
 instances illustrating this statement are numerous. In 
 praising their bravery, Josephus says that ' cowardice 
 
CHARACTER OF THE GALILEANS. 73 
 
 was never a characteristic of the Galileans.' Aristobulus 
 II. and Herod the Great found here some of their most 
 valiant soldiers ; and the deeds of the patriot army 
 under Josephus exhibited a marvellous contempt of 
 danger and death. A bold, hardy, industrious race 
 always does heroic deeds, when fully roused and strug- 
 gling for its fatherland and freedom. This was pre- 
 eminently the case with the Galileans. Their character 
 as developed in that struggle may be taken as a hint as 
 to what, for perhaps many generations, had been the 
 character of their ancestors. 
 
 In judging the Galileans in that war, we must not 
 use the same standards that we judge the Romans by. 
 Difference of race, of civilisation, and of national purpose, 
 must all be considered. It was an agricultural people 
 matched against the finest military people of the world. 
 Among the Galileans the discipline was poor. They 
 fought, as Orientals have always done, with fiery courage, 
 and splendid individual valour, but with a painful lack 
 of system. Still, taken at this great disadvantage, they 
 command our highest admiration. Josephus is aware 
 that his force is not sufficient to cope with the Romans, 
 and he calls upon Jerusalem for reinforcements, but 
 none are sent. Galilee must alone and unaided bear 
 the brunt of the war during the first year of its pro- 
 gress. It must be remembered that this period is that 
 of Rome's greatest power. Yet the Emperor Nero is 
 1 seized with consternation and alarm ' at the magnitude 
 of the revolt. The feeling at Rome is expressed 
 by the fact that Vespasian, the best general of the 
 empire, is chosen to deal with this rebellion ; and, 
 
74 GALILEE IN THE TIME OF CHRIST. 
 
 secondly, by the fact that such a powerful army of 
 veterans is thought necessary to be massed at Ptole- 
 mais before operations can begin. The sight of these 
 sixty thousand veterans, among whom there is the 
 perfection of discipline, and who are backed by the 
 moral power of almost uninterrupted victory, must 
 send dismay to the hearts of those Galilean youths. 
 This splendid army that has been victorious over every 
 nation, and whose engines have levelled the foremost 
 structures in the world, has come hither to try its strength 
 and skill upon the people and fortresses of Galilee. The 
 abandonment with which the Galileans plunge into this 
 struggle admits of no retreat. To restore their country's 
 ancient liberty is the wild dream of those brave, mis- 
 guided men. The tough work before them seems to 
 serve as a stimulus to greater boldness. At Jotapata 
 they fight with desperate energy. The one hundred 
 and sixty projectile engines of the Romans fill the air 
 with murderous stones and other implements of death. 
 Even after forty days of almost superhuman valour, 
 but which is seen to be unavailing, these patriots 
 still prefer ' to die for liberty ' and ' their country's 
 glory' rather than surrender. For six terrible hours 
 the 'fighting men' of Japha the largest 'village' of 
 Galilee beat back the Roman soldiers, till ' twelve 
 thousand ' of the former were consumed. The 
 struggle at Gamala is one of the most heroic of the 
 war. Tiberias, Tarichaea, Mount Tabor, Gischala, fall 
 in succession. The fate of Jotapata, it was said, sealed 
 the fate of the whole of Judaea. The backbone of the 
 rebellion was broken when Galilee was subdued. The 
 
CHARACTER OF THE GALILEANS. 75 
 
 hardest fighting of the war was done by these brave 
 people of the north. That for her may well be called 
 a bloody year, in which one hundred and fifty thousand 
 or more of her people perished. The flower of her youth 
 had fallen. The conduct of the Galileans calls forth 
 generous criticisms even from their victorious enemies. 
 Vespasian notices their fidelity to each other and their 
 contempt of suffering, and Titus admits ' that they 
 are fighting for freedom and country/ and that 'they 
 bear up bravely in disaster.' He even appeals to their 
 example as a means of stimulating his own veteran 
 troops. The Romans had reason to be proud of the 
 conquest of Galilee. But their army was weary, and its 
 ranks thinned from the bloody work of this campaign, 
 and Vespasian was obliged to order time for rest and 
 recruiting. 
 
 A very minute and vivid account of the organisation 
 and discipline of the Roman army is given by Josephus. 
 Of the size of the army, Tacitus gives the forces of the 
 Romans as follows : 5th, loth, I5th, and 3rd, I2th, 22nd 
 legions ; 20 cohorts of allies ; 8 squadrons of horse ; 
 also two kings, Agrippa and Sohemus ; Antiochus sent 
 the forces of his kingdom ; also * a formidable body 
 of Arabs with embittered feelings ' took part ; and a 
 ' considerable number of volunteers went from Rome 
 and Italy.' Graetz makes the army about Jerusalem 
 number 80,000 men. Weber and Holtzmann quote 
 Hausrath's brilliant description of the character of the 
 two armies and the contrast between them, and also 
 Gfrorer's, from his Preface to the Jewish War of 
 Josephus. 
 
76 GALILEE IN THE TIME OF CHRIST. 
 
 4. Their Ancestors Eminent for Bravery. The 
 bravery of which we have seen such wonderful exhibi- 
 tions seems to have been a characteristic of the people 
 of this region from remote times. Their position made 
 them the first to suffer in case of those great invasions 
 from the East, a circumstance which would naturally 
 have a tendency to foster bravery in them. * Zebulun 
 and Naphtali were a people that jeoparded their lives 
 unto the death in the high places of the field 1 .' Within 
 the limits of this province were embraced some of the 
 most memorable battle-fields of the nation. A people 
 among whom national and traditional customs were 
 cherished as dearer than life would not be indifferent 
 to old memories and historical associations ; and hence 
 the Galileans could not but be stimulated by the noble 
 deeds that had been wrought by their ancestors upon 
 their own soil. The Plain of Jezreel was a famous field 
 of strife. Kishon was a river of battle. Deborah and 
 Barak led down from Tabor ten thousand heroes 
 against the King of Hazor, and routed his general, 
 Sisera, and his army. Zebulun, Naphtali, and Asher 
 followed Gideon in the storm against Midian. Soon 
 after the division of the kingdom of Solomon, the 
 princes of Zebulun and Naphtali, in common with those 
 of Benjamin and Judah, led their heroes against Moab. 
 And in the final struggle with Rome, these bold and 
 independent sons of the north rallied, as we have seen, 
 first and foremost to oppose the invincible legions, 
 and battled with desperate energy from mountain-pass 
 to mountain-pass, from city to city, from fortress to 
 
 1 Judges v. 18. 
 
CHARACTER OF THE GALILEANS. 77 
 
 fortress, till one after another the cities and fortresses 
 of this province were beaten into ruins ; and then, as 
 the nation rallied for a death-grapple with the enemy, 
 the remnants of the Galilean band joined their country- 
 men behind the walls of Jerusalem, and resisted with 
 superhuman might that all-conquering power, as it 
 slowly, but surely, beat down the walls, and even 
 overturned ' the foundations of Zion,' burying city 
 and Temple and their heroic defenders in a common 
 ruin. 
 
 5. Their Great Respect for Law and Order. Again, 
 the Galileans are to be thought of as peaceable and 
 law-abiding citizens. The impression is sometimes 
 given that the very opposite of this was the case. 
 Thus Ritter speaks of the people of Tiberias ' as 
 always in quarrels with the parent city of Jerusalem,' 
 for which no authority is given, and which is contrary 
 to fact. And Hausrath, usually correct, states that 
 Josephus calls the Galileans * common peace-disturbers 
 of the land,' whereas Josephus is referring directly to 
 the robbers in certain caves, which Herod had subdued. 
 Because Galilee was the home of Judas the Zealot, 
 Graetz states that ' the land was full of hot-heads,' 
 thus giving a very wrong impression. Of these, the 
 second reference is wrong ; the first is an isolated case 
 that happened in Jerusalem, and does not by any 
 means represent the character of the Galileans ; in the 
 last Josephus simply says, 'trained to war from their 
 infancy,' meaning that the Galileans, although chiefly 
 an agricultural people, were obliged, on account of the 
 people about them, to be acquainted to some extent 
 
78 GALILEE IN THE TIME OF CHRIST. 
 
 with military affairs. Josephus does not state, nor say 
 anything from which we might infer, that the Galileans 
 were ' turbulent ' and ' rebellious,' or that they de- 
 lighted in ' warfare ' ; he says nothing of the kind ; 
 and the impression left after several careful readings of 
 Josephus is as we have stated that they were peace- 
 able and law-abiding citizens. Indeed, Josephus makes 
 a careful distinction between the inhabitants on the 
 border and the robbers, and shows that the former were 
 not in sympathy with the latter, but were greatly 
 harassed by them. After Herod had crushed them, 
 * Galilee was delivered from its apprehensions ; ' which 
 statement confirms what we have said. The Syrians 
 even (Galilee's neighbours on the north) sung songs in 
 honour of Herod on this occasion, showing that they, 
 as well as the Galileans, were not in sympathy with the 
 robbers. Those robber bands on the border, secreted 
 in caves * dens of thieves ' the guerillas of that age, 
 we hear almost nothing of after Herod made such 
 thorough work in subduing them. 
 
 Again, about the year A.D. 51, certain commotions 
 arose in various parts of the land, to which Josephus 
 alludes ; and in the same connection he speaks of one 
 occasion when the Galileans, on their way to a feast at 
 Jerusalem, were assaulted near Ginaea by some Samari- 
 tans, and one or more of the former were killed. On 
 account of the negligence of Cumanus, the Roman 
 governor, very serious trouble grew out of this affair. 
 But the affair itself has been greatly exaggerated. For 
 instance Keim says : ' The Galileans were often obliged 
 to open by force a way through the Samaritan district, 
 
CHARACTER OF THE GALILEANS. 79 
 
 when they would go to the feasts at Jerusalem 1 .' And 
 Hausrath likewise gives the impression that such events 
 were of frequent occurrence. But this event appears 
 to have been an isolated instance ; at least, there is no 
 evidence to the contrary, while considerable evidence 
 could be produced to show some intercourse and many 
 friendly acts between the Galileans and the Jews of Judaea 
 on one side, and the Samaritans on the other. Further- 
 more, it is wholly wrong to say that 'the Sicarii 
 committed more crimes in Galilee than in Judaea 2 .' The 
 very opposite was true. 
 
 Perhaps the following summary will set the real state 
 of affairs before the reader's mind. 
 
 During the long reign of Herod the Great, Galilee 
 enjoyed prosperity and quiet. The same was true of it, 
 with perhaps one exception Antipas' war with Aretas 
 during the longer reign of Herod Antipas. During this 
 latter period, the country east of the Jordan, which was 
 ruled by the mild and honourable Herod Philip, also 
 enjoyed peace and prosperity. But Judaea, from the 
 death of Herod the Great, in B. C. 4, to the outbreak of 
 the war in A.D. 66, was full of commotion. The great 
 contrast between affairs in the north and in the south is 
 strikingly apparent in Josephus' account of these times, 
 although the contrast itself is never alluded to by him. 
 From A.D. 7 to the time of the war, Judaea was ruled by 
 Roman governors (except the short period covered by 
 the reign of Agrippa I., A.D. 41 to 44), who, for the most 
 part, were unprincipled and cruel men. They hated, 
 oppressed, insulted, and wronged the Jews in many ways. 
 
 1 I. p. 313. 3 Neubauer, p. 183. 
 
8o GALILEE IN THE TIME OF CHRIST. 
 
 They countenanced robbery, whenever they could receive 
 a share of the plunder. They encouraged the system 
 of bribery. Under them the priests became corrupt. 
 Murder, violence, lawlessness of all kinds prevailed more 
 and more. The conduct of these governors was very 
 exasperating to the Jews ; and at last, however little 
 disposed for war they were at first, they were driven to 
 take up arms, considering an honourable death better 
 than a miserable life. But such long-continued misrule 
 could hardly fail of generating misery and corruption. 
 And in our estimate of Galilee it is never to be for- 
 gotten that, while up to A.D. 51, or perhaps 55, this 
 province was in a state of peace and prosperity, the 
 province of Judaea, on the other hand, had, for half a 
 century, lacked both law and order, and there had 
 come to prevail a terrible state of licence and anarchy. 
 
 The Jews are oppressed by the Romans, and wronged 
 by Felix, who takes Drusilla from her husband for his 
 own wife. Lawlessness and corruption increase, and 
 the Jews are driven to madness. The country suffers 
 much in many ways, and robbers are encouraged. 
 Judaea is overrun by robbers, and every section of the 
 country is infested by them. The Romans hate the 
 Jews, and insult them. Florus' conduct is violent and 
 exasperating, and the same is true of Sabinius'. of 
 Patronius', and of Pilate's. The great financial crisis 
 in Rome in A.D. 33 affects Palestine. The priests 
 become corrupt, and the poorer priests are left to suffer 
 and die. By the violence of Florus, the Jews are forced 
 to leave the country ; yet Cumanus does the Jews a 
 favour. But in this case he could hardly have refused 
 
CHARACTER OF THE GALILEANS. 8l 
 
 to interfere. Vitellius also does them favours. The 
 Sikars, who were assassins with concealed weapons, sica, 
 hence Sicarii, originated in Jerusalem. 
 
 The revolt of Judas, son of Hezekias, on the death 
 of Herod the Great, has sometimes been referred to 
 as showing the turbulent spirit of the Galileans. But 
 the commotions at the time were widespread, and by 
 no means confined to one section ; Judas in Galilee gets 
 possession of Sepphoris ; Simon makes an insurrection 
 in Peraea, crosses the Jordan, and burns the palace in 
 Jericho ; two thousand of Herod's old soldiers make 
 an insurrection in Idumaea ; Athronges in Judaea sets 
 himself up as king ; four parties in four different 
 lections of the country keep the nation in tumult ; all 
 these are in addition to the fierce outbreak at the Feast 
 of Pentecost that year, May 31, B.C. 4. 
 
XIII. 
 
 RELIGION, EDUCATION, AND MORALS AMONG THE 
 GALILEANS. 
 
 WE come now to speak of the religious character of 
 the Galileans, with which may be associated the kindred 
 topics of morals and education. On these points we 
 would not presume to speak, except after the most 
 careful study. It is a most difficult matter to separate 
 the Galileans from the people of Judaea, and say that 
 they possessed this or that characteristic, in distinction 
 from the latter. Still, there is evidence to enable us 
 to do this to some extent ; at least, it can be shown that 
 the Galileans were equally interested with the Judaeans 
 in all matters pertaining to education and religion. 
 Indeed, in some respects, the advantage in regard to 
 religion and morals will be found to be on the side 
 of the Galileans. The impression is often given that 
 away from the Temple, in the far northern province, 
 ignorance and irreligion prevailed. The statement is 
 made that 'they manifested less aversion to the 
 religion and manners of the heathen than the people 
 of the south, and less zeal for the religion of Moses 1 .' 
 Also, that ' from their heathen neighbours the Galileans 
 imbibed all sorts of superstitions. Nowhere else were 
 
 1 Munk, p. 33, col. i. 
 
RELIGION, EDUCATION, AND MORALS. 83 
 
 there so many persons possessed and plagued with evil 
 spirits as in Galilee ; since the Galilean narrow-minded- 
 ness ascribed all forms of disease to the influence of 
 demons V Their religious character is further described 
 as a singular mixture of faith and superstition. It is 
 supposed that before the destruction of Jerusalem this 
 province was especially poor in regard to means for 
 disseminating knowledge (understand, knowledge of the 
 law of Moses, the only thing which 'knowledge ' meant 
 to the Jews), and on this account ' the Galileans were 
 stricter and more tenacious in regard to customs and 
 morals ' than the people of the south. Neubauer tells 
 us that, on account of the picturesque scenery and 
 delightful climate of Galilee, the mind, away from 
 the influence of the religious formalism which existed 
 in Jerusalem, would naturally devote itself, more to 
 parables and legends. This writer goes so far as to 
 state that ' this province possessed no wise men, 
 still less a school/ for which, however, he gives no 
 authority. 
 
 We are not prepared to accept these statements, nor 
 any one of them, as final in this matter. The first two, 
 those of Graetz and Munk, are decidedly wrong. But 
 since, among the Jews, ' education ' meant merely educa- 
 tion in religion, the two rtaturally blend together in our 
 treatment of them. That passage in Josephus is very 
 significant which states that during the reign of Queen 
 Alexandra (B.C. 79-70, or 78-69) the Pharisees rose to 
 power 'a sect reputed to excel all others in the 
 accurate explanation of the laws.' This means no less 
 
 1 Graetz, III. p. 395. 
 F 2 
 
84 GALILEE IN THE TIME OF CHRIST. 
 
 than that there was, at that time, a revival of Biblical 
 study. At the death of Herod the Great we hear of two 
 celebrated teachers, Judas and Matthias, whose * explan- 
 ation of the laws many young men attended.' But they 
 do not appear to have taught in any special school, nor 
 to have belonged to any organised school system what- 
 ever. The famous Hillel was not trained for a teacher ; 
 but he began to teach, and the result proved his natural 
 fitness for that work. Neither Hillel nor Gamaliel, the 
 teacher of young Saul, belonged to any college, seminary, 
 or other institution of learning, i. e. in our meaning of 
 those words. There could not be a school system where 
 instructors (here the Rabbis) were not allowed to receive 
 pay for their labour. Whoever understood the law 
 thoroughly, and had facility in explaining it, provided 
 he chose to teach, was regarded as 'a learned man ' a 
 Rabbi. With regard to schools and public instruction 
 among the Jews, the Talmud is inclined, we think, to 
 ascribe too great antiquity to the Rabbinical school 
 system, which was developed and existed only long 
 after the destruction of Jerusalem, and to give the 
 impression that the systematic public instruction and 
 training of youth prevailed long before the beginning 
 of our era. Dr. Ginsburg 1 gives too much weight to 
 these statements of the Talmud, and thus misrepresents, 
 unintentionally no doubt, the real state of the case at the 
 time of Christ. In Christ's time there were no schools 
 which it was necessary to have attended, or at which 
 it was necessary to have graduated, in order to be re- 
 garded as a learned man. The only schools were those 
 
 1 In art. * Education,' in Kitto's Cyclopedia Bib. Lit., I. p. 729. 
 
RELIGION, EDUCATION, AND MORALS. X^ 
 
 connected with the synagogues. The only school-book- 
 was the Hebrew Scriptures. A synagogue presupposed 
 a school, just as in our country a church presupposes 
 a Sunday-school. Church and district-school is not a 
 parallel to the Jewish system of things, but church and 
 Sunday-school is. Synagogues were found in every city 
 throughout the land, and also in every village, unless 
 the place was insignificant in size ; and even in such 
 cases they had their place or places of prayer. At one 
 time Tiberias boasted of thirteen synagogues, and Jeru- 
 salem of four hundred and eighty. 
 
 The method in the schools, so far as there was any, 
 was nearly as follows : Questions were asked and 
 answered, opinions stated and discussed, and illustra- 
 tions proposed in the form of allegories, aphorisms, or 
 parables ; corresponding, perhaps, as much as anything 
 modern, to our adult Bible-classes \ In the training of 
 boys much responsibility and labour devolved upon 
 the father. The boy was afterwards sent to these Bible- 
 class meetings, which constituted the schools of the 
 land, and which existed wherever there was a syna- 
 gogue. Philo says : ' What else are the synagogues 
 than schools of piety and virtue ? ' Hausrath calls them 
 ' the true schools of the nation.' Jerusalem, as the 
 metropolis of the nation, would no doubt exert, in 
 many respects, a dominant influence. The most eminent 
 teachers would naturally go there, as in the case of 
 Hillel and Gamaliel. But Sepphoris and Tiberias, the 
 capitals in succession of Galilee, would have their emi- 
 nent teachers as well ; whilst every town and village 
 1 Luke ii. 46 ; xx. 2-4 ; see Matt. xxii. 17-22. 
 
86 GALILEE IN THE TIME OF CHRIST. 
 
 might boast of its learned men its local Rabbis or 
 Rabbi. How often it is said that Christ went through 
 all the cities and villages of Galilee, teaching in the 
 schools or synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the 
 kingdom 1 ! Again, on a certain occasion in Capernaum, 
 ' there were Pharisees and doctors of the law sitting by, 
 who were come out of every town (wa/xij) of Galilee and 
 Judaea and Jerusalem V Sometimes the learned men of 
 the south and the north would visit each other for friendly 
 intercourse, when, according to Keim, they were treated 
 with respect by the people, and given the places of 
 honour in the synagogues. The Scribes of the south 
 would also visit the north to watch Christ ; not to see if 
 the law was fulfilled, but to see if their traditions were 
 violated 3 . 
 
 The Talmud charges the Galileans with neglecting 
 tradition 4 , and the passages in the Gospels just referred 
 to show that there was some ground for such a charge 
 in Christ's time. Further, this charge and the visits of 
 the Jerusalem doctors just referred to, both show that 
 while Jerusalem, where were the Temple and the San- 
 hedrin, exercised a dominant influence in reference to 
 matters of religion, yet the Galileans were in a measure 
 independent of it in this respect. A just distinction 
 to make is this : that in Jerusalem were the champions 
 of tradition, and in Galilee the champions of the law. 
 Adherence to the strict letter of the law may be regarded 
 as a prominent characteristic of the learned men of 
 Galilee, in distinction from those of Jerusalem 5 . In 
 
 1 Matt. ix. 35, and many other places. 2 Luke v. 17. 
 
 3 Matt. xvi. ; Mark vii. i. * Neubauer, p. 183. 5 Matt. v. 17, 18. 
 
RELIGION, EDUCATION, AND MORALS. 87 
 
 Jerusalem novelties were introduced and changes made, 
 according to emergencies, and sometimes licenses al- 
 lowed, in regard to religious and other usages, which 
 would not be tolerated in Galilee. 
 
 If we may refer to Christ in this connection, perhaps 
 the remarks just made will be illustrated by His wonder- 
 ful familiarity with the Scriptures, His great regard for 
 the law, and His contempt for tradition. The Scribes 
 and learned men of Galilee, so far as we can judge, were 
 familiar with the law ; worship in the synagogues was 
 strictly maintained ; and there appears to have existed 
 here a freer and healthier and religious life than in the 
 south. Among the different sects in Jerusalem Christ 
 met with an atmosphere that was cheerless and dismal. 
 In the freer north, far away from the bleak home of 
 priests and Levites, there was a people less -under the 
 influence of the ' straiter ' sects, less hardened and 
 narrowed by the dogmatic systems which prevailed in 
 the holy city ; among which people Christ for the most 
 part found a welcome. Without seeking to draw too 
 sharp a distinction between the people of Galilee and 
 those of Judaea, it is no doubt true that the former lacked 
 the narrow prejudices of the latter towards the people of 
 other nations ; for, to mention a single instance, it is a 
 worthy son of the north who, at Joppa, in a wonderful 
 vision, first learns and teaches to his countrymen that 
 great lesson of the Master, that the Gentiles, as well as 
 themselves, may share in the new gospel of the grace of 
 God \ And, in general, the influences in Galilee tended 
 to develop and enlarge the national mind and character, 
 
 1 Acts x. 
 
GALILEE IN THE TIME OF CHRIST. 
 
 while those in Judaea tended to contract and dwarf 
 the same. The peasants and shepherds on the rather 
 poor uplands of Judaea are spoken of as ignorant and 
 narrow the slavish tools of the priesthood of Jerusalem 
 the fuel easily kindled into ' uproars of the people 1 / 
 In Josephus, Wars, IV. iii. 8, a case is mentioned where 
 brigands * drag a. rustic from the country/ who ' scarcely 
 knew what the high-priesthood meant,' for the purpose 
 of making him high-priest. 
 
 In regard to the violation of the laws pertaining to 
 marriage, public sentiment seems to have been a unit 
 throughout the land. The case of Antipas and John the 
 Baptist furnishes an illustration. The custom of the 
 Jews was a peculiar one : a man who did not marry a 
 deceased brother's widow in case there had been no 
 children, was a criminal; but such marriage, in case there 
 had been children, was itself criminal ! Again, a man 
 might divorce his wife ; but if a wife divorced her husband 
 it was a public abomination ! Herodias divorced herself 
 from Herod Philip (not the tetrarch), ' confounding the 
 laws of our country. 5 Archelaus also scandalised the 
 nation by marrying his brother's widow, when she had 
 children by her first husband. Also, that morbid sensi- 
 tiveness of the Jews in regard to images and statues was 
 shared in by the people of the whole country alike. The 
 people of Tiberias, when Caius wanted his statue put 
 up in the Temple, 'stretched out their throats, and 
 were ready to die ;' 'they left off tilling the ground ;' 
 and ' the land remained unsown.' Several particulars, 
 however, are mentioned in regard to morals and certain 
 
 1 Matt. xxvi. s,. 
 
RELIGION, EDUCATION, AND MORALS. 89 
 
 other things which show a greater degree of strictness 
 in Galilee than in Judaea. For instance, the great care 
 of the Galileans was for reputation, while the Judaeans 
 cared less for reputation, and more for money. We 
 regard this statement as all the more significant, because 
 it was made by the ancient Rabbis themselves. Also, 
 as to labouring on Passover eves, some synagogical rites, 
 devoting goods directly to God, and not to the priests, 
 funeral customs, provision for widows, marriages being 
 celebrated with decorum, a spirit of charity or benevo- 
 lence, and as to regulations in regard to the intercourse 
 of betrothed persons in all these respects, greater strict- 
 ness is conceded to the Galileans. 
 
 That the Galileans ' manifested less zeal for the 
 religion of Moses ' than the people of the south, we have 
 shown to be incorrect. Rather the contrary was true. 
 The statement that they imbibed all sorts of superstitions 
 from their heathen neighbours, as ' possession of devils ' 
 and the like, has not the slightest evidence in its sup- 
 port, either in Josephus or the New Testament. The 
 statement stands as an assertion without proof. As 
 to * means for disseminating a knowledge of the law/ 
 Galilee was as well provided as Judaea ; aside, perhaps, 
 from certain eminent teachers in Jerusalem, with whom, 
 however, it is not possible that all the learned men of 
 Christ's time could have studied. Still, it is said that 
 they were less * sensitive to heathen influences,' and that 
 a ' heathen city like Tiberias would not have been 
 tolerated in Judaea.' The facts will not justify these 
 assertions. There were theatres and amphitheatres in 
 many of the large cities of the country. In the splendid 
 
90 GALILEE IN THE TIME OF CHRIST. 
 
 theatre and the vast amphitheatre at Jerusalem were 
 enacted all the games that were known in Italy or 
 Greece, while Tiberias, so far as we know, had only a 
 stadium, or racecourse. If by being * less sensitive to 
 heathen influences ' is meant that, apart from religious 
 ideas, the commercial and social ideas of the Galileans 
 were broadened and benefited by their intercourse with 
 surrounding nations, then the statement is true. Such a 
 result was produced by that intercourse. 
 
 As to the influence of the morals of the rulers on those 
 of the people, there are but few data from which to 
 judge. Alexandra, Hyrcanus' daughter, seems to have 
 been destitute of principle in her attempt to administer 
 by her beautiful children, Aristobulus and Mariamne, to 
 the lust of Antony, of whom she wanted some favour. 
 As to Herod the Great, whatever else may have been 
 his crimes, he could never be charged with either lust or 
 intemperance. Herod Philip was a man of whose morals 
 no ill could be said. Archelaus' reign was short. Under 
 the Romans, from A.D. 7 to 66, Judaea, as we have seen, 
 suffered . in every way. Herod Antipas was neither 
 lustful nor intemperate. His act in marrying Herodias 
 (a violation of the law, because she had a child by her 
 first husband, Antipas' brother) was universally con- 
 demned, and by no means imitated by his subjects. To 
 the credit of both Herodias and Antipas, it should be 
 said that they loved each other truly, and when Antipas 
 was banished, and Herodias might have lived in ease in 
 Rome or Judaea, she chose to follow her husband into 
 exile an act which, if people were not prejudiced 
 against her, would be spoken of as noble. 
 
RELIGION, EDUCATION, AND MORALS. 91 
 
 In addition to what has been said, we are to consider : 
 j. That Christ was, as a rule, well received in Galilee ; 
 2. That John the Baptist had here a strong party of 
 adherents ; 3. That this was the home of Judas, the 
 founder of the sect of the Galileans. Although he 
 founded his sect in Jerusalem, he is mentioned in the 
 New Testament only in Acts v. 37 ; his rallying theme 
 was, that God alone was Master ; paying tribute to the 
 Romans was slavery ; they were * not to bow to mortals 
 as their masters.' Graetz 1 says of this Judas that * in 
 consequence of his life and deeds the masters of the 
 world had so much more trouble to subdue the small 
 Jewish people than they did to subdue the great nations 
 of Europe.' This man's moral character cannot be 
 impugned ; he was a Puritan of the strictest school ; the 
 platform of his sect or party looked well on paper, a 
 grand idea about which to rally, but it was thoroughly 
 impracticable in those unfortunate times ; 4. That this 
 was the home, also, of Eleazar, the missionary to Adia- 
 bene and the court of Izates. This man ' was very 
 skilful in the learning of his country.' His words, ' not 
 only to read the law, but to practise it,' represent the 
 thorough style of his teaching. He seems to have been 
 zealous, familiar with the law, skilful and eloquent in 
 presenting his views ; and perhaps we have a right to 
 regard him as a representative man of Galilee. 
 
 Again, we hold the opinion that the Sermon on the 
 Mount, whether regarded as one discourse, or as the 
 substance of many discourses, could not have been 
 preached in Judaea at the beginning of Christ's 
 
 1 Sinai et Golgotha, Paris, 1867, p. 267. 
 
92 GALILEE IN THE TIME OF CHRIST. 
 
 ministry, at least considering the fact that Jerusalem 
 was the hot-bed of tradition, and considering, also, the 
 excited state of the public mind there, wild as it was 
 with dreams of the coming Messiah. The sermon pre- 
 supposes the ability, and also a willingness, on the part 
 of the listeners, to look beyond tradition and the mere 
 letter of the law, to a somewhat new and enlarged appli- 
 cation of old sayings and truths. Such a state of mind 
 would not be looked for in Judaea at that time ; but we 
 should expect just that in the region of Capernaum. 
 
 On the general character of the people of Judaea as 
 distinguished from those of Galilee, and how easily they 
 were misled by false Messiahs strange proceedings such 
 as were never reported from Galilee see passage in 
 Hausrath \ It would have been difficult for Christ to 
 have planted Himself in Judaea. 
 
 1 Neutcstamcntliche Zeitgeschichte, I. pp. 41, 42. 
 
93 
 
 XIV. 
 
 THE POETICAL TALENT FINELY DEVELOPED AMONG 
 THE GALILEANS. 
 
 BESIDES the physical and moral vigour of this people, 
 we discover, also, an elasticity and freshness of spirit 
 which did not prevail among the people of the south. 
 On this account it was, perhaps, that here the poetical 
 talent was so finely developed. We have already quoted 
 the statement that, 'if Nature could influence mind, if it 
 could create genius, Naphtali would be a land of poets.' 
 ' The vine-covered slopes, the plains brilliant with flowers, 
 the wooded glens and knolls, sparkling with springs,' 
 the beautiful lake deep within the bosom of the hills, 
 the distant but ever visible ' great sea ' symbol of the 
 Infinite would all contribute to awaken and stimulate 
 the richest, and perhaps grandest, spirit of poetry. One 
 of the earliest triumph-songs of Israel, as well as one of 
 the noblest, sounded forth from the hills of Galilee on 
 the occasion of Barak's victory over the Canaanites in 
 the Plain of Jezreel. And, if we were to adopt the view 
 held by many eminent scholars (Gesenius and others), 
 the Song of Songs had also its origin among these 
 beautiful scenes of Nature the music of a heart about 
 which earth and sky had lavished their charms the 
 song of one whose eyes delighted in beholding the 
 beauty of the flowers, and the richness of the fig-tree, 
 the olive, and the vine. 
 
94 
 
 XV. 
 
 THE PROPHETS, JUDGES, AND OTHER FAMOUS MEN 
 OF GALILEE. 
 
 IN this connection a brief notice must be taken of the 
 famous persons whose birthplace, or home, was in this 
 northern province. We may be obliged here to go 
 beyond the strict limits of our period, in order to 
 answer the flippant and prejudiced remark : ' Out of 
 Galilee ariseth no prophet T ' a remark which should 
 never have been believed at all, but which, being 
 accepted without reflection, has had much influence 
 in shaping the common notion of the character of 
 Galilee. In the time of the Judges, Naphtali furnished 
 Barak, the victor over the Canaanites, with whom 
 should be mentioned Deborah, * a prophetess/ the 
 1 mother in Israel ' whose presence and words inspired 
 those bold sons of the north to heroic deeds, and 
 also Jael, ' the wife of Heber the Kenite,' a heroine 
 of that bloody day 2 . Zebulun furnished Ibzan, who 
 judged Israel seven years, and after him Elon, who 
 judged Israel for ten years. Issachar likewise furnished 
 Tola, who judged Israel twenty-three years 3 . Still later 
 this country sent forth a number of prophets, whose 
 memories were always cherished by the people, and 
 whose tombs were built and guarded by a grateful 
 
 J John vii. 52. 2 Judges iv. 3 Judges x. I, 2 ; xii. 8, n. 
 
PROPHETS, JUDGES, AND OTHER FAMOUS MEN. 95 
 
 posterity with pious care. If it is doubtful whether 
 Elijah was born in Galilee, yet the scene of his labours 
 was chiefly this northern region, and the home of his 
 successor Elisha was in the tribe of Issachar. Hosea 
 also belonged to Issachar ; Jonah, the son of Amittai, 
 came from Gath Hepher in Zebulun ; and the prophet 
 Nahum from Elkosh in Galilee. This has been disputed ; 
 still many able scholars hold the view here expressed 1 . 
 In the Assyrian captivity, under Shalmaneser, appears 
 Tobit from Naphtali. He was l a godly man,' and ' in 
 the account of him we have a very instructive picture 
 both of his home and of his times.' Alexander, the 
 first renowned Jewish philosopher in Alexandria, a 
 peripatetic and the forerunner of Philo, is supposed 
 by some to have been born in Paneas. This, however, 
 is not certainly established. Nitai, B.C. 140-110, a 
 learned doctor of the Mishna, came from Arbela. 
 His rule of life was : ' Avoid a bad neighbour ; 
 associate not with sinners ; and do not forget a future 
 recompense.' Two other Mishna doctors also came 
 from this region, and King Alexander Jannaeus, son 
 of Hyrcanus, calls Galilee his fatherland. 
 
 In Christ's time, Anna the prophetess belonged to 
 Asher, and, we may mention again, the missionary 
 Eleazar and Judas the Galilean zealot, and with the 
 latter his sons, James and Simon, who were crucified, 
 and Manahem. who was killed in Jerusalem. Perhaps 
 Hezekiah, the brigand chief whom Herod slew, and 
 his son Judas, who on Herod's death raised a revolt, 
 took Sepphoris, and was captured only after a hard 
 1 Smith's Bible Diet., I. p. 724, art. ' Elkosh.' 
 
96 GALILEE IN THE TIME OF CHRIST. 
 
 struggle, may be mentioned as showing, though outlaws, 
 the mettle of the Galileans. There was also Eleazar, 
 the son of Jairus, a kinsman of Manahem and a 
 descendant of Judas the zealot, who was the founder 
 of the sect of the Galileans. This Eleazar boasted of 
 himself and his companions : ' We were the first of 
 all to revolt,' against the Romans, ' and we are the 
 last in arms against them ' ; ' We determined to serve 
 as master no one but God, and the time has come 
 for us to show the sincerity of our words by our 
 actions ' ; and they all perished then and there, in 
 the bloody slaughter at Masada. Galilee had Herod 
 the Great for governor, afterwards Antipas, the ablest 
 of his sons, and still later, as military governor, 
 Josephus. At that time flourished the famous John of 
 Gischala ; Silas, the governor of Tiberias by Josephus' 
 appointment, and Joshua, in authority there, but opposed 
 to Josephus ; Julius Capellus, leader of the most respect- 
 able party in Tiberias, and his associates, namely, Herod 
 son of Miarus, Herod son of Gamalus, Compsus and 
 Crispus these two the sons of Compsus ; also, Pistus 
 and his son Justus the latter a friend of Greek learning, 
 and the author of a history in Greek of his own times, 
 but the implacable enemy of Josephus. 
 
 There was in the early Church a tradition that the 
 parents of the Apostle Paul came from Gischala in 
 Galilee. It is easy to reject the tradition, but quite 
 difficult to see how such a tradition should become 
 attached to this particular place ; somebody at some 
 time must have believed it, and perhaps with reasons. 
 We might, perhaps, include Nathanael of Cana of 
 
PROPHETS, JUDGES, AND OTHER FAMOUS MEN. 97 
 
 Galilee ; Peter, as a representative man of Galilee ; 
 Zebedee and his two sons, James and John a family 
 of wealth ; Andrew and Philip, of Bethsaida in Galilee ; 
 Joseph and Mary ; James, the brother of Christ and the 
 first Bishop of Jerusalem ; also Salome, sister of Mary 
 and wife of Zebedee. 
 
 And, if we were to look beyond the destruction of 
 Jerusalem, we should find Galilee the abode of many 
 famous and learned men, and the seat of flourishing 
 schools. From the second to the sixth century it was 
 the centre of Jewish learning in Palestine. 
 
9 8 
 
 XVI. 
 
 THE WEALTH AND MATERIAL PROSPERITY OF THE 
 PROVINCE. 
 
 OF the wealth and material prosperity of Galilee it is 
 difficult to speak, apart from the connection of this topic 
 with the whole country. Of the wealth and prosperity 
 of the whole country during the period covered by the 
 reign of Herod the Great and the life of Christ, very 
 much might be said. The Jews throughout the world 
 were a wealthy class. In wealth, as well as in numbers, 
 they surpassed the Greeks in Csesarea. Those in 
 Parthia, on the Euphrates, were rich. Strabo, as 
 quoted by Josephus, remarks upon their wealth and 
 prosperity 'in every city in the habitable earth.' In 
 Crete, Melos, and Rome their wealth is spoken of. 
 Vast sums from all parts of the world flowed into the 
 Temple at Jerusalem. In B.C. 54, Crassus took from 
 the Temple upwards of ten thousand talents in gold and 
 silver, and one huge ingot of gold besides. In several 
 other instances, the Temple was robbed by the grasping 
 Roman governors or generals. Herod the Great was 
 one of the best financiers the world has ever seen. He 
 was always ready with money or provisions, in case any 
 one was in need. He was a capital provider for his own 
 family and kingdom. Measuring his revenue by his ex- 
 
WEALTH AND MATERIAL PROSPERITY. 99 
 
 penses, his kingdom must have been managed with great 
 ability to have yielded so much. He was never in debt, 
 always remarkably prompt in his payments, frequently 
 assisting others who were in need of money ; and from 
 the outset of his governorship of Galilee, at the age of 
 twenty-five, to his death, he was constantly making 
 valuable presents to various cities or persons. It may 
 be added that the bier, bed, and other furnishings at 
 Herod's funeral indicate great wealth. The wealth of 
 King Agrippa I. is also referred to. Men from other 
 parts of the world even went to Judaea for adventure 
 and speculation. Rich articles of gold and silver, and 
 costly carpets and vestments, were sometimes bought 
 in Rome for Judaea. The Romans in general had exag- 
 gerated ideas of the wealth of this country ; it was to 
 them a sort of gold mine ; just the place where greedy 
 Roman politicians might accumulate money or repair 
 their fortunes. 
 
 But we must of course confine our attention to 
 Galilee. Its material prosperity has been hinted at in 
 our notice of the industries of the province. Its 
 numerous and flourishing cities and villages some of 
 which were elegantly built indicate the very opposite 
 of poverty and limited means. The * opulent ' citizens 
 of Gischala are spoken of. John of Gischala was a 
 man of wealth, and usually shrewd and capable in 
 business. The people of Sepphoris are described as 
 possessed of ' ample means.' The tithes collected in 
 Galilee are mentioned as amounting to * a large 
 sum of money.' The treasure stored in the palace of 
 Antipas at Tiberias was a large amount, and the furnish- 
 
 G 3 
 
ICO GALILEE IN THE TIME OF CHRIST. 
 
 ings of the palace were astonishingly rich and elegant. 
 Several times Galilee had to support a portion of the 
 Roman army in winter quarters : for instance, under 
 Silo, under Vespasian in Scythopolis, and in other cases. 
 The Talmud mentions three cities of Galilee which 
 had ' sent enormous treasures to Jerusalem Sichin, 
 Caboul, and Magdala.' Zebedee, it is supposed, was 
 a man of wealth and influence. Capernaum, as a centre 
 of news, business, and commerce, was a place of luxury. 
 It is a significant fact that Christ chose this very 
 centre as His residence. The fact that Christ was called 
 a * gluttonous man and a wine-bibber ' shows that a 
 style of living prevailed here which was distasteful to 
 certain ascetics of the time 1 ; the words in Luke 
 vii. 34, are 0ayos KCU oiVoTroYrj?. Perhaps, in Christ's 
 reproach of Bethsaida, Chorazin, and Capernaum, there 
 may be a hint as to the wealth and luxury and con- 
 sequent worldliness of these places. Along their ' way 
 of the sea' the rich fabrics, spices, and other pro- 
 ducts of Babylon and farther Asia would be carried, on 
 their way to Egypt or Rome, by rich merchants seek- 
 ing goodly pearls 2 . Galilee would be benefited by 
 the traffic carried on at the trading stations along this 
 route of commerce. 
 
 The contribution sent from Antioch, in A.D. 44, was 
 from the brethren in Judaea, or perhaps for 'the poor 
 saints in Jerusalem,' as if no assistance was needed by 
 the brethren in Galilee 3 . In B.C. 43, four years after 
 Herod was appointed governor of Galilee, Cassius came 
 
 1 Matt. xi. 19. 2 Matt. xiii. 45, 46. 
 
 3 Acts xi. 29 ; Rom. xv. 26. 
 
WEALTH AND MATERIAL PROSPERITY. IOI 
 
 into Syria for the purpose of raising men and money. 
 For the latter object there was, in his view, no richer 
 field than Judaea. The enormous sum which Crassus 
 (B.C. 54) had taken from the Temple at Jerusalem 
 convinced him of that. He imposed a tribute on Judaea 
 (i. e. the whole province, including Judaea, Samaria, and 
 Galilee) of seven hundred talents. Antipater (father of 
 Herod the Great) distributed this among several persons, 
 that it might be raised with all possible despatch 1 . 
 Herod, as governor of Galilee, was the first to bring in 
 his share, which was one hundred talents, and thus he 
 gained the favour of Cassius, who bestowed upon him 
 the governorship of Ccele-Syria. 
 
 When this essay was first prepared we added here the 
 following paragraph, which, upon reconsideration, we 
 have decided to retain. We made the suggestion only 
 after we had examined every passage in the Wars and 
 in the last seven books of the Antiquities^ where con- 
 tributions, tributes, taxes, fines, &c., are mentioned, and 
 the amounts given. After this laborious comparison we 
 feel justified in saying that the amount named in Jose- 
 phus, 700 talents, seems small; measured by other sums 
 which were raised at other times, and by the great 
 distress caused by forcing the collection of this tribute. 
 Cassius stood in pressing need of money. He had wild 
 ideas of the wealth of the country. Certain sections 
 were slow in making their payments, and four cities 
 were reduced to slavery, which alone, on any reasonable 
 computation, would have yielded a sum equal to, or 
 greater than, the whole amount required. The cities 
 
 1 ll'ars,!. xi. 2. 
 
102 GALILEE ifr THE TIME OF CHRIST. 
 
 reduced to slavery were Lydda, Thamna, Gophna, and 
 Emmaus. As an illustrative fact we may mention that 
 Herod, after being made king, subdued the robbers in 
 Galilee, and upon the few places which they occupied 
 levied a tribute of 100 talents for their good behaviour. 
 The amount taken by Crassus from the Temple alone 
 would be at least fifteen or sixteen times greater than 
 the tribute in question, and in the latter case it was to 
 be collected from the whole country. We conclude that 
 Cassius was not so urgent for money as is represented, 
 and consequently his levy was small, or else, which seems 
 plausible, that the text should read 7000 instead of 700, 
 as at present. On the other hand, 7000 talents is a large 
 amount, and would astonish us, did we not know that 
 despots and rapacious governors place no limits to their 
 unrighteous demands. 
 
 As to mines in Judaea, as distinguished from Galilee 
 and Samaria, there were none. The ' iron mountain ' 
 of Josephus was east of the Jordan. Extensive copper 
 mines, and also gold deposits, are found in the Sinaitic 
 peninsula. Traces of a mine have been found on the 
 south border of the Plain of Esdraelon, which would be 
 on the border of Galilee. The north part of Galilee, at 
 least the Lebanon region, was rich in mines, especially 
 in iron. Deposits of lead and copper exist in the hills 
 between the Phoenician coast and Upper Galilee. The 
 copper mines of Cyprus were extensive, and Herod had 
 half the revenue from them, and the care of the other 
 half. On this topic the following references may be of 
 value : Josephus, Wars, IV. viii. 1 ; Ant., XVI. iv. 5 ; 
 Ewald, Hist. Israel^ IV. p. 192, and references to the Old 
 
WEALTH AND MATERIAL PROSPERITY. 103 
 
 Testament ; Lightfoot, I. p. 189 ; Ritter, Geography of 
 Palestine, II. p. 189 ; Smith's Bible Diet., III. p. 1911, 
 col. i, art. 'Metals,' respecting mines in the Lebanon 
 region ; ibid., p. 1937, art. * Mines' ; Burton's Unexplored 
 Syria, I. p. 31 ; II. p. 27 ; Arnaud, La Palestine, p. 368, 
 et seq. ; Burton's Gold Mines and Ruined Cities of Midian, 
 London, 1878. 
 
104 
 
 XVII. 
 
 WAS GALILEE REGARDED WITH CONTEMPT BY THE 
 PEOPLE OF JERUSALEM, AS is so OFTEN ALLEGED ? 
 
 THERE is a very general impression that the Jews of 
 Jerusalem regarded with contempt the people of Galilee, 
 and even the province itself. And of this scorn Naza- 
 reth received perhaps the largest share. Supposing 
 such a feeling to have existed, all that we have hitherto 
 said is a protest against the justice of it. In its climate, 
 its fertile soil, and its charming scenery ; in the abun- 
 dance of its waters, and the beauty of its lakes ; in its 
 numerous and often elegant cities and villages ; in its 
 hardy, industrious, and intelligent population ; in the 
 interest of its people in the law, in the Temple and its 
 services, in the great national feasts and in the general 
 welfare of the nation ; in its wealth and material pros- 
 perity, its various thriving industries, and in the unex- 
 ampled patriotism and bravery of its sons, what ground 
 is there why the people of Jerusalem should regard 
 Galilee or the Galileans with contempt ? 
 
 But, in order to show how universally it has been taken 
 for granted that this feeling existed, it is necessary to 
 quote a few statements both from scholars and from 
 popular writers as well. We include such as refer to 
 both Nazareth and Galilee : * Peter was a Galilean 
 fisherman, brought up in the rudest district of an ob-. 
 
WAS GALILEE REGARDED WITH CONTEMPT? 105 
 
 scure province V ' In this despised region, His home 
 [Nazareth] was the most' despised spot 2 .' 'An obscure 
 village of despised Galilee 3 ,' when the very Greek text 
 which this scholar was editing says, 7ro'Ai9, not KW/ZT/, 
 i. e. city, not village. ' The roughness of its popula- 
 tion V ' The very villagers themselves spoke with a 
 rude and uncouth provincialism that marked them at 
 once as Nazarenes V We have a right to ask on what 
 ground the statement just quoted is based. Peter 
 certainly was not from Nazareth, and the dialect of 
 any person from that city is never alluded to. * That 
 obscure Galilean village 6 .' One who went from the 
 Sea of Galilee to Judaea, * war ein Stichblatt des Witzes 
 der dortigen Stammgenossen V How does this writer 
 know that such a person became a ' butt of ridicule ' ? 
 ' A little country town of proverbial insignificance,' 
 ' the darkest district of Palestine 8 .' ' The old scorn 
 which rested upon the Galileans in Joshua's day 9 .' 
 
 These statements show the popular impression and 
 teaching in regard to Galilee and Nazareth. And further, 
 in regard to the ' poverty ' and ' abject meanness ' of 
 Christ's earthly condition, the nearly ' destitute circum- 
 stances ' of Joseph and Mary, and the * ignorance ' 
 
 1 Conybeare and Howson, St. Paul, I. p. 115. 
 
 2 Delitzsch, Jesus und Hillel, p. 1 3. 
 
 3 Dr. Wordsworth on Matt. ii. 23. 
 
 4 Stanley, Sinai and Palestine, p. 358. 
 
 5 Lieut. Anderson in Recovery of Jerusalem, p. 354. 
 
 6 Plumptre, Christ and Christendom, p. 95. 
 
 7 Hnusrath, I. p. 1 1. 
 
 8 Schaff, Person of Christ, p. 34. 
 Ritter, IV. p. 332. 
 
106 GALILEE IN THE TIME OF CHRIST. 
 
 and even ' immorality ' of the people of Nazareth, we 
 read a great deal in books, and hear much more in 
 sermons from the pulpit. Numerous quotations to 
 this effect could be given, if necessary. For instance, 
 in Isaac Barrows' Sermon on Patience will be found a 
 frightfully distressing picture of Christ's circumstances 
 in His early years, and, indeed, during His whole earthly 
 life, while Meyer l makes ayadov imply immorality. 
 
 But are these representations true ? This is certainly 
 a proper question to ask. These statements, appearing 
 everywhere, and so sweeping and positive withal, ought 
 to have some foundation, for which we propose to look. 
 
 First, as to the contempt for the Galileans on the 
 ground of dialect, or more properly, difference of pro- 
 nunciation for we have not found any evidence showing 
 that the 'dialect differences' so often mentioned ex- 
 tend beyond this slight matter. The passages in both 
 Talmuds referring to this point are but few in number. 
 Buxtorf, Lightfoot, and Neubauer refer to the same 
 passages. We have noticed, and could give reasons to 
 justify such a conclusion, that in all matters relating to 
 Palestine the Jerusalem Talmud seems to be the more 
 consistent and reliable. We should expect this, from 
 the fact that it was compiled earlier than the other 
 (A.D. 350-400), and written in the country itself. In this 
 Talmud this whole matter of dialect is reduced to the 
 simple statement that the doctors (of Judaea) did not 
 distinguish between He and Cheth, nor between Alepk 
 and Ayin this simple statement, without comment. 
 The Babylonian Talmud has the same. But the latter 
 
 1 Com. on John i. 47. 
 
WAS GALILEE REGARDED WITH CONTEMPT? 107 
 
 (completed about A.D. 500) has, in addition, several 
 amusing stories illustrating the peculiar pronunciation 
 of the Galileans. The late date of the compilation of 
 this work would damage its evidence. Where the 
 Jerusalem Talmud is silent, the later Babylonian Talmud 
 cannot be brought forward to show that the Jews of 
 Jerusalem treated with contempt or ridicule their brethren 
 of Galilee on the ground of the pronunciation of the 
 latter. It is a very significant fact that St. Jerome, 
 A.D. 331-422, considered himself peculiarly fortunate 
 in obtaining a Hebrew teacher from Tiberias, because 
 Hebrew was there spoken with such purity. After 
 thus collecting the facts, it appears as if the doctors in 
 the schools of the East invented certain stories in regard 
 to the pronunciation of the Galileans (and of the Judaeans 
 as well), by 'which to amuse themselves or their pupils 
 at the expense of their brethren in Palestine l . 
 
 The dialect of Galilee is referred to but once in the 
 New Testament, namely, in connection with Peter at 
 the trial of Christ. Of this event there are four accounts 2 . 
 The ' speech,' or peculiar pronunciation, of Peter is 
 mentioned by Matthew only 3 , for the words 'and thy 
 speech agreeth' in Mark xiv. 70, are probably to be 
 omitted. It is often alleged that Peter's 'speech 'was 
 alluded to by way of contempt. This passage and the 
 one in Mark are the only evidence which Hausrath 
 
 1 Lightfoot, I. pp. 170-172; Graetz, III., p. 395; Neubauer, pp. 184, 
 185 ; Buxtorf, Lexicon, pp. 224, 225, art. ?yJ ; Renan, Lang. Semitiquts, 
 p. 230. 
 
 2 Matt. xxvi. 69-75 ; Mark xiv. 66-72 ; Luke xxii. 54-62 ; John xviii. 
 25-27. 3 Matt. xxvi. 73. 
 
108 GALILEE IN THE TIME OF CHRIST. 
 
 produces to prove his assertion that ' a man from the 
 Sea of Galilee became in Judaea,' on account of his 
 pronunciation, 'a butt of ridicule V But no contempt 
 was here either expressed or implied. Peter had denied 
 a certain statement, and the bystanders, to justify 
 themselves, without any thought of ridicule or contempt, 
 said simply: ' Your speech reveals you to be a Galilean,' 
 as we have alleged (KOL -yap 17 AaAia aov br]\6v <re 7701*1) 2 . 
 Sometimes Acts ii. 7 is referred to as supporting the 
 view stated above. But there could hardly be a more 
 unjust use of the passage. The point of surprise on the 
 part of the audience was, that so few men, all coming 
 from the same region, should speak all the languages of 
 the world. The surprise would have been great if the 
 speakers had all come from Greece, Italy, or Babylon. 
 In this case they were from Galilee. But nothing can 
 be inferred from this passage which is in any way 
 derogatory to the character of the Galileans. Besides 
 the above, there are no other passages in the New 
 Testament which -bear upon the matter of the dialect 
 of Galilee. On this point Josephus is silent a sig- 
 nificant fact. Thus, neither in Josephus, the New 
 Testament, nor the Talmud, is there any ground, as 
 regards dialect, why the people of Jerusalem should 
 regard with contempt the inhabitants of this northern 
 province ; nor is there the slightest evidence that on this 
 ground the people of Jerusalem regarded the people of 
 Galilee with any such feeling at all. Yet this matter of 
 dialect is one of the strongest arguments held up before 
 the popular mind to prove the existence of the alleged 
 1 I. p. ii. 2 Matt. xxvi. 73. 
 
WAS GALILEE REGARDED WITH CONTEMPT? 109 
 
 feeling of contempt. Further, and this fact ought to 
 receive special emphasis, what a splendid instrument 
 this matter of dialect would have been in the hands of 
 the enemies of Christ, to be used against Him and His 
 disciples ! If this difference of dialect was the occasion of 
 any feeling between the people of the two sections , if on 
 tJiis account the Galileans were really laughing-stocks in 
 Jertisalem, then what stupidity on the part of Christ's 
 enemies not to have tised this most effective means for 
 silencing Him and counteracting His influence. The silence 
 of Christ's enemies is a strong argument against the 
 supposition that on the ground of dialect there existed 
 among the Jews of Jerusalem a feeling of contempt for 
 the Galileans. 
 
 Another alleged ground is the * religious looseness ' 
 which is supposed to have prevailed in Galilee.- But we 
 have seen that the Galileans were stricter in regard to 
 morals than the people of Judaea, and that the former 
 adhered more closely to the law than the latter, while 
 the latter put tradition foremost. These facts speak for 
 themselves. Another ground is, that the people of the 
 north were a mixed race. We have shown that they 
 are to be regarded as thoroughly Jewish. Another is 
 that the Galileans would not be dictated to by the 
 Doctors of Jerusalem. If this, in so far as it is fact at 
 all, occasioned any feeling, it nowhere appears, or is even 
 hinted at. Again, Keim makes the circumstance that 
 John Hyrcanus sent his son Alexander Jannaeus, the 
 subsequent king, to Galilee to be brought up, imply his 
 contempt for Galilee. Whereas the only point in this 
 fact is that Hyrcanus wanted his son out of his sight 
 
110 GALILEE IN THE TIME OF CHRIST. 
 
 in Galilee, or anywhere else, where he would not see him 
 again. Keim presses still another fact altogether too 
 far, when he says that ' Antipater regarded his younger 
 son, the youngster Herod ' [but he was then twenty- 
 five!] 'as smart enough fur tu'chtig genug to govern 
 Galilee,' implying the very opposite of what the facts 
 indicate, as given by Josephus. Herod was sent to 
 Galilee because, of the two sons of Antipater, he was 
 the more shrewd, active, and capable. 
 
 Delitzsch states the popular view as if it were a firmly 
 established fact, instead of being, as it really is, a sup- 
 position with hardly a shadow of proof: his words 
 are, 'The Judaeans regarded the Galileans with proud 
 contempt, just as the Greeks regarded the Boeotians, or 
 the Parisians the people of Gascony 1 : ' which we are 
 ready to admit as soon as any evidence can be adduced 
 in support of it. The Christians are once called ' the 
 sect of the Nazarenes,' and alluded to as such in one 
 other instance 3 , as a sect obnoxious to the Jews ; but in 
 neither case is any contempt implied for Galilee or 
 Nazareth. In John vii. 41 all that is meant is that the 
 people universally expected Christ to come from Bethle- 
 hem, and not from Galilee. As to the statement in John 
 vii. 52, it is possible that the speakers referred to the 
 prophet alluded to in verse 40, and also in chap. vi. 14. 
 But if they really meant that no prophet ever came from 
 Galilee, they stated what they knew to be false, that 
 is, supposing that they possessed even the commonest 
 knowledge of their own history. There are besides the 
 above no other passages in the New Testament which 
 
 1 Jesus und Hillel, p. 13. 2 Acts xxiv. 5 ; xxviii. 22. 
 
WAS GALILEE REGARDED WITH CONTEMPT? Ill 
 
 bear at all upon our subject, except John i. 46, Nathanael's 
 words, which will be considered later. 
 
 The grounds mentioned above, on which it is claimed 
 by some that a feeling of contempt for the Galileans 
 was based, are all suppositions of later times. We can 
 readily imagine that, on the part of Jerusalem and its 
 inhabitants, there was a feeling of superiority to Galilee 
 and the Galileans. But that such a feeling (of the exist- 
 ence of which at all we have no proof) ever amounted 
 to contempt, or even to sectional jealousy or prejudice, 
 there is not the slightest evidence in any of the great 
 authorities, namely, the New Testament, Josephus, and 
 the Talmud. Yet, if such a feeling really existed, it 
 must have appeared somewhere. On this point, the 
 following summary of facts will be significant : 
 
 1. On a certain occasion of distress in the northern 
 province, mentioned in i Mac. v. 14-23, the Maccabees, 
 though belonging to the tribe of Judah, rallied nobly for 
 the defence of the Galileans their brethren of the north. 
 There is no trace of sectional feeling here. 
 
 2. In A. 0.51 the Galileans were attacked atGinseaby 
 the Samaritans, while the former were on their way to a 
 feast at Jerusalem. ' When the assassination was reported 
 at Jerusalem, the populace were thrown into a state of 
 confusion, and, deserting the festival, hurried to Samaria,' 
 to revenge the outrage committed against their brethren 
 of the north. Here is the very opposite of sectional 
 feeling between Judaea and Galilee. 
 
 3. Had such a feeling existed, it would have cropped 
 out at the great feasts, the common occasions for the 
 display of ill-feeling or mad passions, if any existed, 
 
112 GALILEE IN THE TIME OF CHRIST. 
 
 towards any person or party. But a friendly feeling 
 always appears ; for, 
 
 4. At the outbreak at Pentecost (May 31, in B.C. 4) 
 after the death of Herod, Galileans, Idumseans, men 
 from Jericho and Persea, join with the Judaeans in an 
 attack upon Sabinus and the Roman troops, and 
 apparently there is the greatest harmony among the 
 people of the different sections. 
 
 5. During the governorship of Herod, and afterwards 
 during his reign (from the time he was twenty-five until 
 he was seventy), and during the long reign of Antipas 
 (forty-three years), and the short reign of Agrippa I., 
 and the governorship of Josephus, in all the events which 
 transpired during these years, there is no ' trace of sec- 
 tional feeling or jealousy. 
 
 6. The opposite of such a feeling is indicated by the 
 visiting back and forth of the Scribes and Pharisees in 
 Christ's time. 
 
 7. In the Jewish war, the greatest harmony prevails, 
 for the most part, between Galilee and Judaea. 
 
 8. The silence of the enemies of Christ. 
 
 9. The silence, on this subject, of the New Testament, 
 of Josephus, and of the Talmud. If Galilee was ' a 
 despised province,' if ' the Galileans were looked upon 
 with contempt.' ought there not to be hints of such facts 
 somewhere ? 
 
XVIII. 
 
 NAZARETH, ITS CHARACTER AND PROBABLE SIZE ; 
 ORIGIN OF THE NAME; NOT so ISOLATED AS is 
 SUPPOSED. 
 
 IN regard to Nazareth, some have apparently felt that 
 they were honouring Christ in proportion as they were 
 able to make His earthly home appear insignificant 
 and mean. The pictures which have been drawn of 
 the ' meanness ' of Nazareth, and of the ' poverty ' of 
 Christ's family, are as distressing as they are untruth- 
 ful. It is a question whether the words of Nathanael 
 have not been misunderstood. The Greek can be 
 translated easily ; but we refer to the spirit of the words. 
 In common with all the pious at that time, Nathanael 
 expected Christ to appear at Bethlehem. ' The passage 
 in Micah v. 2 1 left no doubt in the minds of the Sanhedrin 
 as to the birthplace of the Messiah,' i.e. it could occur 
 only at Bethlehem. So Nathanael believed with the 
 rest. Consequently, any one who should announce that 
 He had appeared elsewhere, would at once be said to be 
 mistaken. This is a striking case, we think, where too 
 strict adherence to the letter does violence to the senti- 
 ments of the speaker and to the well-known facts of the 
 
 1 Comp. Matt. ii. 6. 
 H 
 
114 GALILEE IN THE TIME OF CHRIST. 
 
 time. Nathanael in his surprise said only, ' The great 
 good which we expect cannot come from Nazareth, 
 because Scripture has declared that He must come from 
 Bethlehem.' Thus the words of Nathanael are best 
 explained. Thus, also, we do not make this man whom 
 the lips of the Saviour declared to be ' an Israelite 
 indeed, in whom is no guile,' guilty of cherishing, at 
 that very moment, a contemptible spirit of local 
 jealousy. Those who infer from the n ayaOov of 
 Nathanael that Nazareth was an immoral place, found 
 their assumption on a mere fancy, which is supported 
 by not a single fact, and, indeed, is contradicted by all 
 that we know of the place and people. 
 
 Those who claim that Nathanael meant to contrast 
 the insignificance of the place with the greatness of the 
 Messiah are equally wrong ; for this could have been 
 said of Bethlehem, where He was expected to appear, or, 
 if one chose, of even Jerusalem itself, had He appeared 
 there. 
 
 It is often said that Nazareth is not mentioned in the 
 Old Testament or in Josephus ; implying that hence it 
 must have been an insignificant place. As to Josephus, 
 he speaks only of those places which he has occasion to 
 mention ; and out of the two hundred and four cities and 
 villages of Galilee he names but about forty. Neither 
 is Capernaum mentioned in the Old Testament or the 
 Apocrypha, and but once (perhaps not that) in Josephus. 
 Yet we know it was a place of importance. 
 
 As to the origin of the name ' Nazareth,' no one can 
 decide definitely. At the same time, one explanation 
 may be found to be more probable than any of the 
 
NAZARETH. 115 
 
 others. We reject that which derives it from "1T3 
 consecrated or devoted to God. Also, that which makes 
 it come from ^^''0, my Saviour. Likewise the very 
 popular one for which Hengstenberg, in his Christology, 
 labours, who derives it from "l!p, a shoot or sprout. Isa. 
 xi. i is the only place where "^5 is used with reference 
 to Christ. But if the name were to contain a reference 
 to the Messiah as a sproztt or branch of David, it should 
 have been some form of HO?, the usual word for 
 ' branch,' and which is supposed to have direct refer- 
 ence to the Messiah. The explanation of Hengstenberg 
 (and held by many others) is very improbable ; for is 
 it likely that a place would be named from a certain 
 prophecy, and from a certain word in that prophecy, 
 years, and perhaps centuries, before that prophecy was 
 fulfilled ? A town could hardly have failed to have 
 existed on so eligible a site from very early times. The 
 hill just behind the present town is spoken of by every 
 traveller as commanding one of the finest prospects in 
 Palestine. It could not have wanted a name, any more 
 than Hermon, Tabor, or Gilboa. Mountains in every 
 country are frequently named from some peculiarity of 
 their own. We have long had the impression, confirmed 
 since we stood on the hill itself, that the name of the 
 town and the hill must be intimately connected, or 
 perhaps identical. If we had the name of the latter, 
 we should know that of the former. We have already 
 shown that to the New Testament writers this place 
 was a TTO'AIS, and never a KO>^ (i.e. 'city,' not 'village'), 
 and hence of size and importance, in spite of modern 
 
 H 2 
 
116 GALILEE IN THE TIME OF CHRIST. 
 
 commentaries and sermons, which insist on its insignifi- 
 cance. Keim puts the probable number of its inhabitants 
 ' at ten thousand souls, at least.' But if we receive the 
 statement of Josephus. before quoted, as to the towns 
 and cities of Galilee, we may suppose the number of its 
 inhabitants to have reached fifteen or twenty thousand. 
 We have, then, a mountain ' city ' of some importance 
 and of considerable antiquity. We have the hill at the 
 back of the town, commanding that wonderful prospect. 
 This hill must have had a name. We have the word "122, 
 to behold, to see, to look, and then to watch, to guard. In the 
 latter sense (watch or guard) it is often used in Hebrew 
 (perhaps a dozen times). We have "1?^, one guarding ; 
 and rn^O, one guarding, respectively masculine and 
 feminine. <"J"Vl!S3, construct n"V)^, one guarded (fern.). 
 If Nazareth is from JTVlSp, it would signify the watched 
 or guarded one (fern.), i. e., the hill-top seen or beheld 
 from afar. If from rn!Tl!3, we have the one guarding or 
 ivatching (fern.), i.e., the hill which overlooks a vast 
 region in this case land and sea and thus guards it. 
 Both these facts are true of the Nazareth-hill. In the 
 oldest Greek manuscripts both the forms Nazara and 
 Nazareth appear. One cannot read the article in Fiirst's 
 Hebrew and Chaldee Lexicon, natzar although he does 
 not allude to the question here discussed without being 
 impressed with the idea that if the word Nazareth is to 
 be derived from the Hebrew at all, it must come from 
 this root, and have the signification which we have given 
 and adopted. 
 
 The view of Hitzig, as given by Tobler, making the 
 
NAZARETH. 1 1 7 
 
 name refer to some helping goddess of the old Canaan- 
 itish times, we cannot adopt. The view above presented 
 is one which seemed to us most plausible, and which we 
 had written out and adopted before we had seen Keim's 
 first volume. We are gratified to find that he connects 
 the city with the hill as to the origin of its name : and he 
 gives, in substance, the view we have advocated. We 
 submit this as the most natural explanation of the origin 
 of the word ' Nazareth.' It cannot be charged, as every 
 one of the others can, with being 'far-fetched.' It 
 relieves the name from any theological or prophetical 
 character. If it was to have a theological or a prophetical 
 import, it was unnatural, to say the least, to derive it 
 from "^3 instead of from Htt^. "*??. ' 1S use< ^ but once 
 in any such connection ; while ITOS is used many times. 
 Much is said about the ' absolute seclusion ' of 
 Nazareth as the home of Christ. In regard to this 
 point the following facts are important: I. The prob- 
 able size of the place, as before mentioned. 2. The 
 Nazareth-hill was seen and known throughout all 
 that province, in Samaria also, and by the sailors 
 on the Mediterranean Sea. 3. Its distance from other 
 places three short days' journey from Jerusalem ; 
 about six hours from Ptolemais, the port at which 
 news and merchandise from Rome first reached 
 Palestine (as regards the early receiving of news 
 and merchandise from Rome, Galilee had the advan- 
 tage of Jerusalem and Judaea) ; about five hours 
 from the Sea of Galilee ; two or three hours from 
 Endor and Nain ; two hours from Mount Tabor ; 
 
Il8 GALILEE IN THE TIME OF CHRIST. 
 
 about one hour and a half from Cana of Galilee ; 
 also one hour and a half from Sepphoris, which 
 before Christ's time was the capital of Galilee, and 
 even remained so until Herod Antipas built Tiberias, 
 in A.D. 28. 4. Doubtless, roads led out from Nazareth 
 in Christ's time in every direction, the same as to-day. 
 'The main road for the land traffic between Egypt and 
 the interior of Asia must have been the great highway 
 leading past Gaza,' through the mountains at Megiddo, 
 and across the Plain of Esdraelon, passing Nazareth 
 near the foot of Tabor, and thence on to the Northern 
 Jordan and Damascus. If the caravan routes from 
 Tyre and Sidon passed to the north of Nazareth, 
 that from Ptolemais to Damascus would no doubt 
 make Capernaum, if not Tiberias, on its line, and 
 hence would pass very near to Nazareth. 5- Its 
 proximity to the capital of the province, Sepphoris 
 which is in sight from the Nazareth-hill and to 
 other large cities, and its nearness to the great caravan 
 routes of commerce, would bring it into constant inter- 
 course with the centres of business and news (Ptolemais, 
 Capernaum, Tiberias, Scythopolis, Sepphoris, and of 
 course Damascus), and give it, in this respect, very 
 important advantages, which they should consider well 
 who insist upon the ' great obscurity and isolation of 
 the place ' a supposition wholly gratuitous, as is seen 
 by the facts now presented. 
 
 After what we have thus far learned of Galilee, it 
 sounds strange enough to read, especially from an 
 eminent author, that ' Jesus grew up among a people 
 seldom, or only contemptuously, named by the ancient 
 
NAZARETH. I I 9 
 
 classics, and subjected, at the time, to the yoke of a 
 foreign oppressor ; in a remote and conquered province 
 of the Roman empire ; in the darkest district of Pales- 
 tine ; in a country town of proverbial insignificance ; in 
 poverty and manual labour ; in the obscurity of a 
 carpenter's shop ; far away from universities, academies, 
 libraries, and literary or polished society,' &c. 
 
 In regard to ' manual labour,' it should be remem- 
 bered that in Christ's time it was a disgrace not to 
 labour. The most eminent teachers engaged regularly 
 in ' manual labour.' How far must Christ have gone 
 to have found ' universities, academies, and libraries ' ? 
 They certainly did not exist in Jerusalem. The whole 
 paragraph gives an entirely wrong impression in regard 
 to the city and province where Christ lived, and as 
 to the circumstances of His early life. The colouring of 
 this picture is false. 
 
120 
 
 XIX. 
 
 SUMMARY OF RESULTS : GALILEE PROVIDENTIALLY 
 FITTED FOR THE FIRST RECEPTION OF CHRIST 
 AND His GOSPEL. 
 
 AFTER the careful review now closed, we feel justified 
 in saying that Galilee at the time of Christ was one 
 of the finest and most fertile portions of the earth. 
 Stretching from the Mediterranean on the west to the 
 Jordan and the sweet-watered Merom and Gennesareth 
 on the east ; abounding in springs, rivers, and lakes 
 among which its one hallowed sea was the gem and 
 pride of the whole country, as it is for ever dear to 
 Christian hearts ; possessing a rare and delightful 
 climate, and scenery of great variety and beauty ; its 
 surface never dull or monotonous, but wonderfully 
 varied by plains and valleys, gentle slopes and terraced 
 hills, deep ravines and bold peaks, naturally fortified 
 eminences and giant mountains ; its soil naturally fertile. 
 but forced by skilful husbandry to the highest state of 
 productiveness, until this province was, noted for the 
 perfection and abundance of its fruits ; Galilee thus 
 possessed features of richness and beauty rarely if ever 
 combined in so small a country in all the world besides. 
 The surface of the country was covered with wealthy 
 cities and flourishing towns, and crossed in many 
 directions by her * way of the sea ' and other great 
 
SUMMARY OF RESULTS. 121 
 
 thoroughfares, which were thronged with the caravans 
 of commerce. Its' agriculture and fisheries, wine and 
 oil trade, and other industries, were in the most 
 flourishing condition, being managed with energy and 
 skill by a people who knew well how to use to advan- 
 tage the resources of their highly favoured country. 
 Its synagogues and other public buildings were built 
 often in splendid style and at great expense. Here 
 money was abundant, and easily raised either for taxes, 
 heavy tributes, military affairs, or for costly dwellings 
 and palaces. Here all matters pertaining to the syna- 
 gogical service and to the instruction of children were 
 faithfully attended to, and here were found teachers, 
 learned men, missionaries, poets, and patriots of the 
 highest order. 
 
 In regard to the character of the Galileans, it is 
 claimed that gold and dross were lying side by side. 
 But even those who discover in them a great deal of 
 exterior roughness are compelled to admit that beneath 
 this rough surface they possessed a fund of strength and 
 talent which entitled them to the highest regard. But 
 much of a positive character can be said in their praise. 
 Their patriotism in national emergencies ; their en- 
 thusiastic loyalty to their country's interests ; their 
 general adherence to the law of Moses in preference to 
 tradition, which ruled and hampered the public mind 
 in Jerusalem ; their interests in the Temple and its 
 solemn feasts ; their deep-seated and inspiring hope, 
 which looked with steadfast gaze towards the future 
 ' waiting for the redemption of Israel,' these things 
 show that the Jews of the north, at least equally with, 
 
122 GALILEE IN THE TIME OF CHRIST. 
 
 and perhaps far beyond, those who dwelt beneath the 
 very shadow of the Temple, maintained within them- 
 selves, in their integrity, some of the noblest traits of 
 the Hebrew nation. 
 
 But farther, we find the Galileans to have been a 
 moral, intelligent, industrious, and enterprising people, 
 possessed of vigorous minds and healthy bodies 
 ' healthy as their own climate and cheerful as their own 
 sky,' a people familiar with their own law and history, 
 and not wanting in the finest poetical spirit ; with the 
 disposition and ability to appreciate in the main the 
 teachings of Christ ; a people among whom were found 
 most devoted men. 'Israelites indeed' ; among whom 
 also devotion to the national idea reached its highest 
 development, till at last they rose, a solid wall of 
 patriot hearts, to be crushed by the all-conquering 
 power of Rome ; both country and people, one may say 
 with truth, fitly chosen of God as the training-place of 
 those men Master and disciples who were to move 
 the world ; the proper soil in which first to plant the 
 seeds of that truth which was destined, ere long, to be 
 spoken by eloquent lips in the pulpits of Caesarea, 
 Antioch, Constantinople, and Rome. 
 
123 
 
 LIST OF AUTHORITIES QUOTED. 
 
 THE following is a list of the authors we have consulted in 
 preparing the present work. In a large number of instances 
 these authors are quoted as authorities for isolated statements. 
 This remark is made lest any one might suppose that the 
 volumes referred to contained a detailed account of Galilee, 
 which is not the case. 
 
 ALFORD. New Testament. 
 
 ARNAUD. La Palestine ancienne et moderne, i vol. Paris, 
 
 1868. 
 BURTON AND DRAKE, Unexplored Syria, 2 vols. London, 
 
 1872. 
 
 BUXTORF. Lex. Chald. Tal. et Rab., new edit, by Fischer. 
 CHIARINI. Le Talmud, 2 vols. Leipzig, 1831. 
 CONYBEARE AND HowsoN. Life and Epistles of St. Paul, 2 
 
 vols. in i. New York, 1869. 
 DELITZSCH. Handwerkerleben zur Zeit Jesu. Erlangen, 1868. 
 
 Also, Jesus und Hillel. Ibid., 1867. 
 DERENBOURG. Histoire de la Palestine, d'apres des Thalmuds 
 
 et les autres sources Rabbiniques, i vol. Paris, 1867. 
 EWALD. History of Israel, Eng. trans. London, 1869, et seq. 
 FURRER. Wanderungen durch Palastina, i vol. Zurich, 
 
 1865. 
 FURST. Kultur- und Literaturgeschichte der Juden in Asien, 
 
 i vol. Leipzig, 1849. 
 GEIGER. Urschrift und Uebersetzungen der Bibel, i vol. 
 
 Breslau, 1857. 
 
124 LIST OF AUTHORITIES. 
 
 GFRORER. The first vol. of his Das Jahrhundert des Heils. 
 Stuttgart, 1838. 
 
 GRAETZ. The third vol. of his Geschichte der Juden. Edition 
 of Leipzig, 1856. 
 
 Sinai et Golgotha, ou les origines du Judaisme et du 
 
 Christianisme, i vol. Paris, 1867. 
 
 GROVE. In Smith's Bible Dictionary. 
 
 HAUSRATH. Neutestamentliche Zeitgeschichte. Vol. i., Hei- 
 delberg, 1868; vol. ii., ibid.) 1872. 
 
 HERZFELD. Geschichte des Volkes Israel, 3 vols. Braun- 
 schweig, 1847, et seq, 
 
 JAHN. Bib. Archaeology, 3rd edit, i vol. Andover, 1832. 
 
 JOSEPHUS. Edit. Dindorf, pub. Didot, 2 vols. Paris, 1845, 
 1847. Trans, of Antiquities by Whiston. Trans, of 
 the Wars by Traill, edited by Isaac Taylor, 2 vols. 
 London, 1851. 
 
 JOST. Gesch. des Judenthums und seiner Secten, 3 vols. 
 Leipzig, 1857, et seq. Also, vol. ii. of his Gesch. der 
 Israeliten, edit. Berlin, 1821. 
 
 KEIM. Geschichte Jesu von Nazara, 3 vols. Ziirich, 1867- 
 1872. 
 
 KENRICK. Phoenicia, i vol. London, 1855. 
 
 KITTO. Cyclop. Bib. Lit., edit, by W. L. Alexander, 3rd 
 edition, 3 vols. 1866. 
 
 LEWIN. Fasti Sacri, i vol. London, 1865. 
 
 LIGHTFOOT. Horae Hebraicae, edit, by Robert Gandell, in 
 4 vols. Oxford, 1859. 
 
 LUTTERBECK. Die neutestamentlichen Lehrbegriffe, 2 vols. 
 Mainz, 1852. 
 
 MADDEN. Jewish Coinage, i vol. London, 1864. 
 
 MERIVALE. History of the Romans under the Empire, 7 vols. 
 New York, 1871. 
 
 MEYER. Commentary on the New Testament. 
 
LIST OF AUTHORITIES. 125 
 
 MILMAN. History of the Jews, 3 vols. London, 1866. 
 MUNK. Palestine, i vol. Paris, 1863. 
 NEUBAUER. La Geographic du Talmud, i vol. Paris, 1868. 
 PALESTINE EXPLORATION FUND. The Recovery of Jerusalem, 
 i vol. Also, by the same, Our Work in Palestine, 
 
 1 vol. 
 PLINY. 
 
 PLUMPTRE. Christ and Christendom, i vol. London, 1867. 
 PORTER. Handbook for Syria and Palestine. Also, Giant 
 
 Cities of Bashan, i vol. 
 
 RAUMER (Von). Palastina, i vol. Leipzig, 1860. 
 RAWLINSON. Ancient Monarchies, 3 vols. 
 RELAND. Palaestina. 1714. 
 RENAN. Histoire Generate des Langues Sdmitiques, i vol. 
 
 Paris, 1863. 
 
 Life of Jesus. Eng. trans., i vol. New York, 1871. 
 
 RITTER. Geography of Palestine. Trans, in 4 vols. by W. 
 
 L. Gage. 
 ROBINSON. Biblical Researches. 2nd edit, 3 vols. Boston, 
 
 1860. 
 
 SCHAFF. The Person of Christ. New York, 1866. 
 SCHNECKENBURGER. Ncutestamentliche Zeitgeschichte, i vol. 
 
 Frankfurt am Main, 1862. 
 SCHWARTZ. Das heilige Land, i vol. Frankfurt am Main, 
 
 1852. 
 
 SMITH. Dictionary of the Bible. 
 STANLEY. Sinai and Palestine, i vol. Also, Jewish Church, 
 
 2 vols. 
 STRABO. 
 TACITUS. 
 TALMUD. Jerusalem. 
 
 Babylonian. 
 
 THOMSON. The Land and the Book, 2 vols. New York, 1859. 
 
126 LIST CF AUTHORITIES. 
 
 TOBLER. Nazareth, i vol. Berlin, 1868. 
 
 TRISTRAM. Natural History of the Bible, i vol. London, 
 
 1868. Also, The Land of Israel : a Journal, &c., i vol. 
 
 London, 1866. 
 
 VAN DE VELDE. Syria and Palestine, 2 vols. London, 1854. 
 WEBER AND HOLTZMANN. Geschichte des Volkes Israel, 2 
 
 vols. Leipzig, 1867. 
 
 WILLIAMS. The Holy City, 2 vols. London, 1849. 
 WILSON. Lands of the Bible, 2 vols. Edinburgh, 1847. 
 
 We would refer to the notes of Isaac Taylor, in his edition of 
 Traill's Josephus' Wars, as very important. The little book of 
 Schneckenburger is comprehensive and clear. Lewin's work 
 is of great value. 
 
 Neubauer's Geographic is a most serviceable volume. Dr. 
 J. Morgenstern published, in iS^o (two pamphlets, Berlin), a 
 severe review of it, entitled, Die franzb'sische Academic und die 
 1 Geographic des TalmudsJ which we have used in connection 
 with Neubauer's work. On the other hand, Dr. M. A. Levy, 
 in the Zeitschrift der D. M. Gesellschaft, 1869, p. 699, and Dr. 
 Geiger, in faejiidische Zeitschrift fur Wissenschaft und Leben, 
 1869, p. 62, et seq., both praise Neubauer's Geographic, as a 
 work of great merit. Hausrath is always fresh and suggestive. 
 We can, with much justice, call him the German Stanley. 
 Keim's is a vast work, and characterised by fulness and 
 richness. 
 
 Graetz's Geschichte is likewise of great importance ; but some- 
 times his conclusions are too hasty and his spirit too partisan 
 for the candid historian. 
 
127 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Achabara, celebrated for pheasants, 
 
 39- 
 
 Adiabene, Eleazar, a Jewish mission- 
 ary in, 91. 
 Agriculture of Galilee, 33. 
 
 among the Galileans, 70, 71. 
 Agrippa and Berenice, steward of,. 
 
 robbed, and outbreak which 
 
 followed, 64. 
 
 Agrippa L, see under Herod. 
 Agrippa II., see under Herod. 
 Alexander, son of Aristobulus, de- 
 feated near Mount Tabor by 
 
 Gabinius, 55. 
 Alexander, a Jewish philosopher of 
 
 Alexandria, said to be from 
 
 Paneas, 95. 
 Alexander Jannseus calls Galilee 
 
 his fatherland, 95. 
 Alexandra, queen, Pharisees rise to 
 
 power during her reign, 83. 
 her character, 90. 
 Alexandria, fish of its lake similar 
 
 to those in a spring near Gen- 
 
 nesareth, 24. 
 glass-shops of, 42. 
 Amphitheatre at Jerusalem, 90. 
 Andrew, from Bethsaida, 51, 97. 
 Anna the prophetess, from Asher, 
 
 95- 
 Antioch, contribution sent from, to 
 
 the poor Christians in Judsea, 
 
 100. 
 Antiochus the Great, battle of, near 
 
 Mount Tabor, 54. 
 at Paneas, 56. 
 
 Antipater, father of Herod the 
 Great, raising money for Cas- 
 sius, 101. 
 Antony gives Csesarea Philippi to 
 
 Cleopatra, 58. 
 his lust, 90. 
 
 Aqueducts, remains of ancient, 32. 
 Arabah, grain merchants meeting 
 
 at, 40. 
 
 Arabs aid the Romans in the Jew- 
 ish war, 75. 
 
 Arbela, a stronghold, 51. 
 fortified caves, 51. 
 refuge of robbers, 51. 
 celebrated for cloth, 40. 
 home of Nitai, a doctor of the 
 
 Mishna, 95. 
 Archelaus, ethuarch of Judsea, 12, 
 
 13- 
 
 married his brother's widow, 88. 
 
 this conduct condemned, 88. 
 
 banished by Augustus, 13. 
 Archives of Galilee kept at Sep- 
 
 phoris, 55. 
 
 Aristobulus II. found his best sol- 
 diers in Galilee, 73. 
 Army, large, raised by Josephus in 
 Galilee, 63. 
 
 heroic deeds of the Galilean, in 
 Jerusalem, 73. 
 
 Roman, splendid discipline of, 74. 
 
 number of, in Jewish war, 75. 
 
 contrast between, and the Gali- 
 lean, 75. 
 
 a part of the, supported in winter 
 quarters in Galilee, 100. 
 
128 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Arsenal of Herod Antipas at Sep- 
 
 phoris, 55. 
 
 vast collection of arms in, 65. 
 Asher, oil production of, 35. 
 
 part taken by, in the pursuit of 
 
 the Midianites, 76. 
 Athronges sets himself up for a 
 
 king in Judaea, on the death of 
 
 Herod the Great, 81. 
 Augustus,emperor,decree of, against 
 
 lofty houses, 54. 
 
 Babylon, costly products of, passing 
 
 through Galilee, 100. 
 Balinas, an old name for Banias, 55. 
 Banias, a well- watered region, 30. 
 
 fertility about, 39. 
 Barak and Deborah rallied their 
 
 forces on Mount Tabor, 76. 
 victory over the Canaanites, 94. 
 song celebrating the same, 93. 
 Barbadoes, island of, inhabitants 
 
 to a square mile, 20. 
 Bar Cochab, rebellion under, against 
 
 Rome, 65. 
 Barley furnished by Solomon to 
 
 Hiram, 37. 
 
 Bashan full of ruined towns, 66. 
 Battle-field of Joshua at Lake 
 
 Merom, 56. 
 of Antiochus the Great at Paneas, 
 
 56. 
 
 at Mount Tabor, 55. 
 of Deborah and Barak, 76, 
 of Gam'ala, 49. 
 of Gadara, 60. 
 of Japha, 74. 
 of Jotapata, 60, 74. 
 of Gabinius at Mount Tabor, 55. 
 Battle-fields of the Jewish nation, 
 some of the most remark- 
 able were in Galilee, 76. 
 a bloody on the Lake of Tiberias, 
 
 46. 
 
 Belus, the river, glass-making con- 
 nected with, 29. 
 furnished sand for the glass-shops 
 
 of the world, 42. 
 Berytus, lofty houses at, 54. 
 
 Beth-arbel. See Arbela. 
 Bethlehem, Christ expected to ap- 
 pear at, no, 113, 114. 
 Bethmaus, near Tiberias, its syna- 
 gogue, 48. 
 Bethsaida, the eastern, meaning of 
 
 the name, 44. 
 Bethsaida, rebuilt by Herod Philip, 
 
 and called Julias, 50. 
 Philip buried there, 50. 
 scene of one of Christ's miracles 
 
 near, 50. 
 Bethsaida, the western, 51. 
 
 called Bethsaida in Galilee, 51. 
 home of Philip, Andrew, and 
 
 Peter, 51. 
 probably of Zebedee, James, and 
 
 John, 51. 
 was a city, 51. 
 Christ intimately connected with, 
 
 5 1 - 
 
 character of, 105. 
 Bethshean, the ' gate of Paradise,' 
 
 39; 
 
 fertility of, 39. 
 population, 54. 
 Bible-study, a revival of, during the 
 
 reign of Alexandra, 84. 
 Biram, warm springs at, 31. 
 Birket Israil in Jerusalem, pottery 
 
 found there, 41. 
 Boys, education of, devolved upon 
 
 the father, 85. 
 Brass shops of Tyre, 42. 
 praised by Homer, 42. 
 Bridge over the Jordan below the 
 
 Lake of Tiberias, 49. 
 on the main route to the east, 49. 
 Building in Christ's time, a great 
 
 amount of public, 70. 
 costly, of Herod Antipas at Ti- 
 berias, 52, 53. 
 
 Burying-ground found by workmen 
 when Tiberias was built, 53. 
 
 Cabul, meaning of the term as used 
 by Hiram not yet explained, 16. 
 
 Caboul, a town in Galilee, sends 
 treasures to Jerusalem, 100. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 129 
 
 Csesarea on the sea-coast, Herod 
 
 Agrippa I. dies at, 13, 58. 
 Csesarea, Jews in, outnumber the 
 
 Greeks, 98. 
 
 Csesarea Philippi belongs to Galilee, 
 19. 
 
 Jews at, cannot obtain pure oil, 
 36. 
 
 had several names, 58. 
 
 a variety of masters, 58. 
 
 adorned by Herod the Great, 57. 
 
 enlarged by Herod Philip, 57. 
 
 marble temple at, 57. 
 
 castle, 57. 
 
 seat of ancient idol- worship, 55. 
 
 situation, 56. 
 
 Titus visits and celebrates games 
 at, 59. 
 
 Agrippa II. entertains Vespasian 
 at, 59. 
 
 chequered history of, 59, 60. 
 
 visited by Christ, 59. 
 
 scene of transfiguration near, 59. 
 
 Christ's conversation with His 
 disciples at, 60. 
 
 road leading eastward from, 57. 
 Caius attempts to erect his statue in 
 
 the temple at Jerusalem, 88. 
 Caligula, the emperor, gives Csesa- 
 rea Philippi to Herod Agrippa 
 I., 58. 
 Cana of Galilee, 54, 60. 
 
 Josephus at, 60. 
 Capellus, Julius, a leader in Tiberias, 
 
 96. 
 Capernaum, wheat of, 39. 
 
 wheat fields, 51. 
 
 Josephus wounded near, 49. 
 
 tax-gatherers, 52. 
 
 custom-house, 52. 
 
 garrison, 52. 
 
 schools and synagog e, 52. 
 
 importance of, as compared with 
 Tiberias, 52. 
 
 the home of Christ, 52. 
 
 on the road from Egypt to Da- 
 mascus, 52. 
 
 Christ's rebuke of, 52. 
 
 a centre of news, 100. 
 
 Capernaum, a place of luxury, 100. 
 Christ called ' a gluttonous man ' 
 
 at, loo. 
 learned men there from all parts 
 
 of the country, 86. 
 not mentioned in the Old Testa- 
 ment, 114. 
 Carmel once belonged to Galilee, 
 
 19. 
 Cassius sold the inhabitants of Tr- 
 
 richsea as slaves, 48. 
 raising men and money in Syria, 
 
 101. 
 four cities reduced to slavery by, 
 
 101. 
 Cattle, Galilee raised more grain 
 
 than, 25, 39. 
 Census of Tribes which occupied 
 
 Galilee in time of Joshua, 64. 
 Chananyah, Kefr, 19. 
 
 production of pottery, 40, 41. 
 proverb with regard to, 40. 
 Character, Jewish, permanence of, 
 
 how maintained, 69, 70. 
 Chorazin, meaning of name, 44. 
 wheat and wheat fields of, 39, 
 
 51- 
 
 Christ's rebuke of, 51, 52. 
 
 character of, 100. 
 
 Christ, misrepresentations of His 
 home and circumstances in 
 early life, 10, 106, 118. 
 
 was expected to appear in Beth- 
 lehem, no, 113, 114. 
 
 did he ever visit Tiberias ? 53. 
 
 practised and encouraged manual 
 labour, 71. 
 
 not an Essene, as sometimes 
 alleged, 38. 
 
 generally well received in Galilee, 
 87,91. 
 
 cold reception in Jerusalem, 87. 
 
 could hardly have planted Him- 
 self in Judoea, 92. 
 
 called a ' gluttonous man,' 100. 
 
 rebukes Bethsaida, Chorazin, and 
 Capernaum, 52, 100. 
 
 at Caesarea Philippi, 59. 
 
 scene of His transfiguration, 59. 
 
130 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Christ, conversation with His dis- 
 ciples at, 60. 
 
 constant reference to natural ob- 
 jects, 9. 
 
 must not study, exclusively, from 
 the spiritual side, 9. 
 
 contempt of, for tradition, 87. 
 
 familiarity of, with the Scriptures, 
 87. 
 
 silence of the enemies of, bearing 
 on the dialect of Galilee, 
 109. 
 
 Galilee providentially chosen as 
 the scene of His appearance 
 and ministry, 120. 
 Christians called the sect of the 
 
 Nazarenes, no. 
 
 Cicero thought manual labour de- 
 grading, 71. 
 
 Cities and villages of Galilee, sixty- 
 nine mentioned in Joshua's 
 time, 1 8. 
 
 sixteen in Naphtali were fortified, 
 18. 
 
 number of, mentioned by Jose- 
 phus, 17, 54. 
 
 difficulty in locating those men- 
 tioned by name, 17. 
 
 Josephus' statement examined, 
 63, et seq. 
 
 commanding situations of some 
 of the, 54, 55. 
 
 in the East packed with people, 
 66. 
 
 about the Sea of Galilee, 51. 
 Clay, the dark preferred for pottery, 
 
 40. 
 Cleopatra, Csesarea Philippi once 
 
 belonged to, 58. 
 
 Climate of the Plain of Gennesareth, 
 24, 25. 
 
 of Galilee a perpetual spring, 22. 
 
 supposed effect on the character 
 
 of the Galileans, 83. 
 Cloth made at Arbela, 40. 
 Ccele-Syria given to Herod the 
 Great, 101. 
 
 ommerce, routes of, through Gali- 
 lee, 71. 
 
 Commerce, inland, 100. 
 
 of the Phoenicians affecting Gali- 
 lee, 41. 
 
 Compsus, a prominent man in Tibe- 
 rias, 96. 
 
 Contrasts between affairs in Gali- 
 lee and those in Judaea, 79, 80. 
 strange historical, in the Holy 
 
 Land, 59. 
 at Csesarea Philippi, 59. 
 
 Corinth, inhabitants of Tarichoea 
 sent by Nero to work on the 
 canal at, 48. 
 
 Council of Tiberias, size of, 53. 
 
 Courage, Galileans noted for, 71, 
 et seq. 
 
 Crassus robbed the temple at Jeru- 
 salem, 98, 101. 
 
 Crete, Jews in, numerous and 
 wealthy, 98. 
 
 Crispus, a prominent man in Tibe- 
 rias, 96. 
 
 Cumanus, Csesarea Philippi once 
 
 governed by, 58. 
 did the Jews a favour, 80. 
 negligence of, 78. 
 
 Cuspius Fadns, Csesarea Philippi 
 once governed by, 58. 
 
 Customs, various, respecting which 
 the people of Galilee were 
 more strict than those of Judsea, 
 88. 
 
 Cyprus, copper mines of, under the 
 care of Herod the Great, 102. 
 
 Deborah, a prophetess, perhaps 
 
 from Issachar, 94. 
 and Barak rallied their forces at 
 Mount Tabor, 76. 
 
 Decapolis, the region of, full of 
 
 towns, 66. 
 Scythopolis the largest city of, 61. 
 
 Dew about Mount Tabor impor- 
 tant to vegetation, 30. 
 
 Dialect of the Galileans, question 
 discussed, 107, et seq. 
 
 Distance from Nazareth to certain 
 places, 117. 
 
 Divorce, law of, among the Jews, 
 
INDEX. 
 
 not the same for men as for 
 women, 88. 
 
 Brasilia marries Felix, 80. 
 
 Dyers, shops of, at Magdala, 40. 
 important class at Tyre and Si- 
 don, 42. 
 
 Education among the Galileans, 
 
 82, et seq. 
 Eleazar, Jewish Missionary to Adi- 
 
 abene, 91. 
 
 his thorough style of preaching,9i. 
 was from Galilee, 95. 
 Eleazar, son of Jairus, obstinate 
 
 resistance of, to Rome, 96. 
 perished at Masada, 96. 
 Elephants used in the Battle of 
 
 Paneas under Antiochus the 
 
 Great, 56. 
 
 Elijah, laboured in Galilee, 95. 
 Elisha, his home in Issachar, 95. 
 Elkosh, the home of the prophet 
 
 Nahum, 95. 
 Elon, a judge in Israel, from Zebu- 
 
 lun, 94. 
 Emmaus reduced to slavery on 
 
 account of tax by Cassius, 102. 
 Engines of War, large number of, 
 
 in siege of Jotapata, 74. 
 Essene, Christ not an, as alleged, 
 
 38. 
 Essenes renounced the use of oil, 
 
 38. 
 
 considered it defiling, 38. 
 Euphrates, the Jews on the, 98. 
 Exploration Fund, English Pales- 
 tine, map of, reliable for mo- 
 dern topography, 1 8. 
 
 Farmers of Galilee industrious and 
 
 skilful, 25. 
 Fatherland, what a noble race will 
 
 accomplish when struggling for, 
 
 73, 75- 
 Feasts in Jerusalem, why fruits of 
 
 Gennesareth not found at, 25. 
 fish provided for, from the Sea of 
 Galilee, 44. 
 
 Felix, treatment of the Jews by, 80. 
 Fertility of Galilee, 22, et seq. 
 Figs of the Plain of Gennesareth, 
 
 24, 26. 
 
 Fik, the site of Hippos, 49. 
 Fish in a spring near Gennesareth, 
 
 like those in the Lake of Alex- 
 
 andria, 24. 
 
 Fish, clean and unclean, Jews dis- 
 tinguish between, 44. 
 Christ's reference to, 44. 
 Fisheries of the Sea of Galilee, 
 
 43-45- 
 Flax extensively used in Galilee, 
 
 43- 
 
 Flowers of Galilee, 26. 
 Foreign influence, effect of, on the 
 
 Jewish character, 69-71. 
 not so great as alleged, 71. 
 Forests in Galilee, 27. 
 Fortress, on Mount Tabor, 54. 
 Fruits reach perfection in Galilee, 
 
 25- 
 
 Gabara, an important 'city of Gali- 
 lee, 54. 
 
 Gabatha, an important city of Gali- 
 lee, 54. 
 
 Gabinius defeats Alexander, son of 
 Aristobulus, at Mount Tabor, 
 55- 
 five councils established by, 61. 
 
 Gadara, connection of, with Galilee, 
 
 54- 
 
 a Greek city, 70. 
 
 warm springs at, 31. 
 
 its citizens fight at Tarichaea, 60. 
 
 taken by Vespasian, 60. 
 
 the inhabitants of, massacred, 
 
 60. 
 Galileans, character of, 68, et seq. 
 
 a Jewish people, 68. 
 
 somewhat influenced by neigh- 
 bouring people, 68. 
 
 chiefly agriculturists, 70. 
 
 industry and enterprise among, 
 
 ?' 
 estimate of manual labour, 7 1 . 
 
 some friendly intercourse be- 
 
 I a 
 
I 3 2 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 tween, and the Samaritans, 
 
 79- 
 
 Galileans, once attacked by the 
 
 latter at Ginaea, 78, in. 
 poetical talent developed among, 
 
 93- 
 
 reasons why they should be hon- 
 oured by the Jewish nation, 
 104. 
 
 dialect of, question discussed, 1 06. 
 
 stories invented in the schools 
 of the East as to the pronun- 
 ciation of, 107. 
 
 their ancestors eminent for bra- 
 very, 76. 
 
 the first to suffer in the great in- 
 vasions from the East, 76. 
 
 defended by the Maccabees, 1 1 1 . 
 
 wonderful heroism of, in the strug- 
 gle with Rome, 76. 
 
 hardest fighting of the war done 
 
 by, 75- 
 
 number killed in one year, 75. 
 
 conduct praised by Vespasian and 
 Titus, 75. 
 
 noble record of, 7 2 - 
 
 devotion to their rulers, 7 2 - 
 
 never charged with cowardice, 72. 
 
 how to be judged in the Jewish 
 war when matched with the 
 veterans of Rome, 73, 74. 
 
 vain hope of, in this war, 74. 
 
 to some degree independent of 
 Jerusalem, 86. 
 
 more cosmopolitan in feeling than 
 the people of Judsea, 70. 
 
 surprising that they were not 
 more affected by foreign in- 
 fluence, 70. 
 
 freer and better religious life 
 among, than in Judaea, 87. 
 
 great respect for law and order, 
 77, et seq. 
 
 assertions to the contrary are 
 without foundation, 77. 
 
 chief concern of, was for reputa- 
 tion, 89. 
 
 religion among, 82, et seq. 
 
 zeal for the law of Moses, 82, 109. 
 
 Galileans, not given to superstition, 
 
 as alleged, 83. 
 education among, 82, 83. 
 how they regarded tradition, 109. 
 superior morals of, 109. 
 patriotism and intelligence of, 
 
 121. 
 
 summary of character of, 122. 
 appreciating the teaching of 
 
 Christ, 122. 
 Galilee, and Galilee of the Gentiles, 
 
 meaning of the terms, 15. 
 Josephus divides, into Upper and 
 
 Lower, 19. 
 the Talmud makes three divisions, 
 
 19. 
 
 limits of, vary, 19. 
 what it embraced, 1 7. 
 difficulty in tracing its boundaries, 
 
 17- 
 
 extent of, 19. 
 
 densely populated, 20. 
 
 inhabitants to a square mile, 20. 
 
 example of other countries, 20. 
 
 popular representations of, not 
 correct, 10. 
 
 fertility of, at the time of Christ, 
 24. 
 
 one of the gardens of the world, 
 10. 
 
 a well -watered country, 28, et seq. 
 
 lakes, 28. 
 
 Tiberias, 28. 
 
 Merom, 28. 
 
 . Gennesareth said to be the special 
 delight of Jehovah, 28. 
 
 water-brooks, 23. 
 
 Moses' testimony, 23. 
 
 Renan's praise, 23. 
 
 testimony of Josephus, 23. 
 
 Dr. Zeller's testimony, 26. 
 
 astonishing fruitfulness of, 22. 
 
 a scene of great activity, 22. 
 
 fine climate, 22. 
 
 diversified scenery, 22. 
 
 natural attractions, 104. 
 
 supplies furnished by, to Solo- 
 mon's palace, 27. 
 
 to the Phoenicians, 29. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 Galilee, present productions, 27. 
 
 Alexander Jannseus, when a boy, 
 sent to, to be brought up, 109. 
 
 Josephus military governor of, 63. 
 
 contrast between the manner in 
 which it was governed and 
 Judaea, 14. 
 
 enjoyed quiet and prosperity dur- 
 ing reigns of Herod the Great 
 and Herod Antipas, 79. 
 
 general character of its inhabi- 
 tants, 104. 
 
 prophets, judges, and famous 
 men of, 94, et seq. 
 
 character of its learned men, 87. 
 
 how regarded by the people of 
 Judaea, 104, et seq. 
 
 influences existed in, which tended 
 to broaden the mind, 87. 
 
 was there sectional feeling be- 
 tween, and Judaea? 109. 
 
 advantage over Judaea in various 
 industries, 38. 
 
 affected by Phoenicia, 41-44. 
 
 struggles of, with Rome, 74. 
 
 carried on the war alone during 
 the first year, 73. 
 
 numbers killed in, during the war, 
 67. 
 
 Romans proud of the conquest of, 
 
 75- 
 
 cost of their victory great, 75. 
 
 supports a portion of the Roman 
 army, loo. 
 
 wealth and material prosperity of, 
 98, et seq. 
 
 noted cities and towns of, 48-61. 
 
 its prosperous cities indicate 
 wealth, ico. 
 
 misrepresentations of the charac- 
 ter of, 105, 1 06. 
 
 summary of results, 1 20, et seq. 
 
 Christ not expected to appear in, 
 no. 
 
 divinely chosen as the scene of 
 Christ's appearance and minis- 
 try, 1 20. 
 
 no previous work covering the 
 ground of the present volume, 10. 
 
 Galilee, the Sea of, its shores covered 
 with towns, 20, 23, 48. 
 
 praised by the Rabbis, 23. 
 
 fine fishing-ground, 43. 
 
 free to all, 44. 
 
 fish from, carried to distant mar- 
 kets, 44. 
 
 a focus of life and activity, 46, 47. 
 
 ships and boats on, 46. 
 
 merchants crossing the, 46. 
 
 pleasure parties, 46. 
 
 ships at Tarichaea, 46. 
 
 bloody sea fight at Tarichaea, 46. 
 
 see also Gennesareth, the Sea 
 
 of. 
 Gamala, meaning of the name, 49. 
 
 the Talmud reckons it belongs to 
 Galilee, 19. 
 
 situation, 49. 
 
 view from, 49. 
 
 strength of, 50. 
 
 besieged by Agrippa II., 50. 
 
 attacked by Vespasian, 50. 
 
 heroic defence of, 74. 
 
 at last subdued, 50. 
 Gamaliel, the great teacher, 85. 
 Games celebrated in the theatre at 
 
 Jerusalem, 90. 
 Gardens of Gennesareth, 33. 
 Gath Hepher, the home of Jonah, 
 
 95- 
 
 Gaza, a Greek city, 70. 
 Gennesareth, the Plain of, a garden, 
 
 24. 
 
 size of, 33. 
 climate of, 33. 
 watered by a fine spring, 24. 
 origin and meaning of the name, 
 
 34- 
 
 wheat of, 33. 
 
 grain of, 39. 
 
 sugar-cane, 33. 
 
 peculiar character of, 33, 34. 
 
 tents on, for labourers, 33. 
 
 praised by Josephus, 22. 
 
 why its fruits not found at the 
 
 feasts in Jerusalem, 25, 33. 
 Gennesareth, the Sea of, God's spe- 
 cial delight, 28. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 Gennesareth, the Sea of, how re- 
 garded by the Christian, 28. 
 see also Galilee, the Sea of. 
 
 Gergesa, on Wady Semakh, 50. 
 
 Gideon, pursuit of the Midianites, 
 76. 
 
 Ginsea, Galileans attacked at, by the 
 Samaritans, 78, in. 
 
 Gischala, an important city of Gali- 
 lee, 54. 
 
 meaning of the name, 39. 
 production of oil, 38. 
 citizens of, wealthy, 99. 
 
 Gladiatorial contests at Csesarea 
 Philippi, 59. 
 
 Glass-making near the river Belus, 
 29. 
 
 Glass-shops of Tyre and Sidon, 42. 
 
 Glass-vessels in common use, 42. 
 skill in manufacture of, 42. 
 price paid by Nero for one, 42. 
 
 Goats not profitable to raise in Gali- 
 lee, 39. 
 
 God, belief in a personal, effect of 
 on individual character, 71. 
 
 Gold, vessels of, made in Sidon, 42. 
 
 Gophna reduced to slavery on ac- 
 count of a tax by Cassius, 102. 
 
 Gospel is for all the world, preached 
 by Peter, 87. 
 
 Grain, production of, in different 
 
 localities, 39, 40. 
 stored in the towns of Galilee, 43. 
 
 Grain and fruits raised in Galilee in 
 preference to cattle, 25. 
 
 Grain merchants at Arabah, 40. 
 
 Grapes of the Plain of Gennesareth, 
 
 24> 39- 
 Greek influence not extensive in 
 
 Christ's time, 70. 
 in Galilee, 68. 
 Greek learning had a friend in 
 
 Justus of Tiberias, 96. 
 Greeks in Tiberias a small fraction, 
 
 70. 
 
 numerous in Csesarea, 70. 
 Grotto-sanctuary of Pan at Csesarea 
 
 Philippi, 55. 
 described by Josephus, 56. 
 
 Hadrian, rebellion in Palestine 
 
 under, 65. 
 Hauran, the, full of ruined towns, 
 
 66. 
 Hazor, an important city of Galilee, 
 
 54- 
 
 king of, defeated by Deborah and 
 
 Barak, 76. 
 
 Hebrew spoken with purity in Ti- 
 berias, 107. 
 
 Jerome's teacher in, 107. 
 
 Biblical, effort to maintain a 
 knowledge of, in Christ's time, 
 70. 
 
 scriptures the only school-book, 
 
 85. 
 
 Hermon, Mount, eternal tent of 
 snow, 56. 
 
 dew of, 30. 
 
 Herod Agrippa I. appointed king 
 of Trachonitis, &c., 13. 
 
 his wealth, 99. 
 
 Csesarea Philippi once governed 
 by, 58. 
 
 called king in Acts, 58. 
 
 persecuted the Christians, 13. 
 
 beheaded James and arrested 
 Peter, 13. 
 
 his death at Csesarea on the sea- 
 coast, 13, 58. 
 Herod Agrippa II. made king, 
 
 13- 
 heard Paul's defence at Csesarea, 
 
 14. 
 
 district governed by, 49. 
 besieged Gamala for seven 
 
 months, 50. 
 is wounded there, 50. 
 Csesarea Philippi once governed 
 
 by, 58. 
 
 entertains Vespasian there, 59. 
 service of, to the Romans in the 
 
 Jewish war, 14, 75. 
 Herod Antipas, tetrarch of Peraea 
 
 and Galilee, 12. 
 character as a ruler, 7 2 - 
 neither lustful nor intemperate, 
 
 90. 
 palace of, at Tiberias, 99. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 135 
 
 Herod Antipas, palace of, contained 
 great treasures, 99. 
 
 feeling aroused by his marrying 
 Herodias, 88, 90. 
 
 tried at Rome, 64. 
 
 banished, 13. 
 
 Galilee quiet and prosperous un- 
 der, 79. 
 
 Herod the Great, governor of Gali- 
 lee, 12, no. 
 
 the Galileans warmly attached to, 
 72. 
 
 overcomes the robbers, 51, 77. 
 
 declared king by the Roman Sen- 
 ate, 12. 
 
 a good financier, 98. 
 
 promptness in raising money for 
 Cassius, 101. 
 
 a generous provider for his family 
 and kingdom, 98. 
 
 makes liberal gifts, 98. 
 
 adorns Paneas, 57. 
 
 Csesarea Philippi governed by, 
 58. 
 
 Galilee quiet and prosperous dur- 
 ing his reign, 79. 
 
 found his best soldiers in Galilee, 
 72. 
 
 had charge of the copper mines in 
 Cyprus, 102. 
 
 neither lustful nor intemperate, 
 96. 
 
 plunged into a vessel of oil, 
 
 37- 
 
 his death at Jericho, 12. 
 his age, 12. 
 lavish expense at his funeral, 
 
 99- 
 Herod Philip, tetrarch of Batansea, 
 
 Trachonitis, &c., 13. 
 Csesarea Philippi governed by, 58. 
 rebuilds the Eastern Bethsaida, 50. 
 builds his own tomb there, 50. 
 enlarges Paneas, 57- 
 his morals good, 90. 
 a mild ruler, 79. 
 his death, 13. 
 Herod, son of Gamalus, a prominent 
 
 man in Tiberias, 96. 
 
 Herod, son of Miarus, a prominent 
 
 man in Tiberias, 96. 
 Herodias divorced her husband 
 Herod Philip (not the tetrarch , 
 and caused thereby a great 
 scandal, 88. 
 
 married Herod Antipas, 13. 
 loves her husband, 90. 
 goes with him into exile, 90. 
 Hezekiah conquered by Sennache- 
 rib, 64. 
 
 Hezekiah, a brigand chief, 95. 
 Hillel not trained for a teacher, 
 
 84. 
 
 Hippocrates quoted, 33. 
 Hippos, 23. 
 site of, 49. 
 a Greek city, 70. 
 merchants crossing the lake from, 
 
 to Tiberias, 46. 
 History and locality to be studied 
 
 in connection, 9. 
 
 Honey, Safed and Sepphoris cele- 
 brated for, 39, 40. 
 Hosea, the prophet, from Issachar, 
 
 95- 
 
 Houses, remarkable height of, in 
 Zabulon, Tyre, Sidon, and 
 Beirut, 54. 
 
 Huleh, plain and lake, 56. 
 
 streams about the, numerous, 30. 
 
 Hyrcanus, John, sends his son Alex- 
 ander Jannoeus to Galilee to be 
 brought up, 109. 
 
 Ibzan, a judge in Israel, from Zebu- 
 lun, 94. 
 
 Ice- water in ancient times, 30. 
 method of cooling water, 30. 
 
 Idumsea, Herod's old soldiers in, 
 revolt at his death, 81. 
 
 Images and statues, sentiments of 
 the Jews respecting, 88. 
 
 Indigo raised at Mngdala, 40. 
 
 Industries of Galilee, 71. 
 
 Industry a characteristic of the Gali- 
 leans, 71. 
 
 Inhabitants of Upper and Lower 
 Galilee chiefly Jewish, 15, 16. 
 
136 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Iron mountain mentioned by Jose- 
 phus, 102. 
 
 Italy, productions of, compared 
 
 with those of Galilee, 25. 
 volunteers going from, to the 
 Jewish war, 75. 
 
 Izates, court of, Eleazar a mission- 
 ary at the, 91. 
 
 Jael, a heroine of Galilee, 94. 
 Jairus, a famous man of Galilee, 
 
 96. 
 James, son of Zebedee, 97. 
 
 of Bethsaida, 51. 
 James, the brother of Christ, 97. 
 Japha, largest village in Galilee, 54, 
 
 74- 
 
 terrible fighting at, 74. 
 Jericho, method of cooling water at, 
 
 30. 
 
 Herod the Great dies at, 12, 38. 
 
 palace at, burned by Simon, 81. 
 
 Jerusalem, number of people in, at 
 
 siege under Titus, 67. 
 illustrated by recent investiga- 
 tions, 67. 
 
 games like those of Italy and 
 Greece celebrated in theatre 
 at, 90. 
 
 Jewish prisoners compelled by Titus 
 to destroy each other at Csesa- 
 rea Philippi, 59. 
 
 Jewish learning flourished in Galilee 
 subsequent to the time of Christ, 
 
 97- 
 Jews at Tiberias displeased with the 
 
 luxury and Roman tastes of 
 
 Antipas, 53. _ 
 
 exclusive in religion, 68, 69. 
 noble treatment of strangers, 69. 
 allowed foreigners to settle in 
 
 Palestine, 69. 
 at the time of Christ were settled 
 
 in every country, 69. 
 everywhere a wealthy and in- 
 fluential class, 69, 98. 
 decrees of the Roman Senate in 
 
 favour of, 69. 
 cosmopolitan spirit of the, 69. 
 
 Jews surpassed the Greeks in num- 
 bers and wealth in Csesarea, 98. 
 
 in Parthia and Arabia, 98. 
 
 in Crete, Melos, and Rome, 98. 
 
 send vast sums from all parts of 
 the world to the temple in 
 Jerusalem, 98. 
 
 wronged by the Roman governors, 
 
 79- 
 
 by Felix, 80. 
 
 at last driven to madness, 80. 
 Jezreel, a fertile region, 39. 
 
 grain production of, 39. 
 
 an ancient battle-field, 76. 
 John, of Bethsaida, 51. 
 
 son of Zebedee, 97. 
 John the Baptist had a strong party 
 in Galilee, 91. 
 
 Herod Antipas the murderer of, 
 
 5 2 - 
 John of Gischala visits the warm 
 
 springs of Tiberias, 31. 
 a shrewd man, 99. 
 monopolises the oil trade, 36, 37. 
 a person of wealth, 99. 
 Jonah, from Zebulun, 95. 
 Jordan, the, its upper and finer half 
 
 belonged to Galilee, 29. 
 Joseph, the husband of Mary, 97. 
 Josephus, testimony of, as to the 
 
 fertility of Galilee, 22. 
 of the Plain of Gennesareth, 24 
 as to number of towns and inhabi- 
 tants of Galilee, examined, 62- 
 67. 
 
 has been misquoted, 63. 
 was military governor of Galilee, 
 
 and knew its strength, 63. 
 places fortified by, 63. 
 was at Cana of Galilee, 60. 
 noble adherence of Galileans to, 
 
 72. 
 
 large army raised by, 63. 
 Joshua fought a great battle near 
 
 Lake Merom, 56. 
 Jotapata, forests about, 27. 
 a strong city, 54. 
 fortified by Josephus, 54. 
 provisions in the siege of, 40. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 137 
 
 Jotapata, heroic defence of by the 
 Galileans, 60, 74. 
 
 boiling oil used against the Ro- 
 mans, 36. 
 
 its fall sealed the fate of Judaea, 
 
 74- 
 
 Judas, a celebrated teacher, 84. 
 Judas the Zealot, from Galilee, 77, 
 
 95- 
 
 founder of the sect of Galileans, 91. 
 
 a sterling puritan, 91. 
 
 the stubbornness of the Jewish 
 resistance to Rome due largely 
 to his influence, 91. 
 Judas, son of Hezekias, revolt of, 
 on the death of Herod the 
 Great, 81. 
 
 Judaea, how governed, from A.D. 7 
 to A.D. 66, 79. 
 
 Roman governors of, for the most 
 part unprincipled men, 79. 
 
 condition of the country, 80. 
 
 priests and people become cor- 
 rupt, 80. 
 
 its fields stony, 25. 
 
 common people in, poor and igno- 
 rant, 88. 
 
 exaggerated ideas of its wealth 
 entertained at Rome, 99. 
 
 visited by foreigners for specula- 
 tion and adventure, 99. 
 
 full of commotion during the long 
 period when Galilee was quiet, 
 
 79- 
 
 Judaea and Galilee, contrast in the 
 manner in which they were 
 governed, 14. 
 
 no traces of sectional feeling be- 
 tween the inhabitants of, 112. 
 
 Judacans cared more for money than 
 reputation, 89. 
 
 Judges of Israel that originated in 
 Galilee, 94. 
 
 Julias, the Eastern Bethsaida called, 
 
 SO- 
 mentioned by Pliny, 23. 
 Herod Philip buried in, 50. 
 Julius Severus sent to Palestine to 
 crush the second rebellion, 65. 
 
 Justus, a prominent man in Tiberias, 
 
 96. 
 author of a history in Greek, 96. 
 
 Kadesh, an important city of Gali- 
 lee, 54. 
 
 Kishon, a river of battle, 76. 
 belonged to Galilee, 29. 
 
 Labour, manual, how esteemed by 
 
 the Galileans, 71. 
 by Christ, 119. 
 Christ practised and encouraged, 
 
 7i- 
 
 Lake of Tiberias, beautiful, 23. 
 gliding waters, 22. 
 shores of, a garden, 23. 
 
 Lancashire, England, county of, in- 
 habitants to a square mile, 20. 
 
 Landscapes in Galilee remarkably 
 diversified, 22. 
 
 Languages, foreign, Jews' contempt 
 
 for, 70. 
 at Pentecost, 108. 
 
 Law and order, Galileans' great re- 
 spect for, 77. 
 
 Law of Moses, Galileans adhered to, 
 in preference to tradition, 86. 
 
 Lebanon mountains, mineral depo- 
 sits in the, 102. 
 
 Linen garments made in Bethshean, 
 
 39- 
 
 fabrics, women of Galilee cele- 
 brated for making, 40. 
 
 Litany, the, touches Galilee on the 
 north, 29. 
 
 Looms of Sidon famous, 42. 
 
 Lydda reduced to slavery on account 
 of tax by Cassius, 102. 
 
 Maccabees defend the Galileans, 
 
 in. 
 Magdala, 51. 
 
 the home of Mary Magdalene, 52. 
 pigeons sold at, for sacrifices, 40. 
 called the city of colour, 40. 
 sends treasures to Jerusalem, 100. 
 Malta, inhabitants of, to a square 
 mile, 20. 
 
I 3 8 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Manahem, a famous man of Galilee, 
 killed in Jerusalem, 95. 
 
 Manufactured articles in Galilee, 38. 
 
 Maps of Galilee not correct, 1 7. 
 
 Market, Phoenicia the great, of Gali- 
 lee, 42, 43. 
 
 Market-places on the Sea of Galilee, 
 
 23- 
 Marriage, laws respecting, senti- 
 
 ments concerning, 88. 
 Mary, the mother of Christ, 97. 
 Masada, slaughter at, 96. 
 Matthias, a celebrated teacher, 84. 
 Megiddo, waters of, enter the Ki- 
 
 shon, 29. 
 Melos, Jews in, numerous and 
 
 wealthy, 98. 
 
 Merchants, travelling, 100. 
 Merom, Lake, sweet water, 28. 
 
 waters of, 56. 
 Messiahs, false, people of Judaea 
 
 easily led astray by, 92. 
 Middlesex, England, county of, in- 
 
 habitants to a square mile, 20. 
 Midianites pursued by Gideon, 76. 
 Mines of Judaea, 102. 
 copper, 102. 
 gold, 102. 
 lead, 102. 
 Miracle of feeding the five thousand, 
 
 scene of, 50. 
 Mishna, several doctors of, from 
 
 Galilee, 95. 
 Moab, expedition against, soon after 
 
 time of Solomon, part taken by 
 
 Galilee, 76. 
 Moeris, Lake, in Egypt, fisheries of, 
 
 in ancient times, 45. 
 
 large revenue from, 45. 
 
 Morals of the Galileans, 82. 
 
 advantages over the people of 
 
 Judaea, 82. 
 Moses, testimony of, respecting the 
 
 richness of Galilee, 23. 
 Mountains, names and naming of, 
 
 Nahum, the prophet, from Elkosh 
 in Galilee, 95. 
 
 Naphtali renowned for its fruits, 23. 
 natural advantages of, 23. 
 people of, brave, 76. 
 Nathanael, of Cana of Galilee, 96. 
 bis words respecting Nazareth, 
 
 114. 
 
 how best explained, 115. 
 Nazareth, 54. 
 
 popular representations of, not 
 
 correct, 10. 
 size and importance of, 113, el 
 
 seq. 
 
 always called a city, 10. 
 population of, 10, 116. 
 misrepresentations of, 105, 106, 
 
 113. 
 
 no proof of immorality of, 114. 
 not isolated, 117. 
 origin of the name, 114, et seq. 
 not mentioned in the Old Testa- 
 ment, 1 14. 
 hill behind, wonderful view from, 
 
 116. 
 distances from, to certain points, 
 
 117. 
 how regarded by the people of 
 
 Jerusalem, 104-112. 
 dialect of its inhabitants never 
 
 referred to, 107. 
 Nero sold inhabitants of Tarichaea 
 
 as slaves, 48. 
 
 his canal at Corinth, 48. 
 alarm of, at the magnitude of 
 
 revolt in Judaea, 73. 
 News, early, Nazareth favourably 
 
 situated to receive, 117. 
 Nitai, eminent doctor of the Mish- 
 na, from Arbela, 95. 
 
 Oil furnished by Solomon to Hi- 
 ram, 37. 
 
 Galilee furnished, to Phoenicia, 43. 
 production of, 35. 
 Oil, article of commerce, 35. 
 a source of wealth, 36. 
 trouble about pure, at Csesarea 
 
 Philippi, 36. 
 
 boiling, used in defending Jota- 
 pata, 36. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 139 
 
 Oil, quantity stored in the towns of 
 
 Upper Galilee, 36. 
 peculiar kind of jars needed for 
 
 preserving, 40, 41. 
 Herod the Great plunged into a 
 
 vessel of, 37. 
 used in sickness, 37, 38. 
 such use commended by Christ, 
 
 37> 38. 
 Olive trees easily raised in Galilee, 
 
 35- 
 
 of the Plain of Gennesareth, 22. 
 ofBethshean, 39. 
 
 Palestine, number of square miles 
 
 in, 19. 
 
 in Eastern, 20. 
 in Western, 20. 
 how governed from B.C. 47 to 
 
 A.D. 66, 12-14. 
 Palms of the Plain of Gennesareth, 
 
 24. 
 
 in Galilee, 25. 
 Pan, grotto-sanctuary of, at Csesa- 
 
 rea Philippi, 56. 
 Paneas, 55. 
 
 various names of, 55. 
 supposed birthplace of Alexan- 
 der, a Jewish philosopher of 
 Alexandria, 95. 
 Paradise, Bethshean, the 'gate of, 
 
 39- 
 
 Parthia, Jews in, 98. 
 Parthuns invade Palestine, 12. 
 reach Jerusalem, 12. 
 take Phasaelus, a brother of Herod 
 
 the Great, prisoner, 12. 
 Patriotism, Galileans noted for, 71, 
 
 7 2 - 
 
 Patronius, treatment of the Jews by, 
 80. 
 
 Paul, the apostle, tradition that he 
 came from Gischala, 96. 
 
 Persea, a portion of, possibly be- 
 longed to Galilee, 19. 
 multitude of towns in, 66. 
 Simon incites a rebellion in, on 
 the death of Herod the Great, 
 81. 
 
 Peter from Bethsaida, 51. 
 
 representative man of Galilee, 
 
 97- 
 
 vision of, at Joppa, 87. 
 speech or dialect of, 108, 109. 
 Pharisees rose to power in reign of 
 
 Alexandra, 83. 
 
 Phasaelus, military governor of Ju- 
 daea, 12. 
 taken prisoner by the Parthians, 
 
 and kills himself, 12. 
 Pheasants, Achabara celebrated for, 
 
 39- 
 
 Philip, from Bethsaida, 51, 97. 
 Philip, Herod, see Herod. 
 Philo quoted respecting the syna- 
 gogues being schools of piety, 
 
 85- 
 Phoenicia, influence of, on Galilee, 
 
 41, 42, 43, 68. 
 mariners of, bringing news to 
 
 Syria, 41. 
 Phoenician coast once covered with 
 
 towns, 66. 
 Phoenicians, glass ' manufactories of, 
 
 29, 42. 
 surpasses other nations in the 
 
 matter of shipping, 43. 
 connecting link between the East 
 
 and West, 41. 
 receive oil and other supplies from 
 
 Galilee, 35, 36, 37. 
 Physicians of Herod the Great, 
 
 37- 
 Pigeons for sacrifices sold at Mag- 
 
 dala, 40. 
 
 Pilate, treatment of the Jews by, 80. 
 Pistus, a prominent man of Tiberias, 
 
 96. 
 
 Pliny, on the warm springs of Tibe- 
 rias, 31. 
 on the towns about the Lake of 
 
 Gennesareth, 23. 
 Ploughmen turning a furrow with 
 
 skill, $. 
 Poetry, talent for, finely developed 
 
 among the Galileans. 93. 
 scenery and climate luster the 
 
 spirit of, 93. 
 
140 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Pomegranates flourish at Shikmo- 
 nah, 39. 
 
 Population of Galilee, 20. 
 
 Pottery, vessels of, for preserving oil, 
 
 40, 41. 
 
 great variety of, 41. 
 black, most highly prized, 41. 
 
 Preaching, severe, of Judas and 
 Eleazar, 91. 
 
 Priesthood, how degraded in Jeru- 
 salem, 87. 
 
 Priests become corrupt, 80. 
 poorer priests suffer, 80. 
 
 Productions of Galilee, agricul- 
 tural and manufactured, 35- 
 
 45- 
 
 of the Plain of Gennesareth, 24. 
 furnished to Phoenicia by Galilee, 
 
 43- 
 
 the present, of Galilee, 2 7. 
 Prophets from Galilee, 94, 95, 
 
 no. 
 
 their memory cherished, 94, 95. 
 Ptolemais, Roman army massed at, 
 previous to entering Galilee, 
 
 7i- 
 
 Ptolemy Epiphanes, his general, 
 Scopas, defeated at Paneas, 
 56. 
 
 Rabbis, testimony of, as to the Lake 
 
 of Tiberias, 22. 
 the towns on the shores, 23. 
 the land of Naphtali, 23. 
 not allowed to receive pay for in- 
 struction, 84. 
 Ramah, important town in Galilee, 
 
 54- 
 
 Religion, in matters of, Jews al- 
 lowed no interference, 69. 
 exclusiveness in, 69. 
 among the Galileans, 82. 
 advantage of the latter over the 
 
 people of Judaea, 83. 
 Renan, praise of Galilee, 23. 
 Research, Galilee a rich field for, 
 
 18. 
 
 Revelation, a divine, implies history, 
 9- 
 
 Rimmon, important town in Galilee, 
 
 54- 
 
 Road from Southern Galilee to Da- 
 mascus, 52. 
 infested by robbers near Arbela, 
 
 5 1 - 
 
 east from Paneas, 57. 
 width of, 57. 
 from Paneas to Tyre, 57. 
 to Sidon, 57. 
 guarded by castles, 57. 
 caravan routes through Galilee, 
 
 118. 
 
 routes of commerce, 100. 
 Robbers in the caves of Arbela 
 
 subdued by Herod the Great, 
 
 5i, 78- 
 Roman emperor, grain tribute of, 
 
 in Galilee, 40. 
 
 governors of Judaea, in distinction 
 from Galilee, corrupt men, 
 
 79- 
 
 rob and oppress the Jews, 79. 
 countenance bribery and lawless- 
 ness, 80. 
 conduct of Felix, Florus, Sabinius, 
 
 Patronius, Pilate, 80. 
 troops of Sabinius, attack upon, 
 
 in Jerusalem, 112. 
 Senate, decrees of, in favour of 
 
 the Jews, 69. 
 Romans suffer in siege of Jotapata, 
 
 36. 
 Rome, financial crisis in, affecting 
 
 Palestine, 80. 
 Jews in, numerous and wealthy, 
 
 98. 
 Rulers, loyalty of Galileans to, 
 
 72. 
 Ruined towns in the region near 
 
 Hamah, 66. 
 in Bashan, 66. 
 
 Sabinius, treatment of the Jews by, 
 
 80. 
 
 Roman troops of, attacked in Je- 
 rusalem, 112. 
 
 Sacrifices, pigeons for, sold at Mag- 
 dala, 40. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 141 
 
 Safed, lofty situation, 54, 55. 
 
 one of the sacred cities of the 
 
 Jews, 55. 
 
 fertile region about, 39. 
 celebrated for its honey, 39. 
 Sailors formed a large class in Tibe- 
 rias, 53. 
 
 Salome, the wife of Zebedee, 97. 
 Samaritans lay south of Galilee, 
 
 68. 
 
 influence upon the Galileans, 68. 
 once attack the latter, at Ginjca, 
 
 78, in. 
 friendly intercourse between the, 
 
 and the Galileans, 79. 
 Sanhedrin, dominant influence of, 
 
 in Jerusalem, 86. 
 Scenery of Galilee, 93. 
 
 about Banias, 56. 
 Schools, Jewish, connected with 
 
 synagogues, 85. 
 method of instruction in, 85. 
 school system, 84. 
 alleged that the Galileans had 
 
 none, 83. 
 
 Schools not colleges or seminaries, 
 in the modern meaning of these 
 terms, 84. 
 
 Schools and learned men, friendly 
 intercourse between those of 
 Galilee and Judsea, 86. 
 School system, rabbinical, too great 
 
 antiquity ascribed to, 84. 
 Scopas defeated near Paneas, 56. 
 Scythopolis belonged to Galilee, 61. 
 largest city of Decapolis, 61. 
 population of, 54. 
 Syrians in, 70. 
 winters the Fifteenth Legion, 61, 
 
 100. 
 Seas, Jews say that seven were 
 
 created, 28. 
 names of the, 28. 
 
 Sects in Jerusalem, cheerless atmo- 
 sphere among, 87. 
 Semakh, Wady, Gergesa situated 
 
 on, 50. 
 
 Semechonitis, one of the seven seas, 
 28. 
 
 Sennacherib, invasion of Palestine 
 
 by, 64. 
 
 Sepphoris, capital of Galilee, 53. 
 in a fertile region, 23. 
 citizens of, wealthy, 99. 
 archives of the province kept in, 
 
 55- 
 
 celebrated for grain and fruit, 39. 
 royal arsenal at, 55. 
 seat of one of Gabinius' five coun- 
 cils, 61. 
 feeling between its inhabitants 
 
 and those of Tiberias, 53. 
 taken by Judas after the death of 
 
 Herod the Great, 81, 95. 
 degraded below Tiberias, and 
 
 again elevated above it, 53. 
 near Nazareth, 118. 
 Sermon on the Mount, what it pre- 
 supposes on the part of the 
 listeners, 91. 
 could not have been preached in 
 
 Judsea, 91. 
 Sheep, not profitable to raise, in 
 
 Galilee, 39. 
 Shihor Libnath perhaps identical 
 
 with the river Belus, 29. 
 Shikmonah, pomegranates of, 39. 
 Ships and boats on the Sea of Gali- 
 lee, 46, 47. 
 
 Ship-building at Tarichaea, 49. 
 Shipping, Phoenicians surpass other 
 
 nations in, 43. 
 Sicarii committed their worst crimes 
 
 in Judaea, 79. 
 
 originated in Jerusalem, 81. 
 meaning of the name, 81. 
 Sichin, manufacturer of pottery at, 
 
 40. 
 sends treasures to Jerusalem, 
 
 100. 
 
 Sidon, lofty houses in, 54. 
 brass shops of, 42. 
 gold and silver vessels of, 42. 
 glass shops, 42. 
 road leading from Damascus and 
 
 Catsarea Philippi to, 57. 
 Signalling, means for, from point to 
 point, 58. 
 
142 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Sigona, wine production of, 39. 
 Sikars, see Sicarii. 
 Silas, governor of Tiberias, 96. 
 Silver, vessels of, made in Sid on, 42. 
 Simon incites a rebellion in Persea, 
 
 on the death, of Herod the 
 
 Great, 81. 
 
 burns the palace in Jericho, 81. 
 Simon, a famous man of Galilee, 
 
 95- 
 
 Sinaitic peninsula, gold deposits in, 
 102. 
 
 Sisera routed by Deborah and Ba- 
 rak, 76. 
 
 Slavery, cities reduced to, on ac- 
 count of tax levied by Cassius, 
 102. 
 
 Snow on Hermon, cools the air, 
 
 30- 
 used as a luxury in the large 
 
 cities, 30. 
 
 also by labourers, 30. 
 Biblical references to the use of, 
 
 30- 
 
 Sodom, Sea of, one of seven seas, 
 28. 
 
 Sohemus aids the Romans in the 
 Jewish war, 75. 
 
 Soil of Galilee, fertility of the, 25. 
 
 Solomon gives twenty cities to Hi- 
 ram, 15. 
 
 importance of these places, 16. 
 provisions furnished to Hiram 
 
 b y> 37- 
 
 supplies furnished for palace of, 
 
 by Galilee, 27. 
 
 Song of Solomon thought by some 
 to have originated in Galilee, 
 
 23, 93- 
 
 Song of Deborah originated in Gali- 
 lee, 93. 
 
 Spade, fields cultivated with the, in 
 Galilee, 25. 
 
 Springs abundant in Galilee, 30. 
 
 Statues and images, sentiments of 
 the Jews respecting, 88. 
 
 Stones, precious, art of engraving in 
 early times at Tyre and Sidon, 
 42. 
 
 Strabo quoted, 33. 
 
 mentions the inhabitants of Gali- 
 lee, 16. 
 
 on the colonies of Tyre, 41. 
 on the height of houses in Tyre 
 
 and Sidon, 54. 
 
 on the wealth of the Jews, 98. 
 Strangers allowed to settle in Pales- 
 tine, 69. 
 treated in a noble manner by the 
 
 Jews, 69. 
 Sugar-cane on the Plain of Gen- 
 
 nesareth, 33. 
 
 Sycamores not found in Upper Gali- 
 lee, 19. 
 
 flourished in Lower Galilee, 19. 
 Synagogues, elegant, at Tiberias, 
 
 53- 
 
 number of, 85. 
 
 existed in every city and impor- 
 tant town, 85. 
 
 this confirmed by the words of 
 Christ, 86. 
 
 schools connected with, 85. 
 
 worship in, strictly maintained in 
 
 Galilee, 87. 
 
 Syria full of ruined towns, 66. 
 Syrians lay north of Galilee, 68. 
 
 influence of, on the Galileans, 68. 
 
 honour Herod the Great for his 
 victory over the robbers, 78. 
 
 in Scythopolis, 7- 
 
 numerous in Csesarea on the sea- 
 coast, 70. 
 
 supplied with oil from Galilee, 
 35, 38- 
 
 Tabor, Mount, a stronghold, 54. 
 
 taken by Antiochus the Great, 54. 
 
 Alexander, son of Aristobulus, 
 defeated at, 55. 
 
 Deborah and Barak rallied their 
 forces at, 76. 
 
 River Kishon rises near the foot 
 
 of, 29. 
 
 Talmud, that of Jerusalem prefer- 
 able to that of Babylon for 
 matters relating to Palestine, 
 106. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 J 43 
 
 Talmud, evidence of, 39. 
 Tarichaea, 23. 
 situation of, 48. 
 population of, 54. 
 foreigners there, 70. 
 numerous ships at, 46. 
 bloody sea-fight at, 46. 
 inhabitants of, sold as slaves by 
 
 Nero, 48. 
 
 also by Cassius, 48. 
 Josephus taken there when 
 
 wounded, 49. 
 larger than Tiberias, 49. 
 importance of, as compared with 
 
 Tiberias, 70. 
 fish business of, 43. 
 fish factories, 44. 
 name derived from this industry, 
 
 43- 
 
 ship-building at, 49. 
 Teachers, qualification of, 84. 
 the most eminent were found in 
 
 Jerusalem, 86. 
 eminent ones in Sepphoris and 
 
 Tiberias, 85. 
 
 Tekoa, production of oil at, 35. 
 Temple at Jerusalem robbed by 
 Crassus of a large amount of 
 gold and silver, 98. 
 Tents of Gennesareth, for labourers 
 
 and others, 33. 
 
 Thamna reduced to slavery on ac- 
 count of a tax, 102. 
 Theatre at Jerusalem, 90. 
 Tiberias, 23. 
 
 situation and importance of, 52. 
 Herod Antipas beautifies it, 52. 
 his costly buildings at, 52. 
 when the city was built, 53. 
 old bury ing-ground found at, 53. 
 hence unclean to the Jews, 53. 
 this prejudice overcome, 53. 
 warm springs of, 31. 
 a resort for health and pleasure, 
 
 3 2 - 
 
 people attracted to it, 32. 
 a racecourse at, 90. 
 synagogue built by Antipas, 53. 
 number of synagogues at, 85. 
 
 Tiberias, degraded below Sepphoris, 
 
 in time of Agrippa II., 53. 
 fortified by Josephus, 53. 
 unfriendly to him, 49. 
 Vespasian requires three legions 
 
 to attack it, 53. 
 council of, 53. 
 did Christ ever visit it ? 53. 
 one of the sacred cities of the 
 
 Jews, 55. 
 Greeks in, a small fraction of the 
 
 inhabitants, 70- 
 treasure in the palace of Antipas, 
 
 99. 
 ancient method of cooling water 
 
 at, 30. 
 Jerome obtained a Hebrew 
 
 teacher from, 107. 
 conduct of inhabitants of, with 
 regard to Caius* setting up his 
 statue in the temple, 88. 
 Tiberias, Lake of, highly praised by 
 
 the Jews, 28. 
 
 merchants crossing the, from Ti- 
 berias to Hippos, 46. 
 Tiberius Alexander, Caesarea Phi- 
 
 lippi once governed by, 58. 
 Tiglath Pileser, invasion of Galilee 
 
 by, 56. 
 Timber in Galilee, 23. 
 
 furnished the Phoenicians, for 
 
 ships, 43. 
 Titus with Vespasian at Csesarea 
 
 Philippi, 59. 
 
 later, he exhibits games there, 59. 
 cruelties to the Jewish prisoners 
 
 at, 59. 
 
 praises the conduct of the Gali- 
 leans in the war, 75. 
 Tobacco cultivated in Galilee, 37. 
 Tobit, from Naphtali, 95. 
 
 interesting account of his home 
 
 and times, 95. 
 
 Tola, a judge from Issachar, 94. 
 Towns of Galilee, see Cities and 
 
 towns. 
 
 Tradition adhered to in Jerusalem 
 in preference to the law of 
 Moses, 86. 
 
144 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Tradition, charge that the Gali- 
 leans neglected, 86. 
 Traditional sites conflict with the 
 results of modern researches, 
 18. 
 
 Traffic, inland, through Galilee, 100. 
 Transfiguration, scene of, near Cse- 
 
 sarea Philippi, 59. 
 Transportation an important indus- 
 try of Galilee, 71. 
 Trees, what, flourished in Galilee, 
 
 26. 
 
 retain foliage throughout the year 
 
 on the Plain of Gennesareth, 33. 
 
 Tribes which settled in Galilee in 
 
 Joshua's time, 64. 
 
 Towns fortified by Josephus in Gali- 
 lee, 63. 
 
 Tyre, colonies and commerce of, 41. 
 purple dye of, 41. 
 this is a source of wealth, 42. 
 glass shops of, 42. 
 its fine houses, 54. 
 number of stories in some, 54. 
 road leading to, from Damascus 
 and Banias, 57. 
 
 Vespasian sent to command the Ro- 
 man army in the Jewish war, 
 
 73- 
 
 besieges Gamala with three le- 
 gions, 50. 
 
 nearly loses his life, 50. 
 
 approaches Tiberias with three 
 legions, 53. 
 
 takes and burns Gadara, 60. 
 
 massacres the inhabitants, 60. 
 
 besieges Jotapata, 60. 
 
 rests his army at Csesarea Philippi, 
 
 59- 
 celebrates his victory over the 
 
 Galileans, 59. 
 praises their conduct, 75. 
 recruits his army, 75. 
 his troops winter at Scythopolis, 
 
 100. 
 Villages and cities of Galilee, see 
 
 Cities and villages. 
 
 Vitellius favours the Jews, 81. 
 
 War, second Jewish, in time of 
 
 Hadrian, terrible slaughter on 
 
 both sides, 65. 
 Wdrm springs of Galilee, 31. 
 
 opposite Jericho, visited by Herod 
 
 the Great, 37. 
 Water, cold, provided for travellers 
 
 and the sick, 31. 
 Water-brooks abound in Galilee, 
 
 23- 
 Watercourses, ancient, remains of, 
 
 32. 
 Watering-place, ancient, at the hot 
 
 springs of Tiberias, 31. 
 Weaving at Tyre and Sidon, 42. 
 Wheat in Northern Galilee, 39. 
 of Chorazin and Capernaum, 39. 
 of the Plain of Gennesareth, 33. 
 furnished by Galilee to Phoenicia, 
 
 43- 
 furnished by Solomon to Hiram, 
 
 Widow of a deceased brother, cus- 
 tom about marrying, 88. 
 Wine, production of, at Sigona, 
 
 39- 
 furnished by Galilee to Phoenicia, 
 
 43- 
 furnished by Solomon to Hiram, 
 
 37- 
 Women of Galilee celebrated for 
 
 making linen fabrics, 40. 
 Woollen cloth made at Magdala, 40. 
 
 Zabulon, a beautiful city, 54. 
 
 houses of, modelled after those of 
 Tyre, 54. 
 
 Zebedee, of Bethsaida, 51. 
 a man of means, 97, 100. 
 
 Zebulun and Naphtali, bravery of 
 the people of, 76. 
 
 Zeller, Rev. Dr., of Nazareth, tes- 
 timony of, as to the fertility of 
 Galilee, 26. 
 
 Zenodorus, Caesarea Philippi once 
 belonged to, 58. 
 
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